Communication satellites bring

the world to you anywhere and

any time..
AJAL.A.J

UNIVERSAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, THRISSUR680123

Department of ECE

EC09 L05: Satellite Communication

Module 3

Satellite Link
Design

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History of satellite communication

1945 Arthur C. Clarke publishes an essay about Extra
Terrestrial Relays
1957 first satellite SPUTNIK
1960 first reflecting communication satellite ECHO
1963 first geostationary satellite SYNCOM
1965 first commercial geostationary satellite Satellit Early Bird
(INTELSAT I): 240 duplex telephone channels or 1 TV
channel, 1.5 years lifetime
1976 three MARISAT satellites for maritime communication
1982 first mobile satellite telephone system INMARSAT-A
1988 first satellite system for mobile phones and data
communication INMARSAT-C
1993 first digital satellite telephone system
1998 global satellite systems for small mobile phones

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ELIPTICAL ORBIT

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Applications

Traditionally
weather satellites
radio and TV broadcast satellites
military satellites
satellites for navigation and localization (e.g., GPS)

Telecommunication
global telephone connections
replaced by fiber optics
backbone for global networks
connections for communication in remote places or underdeveloped areas
global mobile communication

satellite systems to extend cellular phone systems (e.g., GSM or

AMPS)

Orbits
GEO (Inmarsat)
HEO

MEO (ICO)

LEO
(Globalstar,
Irdium)

inner and outer Van

Allen belts
earth
1000
10000

Van-Allen-Belts:
ionized particles
2000 - 6000 km and
15000 - 30000 km
above earth surface

35768
km

LEO systems
Orbit 500 - 1500 km above earth surface
visibility of a satellite ca. 10 - 40 minutes
global radio coverage possible
latency comparable with terrestrial long distance
connections, ca. 5 - 10 ms
smaller footprints, better frequency reuse
but now handover necessary from one satellite to another
many satellites necessary for global coverage
more complex systems due to moving satellites
Examples:
Iridium (start 1998, 66 satellites)

Bankruptcy in 2000, deal with US DoD (free use,

saving from deorbiting)

Globalstar (start 1999, 48 satellites)

Not many customers (2001: 44000), low stand-by times for mobiles

LEO
S

Picture from [1]

ISL Inter Satellite Link

GWL Gateway Link
UML User Mobile Link
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ISL (Inter Satellite Links)

Intra-orbital links: connect
consecutive satellites on the same
orbits
Inter-orbital links: connect two
satellites on different orbits

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MEO systems
Orbit ca. 5000 - 12000 km above earth surface
comparison with LEO systems:
slower moving satellites
less satellites needed
simpler system design
for many connections no hand-over needed
higher latency, ca. 70 - 80 ms
higher sending power needed
special antennas for small footprints needed
Example:
ICO (Intermediate Circular Orbit, Inmarsat) start ca. 2000

Bankruptcy, planned joint ventures with Teledesic, Ellipso cancelled

again, start planned for 2003

Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEO)

Orbit 35,786 km distance to earth surface, orbit in equatorial plane
(inclination 0)
complete rotation exactly one day, satellite is synchronous to earth
rotation
fix antenna positions, no adjusting necessary
satellites typically have a large footprint (up to 34% of earth surface!),
therefore difficult to reuse frequencies
bad elevations in areas with latitude above 60 due to fixed position
above the equator
high transmit power needed
high latency due to long distance (ca. 275 ms)
not useful for global coverage for small mobile phones and data
transmission, typically used for radio and TV transmission

Classical satellite systems

Inter Satellite Link

(ISL)

Mobile User
Link (MUL)

Gateway Link
(GWL)

MUL
GWL

small cells
(spotbeams)

base station
or gateway

footprint

ISDN
PSTN: Public Switched
Telephone Network

PSTN

User data

GSM

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Design of the Satellite Link

Figure : Critical Elements of the Satell

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LNB (LOW NOISE BLOCK DOWN CONVERTER)

A device mounted in the dish, designed to amplify the satellite
signals and convert them from a high frequency to a lower
frequency. LNB can be controlled to receive signals with
different polarization. The television signals can then be
carried by a double-shielded aerial cable to the satellite
receiver while retaining their high quality. A universal LNB is
the present standard version, which can handle the entire
frequency range from 10.7 to 12.75 GHz and receive signals
with both vertical and horizontal polarization.
Demodulator
A satellite receiver circuit which extracts or "demodulates" the
"wanted "signals from the received carrier.
Decoder
A box which, normally together with a viewing card, makes it
possible to view encrypted transmissions. If the transmissions
are digital, the decoder is usually integrated in the receiver.
recorded video information to be played back using a
television receiver tuned to VHF channel 3 or 4.
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 Modulation
The process of manipulating the frequency or
amplitude of a carrier in relation to an incoming
video, voice or data signal.
Modulator
A device which modulates a carrier. Modulators are
found as components in broadcasting transmitters
and in satellite transponders. Modulators are also
used by CATV companies to place a baseband
video television signal onto a desired VHF or UHF
channel. Home video tape recorders also have
built-in modulators which enable the

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How Satellites are used

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Service Types

Fixed Service Satellites (FSS)

Broadcast Service Satellites (BSS)

Example: Point to Point Communication

Example: Satellite Television/Radio
Also called Direct Broadcast Service (DBS).

Mobile Service Satellites (MSS)

Example: Satellite Phones

Elevation
Elevation:
angle between center of satellite beam
and surface

minimal elevation:
elevation needed at least
to communicate with the satellite

t
n
i
pr
t
o
fo

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Satellite Foot print

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Objective of a link analysis

Link analysis determines properties

of satellite equipment (antennas,
amplifiers, data rate, etc.)
Two links need to be planned
Uplink from ground to satellite
Downlink from satellite to
ground
Two way communication 4 links
(two way maritime communications)
One way communication 2 links
(example TV broadcast)
Two links are not at the same
frequency
Two links may or may not be in the
same band
Fixed / broadcast satellite
services usually same band
Mobile satellite services may
use different bands
In some systems satellite links may
be combined with terrestrial returns
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One way
communication

Two way
communication

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Elements of a satellite link

Transmit power
TX antenna gain
Path losses
Free space
TX/RX antenna losses
Environmental losses
RX antenna gain
RX properties
Noise temperature
Sensitivity (S/N and ROC)
Design margins required to
guarantee certain reliability

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Note: satellite signals are usually very

weak requires careful link budget
planning

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Free space path loss transmit

side

Free Space Path Losses (FSPL) due to dispersion

of EM wave energy
Antenna used to focus the energy of the wave in
the direction of the receiver
Note: antenna gain is usually quoted in the
direction of radiation maximum. For other
direction need to use the actual radiation pattern
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Power flux in the

direction of maximum
radiation

PT GT
W
4R 2

28

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Free space path loss

receive side
Received power

PR W Ae

PT GT
Ae
2
4R

Using

2
Ae
GR
4
One obtains
Effective antenna gain (effective aperture)

Ae A A
A aperture efficiency of the antenna (50-90%)

PT GT GR
PR
4R / 2
FSPL equation

FSPL 4R /
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Additional losses

Additional losses
Misalignment of the
antennas
Atmospheric losses
Radome losses
The additional losses are taken
into account through
appropriate design margins
Typical design margin 5-10dB
Component accuracy
Operating frequency
Required reliability

Link equation

PR EiRP GR FSPL AL

AL additional losses
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32

Shannon capacity
formula

Shannon capacity formula

establishes fundamental limits on
communication
In the case of AWGN channel

C B log 2 1
N

C capacity of the channel in bits/sec

B bandwidth of the channel in Hz
S/N signal to noise ratio (linear)
Define = R/B - bandwidth utilization in
bps/Hz, where R is the information rate in
bps.

E R
C
log 2 1 b
R
N0 B

E
log 2 1 b
N0

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Minimum energy per bit normalized

to noise power density that is
required for a given spectrum
utilization

Eb
Eb
2 1
min

N0

N0
Note: is the fundamental
measure of spectrum
utilization. Ultimate goal of
every wireless
communication system is to
provide largest for a give
set of constraints.

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EIRP

10/02/14

35

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Frequencies &
Wavelengths

Electromagnetic Spectrum

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RF Bands, Names & Users

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ELEVATION ANGLE

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Propagation Effects and

their impact

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DVB-S

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Satellite Link Design

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Thank you

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