EEE 439 Communication Systems II

9/23/2019
EEE 439
Communication Systems II
Dr. Md. Saifur Rahman
Professor, Dept. of EEE, BUET, Dhaka 1205
Satellite Communication
What is a Satellite?
“A satellite with a circular equatorial orbit at a correct altitude of 35,786

km would make one revolution every 24 hours”.
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What is the trick of Launching a Satellite?
If a high enough initial velocity is provided, a satellite falls parallel

to the surface of the earth. Therefore, it never touches the ground.
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Why does a Satellite Stay in Orbit?
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Satellite Era: Realization of Clarke’s Vision
Satellite as a Repeater
Satellite as a Repeater
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Basic Components of a Satellite
Satellite Components
A diagram of a typical satellite is shown below:
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Satellite Equipments
A satellite mainly has the following equipments:
1. Computer system
2. Control system
3. Solar panels
4. Battery
5. Antennas
6. Transponders
a) Filters
b) Low noise amplifier (LNA)
c) Frequency translator
d) Power amplifier
Computer and Control System

The computer system monitors the overall performance of the satellite.
The control system keeps the satellite antennas pointed at the correct position.
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Transponders
• Transponder is a device that receives a signal at a particular frequency and re-
transmits that signal at a different frequency after amplifying it.
• Regenerative transponders also processes the signal before re-transmitting it.
Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)

• LNA has a high G/T ratio that makes it suitable for satellite applications.
1. It is located very close to the detector instrument to reduce losses by the
feed line.
2. Gain of LNA can be around 12 dB, but it is frequency dependent.
3. JFET and HEMT based amplification circuit
4. Operating temperature -40 to 125 degree Celsius
5. Narrow band operation
Satellite Solar Panels

Solar panels are used to convert light energy from the sun
to electrical energy. This energy is used to charge the
batteries on the satellite.
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Satellite Batteries
• Cycle: Complete charging of the battery and complete discharging of

the battery together are called a cycle.
• A satellite battery usually has a lifetime of 100,000 cycle. For usual
power consumption of a satellite, this amounts to a life time of 15
years.
Physical Characteristics
• This batteries are usually
Height 88.3
• Lithium ion.
mm
Width 54.5
mm
Electrical Characteristics
Thickness 38.0
Nominal Capacity 15 Ah mm
Nominal Voltage 3.6 V Weight 360 g
Volume 182
Maximum Recommended 15 A
cc
Continuous Discharge
Current Gravimetric Energy 150
Operating Discharge 0°C to Density Wh/kg
Temperature 42°C Volumetric Energy 295
Density Wh/L 11
Satellite Anatomy
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Transmitter/Receiver
The transmitter/receiver is part of the Communications sub-
system. When the satellite needs to send a picture to Earth,
the transmitter changes the image data into a signal that can
be beamed to the ground. When engineers send a command
to the satellite, the receiver picks up the signal and changes it
into a message the satellite's computer can understand.
High Gain Antenna
The high gain antenna is part of the Communications sub-
system. This antenna is used to send large amounts of data
very quickly between the satellite and Earth.
Image Sensors
The image sensors are part of the Payload sub-system. The
sensors process the pictures captured by the digital camera
and turn them into electronic signals that can be sent to Earth.
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Flight Computer
The flight computer is part of the Command and Data sub-
system. This is the brains of the satellite that controls all
satellite activity.
Digital Camera
The digital camera in this remote sensing satellite is part of
the Payload sub-system. This is the part of the satellite that
records pictures of Earth's surface.
Omni Antennas
The omni antenna is part of the Communications sub-system.
They are used to transmit messages between the satellite and
ground control.
I/O Processor
The I/O processor is part of the Command and Data sub-
system. I/O stands for input/output, and that's just what this
unit does: it controls the flow of data into and out of the flight
computer.
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Solar Arrays
The solar arrays are large wing-like structures that are made up of
thousands of tiny solar cells. Each solar cell generates electricity
from sunlight.. When all these cells are connected together in the
solar array, they generate enough power to run the satellite's
equipment and recharge the satellite's batteries.
Thermal Blanket
The thermal blanket is part of the Thermal Control sub-system.
The blanket is a thin foil material that covers the entire satellite,
and it does just what you would think a blanket would do: it keeps
the satellite warm in the cold and cool in the heat. Satellites are
exposed to both very cold and very warm temperatures (-120 to
+180 degrees). Without the thermal blanket, the delicate
electronics would be damaged.
Battery
The battery is part of the Power sub-system. It stores the electrical
energy created by the solar arrays so that it can be used by all of
the satellite's electronic equipment.
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Bus Structure
This important part of a satellite is the framework that holds
everything together. The bus structure is usually made of very
strong and lightweight material that will be strong enough to
support all the other parts, but not be so heavy that the
satellite can't be lifted into orbit. Aluminum, titanium and
graphite epoxy materials are often used in building satellites.
Star Trackers
The star trackers are part of the Pointing Control sub-system.
They are small telescopes that point out into space and read
the position of the stars. The satellite uses star positions to
help navigate, just like we do on Earth.
Reaction Wheels
The reaction wheels are part of the Pointing Control sub-
system. These are heavy wheels that spin in different
directions. Their momentum causes the satellite to move and
point at specific targets.
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Power Systems
All working satellites need power to operate. The Sun provides
power to most of the satellites orbiting Earth. This Power
System uses solar arrays to make electricity from sunlight,
batteries to store the electricity, and distribution units that
send the power to all the satellite's instruments.
Payload
The Payload is everything a satellite needs to perform its
specific mission. A communications satellite needs large
antenna reflectors to send telephone or TV signals. An Earth
remote sensing satellite needs a digital camera and image
sensors to take pictures of Earth's surface. A scientific research
satellite needs a telescope and image sensors to record views
of stars and other planets.
Thermal Control
The Thermal Control sub-system protects all the satellite's
equipment from damage in the harsh space environment. In
orbit, a satellite is exposed to extreme temperature changes --
from 120 degrees below zero in the shade, to 180 degrees 17
above zero in the Sun.
Thermal Control uses heat distribution units and thermal
blankets to protect the satellite's delicate electronics from being
damaged by these temperature changes.
Recent Mobile Communication Satellite : IRIDIUM
Iridium is a communications satellite developed by
Motorola. Actually, Iridium is designed as a system
of satellites. There will be 66 Iridium satellites
in all that will provide mobile telephone and
paging services worldwide. Anyone with an
Iridium telephone will be able to make calls to and
from anywhere on Earth.
Last year, Motorola began launching its satellites

into low earth orbit. As of January 1st, 1998 there
were 46 satellites already in position. Additional
launches will take place early this year. Global
service is scheduled to begin in 1998. Stay tuned
for updates on Iridium's status. 18
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Satellite Communication System

Courtesy: Dr. Md. Farhad Hossain
Professor, Dept. of EEE, BUET
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Satellite System
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Satellite System
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Types of Polarization
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SDMA and PDMA
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Vertical and Horizontal Polarization
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Satellite Transponder (ST)

Filter bank
(DEMUX)
Transparent Transponder
Filter bank
(DEMUX)
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Satellite Transponder (ST)

Another view of a Transparent

Transponder
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ST: Receiver
• A wide band receiver is used: 500 MHz
• A redundant receiver is kept
• Components of receiver: Receive (Rx) antenna, band pass filter, LNA (pre-
amplifier), mixer and amplifier
• Rx Antenna: Receives composite spectrum across entire uplink, i.e., 500 MHz
• Bandpass Filter: Allows only desired signals to pass, rejecting all others,
bandwidth is 36 MHz.
LNA
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ST: LNA Courtesy: Dr. Md. Farhad Hossain

 The RF signal attenuated to travel from earth station to satellite

 Need to amplify with low noise
 LNA amplifier adds little noise
 Provide sufficient amplification for mixing
 Noise is calculated using noise temperature
LNA
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ST: Mixer
• LNA output feeds into mixer
• Mixer requires a local oscillator for frequency conversion process
• Translates received Uplink frequency into transmitted Downlink frequency
• The power drive from local oscillator is about 10 dBm
• The oscillator frequency must be stable and its phase noise should be very low
LNA
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ST: Amplifier
• The mixer output feeds into a band pass filter.
• The output of the band pass filter feeds to amplifier
LNA
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ST: Input Demultiplexer

•The output of the amplifier is feed to input demultiplexer
• The input demultiplexer uses a series of band pass filters tuned
to different channels and separates the broadband inputs to its
different channels (channelization).
• The channels are usually numbered as odd-numbered and
even-numbered groups to provide greater separation between
two adjacent channels in a group
Advantages of channelization
• Power amplification with limited intermodulation noise due to
the reduced number of carriers per amplifier
• Increase of the total power of the repeater by having several
channels, each benefiting from the maximum power available
from a single amplifier. 44
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ST: Input Demultiplexer

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ST: High Power Amplifier (HPA)

• Each output of the input demultiplexer is feed to a high power amplifier
• Each HPA is preceded by an input attenuator
• This is necessary to permit the input drive (preamplifier) to each power amplifier to be
adjusted to the desired level.
• The attenuator has a fixed section and a variable section.
• The fixed attenuation is needed to balance out variations in the input attenuation so that
each transponder channel has the same nominal attenuation, the necessary adjustments
being made during assembly.
• The variable attenuation is needed to set the level as required for different types of
service. It also allows to compensate for variations of HPA gain during the lifetime of the
satellite
• Variable attenuator adjustment is an operational requirement and it must be under the
control of the ground TT&C station.
Filter bank
(DEMUX)
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ST: High Power Amplifier (HPA)

• Traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) are widely used in transponders to

provide the final output power required to the transmit antenna
• The advantage of the TWT over other types of tube amplifiers is that it can
provide amplification over a very wide bandwidth
• Input levels to the TWT must be carefully controlled to minimize the
distortion
• The worst of these results from the nonlinear transfer characteristic of the
TWT
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ST: Antenna
• Satellite carries both Rx and Tx antennas
• Receive (Rx) Antenna – Receives uplink from earth station
• Transmit (Tx) Antenna – Transmits downlink to receiving earth station
• Directional beams are usually produced by means of reflector-type
antennas, the paraboloidal reflector being the most common
• The gain of the paraboloidal reflector, relative to an isotropic radiator is
given by
G = Gain over an isotropic source in dB

K = Aperture efficiency, which is generally around 50% to 60%, i.e. 0.5 to 0.6
D = Diameter of the parabolic reflector in metres
λ = Wavelength of the signal in metres 48
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Satellite Earth Station
• Consists of the transmit and receive earth stations.

• The simplest of these are the home TV receive-only (TVRO) systems.
• The most complex are the terminal stations used for international
communications networks.
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The main Satellite Earth Stations of Bangladesh are located at Betbunia

(Rangamati, Secondary Ground Control Station of Bangabandhu Satellite-1),
Talibabad (Kaliakair, Gazipur), Mohakhali (Dhaka), Sylhet and Gazipur
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(Telipara, Primary Ground Control Station of Bangabandhu Satellite-1).
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Bangabandhu Satellite-1
Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Ground Control Stations
Ground Control Station (Primary) at Ground Control Station (Secondary) at

Telipara, Gazipur. Betbunia , Rangamati. 53
Satellite Antennas
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Satellite Antennas
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Satellite Antennas
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Earth Station Antennas
1. Paraboloid Antenna with focal point feed
2. Cassegrain Antenna
OMT : Orthogonal Mode

Transducer
Disadvantages
- Feed radiation spills
over the edge of the
reflector illuminates
the ground whose
noise temperature is
as high as 290 deg K.
Paraboloid Antenna
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Earth Station Antennas
Advantages
- Low noise temperature

- pointing accuracy
- flexibility in feed design
- greater mechanical
stability
Cassegrain Antenna
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Satellite Orbits
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• Speed of Earth’s rotation (Equatorial) = 1000 miles/hour
The circumference of the Earth at the equator is 25,000 miles. The Earth rotates in
about 24 hours. Therefore, if you were to hang above the surface of the Earth at
the equator without moving, you would see 25,000 miles pass by in 24 hours, at a
speed of 25000/24 or just over 1000 miles per hour
• Speed of GEO satellites = 7000 miles/hour (11,200 kms/hour)
• Speed of LEO satellites = 17,550 miles/hour
• Speed of Earth’s revolution (around sun) = 66,660 miles/hour
Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO)
• geo = earth & synchronous = moving at the same rate.
• A geosynchronous orbit can also be called a geostationary orbit.
• Satellites in GEO orbit earth around the equator at a very
specific altitude that allows them to complete one orbit in the
same amount of time that it takes earth to rotate once. As a
result, these satellites stay above one point on earth's equator at
all times.
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•The altitude of GEO is about 5.6 times the radius of earth, i.e.,
35,800 km (about 22,200 mi).
• Direct-broadcast television satellites are in GEO.
• A few satellites in GEO can provide coverage for the entire earth,
and antennas do not need to track the satellite to receive a signal.
• Earth-surveillance missions, including military surveillance and
weather tracking missions, also use GEO.
circular orbit
A satellite in elliptical orbit follows an oval-shaped path.

One part of the orbit is closest to the center of earth
(perigee) and the other part is farthest away (apogee).
A satellite in this orbit takes about 12 hours to circle the elliptic orbit
planet. Like polar orbits, elliptical orbits move in a north-
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south direction.
Footprints
Because they're so far away, GEO
satellites have a very broad view
of earth. For instance, the footprint
of one EchoStar broadcast
satellite covers almost all of North
America.
Polar coverage
While most communications
satellites are in geosynchronous
orbit, the footprints of GEO
satellites do not cover the polar
regions of earth. So
communications satellites in
elliptical orbits cover the areas in
the high northern and southern
hemispheres that are not covered
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by GEO satellites.
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Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
• A satellite in low earth orbit (LEO) orbits at an altitude of 2,000 km
(1,200 mi) or less.
• Almost every satellite enters a LEO after it is launched. If a satellite's
mission requires an orbit other than LEO, it uses rockets to move into
its final orbit.
• An LEO minimizes the amount of fuel needed. In addition, a satellite
in LEO can obtain clearer surveillance images and can avoid the Van
Allen radiation belt, which contain harmful high-energy particles. It
needs less powerful signals to communicate with earth than satellites
with higher orbits. A signal to or from a LEO also reaches its
destination more quickly, making LEO satellites especially good for
transmitting data.
• A LEO is useful because its nearness to earth gives it
spectacular views. The crew in a space shuttle traveling in low
earth orbit took this picture.
• Satellites that observe our planet, like Remote sensing and

Weather satellites, often travel in LEOs because from this
height they can capture very detailed images of earth's surface.
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Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
• Because they orbit so close to earth, they must travel very fast so
that gravity don't pull them back into the atmosphere. Satellites in
LEO speed along at 17,000 miles per hour (27,359 kilometers per
hour)!
• They can circle earth in about 90 minutes.
Space Junk
• The LEO environment is getting
very crowded. The United States
Space Command (USSC) keeps track
of the number of satellites in orbit.
According to the USSC, there are
more than 8,000 objects larger than
a softball now circling the globe.
• Some people worry about the number of items now in low
earth orbit. Not all of these things are working satellites. There
are pieces of metal from old rockets, broken satellites, even
frozen sewage. At 17,000 mph, even a small bolt can hit a space
shuttle with the impact of a hand grenade. 64
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Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
• Medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites orbit at an altitude about 10,000
km (about 6,000 mi) and balance the benefits and problems between
LEO and GEO.
• The most common uses of MEO are by navigation and communication

satellites. The U.S. navigation system NAVSTAR Global Positioning
System (GPS), Russian Global Navigation Satellite System
(GLONASS), and Odyssey, a private U.S. communications satellite
program, all use MEO.
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Polar Orbits
• Satellites in polar orbits orbit around

earth at right angles to the equator over
both the north and south poles.
• Polar orbits can occur at any altitude,
but most satellites in polar orbits use
LEOs.
• Two polar satellites belonging to the
U.S. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
provide weather information for all areas
of the world every six hours. The
satellites also map ozone levels in the
atmosphere, including the level over the
poles. 66
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Polar Orbits
• Landsat is a U.S. government remote-
sensing satellite system that operates in
polar orbit. Scientists often use Landsat to
view agricultural phenomena such as
deforestation and crop blight.
• Transit, the first satellite-based navigation
system, used polar orbits in order to support
navigation around the world, especially for
submarines in the polar regions.
Why use a Polar Orbit?

• Polar orbits are useful for viewing the
planet's surface.
• As a satellite orbits in a north-south
direction, earth spins beneath it in an
east-west direction. Thus a satellite in
polar orbit can eventually scan the entire
surface.
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Polar Orbits
• It is like pealing an orange in one piece,
around and around, one strip at a time, and
finally you've got it all. For this reason, satellites
that monitor the global environment, like
remote sensing satellites, and weather
satellites are almost always in polar orbit. No
other orbit gives such thorough coverage of
earth.
Geosynchronous and Low Earth Orbits
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Geosynchronous and Low Earth Orbits
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9/23/2019

“A satellite with a circular equatorial orbit at a correct altitude of 35,786

If a high enough initial velocity is provided, a satellite falls parallel

Computer and Control System

Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)

Satellite Solar Panels

• Cycle: Complete charging of the battery and complete discharging of

Last year, Motorola began launching its satellites

Satellite Communication System

Satellite Transponder (ST)

Satellite Transponder (ST)

Another view of a Transparent

ST: LNA Courtesy: Dr. Md. Farhad Hossain

 The RF signal attenuated to travel from earth station to satellite

ST: Input Demultiplexer

ST: Input Demultiplexer

ST: High Power Amplifier (HPA)

ST: High Power Amplifier (HPA)

• Traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) are widely used in transponders to

G = Gain over an isotropic source in dB

• Consists of the transmit and receive earth stations.

The main Satellite Earth Stations of Bangladesh are located at Betbunia

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Ground Control Stations

Ground Control Station (Primary) at Ground Control Station (Secondary) at

OMT : Orthogonal Mode

- Low noise temperature

A satellite in elliptical orbit follows an oval-shaped path.

• Satellites that observe our planet, like Remote sensing and

• They can circle earth in about 90 minutes.

• The most common uses of MEO are by navigation and communication

• Satellites in polar orbits orbit around

Why use a Polar Orbit?

Geosynchronous and Low Earth Orbits

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