Satellite Technology

Dr. Deepak K. Ghodgaonkar

Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and
Communication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar, Gujarat

1
What is a communication satellite?

A communication satellite is an object that goes around, or orbits, a

larger object, such as a earth. It carries all communication
equipment such as antennas, radio receivers and transmitters so
that a communication link is established between distant points.
There is a balance between centrifugal force and gravitational
forces.

2
Advantages of Satellite Communications

• Covers Wide Geographical Areas

• Wide Bandwidth
• Distance Insensitive Cost
• High Reliability
• Independent from Terrestrial Infrastructure
• Mobility

Disadvantages of Satellite Communications

• Propagation Delays
• High Initial Cost
• Regulatory Licensing Requirements
3
Satellite Frequencies
Uplink Frequencies Downlink Frequencies

5.925-6.425 GHz 3.700-4.200 GHz

7.900-8.400 GHz 7.250-7.750 GHz

14.00-14.50 GHz 11.70-12.20 GHz

27.50-30.00 GHz 17.70-20.20 GHz

4
SATELLITE ORBITS

5
LOW EARTH (LEO)
[Satellite phone, Military, Observation ]

MEDIUM EARTH (MEO)

[Weather Satellites, Observation ]

GEOSTATIONARY/GEOSYNCHRONOUS (GEO)
[Television, Communications ]

6
Orbit Orientations

plane of satellite orbit

satellite orbit
perigee
d
inclination d

equatorial plane

7
 Orbit Types
N
GEO – Geosynchronous Orbit

LEO – Low Earth Orbit

Around Equator
S

HEO – Highly Elliptical Orbit

S
8
 Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
Geosynchronous earth9orbit (GEO) satellites
– Stationed at an altitude of 35,786 km
– Orbit matches the rotation of the Earth
• And moves as the Earth moves
Geosynchronous orbit with inclination 0° is
Geostationary.
– complete rotation exactly one day, satellite is
synchronous to earth rotation
fix antenna positions, no adjusting necessary
Can provide continuous service to a very large
footprint (up to 34% of earth surface!)
• Three GEO satellites are needed to cover the
Earth
9
 Geostationary Satellites
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
Require high-powered terrestrial sending
devices
High latency due to long distance (Round trip
time: 230-270 milliseconds)
Not useful for global coverage for small mobile
phones and data transmission, typically used
for radio and TV transmission 10
 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
Medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites
11
– Orbit the Earth at altitudes between 5,000 and
12,000 km.
– Some MEO satellites orbit in near-perfect circles
• Have a constant altitude and constant speed
– Other MEO satellites revolve in elongated orbits
called highly elliptical orbits (HEOs)
Advantages
– MEO can circle the Earth in up to 12 hours
– Have a bigger Earth footprint

11
Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
contd..
Disadvantage

– Higher orbit increases the latency

– Round trip time: 50 to 150
milliseconds

12
 Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
• Low earth orbit (LEO) satellites
– Circle the Earth at an altitude of 300 to 1450 km
– Must travel at high speeds
• So that the Earth’s gravity will not pull them back into
the atmosphere
– Area of Earth coverage (called the footprint) is small
– Systems must cope with larger doppler shifts.

• LEO systems have a low latency

– Use low-powered terrestrial devices (RF transmitters)
– Round trip time: 20 to 40 milliseconds

13
 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) contd..
• LEO satellites groups
– Little LEO
• Frequencies below 1 GHz
• 5MHz of bandwidth
• Data rates up to 10 kbps
• Aimed at paging, tracking, and low-rate messaging
– Big LEO
• Frequencies above 1 GHz

• Support data rates up to a few megabits per sec

• Offer same services as little LEOs in addition to
voice and positioning services. Carries voice and
data broadband services, such as wireless Internet
access
14
 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) contd..

• Circular or inclined orbit with < 1400 km

altitude
– Satellite travels across sky from
horizon to horizon in 5 - 15 minutes =>
needs handoff
– Earth stations must track satellite or
have Omni directional antennas
– Large constellation of satellites is
needed for continuous communication
– Requires complex architecture
– Requires tracking at ground

15
 Highly Elliptical Orbits (HEO)

 HEOs (i = 63.4°) are suitable to provide

coverage at high latitudes (including North Pole
in the northern hemisphere)
 Depending on selected orbit (e.g. Molniya,
Tundra, etc.) two or three satellites are
sufficient for continuous time coverage of the
service area.
 All traffic must be periodically transferred from
the “setting” satellite to the “rising” satellite
(Satellite Handover)

 Orbit should avoid Van Allen radiation belts:

Region of charged particles that can
cause damage to satellite
Occur at
~2000-4000 km and
~13000-25000 km
Satellite Parameters as function of altitude
Orbit Comparison

18
Geostationary Satellite

Geostationary satellite appears stationary

with respect to earth because it orbit in
circular pattern with an angular velocity
equal to that of earth.

19
Conditions for Geostationary Orbit

• The satellite must travel eastward at

the same rotational speed as the earth.
So, satellite orbital period (23 hours 56
minutes) must be same as earth.
• The orbit must be circular
• The inclination of the orbit should be
zero. So, it must lie in equatorial plane.

20
Kepler’s Laws of Planetary
Motion
• 1: The orbit of any body
is an ellipse, and the
body it is orbiting will
be at one of the foci of
the ellipse.
• 2: The orbital radius
vector of the body will
sweep out equal areas
in equal times.
• 3: The acceleration of a
body is inversely
proportional to the
orbital radius.
21
 Kepler’s First Law
• Orbits always trace
elliptical paths.
• 2 Foci – Earth is
b
Semi-minor Axis always at one of the
foci.
a
Semi-major Axis • Eccentricity
e = (a2-b2)1/2/a
• 0 <= e <= 1

22
 Apogee and Perigee
• RA = a (1 + e)
• RP = a (1 - e)

Ra Rp
Radius of Apogee Radius of
Perigee

23
Kepler’s Second Law
• Equal areas in equal
times.
• Highly elliptical orbits
move rapidly at perigee,
slower at apogee.
• This is an important factor
in Molniya orbits: the
satellite appears to hang
over the northern
hemisphere.

24
Kepler’s Third Law
• Satellites in LEO move
faster than satellites in
GEO.
• a3 = μ/η2
• μ is Kepler’s constant
and is 3.986 x 1014
m3/s2
• η is the average
velocity of the satellite
• η = 2 π/ T (sec)

25
What is a transponder?

• It is series of interconnected units

which form a single communication
channel between the receive and
transmit antennas in a communication
satellite.

26
Functions of a Satellite Transponder

• Amplification of very week received

signal from uplink.

• Frequency translation of uplink

frequency to downlink frequency.

• Limit noise and interference.

27
Why uplink and downlink frequencies are
different?
To avoid interference between very weak
received signal from the uplink antenna and
very strong transmitted signal from the
downlink antenna.

Why uplink frequency is higher than the

downlink frequency?

Path losses are proportional to frequency. It

is easier to increase power from an earth
station as compared to satellite.

28
How the bandwidth of satellite is
increased?

• 1. Spatial frequency reuse

• 2. Polarization frequency reuse

• 3. Using different frequency bands

29
 Block Diagram of a Transponder

Wideband a
Receiver 3 dB
Input Filter Coupler b

Demultiplexer

Multiplexer
a
Wideband b
Receiver

0 dB -1.5 30 50 48 104 102.5

Reference
Level

a : Attenuator (lower position)

b : Amplifier(TWTA/SSPA

30 30
Satellite Communication Transponder
– The information signals (Base band signals) are transmitted by the
earth stations from the ground.

– These signals experience the free space path loss of the order of
100 dB or more depending upon the frequency.

– When these signals are received by the Geosynchronous Satellite

(36000 kms away form the earth), become very weak.

– These weak signals are amplified by Receiver with minimum

insertion of noise.

– After necessary frequency conversion and channelization these

signals are further amplified by Power Amplifiers (PAs) with
minimum insertion of non-linearity to a level such that they can be
received by an earth station on ground.

31
 Comparison between TWTA and SSPA
• TWTA Advantages

• Higher efficiency than SSPA

• Wider Bandwidth
•
• TWTA Problems

• a) Large RF power back off is required to reduce inter modulation

distortion in linear multitone service. This leads to a correspondingly
large reduction in efficiency TWTAs.
• b) Cathode wear-out
• c) High voltage break down
• d) High voltage power supply requirement
• (2500V compared to 9V for FETA)
• e) High non linearity
• f) Higher cost and weight

32
 SSPA Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
a) Low voltage power supply (8 volts compared to 2500
volts required for TWTA operation)
b) Offer weight and size savings
c) Superior to TWTA both at saturation and power back off
d) Excellent limiting characteristics under overdrive
e) Lower Intermod products (13 dBc vs.10 dBc) and lower
Phase Shift (22º vs. 46º)
f) Lower cost

Disadvantages
a) Less broadband than TWTAs
b) Lower efficiency (35% against 55%)
33
 Link Budget
• To determine the received signal strength at
the receiver, it is necessary to account for all
the gains and losses over the entire signal
path.

• Summing these values up (in dB form)

creates a “link budget” where the individual
gain and loss contributions can be seen, and
adjustments made to those under the control
of the designer.
34
 Effective Radiated Isotropic
Power (EIRP)
• The equivalent power that would need
to be radiated by an isotropic antenna
to create the same power flux (field
strength) at the receiving location.

• EIRP = Pt x Gt

• [EIRP] = [Pt] + [Gt] - [losses in

transmitter feedline]
35
 Free Space Loss
• Caused by the spreading of the transmitted
energy as it radiates through space.
[FSL] = 32.4 + 20 log r + 20 log f
Where r is in km and f in MHz.

Downlink Pt, Gt Uplink Pr, Gr LNA

r r

Pr, Gr LNA Pt, Gt

36
 Free Space Loss
Example: r = 42,000 km, f = 6 GHz

[FSL]= 32.4 + 20 log(42,000) + 20 log (6000)

[FSL]= 32.4 + 92.46 + 75.56

[FSL]= 200.42 dB

37
 Link Budget
[Pr] = [Pt] + [Gt] + [Gr] - [FSL] - [RFL] -
[AML] - [AA] - [Others]

[Pr] determined by the link budget must

exceed the minimum required signal
power at the receiver. This is
determined by the rain margin and
desired signal to noise ratio for the
receiver and modulation being used.
38
 Satellite Antennas
• Low-gain antennas provide omnidirectional coverage
and are used for beacons and TTC operations, that way
if the satellite looses attitude control, there is still the
ability to send and receive signals from the Earth.

• High-gain antennas are used for transponder uplink and

downlink because higher data rates and better quality
performance are enhanced by the effect of the antenna
gain on the signal to noise ratio.

• High-gain antennas require that the spacecraft be able to

accurately aim the antenna beam at the desired point on
the Earth.

39
 Satellite Antennas
• Antennas are needed at the satellite and the earth
station.
• Some satellites may use separate antennas for
uplink and downlink, while others may use RF
combining devices called diplexers to use the
same antenna for uplink and downlink.
• Earth stations typically use the same antenna for
both uplink and downlink, again using a diplexer.
• Satellites usually have a variety of antennas, with
separate antennas for beacon, C and Ku bands,
and telemetry and control.
40
Footprint

41
 Andrew 6.5 – meter Diameter
E.S. antenna
• C-band Operation
– Rx: 3.400 - 4.200 GHz
– Tx: 5.850 - 6.725 GHz
• Gain:
– Rx: 46.5 dBi (midband)
– Tx: 51.0 dBi (midband)
• Beamwidth Rx (Tx) degrees:
– .68 (.42)
– 1.32 (.84)
• VSWR < 1.3:1
• Polarization Isolation: >35 dB
• Weight: 6400 lbs
42
 LEO Services Providers
• Iridium – Claims to provide global
coverage with 66 Satellites.

• Globalstar – Covers majority of landmass

using 48 Satellites.

43
 Basics of Satellite Phones
• Since Satellites are moving, signals are
Doppler Shifted.

• LEO are preferred because of low loss.

• Stationary Phone should be able to

handover from one Satellite to another.

• Major Systems are placed within Satellite

for rapid protocol exchange. 44
 Iridium
• It’s a Company based in Bethesda, MD.

• Established in early 1990’s.

• Started Providing Commercial Services in

November, 1998.

• Filed for Bankruptcy in August, 1999,

Rescued by Motorola. 45
 Iridium
• Company was named after the
chemical element Iridium.

• Originally planned for a 77 Satellite

Network (Iridium-77).

• Currently operates with a constellation

of 66 Satellites. 46
 Iridium
• All 66 Satellites revolve in LEO.

• Altitude is around 775 Km, Inclined at

86.4°

• Average Orbiting Time is 100 Minutes.

• All the Satellites Revolve in Polar Orbits.

• It’s known as Walker Star Configuration.

47
 Iridium

Visualization of Iridium Satellite Network

48
 Definition Overview Working Principle System Components Realization Errors Applications

Functionality Space Segment Control Segment User Segment

Space Segment
• 24 satellite vehicles
• Six orbital planes
– Inclined 55o with respect to
equator
– Circular Orbits separated by
60o
• 20,200 km elevation above
Earth
• Orbital period of 11 hr 55
min ~ 12 hrs
• Travel approx. 7,000mph
• Five to eight satellites
visible from any point on
Earth
• Constellation has spares
 Definition Overview Working Principle System Components Realization Errors Applications

Definition
• The Global Positioning System (GPS) is
– the only fully-functional satellite navigation system
(allow small electronic devices) to determine their
location (Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude) within a
few meters using time signals transmitted along a line
of sight by radio from satellites.
– used to calculate the precise time as a reference for
scientific experiments.)
– a vital global utility, indispensable for modern
navigation on land, sea, and air around the world,
– an important tool for map-making and land
surveying.
– the precise time reference, required for
telecommunications and some scientific research, 50
 Definition Overview Working Principle System Components Realization Errors Applications

History Overview

History of the GPS

• 1969 - Defense Navigation Satellite System (DNSS)
formed
• 1973 - NAVSTAR Global Positioning System developed
• 1978 - first 4 satellites launched
• 1993 - 24th satellite launched; initial operational
capability
• 1995 - full operational capability
• 2000 - Military accuracy available to all users