Chapter 20: Satellite Communications

TRUE/FALSE 1. Communications satellites could be just passive reflectors. ANS: T 2. A typical communications satellite can cover half of the earth's surface. ANS: F 3. Most communications satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit. ANS: T 4. Most communications satellites are in a geostationary orbit. ANS: T 5. "Geostationary" means the same thing as "geosynchronous". ANS: F 6. A geosynchronous orbit is about 3,600 km above the equator. ANS: F 7. Signals from satellites in a geosynchronous orbit suffer a great deal of free-space attenuation. ANS: T 8. It is easier to reach a geosynchronous satellite from higher northern latitudes. ANS: F 9. At the frequencies satellites use, the ionosphere has negligible effect. ANS: T 10. The closer a satellite is to earth, the faster the velocity it needs to stay in orbit. ANS: T 11. In the Northern Hemisphere, an antenna must face south to reach a satellite. ANS: T 12. You cannot communicate with a geosynchronous satellite from the Southern Hemisphere. ANS: F

13. You cannot communicate with a geosynchronous satellite from the South Pole. ANS: T 14. Typically, ground antennas must be movable to "track" a geosynchronous satellite. ANS: F 15. The azimuth and elevation needed for an antenna to "see" a certain satellite depend on the location of the antenna on the ground. ANS: T 16. The power in the uplink signal to a typical communications satellite is in the range of 50 to 240 watts. ANS: F 17. The power in the downlink signal from a typical communications satellite is in the range of 10 to 250 watts per transponder. ANS: T 18. The EIRP of a satellite depends on the gain of its antenna. ANS: T 19. The EIRP of a satellite is the same anywhere reception is possible. ANS: F 20. It takes over half a second for a signal to go from point A to point B and back again via geostationary satellite. ANS: T 21. The useful life of a communications satellite is over when it runs out of fuel. ANS: T 22. The maximum useful life of a communications satellite is about three years. ANS: F 23. Using the C band for satellites may conflict with terrestrial microwave communications. ANS: T 24. Ku-band antennas can be smaller than C-band antennas. ANS: T 25. Conventional analog satellite transponders cannot be used with digital data signals.

ANS: F 26. It is possible to transmit signals from one satellite to another. ANS: T 27. In practice, the beamwidth of a parabolic reflector is independent of its diameter. ANS: F 28. Communications satellites are particularly well suited to long-distance telephony. ANS: F 29. With TDMA, more than one hundred earth stations can use the same satellite transponder. ANS: T 30. LEO communications satellite systems have been a great commercial success. ANS: F MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. The height of the geosynchronous orbit above the equator is about: a. 3,578 km c. 357,800 km b. 35,780 km d. depends on satellite velocity ANS: B 2. The high and low points of a satellite's orbit are called, respectively,: a. apogee and perigee c. uplink and downlink b. perigee and apogee d. downlink and uplink ANS: A 3. The area on the earth that is "covered" by a satellite is called its: a. earth station c. footprint b. downlink d. plate ANS: C 4. The velocity required to stay in orbit: a. is constant b. is zero (freefall) c. is lower close to the earth than far from the earth d. is higher close to the earth than far from the earth ANS: D 5. An antenna is aimed by adjusting the two "look angles" called: a. azimuth and elevation c. declination and elevation b. azimuth and declination d. apogee and perigee

ANS: A 6. The power per transponder of a typical Ku-band satellite is in the range: a. 5 to 25 watts c. 500 to 2500 watts b. 50 to 250 watts d. depends on its orbit ANS: B 7. The power level for an earth station to transmit to a satellite is on the order of: a. 101 watts c. 103 watts 2 b. 10 watts d. 104 watts ANS: C 8. The "payload" on a communications satellite consists of: a. transponders c. solar cells b. batteries d. all of the above ANS: A 9. "Station-keeping" refers to: a. antenna maintenance b. power-level adjustments ANS: C 10. DBS stands for: a. decibels of signal b. down-beam signal ANS: D 11. LNA stands for: a. low-noise amplifier b. low north angle ANS: A 12. A reduction in TWT power for linearity is called: a. backdown c. power-down b. backoff d. EIRP drop ANS: B 13. TVRO stands for: a. television receive only b. television repeater only ANS: A 14. TDMA stands for: a. transponder-directed multiple antennas b. television distribution master antenna ANS: C 15. VSAT stands for: c. time-division multiple access d. transmit delay minimum aperture c. television remote origin d. none of the above c. low-noise amplitude d. low-noise array c. direct-broadcast system d. direct-broadcast satellite c. orbital adjustments d. none of the above

a. video satellite b. video signal antenna terminal ANS: D

c. very small antenna terminal d. very small aperture terminal

16. On the uplink from a terminal, a VSAT system uses: a. high power to a small antenna c. low power to a large antenna b. low power to a small antenna d. LEO satellites ANS: B 17. A typical VSAT system is configured as a: a. star b. mesh ANS: A 18. LEO stands for: a. long elliptic orbit b. low-earth orbit ANS: B 19. For real-time communication, LEO systems require: a. a constellation of satellites c. very high power b. tracking dish antennas d. all of the above ANS: A 20. The frequency bands used by Ku-band satellites are: a. 4 GHz and 6 GHz c. 20 GHz and 30 GHz b. 12 GHz and 14 GHz d. none of the above ANS: B COMPLETION 1. A satellite in geosynchronous orbit takes ____________________ hours to complete one orbit. ANS: 24 2. The ____________________ is the signal path from the earth station to the satellite. ANS: uplink 3. The ____________________ is the signal path from the satellite to the earth station. ANS: downlink 4. A satellite in a ____________________ orbit appears to stay directly above one spot on the equator. ANS: geostationary 5. Non-geostationary satellites are sometimes called ____________________ satellites. c. lateral earth orbit d. longitudinal earth orbit c. ring d. repeater

ANS: orbital 6. A geosynchronous orbit is about ____________________ km above the earth. ANS: 35,780 7. A ____________________ is an outline of the area on the earth's surface that a satellite broadcasts to. ANS: footprint 8. All satellite orbits are ____________________ in shape. ANS: elliptical 9. The ____________________ is the distance of a satellite's closest approach to the earth. ANS: perigee 10. The ____________________ is a satellite's farthest distance from the earth. ANS: apogee 11. An antenna's ____________________ is its angular direction between east and west. ANS: azimuth 12. An antenna's ____________________ is its vertical angle with respect to the earth's surface. ANS: elevation 13. An antenna's ____________________ is the angle by which it is offset from the earth's axis. ANS: declination 14. Satellites using the ____________________ band operate on 12 GHz. ANS: Ku 15. The time for a signal to make a round trip via satellite is about ____________________ milliseconds. ANS: 500 16. A ____________________ is a type of repeater used on communications satellites. ANS: transponder 17. Both the gain and the beamwidth of a dish antenna depend on its ____________________. ANS: diameter

18. VSAT systems commonly use a ____________________ network configuration. ANS: star 19. To date, LEO satellite systems have been a financial ____________________. ANS: failure 20. C-band antennas are ____________________ than Ku-band antennas. ANS: larger SHORT ANSWER 1. A receiving antenna with a gain of 44.4 dBi looks at a sky with a noise temperature of 15 K. The loss between the output of the antenna and the input of the LNA is 0.4 dB, and the LNA has a noise temperature of 40 K. Calculate the G/T. ANS: 25 dB 2. A receiver has a noise figure of 1.7 dB. Find its equivalent noise temperature. ANS: 139 K. 3. A receiving antenna with a G/T of 25 dB is used to receive signals from a satellite 38,000 km away. The satellite has a 100-watt transmitter and an antenna with a gain of 30 dBi. The signal has a bandwidth of 1 MHz at a frequency of 12 GHz. Calculate the C/N at the receiver. ANS: 38 dB