SPACE SEGMENT &

SATELLITE LINK DESIGN

 Spacecraft Technology- Structure

 The satellite system is composed of a space segment and a

ground segment
 The Space Segment contains one or several active satellites
organized in a constellation
 The ground Segment consists of all ground facilities for the
control and monitor the satellites (TTC-tracking, telemetry and
command) and for management the traffic and the resources
onboard the satellite
 The Ground Segment consists of all traffic earth stations
THE SPACE SEGMENT AND THE
EARTH SEGMENT

3
 Satellites – Satellite Subsystems
 Attitude and Orbit Control System
– Rocket motors to move satellite back to the correct orbit
– Keep antennas point toward to earth

 Telemetry, tracking, command and monitoring

– Telemetry system monitor satellite health, tracking system is located
at the earth station and provides information about elevation & azimuth
angles of the satellite

 Power system
– Electrical power from solar cells

 Communication subsystem
– Major component of communications satellites, one or more
antennas & a set of receivers and transmitters (transponders)
• The linear or bent pipe transponders; amplifiers the received signal & retransmits
it a different, usually lower frequency
• Base-band processing transporters; used with digital signals, converts the
received signal to base-band, process it, & then retransmits a digital signal
5
 Parameters affecting Structure
• Accelerations
• Aerodynamic loads & vibrations
• Centrifugal stresses
• Thermal stresses
• Operating thrusts
• Separation shocks
• Exposure to charged particle radiation

6
 Structural Types
• Longeron
• Truss
• Thrust tube

7
 Materials Used
• Aluminium
• Magnesium
• Titanium
• Austenitic steels
• Beryllium
• Invar
• Fibre Glass epoxy
• Graphite reinforced phenolic

8
The First Taiwan Designed Satellite

9
 The Power Supply
• The primary electrical power for operating the
electronic equipment is obtained from
– Solar cells
– Nuclear supplies
• Individual cells can generate only small
amounts of power, and therefore, arrays of
cells in series-parallel connection (SOLAR
PANELLS) are required

10
11
 Attitude Control
• The attitude of a satellite refers to its orientation in space
• Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem
– Stabilizes the vehicle
– Orients vehicle in desired directions
– Senses the orientation of the vehicle relative to reference (e.g.
inertial) points
• Determination: Sensors
• Control: Actuators
• Controls attitude despite external disturbance torques
acting on spacecraft
• Attitude control must not be confused with station keeping
– the term used for maintaining a satellite in its correct orbital
position

12
 .

Attitude Control
• The attitude control procedure involves:
1. measuring the attitude of the satellite by sensors;
2. comparing the results of these measurements with the required values;
3. calculating the corrections to be made to reduce errors;
4. introducing these corrections by operating the appropriate
torque units.

• The three axes which define a satellite’s attitude are its roll, pitch,
and yaw (RPY) axes

• All three axes pass through the center of gravity of the satellite
– roll axis moves the antenna footprint north and south
– pitch axis moves the footprint east and west
– yaw axis rotates the antenna footprint
13
 DEFINITION OF AXES
• ROLL AXIS
– Rotates around the axis tangent to the orbital plane (N-S
on the earth)
• PITCH AXIS
– Moves around the axis perpendicular to the orbital plane
(E-W on the earth)
• YAW AXIS
– Moves around the axis of the subsatellite point
(a) Roll, pitch, and yaw axes. (b) RPY axes for the geostationary orbit.

15
 Attitude Control Methods
• To Control torques – Actuators are used
– Apply the torques needed to re-orient the vehicle to the desired
attitude
• Passive attitude control refers to the use of mechanisms
which stabilize the satellite without putting a drain on
the satellite’s energy supplies
– Eg: spin stabilization
• With active attitude control, there is no overall stabilizing
torque present to resist the disturbance torques.
– corrective torques are applied as required in response to
disturbance torques.
– Eg: momentum wheels, electromagnetic coils, and mass
expulsion devices

16
 Spin Stabilization
• Achieved with cylindrical
satellites.
• The satellite is constructed so
that it is mechanically balanced
about one particular axis and is
then set spinning around this
axis.
• Spin rate is typically in the range
of 50 to 100 rev/min
• Disturbance torques
– decreases spin rate and the
direction of the angular spin
axis will change
– Nutation (wobbling) may occur
• Gyroscopic effect of a spinning
satellite provides stability for
the satellite attitude
 spin/dual-spin stabilization
• Spin stabilization
– Requires nutation damper
– Requires torquers to control precession (spin axis drift)
magnetically or with jets

• Dual-spin stabilization
• Two bodies rotating at different rates about a common axis
– Upper section does not rotate (de-spun- antenna, sensor)
– Lower section rotates to provide gyroscopic stability
• Upper section may rotate slightly or intermittently to point
payloads
• Requires torquers for momentum control and nutation dampers for
stability
• Allows relaxation of majar axis rule
 Spinning satellite stabilization
Spin stabilization in the geostationary orbit. The spin
axis lies along the pitch axis, parallel to the earth’s N-
S axis.

19
HS 376
spacecraft

20
 Momentum wheel stabilization
• Certain dual-spin spacecraft obtain spin
stabilization from a spinning flywheel rather than
by spinning the satellite itself.
– flywheels are termed momentum wheels, and their
average momentum is referred to as momentum bias.
• Stability achieved by utilizing the gyroscopic
effect of a spinning flywheel
• Used in body-stabilized satellites
– INTELSAT V type satellites
– Anik-E satellites
21
 Momentum wheel stabilization
• momentum wheel, consists of a flywheel, the bearing
assembly, the casing, and an electric drive motor with
associated electronic control circuitry.
• The flywheel is attached to the rotor, which consists of a
permanent magnet providing the magnetic field for motor
action.
• The stator of the motor is attached to the body of the
satellite.
– motor provides the coupling between the flywheel and the
satellite structure
• Provides passive stabilization for the yaw and roll axes
when the axis of rotation of the wheel lies along the pitch
axis,
– Control about the pitch axis is achieved by changing the speed of
the wheel
22
Momentum wheel stabilization
systems: one-wheel

23
 Momentum wheel stabilization
• Reaction wheels, operate at zero momentum
bias
• Used in three-axis stabilized systems
– each axis is stabilized by a reaction wheel

24
momentum wheel stabilization systems: two
wheel & three-wheel

25
 Station Keeping/ Orbital Control

• In addition to attitude control, it is important that a geostationary satellite be kept in

its correct orbital slot
• The equatorial ellipticity of the earth causes geostationary satellites to drift slowly
along the orbit, to one of two stable points, at 75°E and 105°W
• Jets are used to counter this drift. This is termed as east-west station-keeping
maneuvers
• The geostationary also will drift in latitude, because of the forces of gravitational
pull of the sun and the moon
• Jets may be pulsed at the appropriate time to return the inclination to zero (north-
south station-keeping maneuvers)
• Orbital correction is carried out by command from the TT&C earth station, which
monitors the satellite position

26
 Typical latitude and longitude variations for the Canadian Anik-C3
satellite which remain after station-keeping corrections are applied

27
The rectangular box shows the positional limits for a satellite in geostationary
orbit in relation to beams from a 30-m and a 5-m antenna

28
 Thermal Control
• To maintain all the components of the satellite within
their respective temperature limits during all modes
of operation

29
 Thermal Control
• Spacecraft temperatures depend on:

- Internal heat generation

- Heat emitted from spacecraft to deep into space
- Heat absorbed by the spacecraft from the external sources

• An orbiting spacecraft’s components have four external sources of heat:

- Solar radiation
- Albedo radiation (solar radiation reflecting from Planet’s surface)
- Planetary emissions
- Spacecraft emissions from heat generating components
 Thermal Control

• Thermal environments pose several problems for spacecraft designers.

• Due to nonuniform heating and different materials expanding and

contracting different amounts for a given temperature change, spacecraft
structures distort under thermal environment

• If we do not control these distortions, critical sensors and antennas may not
be able to find their targets, and mechanisms may jam

• Stresses caused by nonuniform heating and thermal distortions can result in

structural failure or reduced structural life

• Temperatures affect key properties of materials such as strength, stiffness,

ductility etc.
 Thermal Control

• Most importantly, many of the spacecraft’s electrical and mechanical

components will work only within certain temperature ranges

• The purpose of a spacecraft’s thermal control subsystem is to maintain

spacecraft temperatures within acceptable ranges:

- Active thermal control: pumped liquid loops, heaters, refrigerators

Eg: heaters may be switched on to make up for the heat reduction
which occurs when transponders are switched off

- Passive thermal control: Thermal blankets, radiators etc.

Eg:Thermal blankets and shields may be used to provide insulation
The Earth Segment

34
 Communication Payload and
supporting subsystems
 Communication Payload
 The payload refers to the equipment used to provide
the service for which the satellite has been launched.
 Bus
 refers not only to the vehicle which carries the
payload but also to the various subsystems required
to service the payload
 Attitude and Orbit Control System
 Telemetry, tracking, command and monitoring
 Power system
 Transponders & Antennas
35
 Satellite Subsystems
 Attitude and Orbit Control System
– Rocket motors to move satellite back to the correct orbit
– Keep antennas point toward to earth

 Telemetry, tracking, command and monitoring

– Telemetry system monitor satellite health, tracking system is located
at the earth station and provides information about elevation & azimuth
angles of the satellite

 Power system
– Electrical power from solar cells

 Communication subsystem
– Major component of communications satellites, one or more
antennas & a set of receivers and transmitters (transponders)
• The linear or bent pipe transponders; amplifiers the received signal & retransmits
it a different, usually lower frequency
• Base-band processing transporters; used with digital signals, converts the
received signal to base-band, process it, & then retransmits a digital signal
 Transponders
• A transponder is the series of interconnected
units which forms a single communications
channel between the receive and transmit
antennas in a communications satellite

37
Frequency arrangement of a typical C-
band communications satellite
• The bandwidth allocated for Cband service is 500 MHz, and this is
divided into subbands, one for each transponder.
• A typical transponder bandwidth is 36 MHz, and allowing for a 4-
MHz guard band between transponders, 12 such transponders can
be accommodated in the 500-MHz bandwidth.
Frequency Reuse
• By making use of polarization isolation, this number can be
doubled.
• Polarization isolation refers to the fact that carriers, which may be
on the same frequency but with opposite senses of polarization,
can be isolated from one another by receiving antennas matched to
the incoming polarization.
• With linear polarization, vertically and horizontally polarized
carriers can be separated in this way, and with circular polarization,
left-hand circular and right-hand circular polarizations can be
separated.
38
 Section of an uplink frequency and polarization plan
Numbers refer to
frequency in megahertz
• Frequency reuse also may be achieved with spot-beam
antennas, and these may be combined with polarization reuse
to provide an effective bandwidth of 2000 MHz from the
actual bandwidth of 500 MHz

39
Channeling scheme for the 12 transponders

40
 The wideband receiver
• Amplify and frequency convert all modulated carriers
• A duplicate receiver is provided so that if one fails, the other is
automatically switched in. The combination is referred to as a
redundant receiver, meaning that although two are provided,
only one is in use at a given time.
• Low-noise amplifier (LNA) adds little noise to the carrier being
amplified, and at the same time it rovides sufficient
amplification for the carrier to override the higher noise level
present in the following mixer stage
• The LNA feeds into a mixer stage, which also requires a local
oscillator signal for the frequency-conversion process.
• A second amplifier follows the mixer stage to provide an
overall receiver gain of about 60 dB
41
Satellite wideband receiver

42
The input
demultiplexer
separates the broadband
input, covering the frequency
range 3.7 to 4.2 GHz, into the
transponder frequency
channels
Provides frequency separation
between adjacent channel in
group, reduces channel
interference
By transmitting along each
chain, channelizing is
achieved by channel filters
attached

43
Typical diagram of the relative levels in a transponder
• power amplifier provides the output power for
each transponder
• channel.

44
 TT&C Subsystem
• The telemetry, tracking, and command subsystem
performs several routine functions aboard the
spacecraft.
• The telemetry, or telemetering, function could
be interpreted as measurement at a distance.
• Refers to the overall operation of generating an
electrical signal proportional to the quantity
being measured and encoding and transmitting
this to a distant station, which for the satellite is
one of the earth stations.
45
 TT&C
Subsystem

46
 Telemetry data
• Data which are transmitted as telemetry signals
include
– attitude information such as that obtained from sun
and earth sensors
– environmental information such as the magnetic field
intensity and direction, the frequency of meteorite
impact
– spacecraft information such as temperatures, power
supply voltages, and stored-fuel pressure
• Certain frequencies have been designated by
international agreement for satellite telemetry
transmissions.
47
 Telemetry and command as
complementary functions
• The telemetry subsystem transmits information
about the satellite to the earth station, while the
command subsystem receives command signals
from the earth station, often in response to
telemetered information.
• The command subsystem demodulates and, if
necessary, decodes the command signals and
routes these to the appropriate equipment
needed to execute the necessary action

48
 Functions
• Attitude changes
• Switching ON/OFF OF communication
transponders
• Antennas redirection
• Enabling station keeping maneuvers

49
Encryption of Commands
• Encrypt represents the process of concealing the
command signals in a secure code
– to prevent unauthorized commands from being received and
decoded
Tracking
• Accomplished by having the satellite transmit beacon
signals which are received at the TT&C earth stations
– transmitted in the telemetry channel, or by pilot carriers at
frequencies in one of the main communications channels, or by
special tracking antennas
• Telemetry, tracking, and command functions are complex
operations which require special ground facilities in
addition to the TT&C subsystems aboard the satellite

50
 The Antenna Subsystem
• The antennas carried aboard
a satellite provide the dual
functions of receiving the
uplink and transmitting the
downlink signals

51
Typical satellite antenna patterns and coverage zones. The antenna for the global beam
is usually a waveguide horn. Scanning beams and shaped beams require phased array
antennas or reflector antennas with phased array feeds.
Typical coverage patterns for Intelsat satellites over the Atlantic
Ocean.
Typical coverage patterns for Intelsat satellites over the Atlantic
Ocean.
Contour plot of the spot
beam of ESA’s OTS
satellite projected onto
the earth. The contours
are in 1 dB steps,
normalized to 0 dB at the
center of the beam.
Satellite Uplink & Downlink
Analysis & Design

59
 Satellite Communication
 When using a satellite for long distance communications, the
satellite acts as a repeater.
 An earth station transmits the signal up to the satellite (uplink),
which in turn retransmits it to the receiving earth station
(downlink).
 Different frequencies are used for uplink/downlink.

60
 Satellite Transmission Links
Earth stations Communicate by sending
signals to the satellite on an uplink
The satellite then repeats those signals on a
downlink
The broadcast nature of downlink makes it
attractive for services such as the distribution
of TV programs

61
 CARRIER – TO – NOISE RATIO
• A measure of a performance of a satellite link is
considered as a ratio of carrier power to noise power
at the receiver input along with the link budget
calculations which are considered to estimate this
ratio.
• Denoted as C/N and is calculated in decibels

• C/N  carrier to noise ratio

• PR Receiver Power
• PNNoise Power
62
Satellite Uplink & Downlink Analysis & Design
•C/N ratio calculation is simplified by the use of link budgets
•The resultant RF link performance equation is

•[EIRP] = equivalent isotropic radiated power, dBW

• =Carriers to noise power in dB Hz

•[LOSSES] = Free space loss and other losses in dB

•[GR/TS] = receiver antenna gain to system noise
temperature in dB/K
•[K] = -228.6dBJ/K

•This equation is common for uplink and downlink

•But the operating values for EIRP and G/T ratio may be different 63
 UPLINK
• The uplink earth station is transmitting the signal and
the satellite is receiving it

• Here subscript U denotes that the uplink is being

considered
• Resulting carrier-to-noise density ratio given appears
at the satellite receiver
• Even Flux density appearing at the satellite receive
antenna is specified rather than the earth station
EIRP
64
 Downlink

• The downlink the satellite is transmitting the signal and the

earth station is receiving it.

• subscript D to denote that the downlink is being considered

• Resulting carrier-to-noise density ratio appears at the
detector of the earth station receiver
• When more than 1 carrier access a transponder , and if the
high power amplifier generates the same max o/p power as
for single carrier , it results in Intermodulation effects

65
 Backoff
• To reduce the effects of inter modulation distortion ,
the operating point must be backed off to a linear
portion of the transfer characteristics

– If it is performed in Uplink , it is input backoff (BO)i

– If it is performed in Downlink , it is output backoff
(BO)o

66
 Input backoff
• Suppose that the saturation flux density for
single-carrier operation is known.
• Input backoff will be specified for multiple-
carrier operation, referred to the single-carrier
saturation level
• The earth station EIRP will have to be reduced
by the specified backoff (BO), resulting in an
uplink value of

67
 Input backoff
- - Saturated flux density
• After sustituion in Carrier – noise ratio eqn.,

• - receiver feeder loss

• - Effective aperture

68
 The earth station HPA
• The earth station high-power amplifier has to supply the
radiated power plus the transmit feeder losses, denoted here
by [TFL] dB.

where [GT] - Transmitter antenna gain

[PHPA] - HPA Power output
• The earth station itself may have to transmit multiple carriers,
and its output also will require back off, denoted by [BO]HPA
• The earth station HPA must be rated for a saturation power
output given by

69
 output backoff (BO)o
• Where the carrier-to-noise ratio is the specified
quantity rather than carrier-to-noise density ratio,

• Here signal bandwidth B is equal to the noise

bandwidth BN
• If the satellite EIRP for saturation conditions is specified
as [EIRPS]D, then
• [EIRP]D = [EIRPS]D - [BO]o and Eq. becomes

70
Input and output back-off relationship for the satellite
traveling-wave-tube amplifier

71
 Satellite TWTA output
• The satellite power amplifier, which usually is a traveling-
wave tube amplifier, has to supply the radiated power plus
the transmit feeder losses.
• These losses include the waveguide, filter, and coupler
losses between the TWTA output and the satellite’s
transmit antenna
• power output of the TWTA is given by

• Once [PTWTA] is found, the saturated power output rating

of the TWTA is given by

72
 The Link-Power Budget Equation
• Now that the losses for the link have been identified, the
power at the receiver, which is the power output of the
link, may be calculated simply using [EIRP], [LOSSES],
[GR], where the last quantity is the receiver antenna gain
[PR] = [EIRP] - [LOSSES]+ [GR]
Where [PR] is received power in dB W
[EIRP] is Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power in dB W
[GR] IS Received Antenna Gain
• The major source of loss in any ground-satellite link is the
free-space spreading loss [FSL]

73
 The Link-Power Budget Equation
• The losses for clear-sky conditions are

[FSL] - free-space spreading loss, dB

[RFL] - receiver feeder loss, dB
[AML] - antenna misalignment loss, dB
[AA] - atmospheric absorption loss, dB
[PL] - polarization mismatch loss, dB

74
 Transmission Losses
• The [EIRP] may be thought of as the power input to one end of the
transmission link, and the problem is to find the power received at
the other end
• Losses will occur along the way, some of which are constant
• Other losses can only be estimated from statistical data, and
some of these are dependent on weather conditions,
especially on rainfall
• The first step in the calculations is to determine the losses for
clear weather, or clear-sky, conditions
• Types
 Free-space transmission
 Feeder losses
 Antenna misalignment losses
 Fixed atmospheric and ionospheric losses

75
 Free-space transmission loss
• the power loss resulting from the spreading of the signal in space
• the power flux density at the receiving antenna is

• received power is

• r is the distance, or range, between the transmit and receive antenna

• GR is the isotropic power gain of the receiving antenna
• Aeff is effective aperture

76
 Free-space transmission loss
• In decibel notation, the equation becomes

• The received power in dBW is therefore given as the sum

of the transmitted EIRP in dBW plus the receiver antenna
gain in dB minus a third term which represents the free-
space loss in decibels

• Here the final eqn applicable to both the uplink and the
downlink of a satellite circuit is,

77
 Feeder losses
• Losses will occur in the connection between the
receive antenna and the receiver proper
• Such losses will occur in the connecting waveguides,
filters, and couplers.
• These will be denoted by RFL, or [RFL] dB, for
receiver feeder losses
• The [RFL] values are added to [FSL] in eqn

78
 Antenna misalignment losses
When a satellite link is established, the ideal situation is to have the earth
station and satellite antennas aligned for maximum gain

79
 Antenna misalignment losses
• There are two possible sources of off-axis loss, one at the
satellite and one at the earth station ( antenna pointing
loss)
• Losses may result at the antenna from misalignment of
the polarization direction
– The polarization misalignment losses are usually small
– It should be noted that the antenna misalignment losses have to
be estimated from statistical data, based on the errors actually
observed for a large number of earth stations
– the separate antenna misalignment losses for the uplink and
the downlink must be taken into account

80
 Fixed atmospheric and ionospheric
losses

• Atmospheric gases result in losses by absorption

– These losses usually amount to a fraction of a decibel,
and in subsequent calculations, the decibel value will
be denoted by [AA]
• the ionosphere introduces a depolarization loss
– denoted by [PL]

81
 Propagation Effects & their Impact

 Many phenomena causes lead signal loss on through the earths

atmosphere:

• Atmospheric Absorption (gaseous effects)

• Cloud Attenuation (aerosolic and ice particles)

• Tropospheric Scintillation (refractive effects)

• Faraday Rotation (an ionospheric effect)

• Ionospheric Scintillation (a second ionospheric effect)

• Rain attenuation
3 June 2008
 Layers in the earth’s atmosphere

• A signal
traveling
between an
earth station
and a
satellite must
pass through
the earth’s
atmosphere,
including the
ionosphere
this can
introduce
certain
impairments
 Atmospheric Losses

• Losses occur in the earth’s atmosphere as a result of energy

absorption by the atmospheric gases
• Different types of atmospheric losses can perturb radio wave
transmission in satellite systems
– Atmospheric absorption
• absorption losses
– Atmospheric attenuation
• weather-related losses
– Traveling ionospheric disturbances.
Atmospheric Absorption

• Energy absorption by atmospheric gases,

which varies with the frequency of the
radio waves.
• Upto 30 Hz , impairment will be minimal
• Two absorption peaks are observed (for
90º elevation angle):
– 22.3 GHz from resonance absorption in water
vapour (H2O)
– 60 GHz from resonance absorption in oxygen
(O2)
• For other elevation angles:
– [AA] = [AA]90 cosec 
 Atmospheric Attenuation

• Rain is the main cause of atmospheric attenuation (hail, ice

and snow have little effect on attenuation because of their
low water content)
• Total attenuation from rain can be determined by:
– A = L [dB]
– where  [dB/km] is called the specific attenuation, and can be
calculated from specific attenuation coefficients in tabular form that
can be found in a number of publications;
– where L [km] is the effective path length of the signal through the
rain; note that this differs from the geometric path length due to
fluctuations in the rain density.
 Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances

• Traveling ionospheric disturbances are clouds of electrons

in the ionosphere that provoke radio signal fluctuations
which can only be determined on a statistical basis.
• The disturbances of major concern are:
– Scintillation
– Polarisation rotation
• Scintillations are variations in the amplitude, phase,
polarisation, or angle of arrival of radio waves, caused by
irregularities in the ionosphere which change over time.
The main effect of scintillations is fading of the signal.
 Illustration of the various propagation loss mechanisms on a typical
earth-space path

The ionosphere can cause the electric vector of

signals passing through it to rotate away from
their original polarization direction, hence
causing signal depolarization. the sun (a very “hot”
microwave and
millimeter wave source of
incoherent energy), an
The absorptive effects of the increased noise
atmospheric constituents contribution results
cause an increase in sky noise which may cause the C/N
to be observed by the receiver to drop below the
demodulator threshold.

Refractive effects
(tropospheric
scintillation) cause signal
loss.
The ionosphere has its principal impact on signals at
frequencies well below 10 GHz while the other effects
noted in the figure above become increasingly strong
as the frequency of the signal goes above 10 GHz
 Atmospheric attenuation
Attenuation of
the signal in % Example: satellite systems at 4-6 GHz

50

40 rain absorption

30
fog absorption
e

20

10
atmospheric
absorption

5° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50°

elevation of the satellite
 Polarization rotation
(Faraday rotation)
• produce rotation of the polarization of a signal
• When linearly polarized wave traverses in the
ionosphere, free electrons in the ionosphere are sets
in motion a force is experienced, which shift the
polarization of the wave.
• Inversely proportional to frequency squared.
• Not a problem for frequencies above 10 GHz
 System Noise
• Electrical noise is always present at the input and unless the signal
is significantly larger than the noise, amplification will be of least
help as it will amplify the signal as well as the noise to the same
extent.
• There is a possibility, that after the amplification, the situation can
get worst by the noise that will be added by the amplifier.
• The main source of noise in the satellite equipments is the noise
arising from the random thermal motion of electrons in the various
devices in the receiver.
• Thermal noise is also generated in the lossy components of the
antenna and a thermal – like noise is picked – up by the antenna as
radiation.

93
 • Power from a thermal noise source is given by
PN = k TN BN
TN noise temperature
BN Noise Bandwidth
k Boltzman Constant having the value 1.38 x 10-23 J/k
• The main characteristic of thermal noise is that it has a flat
frequency spectrum
– noise power per unit bandwidth is a constant
– The noise power per unit bandwidth is termed as noise power spectral
density
NO = PN /BN
Thus, NO = k TN Joules

• Noise temperature is directly proportional to the physical

temperature but not always equal
• Noise power per unit bandwidth is always constant

In addition to these thermal noise sources, intermodulation distortion

in high-power amplifiers can result in signal products which appear
as noise and in fact is referred to as intermodulation noise.
94
 Antenna Noise
• Antennas operating in the receiving mode introduce
noise into the satellite circuit.
– Noise therefore will be introduced by the satellite antenna
and the ground station receive antenna
• Two groups:
– noise originating from antenna losses
– sky noise
• describe the microwave radiation which is present
throughout the universe and which appears to originate
from matter in any form at finite temperature
• Due to atmospheric gases and rain, snow and galactic, etc.

95
The lower graph is for the antenna pointing directly overhead, while
the upper graph is for the antenna pointing just above the horizon.
The increased noise in the latter case results from the thermal
radiation of the earth

96
 Antenna Noise : Antenna Losses

• Satellite antennas are generally pointed towards the earth

and therefore they receive the full thermal radiation from it
– In this case the equivalent noise temperature of the antenna,
excluding the antennas losses is approximately 290 K.

• Antenna losses add to the noise received as radiation and

the total antenna noise temperature is the sum of
equivalent noise temperatures of all these sources

97
Noise temperature as a function of angle of elevation
for a 1.8-m antenna

98
 Amplifier noise temperature
• Temperature of a theoretical resistor at the input of
an ideal noise-free receiver that would generate the
same output noise power per unit bandwidth as that
at the antenna output at a specified frequency
• Sources:
 Vast radiation
 Earth heating
 The sun
 Electrical devices
 The antenna itself

99
• The available power gain of the amplifier is denoted as
G, and the noise power output as Pno. Considering noise
power per unit bandwidth which is noise energy in joules
is given by:
• The output noise energy in No,out will be GNo,out plus the
contribution made by the amplifier.
• The summation of all the amplifier noise is referred to
the input in terms of an equivalent input noise
temperature for the amplifier Te.
• Thus output could be written as

• T value range from 35 to 100 K

100
101
 Amplifiers in cascade
• For this cascade arrangement, the overall gain is
G = G 1G 2
• The noise energy of amplifier 2 referred to its own inputs
is simply kTe2. The noise input to amplifier 2 from the
preceding stages is G1 k (Tant + Te1), and thus the total
noise energy referred to amplifier 2 input is:

• This noise energy may be referred to amplifier 1 input by

dividing by the available over gain of amplifier 1:

102
 Amplifiers in cascade
• A system noise temperature may now be defined as TS by

• It shows that the noise temperature of the second stage is

divided by the power gain of the first stage when referred to
the input.
• to keep the overall system noise as low as possible, the first stage
(usually an LNA) should have high power gain as well as low noise
temperature.

103
 Noise factor
• representing amplifier noise by means of its noise factor F.
• for defining it, the source is taken at room temperature, denoted by
T0. The input noise from such a source is kT0 and the output noise
from the amplifier is:

G is the available power gain of the amplifier as before, and F is its noise
factor
• Let Te be the noise temperature of the amplifier, and let the source
be at room temperature .This means that Tant = T0. Since the same
noise output must be available whatever the representation, it
follows that

• The noise figure is simply F expressed in decibels:

104
 Noise temperature of absorptive networks
• contains resistive elements
• generate thermal noise
– Eg: Resistive attenuators, transmission lines, wave guides

105
• let the system be at some ambient temperature Tx. The noise energy
transferred from R into the network is kTx. Let the network noise be
T

represented at the output terminals by an equivalent noise

emperature TNW,o. Then the noise energy radiated by the antenna is

• Thus the equivalent noise temperature of the network referred to the

network input is

• If the lossy network should happen to be at room temperature, that

is, Tx = T0, then

106
Overall system noise temperature
• summation of all the above discussed noise parameters
denoted as TS and considered for satellite communication
computations.

107
 Intermodulation Noise
• Intermodulation occurs where multiple carriers pass
through any device with nonlinear characteristics
• commonly occurs in the traveling-wave tube high-power
amplifier aboard the satellite. Both amplitude and phase
nonlinearities give rise to intermodulation products.
• third-order intermodulation products fall on
neighboring carrier frequencies, where they result in
interference.
• Where a large number of modulated carriers are
present, the intermodulation products are not
distinguishable separately but instead appear as a type
of noise which is termed intermodulation noise.
108
 Intermodulation Noise
• carrier-to-intermodulation-noise ratio is

• Where, = uplink noise to carrier

= downlink noise to carrier
= intermodulation-noise to carrier

• In order to reduce intermodulation noise, the TWT must

be operated in a backoff condition

109
110
111
 Interference
• Effect of an unwanted signal on the reception of wanted
signal
• Inevitable and ubiquitous
• Detection of interference is based on characteristics of
wanted signals and communication system
• Carrier level may be calculated as
C= P t + G t – L + G r dB
Where
P t = transmited power , G t = Transmitter antenna gain
L = Free space loss G r = Receiver antenna gain

112
 System reliability and design lifetime
System reliability:
• System designed to operate dependably throughout their
operational life, usually a number of years.
• Achieved through
– stringent quality control
– testing of parts and subsystems before they are used in the
construction of the satellite
– Redundancy of key components is often built in so that if a
particular part or subassembly fails, another can perform its
functions.
– Hardware and software on the satellite are often designed so that
ground controllers can reconfigure the satellite to work around a
part that has failed

113
 System reliability
•A reliability model is defined as the probability that a
given component or system performs its functions as
desired within a specific time t.
•The failure rate for all components is calculated and
they are categorized into the following three
categories:
Early high failure rate region: used for manufacturing
faults, defects in material etc.
Low failure: used for random component failure.
High failure rate: used for components weave-out
System reliability

115
 System reliability
• Reliability is counted by considering the proper working of
satellites critical components
Redundancy:
• Reliability could be improved by making the critical
components redundant.
• Parallel redundancy is useful when the reliability of an
individual sub-system is high.
• Even through the reliability can be improved by adding
redundant devices and components, the weight of the
satellite increases which again becomes a problem.
Redundant component also increase the cost of the satellite
– Optimization techniques are performed for cost minimization purpose

116
An example of redundancy in a basic
transponder arrangement

117
 Design lifetime
• The useful lifetime of a satellite is determined by the
highest tolerable deviation in inclination and orbit
location together with reliability of satellite’s critical
sub-system.
• A lifetime could be improved by increasing the fuel
capacity and by saving fuel by accepting orbital
deviation to the maximum extent that is possible.
• Saving fuel couldn’t be implemented to a great level.
So for this purpose propulsion is used.
• Propulsion: It is a method used to accelerate spacecraft
and artificial satellites.

118
 Design lifetime
“The Milstar constellation has demonstrated exceptional
reliability and capability, providing vital protected
communications to the war fighter”
Kevin Bilger, vice president and general
manager, Global Communications Systems, Lockheed Martin
Space Systems in Sunnyvale.

“Milstar’s robust system offers our nation worldwide connectivity

with flexible, dependable and highly secure satellite
communications”

119
 Design lifetime
• The five-satellite Milstar constellation has surpassed 63 years
of combined successful operations, and provides a protected,
global communication network for the joint forces of the U.S.
military.
• it can transmit voice, data, and imagery, and offers video
teleconferencing capabilities
– In addition to this 10-year milestone for Flight-5, each of the
first two Milstar satellites have been on orbit for over 16 years
– far exceeding their 10-year design life.

120
 SATELLITE ORBITAL DECAY
PREDICTION

http://www.lizard-
tail.com/isana/lab/orbital_decay/

121
122
 Satellite pictures

October 1957, the first artificial The first artificial passive satellite In July 1962 active satellite Telstar
satellite Sputnik -I was launched Echo-I of NASA was launched in was developed and launched
by former Soviet Russia. August 1960.