Satellite Communications Link Optimization

[SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK OPTIMIZATION] November 26, 2012
DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my wife who has been a strong support to me throughout our two years of marriage. To my mother and all the members of my family who have made enormous sacrifices for me. To God through the intercession of Our Lady the Queen of Heaven most especially, who has been the key to my protection and that of our family.
November 26, 2012
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK OPTIMIZATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I sincerely thank those who have participated in one way or the other for the success of this project I thank particularly;
To the Director of IUT Douala who granted me the permission to spent this academic year in his institution. Mr. Emmanuel Chimi who has sacrificed so much time in review this document; for always being available to answer my questions whenever I knocked at his door. Engineer Foumba Hyacinthe, who guided me in my choice of project and furnished me with so many relevant documents Engineer Tianang Germain for the deep inside of his advice and the pertinent remarks he made to me. Engineer Nyem Nestor who advised me to return to school and who has always been there to assist me even in times of financial difficulties. To all my teachers at the University Institute of Technology(IUT), Douala, for all the lessons we received and the good time we had during this academic year To all my classmates and friends with whom we share ideas during this academic year. Etoungou Olivier research teacher who greatly help me in the presentation of my project.
PREFACE
Created by the Presidential degree N 008/CAB/PR of 19January 1993, the University Institute of Technology (IUT), Douala is a professional training Institute, created with the aim of satisfying the requirements of Industrial and Tertiary Companies, by putting at their disposal skilled workers. IUT of Douala is situated at CAMPUS 2of the University of Douala, in NDOG-BONG, with modern infrastructure and up to date equipment thanks to the French corporation and multitude of partners around the world. It offers many training among which are; The initial training, which last for two years, at the end of which a diploma called Diplme Universitaire de Technologie(DUT), is issued with the possibility of extension to the third year for a degree in Technology Permanent training based on specific programs Continuous training in which negotiations are carried out case-by-case with the Company that needs it.
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The trainings are; DUT Platform PFTI( Industrial Technology) Fields GIM(Maintenance Engineering) GFE( Railway Engineering) GTE( Mining Engineering) GMP( Mechanical and Production Engineering) PFTIN(Information and Digital Technology Platform) Electrical and Industrial Computer Engineering GI(Computer Engineering) GRT(Networking and Telecommunications Engineering) GBM(Biomedical Engineering) PFTT(Platform of Tertiary Technologies) GAPMO: Applied Management of Small and Medium Size Company GLT: Logistics and Transport Engineering OGA: Organization and Administrative Management
November 26, 2012 For BTS ACO CGE ET FM/CM II
Commerce Enterprise Management Accounting Electrotecnique Mechanical Manufacturing/ Mechanical Construction Industrial Computing
PROJECT SUMMARY
The goal of this project is to provide means of optimizing a satellite communications link. The project has two motivations; 1) The need to reduce the effect of atmospheric impairments, thermal noise, non-linearity of satellite channels and interferences on signals, which reduces the availability and thus the reliability of the link 2) Satellite transponders have limited resources in terms of bandwidth and power, as such the transponder leasing costs are determined by bandwidth and power used. The more bandwidth and power we use the more we will have to pay for. To achieve this goal, we will use advanced modulation, coding gain, fade adaptation, and carrier cancelling technologies which can provide substantial savings in bandwidth, improve capacity, improve reliability or all three while maintaining contracted service agreement (SLA). The outcome of this project is that there will be: Reduce Operational Expenditure(OPEX) o Occupied bandwidth and transponder resources will reduce Reduce Capital Expenditure(CAPEX) o BUC/HPA size and/or antenna size Increasing throughput without using additional transponder resources Increasing link availability (margin) without using additional transponder resources Or a combination to meet different objectives
November 26, 2012
ABSTRACT
L'objectif de ce projet est de fournir des moyens d'optimiser un lien de communication par satellite. Le projet a deux motivations; i) La ncessit de rduire l'impact des pertubations atmosphriques, le bruit thermique, la non-linarit des chanes satellitaires, des interfrences sur les signaux, qui rduit la disponibilit et donc la fiabilit de la liaison. Les transpondeurs satellitaire ont des ressources limites en termes de bande passante et de la puissance, ce titre, les frais de location du transpondeur sont dtermins par la bande passante et la puissance utilise. Plus la bande passante et la puissance que nous utilisons, plus nous aurons payer.
ii)
Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous allons utiliser la modulation de pointe, gain de codage, l'adaptation fade technologies d'annulation de porteuse, qui peut fournir des conomies substantielles en bande passante, amliorer la capacit, amliorer la fiabilit, ou les trois, tout en maintenant l'accord de services sous contrat (SLA). Le rsultat de ce projet est qu'il y aura: Rduire les dpenses d'exploitation (OPEX) o Largeur de bande occupe et les ressources transpondeur rduira Require les dpenses en capital(CAPEX) o taille BUC / HPA et / ou la taille d'antenne Augmenter le dbit sans utiliser les ressources supplmentaires du transpondeur Accrotre la disponibilit lien (marge) sans utiliser les ressources supplmentaires transpondeur Ou une combinaison pour rpondre aux objectifs diffrents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3 project summary ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 acronyms ...................................................................................................................................................................... 12 General introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 16 part I satellite communications system overview ........................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS ................................................................................. 18 1.1 1.2 1.2.1 .1.2.2 1.3. 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Definition and Early History ........................................................................................................................ 18 Basic Satellite Communication System Definition ...................................................................................... 20 The Space Segment ................................................................................................................................ 20 The Ground Segment ............................................................................................................................. 21 Satellite Link Parameters ........................................................................................................................ 21 Satellite Orbits ............................................................................................................................................ 22 Radio Regulations ....................................................................................................................................... 22 Space Radiocommunications Services ........................................................................................................ 23 Frequency bands......................................................................................................................................... 24
CHAPTER 2-SATELLITE ORBITS ...................................................................................................................................... 26 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3.1 Keplers laws ............................................................................................................................................... 27 Keplers First Law.................................................................................................................................... 27 keplers second law ................................................................................................................................ 27 Keplers third law ........................................................................................................................................ 28 orbital parameters .......................................................................................................................................... 28 Orbits in common use ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Geostationary orbit .................................................................................................................................... 29
November 26, 2012 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.5 2.3.6 2.3.7
Geosynchronous orbit ................................................................................................................................ 29 Low earth ORBIT (Leo) ................................................................................................................................ 30 Medium earth orbit .................................................................................................................................... 30 Highly elliptical orbit ................................................................................................................................... 30 Polar orbit ................................................................................................................................................... 30 Geometry of GSO Link ................................................................................................................................ 30
Chapter 3 satellite subsystems .................................................................................................................................. 31 3.1 satellite bus ................................................................................................................................................. 33
3.1.1 Physical structure ........................................................................................................................................ 33 3.1.2 Power Subsystem ........................................................................................................................................ 34 3.1.3 Attitude control ........................................................................................................................................... 34 3.1.4 Orbital control ............................................................................................................................................. 35 3.1.5 Thermal Control .......................................................................................................................................... 35 3.1.6 Tracking, Telemetry, command and Monitoring ......................................................................................... 36 3.2 Satellite Payload ................................................................................................................................................. 37 3.2.1 3.2.1.1 3.2.1.2 3.2.2 Transponder ........................................................................................................................................... 37 frequency translation transponder .................................................................................................... 37 on-board processing transponder ..................................................................................................... 38
antennas ..................................................................................................................................................... 38
part II ............................................................................................................................................................................ 39 CHAPTER 4 noise .......................................................................................................................................................... 40 4.1 4.1.1 4.2 4.3 types of noise .............................................................................................................................................. 41 thermal noise ......................................................................................................................................... 42 interference ................................................................................................................................................ 43 intermodulation .......................................................................................................................................... 45
chapter 5- impairments................................................................................................................................................ 45 8

5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 signal attenuation ....................................................................................................................................... 46 rain attenuation...................................................................................................................................... 46 GASEOUS attenuation ............................................................................................................................ 47 cloud attenuation ................................................................................................................................... 47
5.1.4 snow and ice attenuation ............................................................................................................................ 47 5.2 signal path effect related to refraction .............................................................................................................. 48 5.2.1 Tropospheric scintillation ............................................................................................................................ 48 5.2.2 signal polarization effects ........................................................................................................................... 48 part III ........................................................................................................................................................................... 50 chapter modulation and coding .................................................................................................................................. 52 6.1 types of modulation ........................................................................................................................................... 52 6.1.1 types of phase shift keying modulation and bandwidth efficiency ............................................................. 53 6.1.2 power efficiency of the various schemes .................................................................................................... 54 6.1.3 power requirement of various schemes-eb/no vs BER ................................................................................ 55 6.2 CHANNEL encoding ............................................................................................................................................ 56 6.2.1 Block encoding and convolutional encoding ................................................................................................... 56 6.2.1a block encoding .......................................................................................................................................... 56 6.2.1b convolution encoding ................................................................................................................................ 56 6.2.2 concatenated encoding ............................................................................................................................... 57 6.2.3 Turbo codes ................................................................................................................................................. 57 6.2.4 Low Density Parity check CODES (LDPC) ..................................................................................................... 57 6.3 channel decoding ............................................................................................................................................... 57 6.4 power-bandwidth tradeoff................................................................................................................................. 59 6.4.1 coding with variable bandwidth .................................................................................................................. 59 6.4.2 coding with constant bandwidth ................................................................................................................. 59 chapter 7 SATELLITE LINK Budget ................................................................................................................................ 60 9
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7.1 configuration of a link ........................................................................................................................................ 60 7.2 antenna parameters ........................................................................................................................................... 61 7.2.1 antenna gains .............................................................................................................................................. 61 7.2.2 radiation pattern and angular beamwidth .................................................................................................. 61 7.2.3 Polarization.................................................................................................................................................. 63 7.3 radiated power ................................................................................................................................................... 64 7.3.1 effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) ................................................................................................... 64 7.3.2 power flux density ....................................................................................................................................... 64 7.4 Received signal power ........................................................................................................................................ 65 7.4.1 Power captured by the receiving antenna and free space path loss .......................................................... 65 7.5 additional losses ................................................................................................................................................. 66 7.5.1 attenuation in the atmosphere ................................................................................................................... 67 7.5.2 LOSSES IN THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING EQUIPMENT .................................................................... 67 7.5.3 DEPOINTING LOSSES ................................................................................................................................... 68 7.5.4 losses due to polarization mismatch ........................................................................................................... 69 7.5.5 conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 69 7.6 noise power spectral density at the receiver input ............................................................................................ 70 7.6.1 origin of noise .............................................................................................................................................. 70 7.6.2 Noise CHARACTERIZATION .......................................................................................................................... 70 7.6.3 noise temperature of a noise source .......................................................................................................... 70 7.6.4 noise figure .................................................................................................................................................. 70 7.6.5 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF AN ATTENUATOR ................................................................... 71 7.6.6 effective input noise temperature of cascaded elements .......................................................................... 71 7.6.7 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A RECEIVER ............................................................................ 71 7.6.8 antenna noise temperature ........................................................................................................................ 72 7.6.8 noise temperature of a satellite antenna .................................................................................................... 72 10

7.6.9 noise temperature of an earth station ANTENNA (downlink) ..................................................................... 72 7.7 SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE ........................................................................................................................... 73 7.7.1 conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 74 7.8 individual link performance................................................................................................................................ 75 7.8.1 carrier to noise power spectral density ratio at the receiver input ............................................................ 75 7.8.2 clear sky condition....................................................................................................................................... 76 7.9 link performance under rain conditions ............................................................................................................. 80 7.9.1 uplink performance ..................................................................................................................................... 80 7.9.2 downlink performance ................................................................................................................................ 81 7.9.3 conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 81 7.10 overall link performance with a transparent satellite ...................................................................................... 82 7.10.1 characteristics of the satellite channel ...................................................................................................... 82 7.10.2 satellite power flux density at saturation ................................................................................................. 83 7.10.3 satellite eirp at saturation ......................................................................................................................... 84 7.10.4 satellite repeater gain ............................................................................................................................... 84 7.10.5 input AND OUTPUT BACK-OFF .................................................................................................................. 84 7.10.6 carrier power at the satellite receiver input ............................................................................................. 85 7.10.7 expression for 7.10.8 expression for without interference from other systems or intermodulation............................... 85 taking account of interference and intermodulation ............................................. 86
chapter 8 optimization ................................................................................................................................................. 87 8.1 link Margin.......................................................................................................................................................... 87 8.2 Power restoral techniques ................................................................................................................................. 88 8.2.1 beam diversity ................................................................................................................................................. 88 8.3 power control ..................................................................................................................................................... 89 8.3.1 uplink power control ................................................................................................................................... 89 8.4 site diversity ....................................................................................................................................................... 90 11
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8.5 signal modification techniques .......................................................................................................................... 91 8.5.1 Optimization By Doubletalk carrier-in-carrier ............................................................................................. 91 8.5.6 Double Talk Carrier-in-carrier cancellation process ........................................................................................ 93 8.6 adaptive coding and MODULATION (ACM) ........................................................................................................ 94 8.6.1 acm background .......................................................................................................................................... 95 8.6.2 requirements for ACM ................................................................................................................................ 96 9.0 general conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 97 Bibliographic references .............................................................................................................................................. 97
ACRONYMS
ACI
ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION ADAPTIVE DELTA MODULATION ADAPTIVE PULSE CODE MODULATION AUTOMATIC LEVEL CONTROL AMPLITUDE MODULATION AERONAUTIC AL MOBILE SATELLITE SERVICE AMPLITUDE PHASE SHIFT KEYING
ES
EARTH STATION
ADC ADM ADPCM
FDM FEC FES
FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEX FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION FIXED EARTH STATION
ALC AM AMSS
FGM FM FSS
FIXED GAIN MODE FREQUENCY MODULATION FIXED SATELLITE SERVICES
APSK
GC
GLOBAL COVERAGE
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AR BEP BER BPF BPSK BS BSS BW CAMP CCI CDMA
AXIAL RATIO BIT ERROR PROBABILITY BIT ERROR RATE BAND PASS FILTER BINARY PHASE SHIFT KEYING BASE STATION BROADCAST SATELLITE SERVICE BANDWIDTH CHANNEL AMPLIFIER CO CHANNEL INTERFERENCE CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS
GCS GEO GSO HEO HIO HPA HPB IBO IF IMUX INMARSAT
GROUND CONTROL STATION GEOSTATIONARY EARTH ORBIT GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE ORBIT HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL ORBIT HIGHLY INCLINED ORBIT HIGH POWER AMPLIFIER HALF POWER BANDWIDTH INPUT BACK-OFF INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY INPUT MULTIPLEX INTERNATIONAL MARITIME SATELLITE ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE CONSORTIUM IN ORBIT TEST INTER SATELLITE LINK INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION
D/C
DOWN CONVERTER
INTELSAT
DA dB DE
DEMAND ASSIGNMENT DECIBEL Differentially ENCODED
IOT ISL ITU
DEMOD
Demodulator
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EIRP
EFFECTIVE ISOTROPIC RADIATED POWER LOW EARTH ORBIT LEFT HAND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER LOW NOISE BLOCK LOCAL OSCILLATOR LOW PASS FILTER MULTIPLE CHANNEL PER CARRIER MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT MOBILE EARTH STATION MULTIFREQUENCY MODULATOR MODULATOR/DEMODULATOR MINIMUM SHIFT KEYING MOBILE SATELLITE SERVICE MULTIPLEXER MIXER NATIONAL AERONAUTIC AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION NON-GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE ORBIT OUTPUT BACK-OFF ON BOARD PROCESSING PULSE CODE MODULATION PERSONAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM PLMN PM PUBLIC LAND MOBILE NETWORK PHASE MODULATION
LEO LHCP
LNA LNB LO LPF MCPC MEO MES MF MOD MODEM MSK MSS MUX MX NASA
POL PSK PSTN PTN PTO QoS QPSK RF RHCP RS RX SC SCPC SEP SL
POLARIZATION PHASE SHIFT KEYING PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR QUALITY OF SERVICE QUADRATURE PHASE SHIFT KEYING RADIO FREQUENCY RIGHT HAND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION REED SOLOMON(coding) RECEIVER SUPPRESSED CARRIER SINGLE CHANNEL PER CARRIER SYMBOL ERROR PROBABILITY SATELLITE
N-GSO
SNR
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
OBO OBP PCM PCS
TWTA Tx VSAT XPD
TRAVELING WAVE TUBE AMPLIFIER TRANSMITTER VERY SMALL APERTURE TERMINAL CROSS POLARIZATION DISCRIMINATION
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PDF PLL
PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION PHASE LOCKED LOOP
XPI Xponder
CROSS POLARIZATION ISOLATION TRANSPONDER
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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Since their introduction in the mid-1960s, satellite communications have grown from a futuristic experiment into an integral part of todays wired world. Satellite communications are at the core of a global, automatically switched telephony network.
Todays communications satellite have extensive capabilities in applications involving data, voice and video with services provided to fixed, broadcast, mobile, personal communications and private users. But Satellite communication is highly affected by propagation impairments at the atmosphere, nonlinearity of the satellite channel, Thermal noise, Interferences and also regulatory constraints. Therefore a good knowledge and modeling of the propagation channel is necessary for the performance assessment. This is thus a major preoccupation of most satellite operators. The organization of the project (Dissertation) is as follows: Part 1 describes a general overview of the satellite communication system in three chapters. Part2 present a brief description of the impairments encountered in this domain in three chapters. Part3 briefly talks on modulation and coding in one chapter. It also presents the parameters necessary to calculate the performance of a link. It is concluded with the calculation of link performance, for an uplink, a downlink and overall link from an uplink through a satellite to a downlink. Part4 presents the different means of optimizing a satellite link, in two parts. The first part, using power restoral techniques and the second part using signal modification techniques.
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PART I SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM OVERVIEW
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS 1.1 DEFINITION AND EARLY HISTORY

A communications satellite is an orbiting artificial earth satellite that receives a communications signal from a transmitting ground station, amplifies and possibly processes it, then transmits it back to the earth for reception by one or more receiving ground stations. Communications information neither originates nor terminates at the satellite itself. The satellite is an active transmission relay, similar in function to relay towers used in terrestrial microwave communications. The Commercial communication Satellite exists since the mid-1960s.Within a space of about 50years, it has grown from an alternative technology to a mainstream transmission technology. Todays communication satellites offer extensive capabilities in applications involving data, voice and video, with services provided to fixed, broadcast, mobile and personal communication and private network users Communications Satellites offer advantages that are not readily available over alternative modes of transmissions such as terrestrial microwave, cable or fiber optic networks, such as: Distance Independent cost: The cost is the same, regardless of the distance between the transmitting and the receiving earth stations. Fixed Broadcast Cost: Broadcast from an earth station to a number of other earth station is independent of the number of earth stations receiving the transmission. High capacity: Capacity ranges from 10s of megabits to 100s of Mbps Low error rate: Bit errors on a digital satellite link turns to be random, allowing statistical detection and 6 error correction techniques to be used. Error rates of one error in 10 bits and higher can be seen commonly. Diverse User Network. Due to its large coverage area, it can be used to interconnect land, sea and air users who can be mobile or fixed
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The idea of an artificial orbiting satellite capable of relaying communication to and from the earth is attributed to Arthur C. Clarke. Below is a table with information concerning the early satellites, their launched dates, and basic information concerning the satellites.
Satellite name SPUNIK1 SCORE ECHO1 &2 COURIER WESTFORD
Launched date 1957 1958 By USA 1960 BY NASA October 1960 1963 by US Army 1962 and 1963 1962 and 1964
Basic Function/use USSR Relayed a recorded voice message with delay
First to employ solar cells for power Voice and frequency shift keying transmission.
TELSTAR 1&2 RELAY1 & 2
Multichannel telephone, telegraph, facsimile and television transmission Extensive telephony and network television transmission between USA, Europe and Japan First communication from a synchronous satellite First commercial communication from a synchronous satellite. Later called INTELSAT
SYNCOM2 & 3 EARLY BIRD
1963 and 1964 1965
ATS-1 ATS-3 ATS-5
1966 1967 1969
First multiple access communication from synchronous orbit Multiple access communication with Orbit Control Design to provide propagation data on the effect of the atmosphere on EarthSpace communication. Created , becoming the recognized international legal entity satellite communication
INTELSAT
1964
Table1.1 These early accomplishments and events led to the rapid growth of the satellite communications industry, beginning in the mid-1960s. INTELSAT was the prime mover in that time focusing on the benefits of satellite communication to many nations
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1.2 BASIC SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM DEFINITION

Satellite communications system is broken down into two main segments: the space segment and the ground (or earth) segment.
1.2.1
THE SPACE SEGMENT
The elements of the space segment in a satellite communications system are shown in figure 1.1.The space segment include the satellite (or satellites) in orbit and the ground station that provide the operational control of the satellite(s) in orbit. This ground station is sometimes referred to as Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) or Tracking, Telemetry, Command and Monitoring (TTC&M) The TTC&M station provides essential space craft management and control functions to keep the satellite operating in Orbit. The TTC&M Links between the spacecraft or satellite are usually from the user communications link. Most of the time, TTC&M it is accomplished through separate earth terminal facilities, design for this purpose.
Figure 1.1
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.1.2.2
THE GROUND SEGMENT
It consists of the earth terminal(s) that make use of the communication capabilities of the space segment. It should be noted that the TTC&M do not make part of the ground segment. The ground segment terminals could be one of the following: Fixed Terminals Transportable Terminals Mobile Terminals
1.3. SATELLITE LINK PARAM ETERS
Satellite communications link is defined by several parameters as shown in figure 1.2. These parameters are used in the evaluation of a satellite communication link. The portion of the link from the earth station to the satellite is called uplink, while the portion from the satellite to the ground station is called downlink. Either station in the figure has an uplink and a downlink. The electronics in the satellites that receives the uplink signal, amplifies and possibly processes the signal and then reformat and retransmit the signal back to the downlink is called the transponder. It is indicated by the triangular symbol in the figure. The Antennas of the satellite that receives the signal and transmit it on the downlink are not included as part of the transponder electronics. A channel is defined as a one way link from A-to-S-to-B or from B-to-S-to-A. A duplex link from A-to-S-to-B and from B-to-S-to-A is called a circuit. A Half-Circuit is the link from an earth station to the satellite and back. That is A-to-S and Sto-A is a half-circuit.
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1.4 SATELLITE ORBITS

A detail description of the satellite orbits will be given in chapter 2. We introduce here the four most commonly used orbits, their altitudes and one way delay time. This information is given in table 1.2 below.
Satellite Orbit Geostationary Earth Orbit(GSO) Low Earth Orbit(LEO) Medium Earth Orbit(MEO) High Earth Orbit(HEO) table1
Orbital Altitude 36000km
One-way delay 260ms
160-640km 1600-4200km
10ms 100ms
40000km
10 to 260ms
1.5 RADIO REGULATIONS
Radio Regulations are necessary to ensure an efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum by all communication systems including terrestrial and satellite. This does not prevent each state from regulating its telecommunications sector. All satellite operators must operate within the constraints of regulations related to fundamental parameters and characteristics of the satellite communications system. The satellite communication parameters that are regulated include the following; Radiating frequency Maximum allowable radiated power Orbit Location(slot) for GSO
The purpose of the regulation is to minimize radio frequency interference and to some extent, physical interference between systems. Potential radio interferences are not only from other satellite systems but also from other terrestrial systems operating in the same frequency band. Two levels of regulations and allocation are involved in the process: International and domestic. The primary organization responsible for international satellite communication system regulation and allocation is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland. ITU has three primary functions: Allocation and Use of the radio- frequency spectrum; Telecommunications standardization; Development and expansion of the worldwide telecommunication
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These functions are accomplished through the three sectors of the ITU organization: The Radiocommunications Sector (ITU-R), responsible for the frequency allocations and use of the radio-frequency spectrum. The Telecommunications Standard Sector (ITU-T), responsible for telecommunications standards and the Telecommunications Development Sector (ITU-D), responsible for the development and expansion of the worldwide telecommunications. The International regulations developed by ITU are process by each country, where domestic level regulations are developed. Each Country is left to manage and enforce the regulations within its boundaries. In Cameroun this is managed by the Telecommunication Regulations Agency (ART).
1.6 SPACE RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Two attributes determine the specific frequency band and other regulatory factors for a particular satellite system. Service(s) to be provided by the particular satellite system/Network; and The Location(s) of the satellite system ground terminals
Services applicable to satellite systems as designated by ITU are: Aeronautical Mobile Satellite(AMSS) Aeronautical Radionavigation Satellite(ARSS) Amateur Satellite(ASS) Broadcasting Satellite(BSS) Earth-exploration Satellite(ESS) Fixed Satellite(FSS) Inter-satellite(ISS) Land Mobile Satellite(LMSS) Maritime Mobile Satellite(MMSS) Maritime Radionavigation Satellite(MRSS) Meteorological Satellite(MSS) Mobile Satellite(MSS) Radionavigation Satellite(RSS) Space Operations(SOSS) Space Research(SRSS) Standard Frequency Satellite(SFSS)
Some of the service areas are divided into sub areas. For example the mobile satellite service (MSS) area is further divided into Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service (AMSS), Land Mobile Satellite Service (LMSS), and Maritime Mobile Satellite Service (MMSS), with respect to the location of the ground terminals.
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The Location of the satellite system ground terminal, which is the second attribute, depends on the service region. ITU divides the globe into three Telecommunications Service regions. Region1 consist of Europe and Africa, Region2 the Americas, Region3 the Pacific Rim countries. Each of these regions is treated independently in terms of frequency allocation. It is assumed that systems operating in one of these regions are protected from those in another because of the geographical separation between them.
1.7 FREQUENCY BANDS

The frequency of operation is one of the major factors in the design and performance of a satellite communication system. As its wavelength will determine the interaction effect of the atmosphere, and the resulting link degradation. Two types of designations are used; The Letter Designation and the designation which divides the spectrum from 3Hz to 300GHz. These are shown in the tables below
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Below is a table that briefly summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used frequency bands in satellite communications Frequency Band C-Band Advantages -Wide footprint coverage -Minor effects from rain -Lower cost for earth station antenna Disadvantages -Requires large antennas -Requires Larger RF power amplifiers -Affected by terrestrial interference -Difficult to obtain transmit licence
Ku-Band
-Smaller antennas -Smaller RF power amplifiers
Greater effect from rain Smaller footprint (beam) coverage
Ka-Band
Smaller antenna Smaller RF power amplifier
Greater effect from rain Smaller footprint (beam) coverage High equipment cost
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CHAPTER 2-SATELLITE ORBITS

The same laws of motion that governs the movement of the planets around sun also control the movement of artificial satellites around the earth .Satellite Orbital determination is based on the laws of motion developed by Kepler and later refined by newton. Competing forces act on the satellite; gravity turns to pull the satellite in towards the earth, while its orbital velocity turns to pull the satellite away from the earth. These forces are shown in figure 2.1 The gravitational force, Fin and the angular velocity, Fout , can be represented as
Fin= m ( ) .2.1 and Fout=m ( ).2.2
where m=the satellite mass, v= the satellite velocity in the plane of its orbit, r=orbital radius (distance from the center of the earth); and =Keplers constant (Geocentric gravitational constant) =3.9864002x Km3/s2. If the gravitational force from the sun, moon and other bodies are neglected, then Fin=Fout and the velocity necessary to keep the satellite in orbit will be V= ( ) ..2.3
The orbital locations of the spacecraft in a communications satellite system play a major role in determining the coverage and operational characteristics of the services provided by that system. This chapter describes the general characteristics of satellite orbits and summarizes the characteristics of the most popular orbits for communications applications.
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2.1 KEPLERS LAWS

The laws of Kepler apply to any two bodies in space that interact through gravitation.
2.1.1 KEPLERS FIRST LAW

Keplers first law as applied to artificial satellite orbits goes thus; the path followed by a satellite around the earth will be an ellipse, with the center of mass of the earth as one of the two foci of the ellipse. If no other forces are acting on the satellite, either intentionally by orbit control or unintentionally as in gravity forces from other bodies, the satellite will eventually settle in an elliptical orbit, with the earth as one of the foci of the ellipse. The size of the ellipse will depend on the satellite mass and its angular velocity.
2.1.2 KEPLERS SECOND LAW

For equal time interval, the satellite sweeps out equal area in the orbital plane. This is shown in figure 2.2. The shaded area A1 shows the area swept out in the orbital plane by the orbiting satellite in one hour time period at a location near the earth. According to the second law, the area A2, swept out around the point furthest from the earth is also equal to A1. That is A1=A2 This result shows that the satellite orbital velocity is not constant; the satellite moves much faster at locations near the earth, and slows down at locations around the apogee.
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2.3 KEPLERS THIRD LAW

The square of the periodic time of orbit is proportional to the cube of the mean distance between the two bodies. That is T =[
2
]a , where T=orbital period in seconds s, a= distance between the bodies in km and =Keplers
5 3 2
constant=3.986004x10 km /s
2.3 ORBITAL PARAMETERS

Important orbital parameters used for defining earth-orbiting satellite characteristics are: Apogee-The point furthest from the earth. Perigee-The point of closest approach to earth Line of Apsides-the line joining the perigee and apogee through the center of the earth Ascending Node-The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to north Descending Node- The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to north Lines of Nodes- The line joining the ascending and the descending nodes through the center of the earth. Argument of Perigee, - The angle from ascending node to perigee, measured in the orbital. The eccentricity-is a measure of the circularity of the orbit. It is determined from
Where e=eccentricity of the orbit; ra=distance from the center of the earth to the apogee point, rp=distance from the center of the earth to the perigee point.
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A circular orbit is a special case of an ellipse with equal major and minor axes (e=o) That is for Elliptical orbit 0 < e < 1 and for Circular Orbit e = 0. Inclination Angle is the angle between the orbital plane and the earths equatorial plane. A satellite that is in an orbit with some inclination angle is said to be in an Inclined Orbit. A satellite that is in orbit in the equatorial plane (inclination angle = 0) is in an Equatorial Orbit. A satellite in an orbit with inclination angle of is said to be in a polar orbit. All these orbits may be circular or elliptical depending on the orbital velocity and the direction of motion imparted to the satellite on insertion into orbit. An orbit in which the satellite moves in the same direction as the earths rotation is called a Prograde orbit, inclination angle 0 < < 90. A satellite in a retrograde orbit moves in the opposite direction to earth rotation, inclination angle 90 < < 180 Most satellites are launched in Prograde orbit because the earths rotational velocity enhances the satellite orbital velocity, reducing the amount of energy required to launch and place the satellite in orbit.
2.3 ORBITS IN COMMON USE 2.3.1 GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT

Keplers third law shows that there is a fixed relationship between orbit radius and the period of revolution of the satellite. If we carefully choose an orbit radius we can determine the orbit period. If an orbit radius is chosen so that the period of revolution of the satellite is exactly set to the period of rotation of the earth. Also if the orbit is circular (e = 0) and the orbit is in the equatorial plane ( =0), the satellite will appear to hover motionless above the earth. This orbit is called Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). This orbit radius is 42104Km. The GEO is an ideal orbit that cannot be achieved for real artificial satellites because there are many other forces acting on the satellite apart of the earth gravity. In addition to this, extensive station keeping and a vast amount of fuel is necessary to maintain the satellite in this orbit.
2.3.2 GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT

It is one whose inclination angle is slightly greater than zero and possibly with an eccentricity above zero. Its at an altitude of 36000Km. Most current communications satellites operate in geosynchronous orbit. Advantages -Its the most common orbit -Fixed slant path -little or no ground station tracking required -2 to 3 satellites for global coverage (accept at the poles) -period of revolution is 23hours, 56minutes Disadvantages -Large path loss and significant latency (approximately 260ms for a duplex communication) -cannot provide coverage to high latitude locations Coverage can be increase by using high elevation angle but this produces problems such as increase ground station antenna tracking, which increases cost and system complexity.
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2.3.3 LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO)

Operate typically at an altitude from 160 2400Km and is near circular. Requires earth tracking terminals, for continuous service. Advantages -Shorter earth satellite link, leading to lower path loss as such smaller power and smaller antenna systems -can cover high latitude locations -the satellite is much smaller in size, as such requires less energy to put it in orbit Disadvantages -A constellation of multiple LEO (12, 24, 66 etc.) to provide global coverage -approximately 8 to 10 minutes per pass of an earth terminal -Requires earth antenna tracking -Oblateness or non-spherical nature of the earth causes major perturbations to LEO obit.
2.3.4 MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT

It is situated at an altitude from 10,000 to 20,000Km similar to LEO, but higher circular orbit. One to two hours per pass for an earth terminal Requires a constellation of satellite to provide global coverage, for example GPS requires up to 24 satellites. It is mostly used for meteorological, remote sensing and position location application
2.3.5 HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL ORBIT

Popular for high latitude or polar coverage Often referred to as MOLNIYA orbit Eight to ten hour per pass for an earth terminal Typical MOLNIYA orbit has a perigee altitude of 1000Km and an apogee altitude of nearly 40,000Km.
2.3.6 POLAR ORBIT

Circular orbit with an inclination near Useful for sensing and data gathering services
2.3.7 GEOMETRY OF GSO LINK

GSO is the dominant orbit in use for communication satellites. Three key parameters of the GSO orbit are used for evaluation of satellite link performance. (distance) from the earth(Earth Station) to the satellite, in KM from the earth station to the satellite in degrees from the earth station to the satellite in degrees 30

Azimuth and elevation angle are called the look angle of the earth station to the satellite. This is shown in figure 2.5 Input parameters that can be used with software tools for determining the look angle are: -Le=Earth Station Latitude -Ls=Satellite latitude There are also software tools which require just the Country, name of the town and antenna size to find the look angle
CHAPTER 3 SATELLITE SUBSYSTEMS

A basic satellite system consists of a satellite (satellites) in space, relaying information between two or more users through ground terminals and the satellite. The information relayed may be voice, data, video or a combination of the three. The satellite is control from the ground through a satellite control facility, often called the Master Control Center (MCC), which provide tracking, telemetry, command and monitoring for the system. The Space Segment of the satellite system consist of the orbiting satellite (or satellites) and the ground satellite control facilities necessary to keep the satellite(s) operational. The Ground Segment or Earth Segment of the satellite system, consist of the transmit and receive earth stations and the associated equipment to interface with the user network, as shown in figure 3.1 We will focus on the space segment of a general communication satellite
The Space segment equipment on-board the satellite can be divided into: BUS and PAYLOAD. -BUS: It refers to the basic satellite structure and the subsystem that supports the satellite.
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The BUS subsystems are: Physical Structure, Power Subsystem, Attitude and Orbital Control subsystems, command and telemetry subsystem. -PAYLOAD: It is the equipment that provide the service or services intended for the satellite A communication payload can be further divided into Transponder and antenna subsystems as shown in figure 3.2
A satellite may have more than one payload
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3.1 SATELLITE BUS

The basic characteristics of a BUS subsystem are described below.
3.1.1 PHYSICAL STRUCTURE

It contains the other components of the satellite. The basic shape of the structure depends on the method of stabilization employed to keep the satellite stable and pointing to the desired direction; usually to keep the antenna properly oriented towards the earth. Two methods of stabilization are employed: Spin Stabilization and three-axis or body stabilized. These are shown below
3-Axis stabilized Larger solar cells area Solar arrays can be Slewed to provide more or Less power as required
Spin stabilized Solar Cells are spinning Solar cell efficiency due to limited visibility to the sun Antenna is de-spun to keep it pointing towards the earth
Three-axis stabilized 1 fig 3.3b Spin stabilized 1 fig 3.3a
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3.1.2 POWER SUBSYSTEM
The electrical power for operating equipment on a communication satellite is obtained primarily from solar cells, which convert incident sunlight into electrical energy. Solar cells operate at an efficiency of at the Beginning of Life (BOL) and can degrade to at the End of Life (EOL), usually considered to be 15years. In addition large number of cells connected in serial-parallel arrays, are required to support the communication satellite electronic system.
t t
Two types of batteries: Specific energy density
Nickel - cadmium: Nickel - Hydrogen: Nickel - cadmium Nickel hydrogen
Depth of discharge (DOD)
25 - 30 W.hr/Kg 25 - 60 W.hr/Kg GEO LEO 50% 10-20% 70% 40-50%
3.1.3 ATTITUDE CONTROL

The attitude of a satellite refers to the orientation in space with respect to the earth. It helps the narrow directional beam antenna to be pointed correctly to earth. Several forces can interact to affect the attitude of a spacecraft. These forces are gravitational forces from the sun, moon and planet, solar pressure acting on the spacecraft body, antenna and solar panels, earths gravitational field force.
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The orientation is monitored on the spacecraft by Infrared Horizon Detectors. Four detectors are used to establish a reference point; usually the center of the earth and any shift in orientation is detected by one or more of the sensors. A control signal is generated that is used to activate attitude control devices to restore proper orientation. Gas jets, ion thrusters and momentum wheels are used to provide active attitude control on communications satellites. Since the earth is not a perfect sphere, the satellite will be accelerated towards one of the stable points in the equatorial plane. This locations are and . In the absence of orbital control, the satellite will drift and settle in one of these stable locations.
3.1.4 ORBITAL CONTROL

Orbital Control often referred to as Station Keeping, is the process required to maintain the satellite in its proper orbit location. It is similar to though not the same as attitude control. GSO satellites will undergo forces that will cause the satellite to drift in the East-West (longitude) direction and the North-South (Latitude) direction. Orbital Control is usually maintained using Gas jets, Ion thrusters and momentum wheels. The non-spherical properties of the earth primarily exhibited as an equatorial bulge, cause the satellite to drift slowly in longitude along the equatorial plane. Control jets are pulsed to impart an opposite velocity component to the satellite, causing the satellite to drift back to its nominal position. This is called East-West Station Keeping Maneuvers, which are accomplished every two to three weeks. North-South Station Keeping requires more fuel than East-West Station Keeping and often satellites are maintain with little or no North-South station keeping, to extend on-orbit life. The quantity of fuel that must be carried on-board the satellite to provide orbital and attitude control is usually a determinant factor in the on-orbit life of a communication satellite.
3.1.5 THERMAL CONTROL

Thermal radiation from the sun heats on one side of the spacecraft, while the side facing the outer space is exposed to extremely low temperature of space. Most of the equipment in the satellite itself generates heat, which must be controlled. Satellite thermal control is design to control the large thermal gradient generated in the satellite by removing or relocating the heat to provide as stable as possible temperature environment for the satellite. -Thermal Blankets and Thermal Shield are placed at critical locations to provide insulation. Radiation Mirrors are placed around electronic subsystems, to protect critical equipment. Heat Pumps are used to relocate heat from power devices such as Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTA) to outer walls or heat sinks. Thermal heaters can also be used to maintain adequate temperature conditions for some components, such as propulsion lines or thrusters, where low temperature would cause severe problems. Satellite antennas are highly affected by the heat from the sun. Large aperture antenna can be twisted.
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3.1.6 TRACKING, TELEMETRY, COMMAND AND MONITORING

Tracking, Telemetry, Command and Monitoring (TTC&M) provide essential spacecraft management and control functions to keep the satellite operating safely in orbit. The TTC&M links between the spacecraft and the ground are usually separated from the communications system links. TTC&M links may operate in the same frequency bands or different frequency bands as the communications links. Separate earth terminal facilities specifically design for the complex operation required to maintain the spacecraft in orbit are used. A single TTC&M facility may maintain several spacecraft simultaneously in orbit through TTC&M links to each vehicle. Figure 3.4 shows typical TTC&M facility elements. TTC&M is divided into the satellite TTC&M subsystem and the earth TTC&M subsystem. The satellite TTC&M subsystem comprises the antenna, command receiver, tracking and telemetry transmitter, and possibly tracking sensors. Telemetry data are received from the other subsystems of the spacecraft, such as the payload, power, attitude and thermal control. Command data are relayed from the command receiver to the other subsystems to control such parameters as antenna pointing, transponder modes of operation, battery and solar cell charges etc. The ground TTC&M subsystem comprise the antenna, telemetry receiver, command transmitter, tracking subsystem and associated processing and analysis functions Satellite control and monitoring is accomplished through monitors and keyboard interface. Major operations of TTC&M are automated, with minimal human interface required. Tracking refers to the determination of the current orbital position and the movement of the spacecraft. Telemetry involves the collection of data from sensors on-board the spacecraft and relay of this information to the ground. Command is the complementary function of telemetry. The command systems relay specific control and operations information from ground to the spacecraft, most often in response to telemetry.
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3.2 SATELLITE PAYLOAD

A communications satellite payload is made up of two subsystems: Transponder and Antenna subsystems
3.2.1 TRANSPONDER
The Transponder in a communications satellite is the series of components that provide the communications channel or link between the uplink signal received at the uplink antenna and the downlink signal transmitted at the downlink antenna. A typical communications satellite will contain more than one transponder and some of the equipment may be common to more than one transponder. Each transponder generally operate in a different frequency band, with the allocated frequency band divided into slots (sub bands), with a specified center frequency and operating bandwidth. For example a 500MHz frequency band allocated for FSS can be divided among 12 transponders each of 36MHz bandwidth, width 4MHz guard band between each. Typical commercial communications satellites can have 24 to 48 transponders. The number of transponders can be doubled by the use of polarization frequency reuse. We can also spatial separation of the signal in the form of narrow spot beam, which allow the reuse of the same carrier in spatially separated locations on earth. Communications satellite transponders can be implemented in two general types; Frequency Translation and OnBoard Processing Transponder.
3.2.1.1 FREQUENCY TRANSLATION TRANSPONDER

It is the most frequently use of the two types. The Frequency Translation Transponder also referred to as a NonRegenerative or Bent Pipe receives the uplink signal and after amplification, retransmits it with only a translation in carrier frequency. Figure 3.5 shows a dual frequency translation transponder, where the uplink radio frequency, , converted into an intermediate lower frequency, , amplified and then converted back up to the downlink , for transmission to earth. Frequency translation transponders are used for FSS, BSS, and MSS applications. The uplink and downlink are codependent meaning any degradation introduces in the uplink will be transferred to the downlink, affecting the total communications link performance.
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3.2.1.2 ON-BOARD PROCESSING TRANSPONDER

The On-Board processing transponder also called a Regenerative Repeater or Demo/Remod transponder or Smart Satellite is shown in figure 3.6 The uplink signals at is demodulated to baseband, . The baseband signal is then available for processing on-board, including reformatting and error correction. The baseband information is then remodulated to the downlink carrier at , possibly in a different modulation format to the uplink and after final amplification is transmitted to the downlink. The Demodulation/Remodulation process removes the uplink noise and interference from the downlink, while allowing additional on board processing to be accomplished. Thus the uplink and downlink are independent with respect to the evaluation of the overall link performance This type of satellite turns to be more expensive than frequency translation satellites, but do offer significant performance advantages. Travelling wave tube amplifiers (TWTA) or Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) are used to provide final output amplification for each transponder channel.
3.2.2 ANTENNAS
The antenna system is a critical part of the satellite communications system, because it is an essential element in increasing the strength of the transmitted or received signal to allow amplification, processing and eventual retransmission. The most important parameters that define the performance of an antenna are; antenna gain, antenna beamwidth, and antenna side lobes. The gain defines the increased in strength achieved in concentrating the radio wave energy. The beamwidth usually express as 3-dB beamwidth or half power beamwidth is a measure of the angle over which the maximum gain occurs. The sidelobe is defined as the amount of gain in the off-axis direction. The common types of antennas used in satellite communications are: Linear dipole, horn antenna, parabolic reflector and array antenna.
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PART NOISE AND IMPAIRMENTS ON SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK
PART II
NOISE AND IMPAIRMENTS ARE THE MAJOR SOURCES OF DEGRADATION ON A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK. THIS PART PRESENTS ALL THE TYPES OF NOISE AND IMPAIRMENTS THAT CAN BE ENCOUNTERED ON A COMMUNICATION LINK. A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THIS NOISE AND IMPAIRMENTS WILL HELP AN OPERATOR BETTER OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE. THIS PART IS DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN CHAPTERS. CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTS ALL THE NOISE ON A SYSTEM WHILE CHAPTER FIVE PRESENTS THE IMPAIRMENTS.
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CHAPTER 4 NOISE
The figure 4.1 below shows the path taken by a signal from the transmitter to the receiver and the level of noise present in the signal. From the graph it can be seen that signal power and noise power are almost equal at the input of the receive terminal. That is it is possible to confuse noise and carrier power. At can also be seen that from the point the noise is injected into the signal, it follows the same path as the signal and therefore goes through the same attenuation and gain stages
Noise can be introduced into a communication link at various points At the transmit terminal At the receive system of the satellite In the satellite non-linear amplifier At the transmit system of the satellite At the receive terminal of the earth station.
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4.1 TYPES OF NOISE

The following (figure4.2) are the major types of noise experienced in a satellite communication link Thermal Noise In the satellite receive system In the receive system of the earth terminal Interference From the carriers in the same transponder From carriers in other transponders in the same satellite From other carriers in other satellites Intermodulation Noise In the High Power Amplifier(HPA) of the transmit terminal In the satellite High Power Amplifier(HPA)
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4.1.1 THERMAL NOISE

Every object in the universe generates thermal noise. Thermal noise is very weak, so it is important only when the signal itself is very weak, that is at the input of the receive system of the satellite or the receive system of the receive earth station. Thermal noise is measured in terms of noise temperature T. The gain (G) to noise temperature (T) ratio of a receive system, G/T is a key performance parameter of the receive system. We can group thermal noise into Uplink Thermal Noise (satellite receive system) and Downlink Thermal Noise (Terminal Receive System)
4.1.1A UPLINK THERMAL NOISE (SATELLITE RECEIVE SYSTEM)
It comes from the following sources: From the electronic components of the satellite. Space and other celestial bodies. Earth
This is shown in figure 4.3
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4.1.1B DOWNLINK THERMAL NOISE (TERMINAL RECEIVE SYSTEM)

It comes from the sun, cloud and rain, sky, moon and other celestial bodies, ground and terrestrial noise sources. This is shown in figure 4.4 below
4.2 INTERFERENCE
Interference is the unwanted power contribution of other carriers in the frequency band occupied by the wanted carrier. The three major types of interferences are Adjacent Satellite Interference(ASI); Interference from a signal on an adjacent satellite Co-channel Interference(CCI); Interference from a carrier in a co-channel transponder on the same satellite Adjacent carrier Interference(ACI);Interference from an adjacent carrier in the same transponder These are all shown in figure 4.5 below 43
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Adjacent Satellite Interference (ASI) is the most complex form of interference on a satellite link There are two kinds Uplink ASI Downlink ASI
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4.3 INTERMODULATION
Non-linear devices such as Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTA) Or Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) at the satellite transponders or any High Power Amplifier (HPA) at the transmit terminal will generate intermodulation noise when multiple carriers pass through them. The nature of the intermodulation noise depends on the carriers and the non-linear device. A precise computation of intermodulation noise is vital in predicting the performance close to saturation, for maximum output performance.
CHAPTER 5- IMPAIRMENTS
The atmosphere offers an RF window for satellite communications. At low frequencies the ionosphere cannot be penetrated by radio waves and acts as a reflector At high frequencies the atmospheric gases absorb and severely attenuate the radio waves
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Propagation impairment at frequencies above 1GHz can be group into the following classes Signal attenuation due to o Atmospheric gases-primarily oxygen and water vapor o Rain and snow o Clouds Signal polarization effects o Depolarization due to rain o Faradays rotation Signal path effects related to refraction o Tropospheric scintillation- variation in refractive index
5.1 SIGNAL ATTENUATION

Attenuation is the absorption and scattering of radio wave energy as it travels along the propagation medium. Signal attenuation can be caused by Atmospheric gases, rain, snow and cloud.
5.1.1 RAIN ATTENUATION

Rain is a major weather effect of concern particularly for earth-space communication in frequency bands above 3GHz. It is particular significant for frequencies of operation above 10GHz. Rain attenuation occurs because when the signal passes through rain drops, some of the signal energy get absorbed and converted to heat, thus resulting in degradation of the reliability and performance of the link. The amount of rain attenuation depends on: The frequency (wavelength relative to the size of raindrops) The rain intensity or rain rate(amount of water in the path per unit distance) The elevation angle(lower elevation angle means signal has to travel a longer path through the rain)
Figure 5.2 shows the rain attenuation measured for the worst 1% of the year. Several general characteristics can be derived from the figure; rain attenuation increases with increasing frequency and decreasing elevation angle. Rain attenuation levels can be very high particularly for frequencies above 30GHz.The plots are for 99% link availability which corresponds to 1% outage.
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5.1.2 GASEOUS ATTENUATION

Gaseous attenuation is primarily due to signal absorption by oxygen and water vapor. Signal degradation can be minor or severe depending on the frequency, temperature, pressure and water vapor concentration The absorption is high for frequencies that represent the resonant frequency of the elements that make up the gases. Only oxygen and water vapor have absorbable resonant frequencies in the band of interest. The figure 5.3 shows the total gaseous attenuation observed on a satellite path located in Washington DC, for elevation angles from to . The stark effect of oxygen absorption lines around 60GHz is seen. Water vapor absorption lines around 22.3GHz is observed. AS the elevation angle decreases, the path length through the troposphere increases, and the resulting total attenuation increases.
5.1.3 CLOUD ATTENUATION

Cloud attenuation behaves similarly to rain attenuation but it is generally a small effect. The figure 5.4 shows the total cloud attenuation as a function of frequency, for elevation angles from . The cloud attenuation is seen to increase with frequency and decrease elevation angle.
5.1.4 SNOW AND ICE ATTENUATION

The effects of snow and ice are generally included in rain impairments. Snow and ice generally attenuate the signal to a small extent as compared to rain.
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5.2 SIGNAL PATH EFFECT RELATED TO REFRACTION

The main signal path effect related to refraction is scintillation. The scintillation effects occur at the ionosphere and at the troposphere. The ionospheric scintillation mostly affects frequencies around 30MHz to 300MHz. Therefore are main concern will be tropospheric scintillation
5.2.1 TROPOSPHERIC SCINTILLATION

Tropospheric scintillation describes a rapid fluctuation in the received signal level as a result of a variation in the refractive index of the atmosphere. It is generally negligible at frequencies below 10GHz and at high elevation angles but it becomes a significant problem for frequencies below 10GHz and low elevation angles. There are generally two kinds: Amplitude and Phase Scintillations
5.2.2 SIGNAL POLARIZATION EFFECTS 5.2.2.1 POLARIZATION

The wave radiated by an antenna consists of electric field component and a magnetic field component. These two components are orthogonal and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave. Polarization is the directional aspects of the electrical field of a radio signal. Two common types in satellite communications are Linear Polarization and Circular Polarization. 48

Linear Polarization: The electric field is wholly in one plane containing the direction of propagation. There are two types; Horizontal and Vertical Polarization. Horizontal Polarization: The electric field lies in a plane parallel to the earths surface Vertical Polarization: The electric field lies in a plane perpendicular to the earths surface. Circular Polarization: The electric field radiates energy in both the horizontal and vertical planes and all planes in between. Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) The electric field is rotating in the clockwise direction as seen by an observer towards whom the wave is moving
Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) The electric field is rotating in the counterclockwise direction as seen by an observer towards whom the wave is moving.
5.2.2.2 RAIN DEPOLARIZATION

It refers to the change in the polarization characteristics of a radio wave. A depolarized radio wave will have its polarization state altered such that power is transferred from the desired polarization state to an undesired polarization channel. Rain depolarization can be a problem in the frequency bands above about 12GHz, particularly for frequency reuse systems communications links the same frequency bands to increase channel capacity.
5.2.2.3 FARADAYS ROTATION

Faraday rotation is an ionospheric effect. -The ionosphere is a charged layer of the atmosphere. - When the electromagnetic RF signal passes through the ionosphere, the electric field rotates the polarization plane of the signal. - Therefore, the plane of polarization of linearly polarized signals (H / V) twists. - Faraday rotation has no effect on circular polarization. - Faraday rotation is dependent on the charged state of the atmosphere, which is dependent on solar activity.
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- Sun-spot activity can increase Faraday rotation. - This polarization rotation causes signal depolarization and increased cross-pol interference.
PART III
PART OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES AS APPLIED TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK
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The figure 6.1 below shows the basic communications elements in the transmitting and receiving earth stations. It also indicates measures of performance at various points of the link.
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This section is divided into three chapters. Chapter six deals with modulation and coding; how they can be used in tradeoff analysis between bandwidth and power, to optimize satellite communications link. Chapter seven covers satellite Link Budget; which is used to analyze the link performance of a satellite communications system. In this chapter we first consider the individual link performance, providing tools to evaluate the carrier-power budget and the noise-contribution budget. We then introduce the concept of link performance for the overall link from origin to the destination station, for a transparent satellite.
CHAPTER MODULATION AND CODING
6.1 TYPES OF MODULATION

In digital communications, we have three types of modulations Amplitude, Frequency and Phase Modulations. Amplitude Shift keying(ASK): The bit information is carried in the amplitude of the signal Frequency Shift Keying(FSK): The bit information is carried in the frequency of the signal Phase Shift Keying(PSK):The bit information is carried in the phase of the signal
In satellite communications Phase Shift Keying is most frequently used because it has the advantage of a constant envelope and compared to frequency shift keying(FSK), it provide better spectral efficiency(number of bits transmitted per radio frequency bandwidth) The figure 6.2 below shows the principle of a modulator. It consists of; A symbol generator An encoder or mapper A signal generator
The symbol generator generates symbols m with M states, where M=2 , from m consecutive bits of the input bit stream. The encoder establishes a correspondence between M states of these symbols and M possible states of the transmitted carrier
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6.1.1 TYPES OF PHASE SHIFT KEYING MODULATION AND BANDWIDTH EFFICIENCY

Depending on the number m, of bits per symbol, different M-ary Phase Shift Keying modulation can be considered. Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK): If a single bit is used to defined a symbol, a basic two state modulation (M=2) is defined called BPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK): if two consecutive bits are grouped to define a symbol, a four state modulation (M=4) is defined called QPSK 8-Phase Shift Keying (8PSK): If three consecutive bits are grouped to define a symbol, an eight state modulation (M=8) is defined called 8-PSK, as shown in figure 6.3 below. Higher Order Modulation (M=16, 32): This can be obtain for m=4, 5 etc. bits per symbol. As the order of the modulation increases, the spectral (bandwidth) efficiency increases with increase in the number of bits per symbol. That is: BPSK uses one bit per symbol QPSK two bits per symbol- use half the bandwidth 8-PSK three bits per symbol- use one third of the bandwidth With a modulation of higher order M , better performance is achieved by considering hybrid amplitude and phase shift keying (APSK), also called Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). The state of the carrier corresponds to given values of carrier phase and carrier amplitude (2 for 16APSK, 3 for 32APSK) 16-QAM for example takes four bit per symbol and uses one fourth of the bandwidth. As we move from 8-PSK to 16-APSK, 32APSK, the drawback is that the signal is also affected by the non-linear components like the amplifiers at the earth station transmitter and at the satellite.
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6.1.2 POWER EFFICIENCY OF THE VARIOUS SC HEMES

The error performance of various modulation schemes can be compared as follows: The square of the distance from the origin is the power corresponding to each symbol. Using this, the average power per bit (P) for the modulation scheme can be computed. The square of half the distance between two closest symbols is the minimum noise power (E) required to cause an error. It is a measure of the error tolerance of the modulation scheme. If two schemes have the same E, the one requiring the lower P is more power efficient.
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6.1.3 POWER REQUIREMENT OF VARIOUS SCHEMES-E B /N O VS BER

The power required to achieve a certain bit error rate (BER) is often express as a relationship between the E b/No and BER. Bit error rate is a measure of the performance of a digital communications system at the output of a demodulator. Figure 6.4 shows the power requirement of various modulation schemes.
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6.2 CHANNEL ENCODING

The figure6.5 below illustrates the principle of channel encoding. It has the objective of adding to the information bit, redundant bits, which are used at the receiver to detect and correct errors. This technique is called Forward Error Correction (FEC). The code rate is defined as , where r is the number of redundant bits added to n information bits. The bit rate at the encoder input is , at the output, it is greater and equal to . Hence, (bit/s)
6.2.1 BLOCK ENCODING AND CONVOLUTIONAL ENCODING 6.2.1A BLOCK ENCODING

The encoder associates bits of redundancy with each block of information bits; each block is coded independently of the others. The code bits are generated by a linear combination of the corresponding block Some of the most commonly used block codes are: Hamming codes; which can correct a single error Reed-Solomon codes; which can correct multiple errors. An reed-Solomon code can correct errors. Here [x] represents the largest integer less than or equal to x. For example a (219,201) RS encodes blocks of 201 bits onto code words of length 219 bits. This can correct 9 simultaneous bits errors in the 219 bits code word. Bose, Chaudhari and Hocquenghem (BCH) codes
6.2.1B CONVOLUTION ENCODING

A convolutional code process a stream of data. For every K bits it take in, it generates n bits at the output The choice between block codes and convolutional encoding is dictated by the types of errors that are expected at the output of the demodulator. The distribution of errors depends on the nature of the noise and the propagation impairments encountered on the satellite link. 56

Under stable propagation conditions and Gaussian noise, errors occur randomly and convolutional encoding is mostly used. Under fading conditions, errors occur mostly in bursts, compared with convolutional encoding; block encoding is less sensitive to bursts of errors, so block encoding is preferred.
6.2.2 CONCATENATED ENCODING

The concatenated coding wraps a convolutional code inside a Reed-Solomon code, with an interleaver. The convolutional code corrects must of the channel errors. When a convolutional code causes errors, the errors are in bursts. The interleaver spreads the bursts of errors over multiple Reed-Solomon code words. The Reed-Solomon code then corrects the remaining errors. Concatenated coding provides very significant improvement in performance over either types of coding alone. INPUT RS Encoder Interleaver Convolutional Encoder
Channel
OUTPUT RS Decoder De-interleaver Convolutional decoder
Overall code rate =

6.2.3 TURBO CODES
There are a complete replacement for convolutional and Reed-Solomon codes
6.2.4 LOW DENSITY PARITY CHECK CODES (LDPC)

LDPC codes have been found to offer better performance than Turbo codes LDPC block codes (just like RS block codes) are often used as part of a concatenated coding schemes e.g. the DVB-S2 standard uses LDPC inner codes and BCH outer codes. This concatenated coding yields better performance.
6.3 CHANNEL DECODING

With FEC, the decoder uses the redundancy introduced at the encoder to detect and correct errors. Various possibilities are available for decoding block codes and convolutional encoding. Convolutional codes are mostly
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decoded with the use of VITERBI decoding algorithm, for best performance. The figure 6.6 shows the performance of a modulation and coding scheme The Bit error probability (BEP) is express as a function of E b/N0, where Eb is the energy per information bit. And Eb=C/Rb, where C is the carrier energy present after demodulation and R b is the bit rate. Therefore
The Decoding gain is defined as the difference in decibel (dB) at a considered value of BEP or BER between the required value of Eb/N0 with and without coding, assuming equal information rate Rb.
Table 6.1 below shows typical values of coding gain.
Bit error rate (BER): It is used to measure the performance of a digital communications system at the output of the demodulator. It is a very important performance parameter.
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6.4 POWER-BANDWIDTH TRADEOFF

Coding allows bandwidth to be exchanged for power (that is it permits us to use more bandwidth put less power). As a result of this link performance can be optimize in terms of cost (cost of earth station)
6.4.1 CODING WITH VARIABLE BANDWIDTH

When Coding is used, bandwidth is increased, and less power is required to attain the same performance requirements. This reduction in power noted = ( ) , which translates to an equal reduction in the required carrier power, is paid is equal to the decoding gain.
The reduction in the required
for by an increase in the required bandwidth used on the satellite link.
6.4.2 CODING WITH CONSTANT BANDWIDTH

It is performed when a given bandwidth is allocated to a given satellite link. Coding is introduced without changing the carrier bandwidth B, and therefore at a constant transmitted rate R c. Therefore Rb must be reduced. If the bandwidth is constant, the reduction in is higher, as a result in reduction in the information rate. This reduction can be used to combat temporary link degradation due to rain, at the expense of temporary
capacity reduction on the considered link.
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CHAPTER 7 SATELLITE LINK BUDGET

A satellite link budget is like a financial budget in which: Signal power = Credit/Income Noise power = Debit/Expense
A link budget is the basic tool of the satellite engineer. It is used to predict the performance of a satellite link at the receive terminal by; Computing the power gain/loses along the satellite link Computing the impact of various impairments along the satellite link
The main goal of a link budget is to determine; The Forward link budget : Given the power at the transmit terminal, predict the link performance at the receive terminal Reversed Link Budget: Determine the power at the transmit terminal required to achieve a desired link performance at the receive terminal.
We will begin this section by looking at the configuration of a satellite links. The Links we are talking of here are; Uplink from a transmit earth station to the satellite Downlink from a satellite to a receive terminal earth station End-to-End link from a transmit earth station through the satellite to a receive earth station.
We will then proceed to analyze the performance of each individual link and conclude with that of an overall (endto-end) link of a transparent satellite.
7.1 CONFIGURATION OF A LINK

The figure 7.1 represents the elements participating in a link. The transmit equipment consist of a transmitter Tx, connected by a feeder to the transmit antenna of gain GT in the direction of the receiver. Power radiated by the transmit equipment in the direction of the receive equipment is PT The performance of the transmit equipment is measured by its effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), defined as EIRP = (7.1)
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On its way the radiated power suffers from path loss L. The receiving equipment consists of a receiving antenna of gain GR in the direction of the transmit equipment. The antenna is connected by a feeder to the receiver Rx. At the receiver input, the power of the modulated carrier is C and all sources of noise in the link contribute to the system noise temperature T. The system noise temperature T conditions the noise power spectral density N 0, which is used to determine the performance of the RF link at the input of the receiver
The performance of the receiving equipment is measured by its figure of merit, , where G represents the overall receiving equipment gain The following section presents definitions of the relevant parameters that condition the link performance and provide useful equations that help in calculating .
7.2 ANTENNA PARAMETERS 7.2.1 ANTENNA GAINS

The gain of an antenna is the power radiated (or received) per unit solid angle by the antenna in a given direction to the power radiated (or received) per unit solid angle by an Isotropic antenna fed with the same power. The gain of the antenna is maximum, in the direction of maximum radiation (boresight) and has a value given by; ( Where and is the velocity of light ) and frequency of the electromagnetic wave. For an , but ,
antenna, with a circular aperture, or reflector of diameter D. The surface area where is the antenna efficiency. Therefore ( ) ( )
Expressed in dBi (the gain relative to an isotropic antenna), the actual maximum antenna gain is; ( ) ( ( ) )
The efficiency of the antenna is the product of several factors which take account of the spill -over loss, surface impairments, ohmic and impedance mismatch losses.
7.2.2 RADIATION PATTERN AND ANGULAR BEAMWIDTH

The radiation pattern indicates the variation of gain with direction. Figure 7.2a and 7.2b show the radiation pattern for a circular antenna in polar (7.2a) and Cartesian (7.2b) coordinates. The main lobe contains the direction of maximum radiation. The side lobes should be kept to a minimum.
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The Angular beamwidth is the angle defined by the directions corresponding to a given gain fallout with respect to the maximum gain. The 3dB beamwidth, indicated by , in figure 7.2a is often used. The 3dB beamwidth corresponds to the angle in the directions in which the gain falls to half the maximum value. It is related to the ratio by a coefficient. The coefficient commonly used is ( ) In the direction ( ) , which leads to the expression;
with respect to the boresight, the value of gain is given by ( ) and is valid only when
Combining equation (7.3) and (7.5), we can obtain the maximum gain of an antenna as a function of beamwidth ( ) ( )
If =0.6 is considered, it gives , where is in degrees.
Figure 7.3 shows the relationship between 3dB beamwidth and maximum gain for three most common values of antenna efficiency.
From figure 7.3 it can be seen that as the 3dB beamwidth increases, the antenna gain drops for each of the three efficiency values. The higher the efficiency, the higher the antennae gains.
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7.2.3 POLARIZATION
The wave radiated by an antenna consists of an electric field component and a magnetic field component. These two components are orthogonal and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave, as shown in figure 7.4 below. They both vary at the frequency of the wave. By convention, the polarization of a wave is defined by the direction of the electric field component. This electric field component is not fixed in direction. Polarization is characterized by; Direction of rotation(with respect to direction of propagation); right- hand (clockwise) or lefthand(counter clockwise) Axial ratio(AR); , ratio of the major and minor axes of the ellipse. When the ellipse is a circle (axial ratio=1=0dB), polarization is said to be circular. When the ellipse reduce to one axis( infinite axial ratio, the electric field maintains a fixed direction), polarization is said to be linear. Inclination, of the ellipse
Two waves are in orthogonal polarization if their electric field defines identical ellipses in opposite direction. In particular we can have; Two orthogonal circular polarization described as right-hand circular(RHCP) and left-hand circular(LHCP) polarizations Two orthogonal linear polarization described as horizontal and vertical polarizations
Polarization enables an increase in capacity through frequency reuse. This must take into account the imperfection of the antenna and possible depolarization of wave by transmission medium, which can lead to mutual interference.
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Consider figure 7.5 below with two orthogonal lineally polarized waves. Amplitude of the wave A, transmitted with vertical polarization ac amplitude of wave B, transmitted with horizontal linear polarization bc =energy of signal B, found in A due to depolarization = energy of signal A, found in B due to depolarization The following can be defined The Cross- Polarization Isolation: ( ) Or ( ) ( ) (when a single polarization is
The Cross-Polarization Discrimination transmitted)
7.3 RADIATED POWER 7.3.1 EFFECTIVE ISOTROPIC RADIATED POWER (EIRP)

It is the parameter that characterizes the performance of a transmit equipment and it is given by
To obtain EIRP, we consider the power radiated by an isotropic antenna fed from a radio-frequency source of power PT, given by , any antenna radiates a power per unit solid angle given
In a direction where the value of the transmitted gain is by , the product is called the EIRP
7.3.2 POWER FLUX DENSITY

A surface area A situated at a distance R from the transmitting antenna, subtends a solid angle A/R 2 at the transmitting antenna as shown in figure 7.6. It receives a power equal to 64
)(
The magnitude
is called the power flux density expressed in
7.4 RECEIVED SIGNAL POWER 7.4.1 POWER CAPTURED BY THE RECEIVING ANTENNA AND FREE SPACE PATH LOSS
As shown in figure 7.7, a receiving antenna of effective aperture area transmitting antenna receives power equal to; located at a distance R from the
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) according to equation (7.2)
The effective area of an antenna is expressed as a function of its receiving gain ( Hence an expression for the received power ( ( ) ) )( ( ( Where ( ( )) ) )
) is called the free space loss and represents it is usually of the order of 200dB for an earth
station situated at an altitude of about 35786Km. It is loss linked to the distance that exists between the transmitting equipment and the receiving equipment. It is not linked to any attenuation.
7.5 ADDITIONAL LOSSES

In practice, it is necessary to take into account additional losses due to various causes Attenuation of the wave as they propagate through the atmosphere Losses in transmitting and receiving equipment Depointing losses Polarization mismatch losses
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7.5.1 ATTENUATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE

The attenuation of waves in the atmosphere, denoted by , is due to the presence of gaseous components in the troposphere, water (rain, clouds, snow and ice) and ionosphere. The overall effect on the power of the received carrier can be taken into account by replacing in equation (7.9) by the Path Loss, L, where
7.5.2 LOSSES IN THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING EQUIPMENT

Figure (7.8) shows the losses in the terminal equipment. We have the following; -The feeder loss to provide a power between the transmitter and the antenna; to feed the antenna with power PT it is necessary at the output of the transmission amplifier such that;
Expressing the EIRP as a function of the power at the output of the transmission amplifier, we have;
-the feeder loss between the antenna and the receiver; has an impact on the power at the input of the receiver, , such that it will be equal to
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7.5.3 DEPOINTING LOSSES

Figure 7.9 shows the geometry of the link in case of imperfect alignment between the transmitting and the receiving antennas. The result is fallout in antenna gain with respect to the maximum gain in transmission and in reception, called Depointing Loss. These Depointing losses are a function of a misalignment of angle of transmission and reception . They are evaluated using equation (7.6); ( ( ) )
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7.5.4 LOSSES DUE TO POLARIZATION MISMATCH

When the receiving antenna is not oriented with the polarization of the received wave, a polarization mismatch occurs. In a link with circular polarization the transmitted wave is circularly polarized only on the axis of the antenna and becomes elliptical off this axis. Propagation through the atmosphere can also change circular into elliptical polarization. In linear polarization link, the wave can be subject to rotation of its plane of polarization as it propagates through the atmosphere. Finally with linear polarization, the receiving antenna may not have its plane of polarization align with that of the incident wave. If is the angle between the two planes, the polarization mismatch loss (in dB) is . In a case where a circularly polarized antenna receives a linearly polarized wave, will have a value of 3dB. Considering all sources of loss, the signal power at the receiver input will be; ( )( )( )
7.5.5 CONCLUSION
Equations (7.9) and (7.14), which express the received power at the input to the receiver, are of the same form; they are a product of three factors; -EIRP, which characterizes the transmitting equipment Which takes into account loss, between the transmit amplifier and the antenna. Reduction in gain LT due to misalignment of the transmit antenna -1/L, which characterizes the transmission medium
The path loss takes in to account free space attenuation and atmospheric attenuation -The gain of the receiver, which characterizes the receiving equipment; Which takes into account losses, between the antenna and the receiver, LR due to misalignment of receiver antenna and, ,due to polarization mismatch.
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7.6 NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AT THE RECEIVER INPUT 7.6.1 ORIGIN OF NOISE
Noise consists of all unwanted contributions whose power adds to the wanted carrier power. It reduces the ability of the receiver to reproduce correctly the information content of the received wanted carrier. As seen in chapter 4, noise can originate from; Thermal source(noise emitted by natural sources of radiation situated around the receiver antenna and noise generated by components of the receiving equipment) Interfering sources from neighboring systems
7.6.2 NOISE CHARACTERIZATION

The equivalent noise power captured by a receiver with equivalent noise bandwidth , is given by
Where N0 is the noise power spectral density
7.6.3 NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A NOISE SOURCE

The noise temperature of a noise source of noise power spectral density N 0 is given by Where k the Boltzmanns constant = 1.379x10
-23
= -228.6dBW/HzK
7.6.4 NOISE FIGURE

If the reference temperature at the input of an element is T 0=290K, also if the element has a gain G, a bandwidth B and is driven by a source of noise temperature T0. The total power at the output is . The noise power originating from the source is . The noise figure is thus The noise figure is usually quoted in decibel (dB): ( )
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7.6.5 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF AN ATTENUATOR

An attenuator has passive components, all at temperature which is generally the ambient temperature. If is the attenuation caused by the attenuator, then the effective input noise temperature of the attenuator is;
7.6.6 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF CASCADED ELEMENTS
Consider a chain of N elements in cascade, each element j having a power gain input noise temperature The overall effective input noise temperature is The noise figure will be
and effective
7.6.7 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A RECEIVER

Figure (7.10) shows the arrangement of a receiver. By using equation (7.19), the effective input noise temperature of the receiver can be express as Example for a low noise amplifier(LNA); Mixer; IF amplifier; Hence; It can be seen that the high gain of the LNA limits the noise temperature of the receiver to that of the LNA, , =30dB ,
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7.6.8 ANTENNA NOISE TEMPERATURE

An antenna picks up noise from the radiating bodies within the radiation pattern of the antenna. The noise output from an antenna is a function of the direction in which the antenna is pointing, its radiation pattern and th e state of the surrounding environment The antenna is assumed to be a noise source characterized by a noise temperature called the noise temperature of the antenna . Two cases are considered A satellite antenna (uplink) An earth station antenna (downlink)
7.6.8 NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A SATELLITE ANTENNA

As seen in chapter 4, noise is captured by this antenna from the earth and from outer space. The earth is the major contributor. For a beamwidth of 17.5 , the antenna noise temperature depends on the frequency and orbital position of the satellite. For a smaller beamwidth (spot beam), it depends on the frequency and the area covered. For a preliminary design, the value 290K can be taken as a conservative value.
7.6.9 NOISE TEMPERATURE OF AN EARTH STAT ION ANTENNA (DOWNLINK)

It comes from the sky and noise due to radiation from the earth. This is shown in figure (7.11a) and (7.11b), for clear sky and rain attenuation conditions
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In clear sky In the presence of rain ( )
7.7 SYSTEM NOISE TEM PERATURE

Consider the receiving equipment shown in figure (7.12) below. It consists of an antenna connected to a receiver. The connection (feeder) is a lossy one and at a thermodynamic temperature T F(which is closed to T0=290K). It introduces an attenuation , which corresponds to a gain of the receiver is . and is less than 1.
The effective input noise temperature
The noise temperature may be determine at two points as follows At the antenna output before the feeder losses, temperature T 1; At the receiver input, after the feeder losses, temperature T2
The noise temperature T1 at the antenna output is the sum of the noise temperature of the antenna and the noise temperature of the subsystem, consisting of the feeder and receiver in cascade. The noise temperature of the feeder is given by equation (7.18). From equation (7.21), the noise temperature of the sub system is Now consider the receiver input. This noise factor must be attenuated by a factor . Replacing by , , adding the
contribution of the antenna, this becomes
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the noise temperature Ts at the input of the receiver will be; ( )
The noise temperature T2 which takes into account the noise generated by the antenna and the feeder together with the receiver noise, is called the system noise temperature T at the receiver input. System Noise Temperature Example Consider the receiving system of figure (7.21) with the following values. -Attenuation noise temperature: input noise temperature of the receiver ; ; thermodynamic temperature of the feeder; ; effective
The system noise temperature at the receiver input will be calculated for two cases: (1) no feeder loss between the antenna and the receiver and (2) feeder loss . Using equation (7.25) Case (1): T=50K+290(1-1)K+50K = 100K Case (2): T= =149.3K or around 150K. ( )
Notice the influence of the feeder loss; it reduces the antenna noise but makes its own contribution to the noise and this finally causes an increase in system noise temperature. The contribution of attenuation the noise can quickly be estimated using the following rule: every attenuation of 0.1dB upstream of the receiver makes a contribution to the system noise temperature of ( )=6.6K or around 7K. to realize a receiving system with a low noise temperature, it is imperative to avoid losses upstream of the receiver.
7.7.1 CONCLUSION
At the receiver input, all sources of noise in the link contribute to the system noise temperature T. These sources include noise captured by the antenna and generated by the feeder, which can actually be measured at the receiver input, plus the noise generated downstream in the receiver, which is modeled as a fictitious source of noise at the receiver input, treating the receiver as noiseless. The noise superimposed on the received carrier power has a power spectral density given by; k is the Boltzmann constant (k=1.379x10 J/K = -228.6dBJ/K)
-2
, where
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7.8 INDIVIDUAL LINK PERFORMANCE

The link performance is evaluated as a ratio of the received carrier power C, to the noise power spectral density, N 0 and is quoted as the besides ratio, express in hertz. One can evaluate the link performance using other ratios , for instance represents the carrier power over the system noise temperature expressed in units of watts per kelvin (W/K), it is given by , where k is the Boltzmann constant
represents carrier power over the noise power; it is dimensionless, it is given by ( ) , where is the noise bandwidth
7.8.1 CARRIER TO NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY RATIO AT THE RECEIVER INPUT
The power received at the receiver input, as given by equation (7.14), is that of the carrier. Hence The noise power spectral density at the same point is Hence [( )( )( )] [( ( ) )] , where T is given by equation (7.25)
This expression can be interpreted as follows: ( ) ( ; ) ( ) ) ( )
Can also be express as a function of the power flux density ( )(
Where
Finally it can be verified that evaluation of
is independent of the point chosen in the receiving chain as long as
the carrier power and noise power spectral are calculated at the same point. Equation (7.27) for C/N0 introduces three factors; EIRP, which characterizes the transmitting equipment 1/L, which characterizes the transmission medium The composite receiving gain/noise temperature, which characterizes the receiving equipment; it is called the figure of merit, or G/T, of the receiving equipment.
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By examining equation (7.26), it can be seen that the figure of merit G/T of the receiving equipment is a function of the antenna noise temperature and the effective input noise temperature of the receiver. These magnitudes will now be quantified. In conclusion, equation (7.26) boils down to; ( )( )( )
7.8.2 CLEAR SKY CONDITION

Figure (7.13) shows the geometry of the link. It is assumed that the transmitting earth station is on the edge of the 3dB beamwidth coverage of the satellite receiving antenna. The data used are given below; -Frequency; =14GHz For the earth station(ES); o Transmitting amplifier power; o Loss between the amplifier and antenna; o Antenna diameter; D=4m o Antenna efficiency; o Maximum pointing error; Earth station satellite distance; R= 40,000Km Atmospheric attenuation; (typical value at this frequency for elevation angle 10 ) For the satellite(SL) o Receiving beam half power angular width; o Antenna efficiency; o Receiver noise figure; F=3dB o Loss between antenna and receiver; o Thermodynamic temperature of the connection; o Antenna noise temperature;
To calculate the EIRP of the earth station;
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With
=100W=20dBW, ( ) (
) )
( ,
Hence To calculate the upward path loss (U); With ( ) ( ) , Hence
To calculate the figure of merit G/T of the satellite (SL); ( )

( [ ( ) ) ]
With ( Assume
( )
) ,
) , Since the earth station is at the edge of the 3dB coverage area, , Given
Hence ( )
Notice that when the thermodynamic temperature of the feeder between the antenna and the satellite receiver is close to the antenna noise temperature, which is the case in practice, the uplink system noise temperature at the receiver input is . It is therefore needlessly costly to install a receiver with a low noise figure on board the satellite To calculate the ratio for the uplink; ( )
-1
)( ) ( )
Hence: 71.7dBW 207.7dB + 6.6dBK + 228.6dBJ/K =99.2dBHz. Figure (7.14) shows the path of the signal in uplink and the power at various points
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7.8.2.1 CLEAR SKY DOWNLINK PERFORMANCE

Figure (7.15a) shows the geometry of the downlink. It is assumed that the receiving earth station is located on the edge of the 3dB coverage area of the satellite receiving antenna. The data are as follows; Frequency, For the satellite (SL) o Transmitting amplifier power; o Loss between amplifier and antenna; o Transmitting beam half power angular width; o Antenna efficiency; o Earth station- satellite distance; R=40,000Km o Atmospheric attenuation ; (typical attenuation at this frequency for an elevation of 10 ) For the earth station(ES); o Receiver noise figure; F=1dB o Loss between antenna and receiver; o Thermodynamic temperature of the feeder; o Antenna diameter; D=4m o Antenna efficiency; 78

o o Maximum pointing error; Ground noise temperature; ( ) ( ) , ( ) ,
To calculate the EIRP of the satellite With ( Hence; To calculate the downlink path loss (D); With Hence; ( ) ( ) , ,
) , since the station is at the edge,
To calculate the figure of merit G/T of the earth station in the satellite direction; ( )
( )
is the downlink system noise temperature at the input given by And ( ) ( ) , with , Hence , ( ) ( ) ( ( ) ) , ,
and
, for which
( ) To calculate the ( Hence ( ) ) ( )( ) ( )
Figure 7.15b shows the clear sky downlink power variation
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7.9 LINK PERFORMANCE UNDER RAIN CONDITIONS 7.9.1 UPLINK PERFORMANCE

In the presence of rain, propagation attenuation is greater due to the attenuation caused by rain in the atmosphere. This is in addition to the attenuation due to gases in the atmosphere (0.3dB). A typical value of attenuation due to rain for an earth station situated in the temperate climate (for example Europe) can be considered to be Such an attenuation would not be exceeded, at a frequency of 14GHz, for more than 0.01% of an average year. This gives Hence Referring to the example of section 7.8.2, the uplink performance under rain conditions becomes ( The ratio ( )
) for the uplink would be greater than the value calculated this way for 99.99% of an average year.
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7.9.2 DOWNLINK PERFORMANCE

Referring now to the example of section 7.8.2.1, is taken as a typical value of the attenuation due to rain for an earth station in the temperate climate (for example in Europe), which will not be exceeded at a typical frequency of 12GHz, for more than 0.01% of an average year. This is . Hence, Taking , Hence( ) To calculate the ratio ( Hence ( The ( year. ) ) ( ( . The antenna noise temperature is given by ( ( ) , )( ) ( ) = 84.7dBHz ) )
) ratio for the downlink would be greater than the value calculated in this way for 99.99% of an average
7.9.3 CONCLUSION
The quality of a link between a transmitter and a receiver can be characterized by the ratio of the carrier power to the noise power spectral density . This is a function of the transmitter EIRP, the receiver figure of merit G/T ) , and the downlink, characterize by the ratio ( ) . and the properties of the transmission medium. In a satellite link between two stations, two links must be considered- the uplink, characterized by the ratio (
The propagation conditions in the atmosphere affect the uplink and the downlink differently; rain reduces the value of the ratio ( ) by decreasing the received power ) gives ( ( ) ) ( ) , while it reduces the value of( ) , by reducing the
value of the received power degradation by (
and increases the downlink system noise temperature. Denoting the resulting
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7.10 OVERALL LINK PERFORMANCE WITH A TRANSPARENT SATELLITE

In this section we will discuss the station-to-station link performance that is a link involving one uplink and one downlink via a transparent satellite. Up to now the noise on the uplink and downlink has been considered to be thermal noise only In practice one has to account for interference noise originating from other carriers in the considered frequency band and intermodulation noise resulting from multi-carrier operation of non-linear amplifiers. We will first discuss overall link performance without interference or intermodulation. Then overall link performance is discussed considering interference and finally intermodulation. The following notations are used; ( ( ) is the uplink carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the satellite receiver . ) is the downlink carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio(Hz) at the input of the earth
input, considering no other noise contributions than the uplink system thermal noise temperature
station receiver, considering no other noise contributions than the downlink system thermal noise temperature . ( ( ( input. ) Carrier power to interference noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the input of the ) Carrier power to intermodulation noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the output of the ) Overall carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the earth station receiver
considered receiver.
considered non-linear amplifier.
7.10.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SATELLITE CHANNEL

Figure (7.16) shows a transparent payload, the overall bandwidth is split into several sub bands, amplified by a dedicated power amplifier. The amplifying chain associated with each sub-band is called a satellite channel, or transponder. The satellite channel amplifies one or several carriers. Here are some notations; carrier power at the satellite receiver input, at saturation it is denoted is the power at the input of the satellite channel amplifier (i=input, n=number of carriers) power at the output of the satellite channel amplifier ( o=output, n=number of carriers) single carrier operation of a satellite channel amplifier power at the input to the satellite channel amplifier at saturation in single carrier operation power at the output of the satellite channel amplifier at saturation in single carrier operation mode
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Saturation refers to the operation of a satellite channel amplifier to produce maximum output power in single carrier operation mode. The Operator provides characteristics values of a satellite channel in terms of flux density at saturation, , and EIRP at saturation, .
7.10.2 SATELLITE POWER FLUX DENSITY AT SATURATION

The power flux density is provided by the transmit station and considered at the satellite receive antenna. The nominal value of power flux density to drive the satellite channel amplifier at saturation is given by ( ) is
is the front end gain from the input of the satellite receiver to the input of the satellite channel amplifier; the loss from the output of the satellite receive antenna to the input of the satellite receiver and is the satellite receive antenna maximum gain. The formula assumes that the transmit station is located at the center of the satellite receive coverage. In practice, the flux density to be provided from a given earth station to drive the satellite channel amplifier to saturation depends on the location of the transmit earth station within the satellite coverage and the polarization
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mismatch of the satellite receiving antenna with respect to the uplink carrier polarization. If the receive satellite antenna gain in the direction of the transmit earth station experiences a gain fallout , from the maximum gain and polarization mismatch of , then the actual flux density is
7.10.3 SATELLITE EIRP AT SATURATION

The satellite EIRP at saturation and at boresight, at saturation, and is given by relates to the satellite channel amplifier output power
Where is the loss from the output of the power amplifier to the transmit antenna and antenna maximum gain
is the transmit
In practice, the , which conditions the available carrier power at a given earth station receiver input is reduced by the transmit antenna gain fallout , when the earth station is not located at the center of the satellite transmit antenna coverage.
7.10.4 SATELLITE REPEATER GAIN

The satellite repeater gain, , is the gain from the satellite repeater input to the satellite channel amplifier output. At saturation it is called
Where the satellite channel amplifier is gain and amplifier input.
is the gain from the receiver input to the satellite channel
7.10.5 INPUT AND OUTPUT BACK-OFF

In practice, the satellite channel amplifier is not always operated at saturation and it is convenient to determine the operating point Q of the satellite channel amplifier. The point Q is determined by the input power and the output power . It is also convenient to normalize these quantities with respect to and respectively. Below are definitions of input back-off and output back-off.
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We will leave out the subscript Q for the operating power from now.
7.10.6 CARRIER POWER AT THE SATELLITE RECEIVER INPUT

The carrier power at the satellite receiver input required to drive the satellite channel amplifier to operate at the considered operating point Q is given by
Expressing carrier in terms of satellite channel amplifier output power, we have With being the satellite channel amplifier gain at saturation, can be expressed as
Where channel amplifier at saturation.
, is the carrier power at the satellite receiver input to drive the satellite Can also be expressed as a function of ;
Note that input back-off can also be expressed as a ratio of the power flux density required to operate the satellite channel amplifier at the considered operation point to the power flux density at saturation
7.10.7 EXPRESSION FOR ( INTERMODULATION
) WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER SYSTEMS OR
The power of the carrier received at the input of the earth station receiver is station receiver correspond to the sum of the following The downlink system thermal noise considered in isolation ( defines the ratio Hence for the downlink ( ( )
. The noise at the input of the earth
, given by equation(7.25), which )
) can be calculated as
The uplink noise retransmitted by the satellite
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Where
is the total power gain between the satellite receiver input and the earth station from the input to the satellite receiver to the
receiver input. G takes into account the satellite repeater gain output of the satellite channel amplifier; the gain fallout and the loss
of the satellite transmit antenna including the gain
from the output of the power amplifier to the transmit antenna; the downlink path loss . This gives
and the receiving station composite gain ( )
In the above expression, the term ( ) , finally (
represents the carrier power at the satellite receiver input. Hence ) ( ) ( )
In this expression; ( ) ( )
( ( ) and ( )
) are the values of
)( ) ( )
for the uplink and downlink when the satellite channel operates
at saturation.
represents the downlink attenuation and ( ) , the figure of merit of the earth station in the
satellite direction.
7.10.8 EXPRESSION FOR ( INTERMODULATION
) TAKING ACCOUNT OF INTERFERENCE AND
Intermodulation and interference where explained in chapter four. When both effects are taking in to account, we have ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
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CHAPTER 8 OPTIMIZATION
In chapter four we saw the different types of noise that affect a communications link. In chapter five we saw the atmospheric impairments on a communication link. Chapter 6 presented the different modulation techniques used to transmit information in satellite communications link and how this techniques together with channel coding help improve the performance of a satellite communications link. Chapter 7 presented means of evaluation satellite communications link performance. This chapter focuses on the various means of optimizing the performance of a fixed satellite link. Some of them can be applied to mobile satellite link but our focus on fixed end- to-end link. By optimization we mean providing network with improve reliability and high capacity service. There are basically two groups of techniques; Power restoral techniques and Signal modification techniques. Most of these techniques play on the link margin to ensure availability of service. Before looking at these techniques, let us talk a little on link margin.
8.1 LINK MARGIN

All satellite links are design to function at a certain annual availability. The closer to 100% we demand of our link availability, the more link margin we need to meet this demand. Design specifies a value of greater or equal to ( ) during a given percent of time, equal to due to rain
(100-p%). For example, 99.99% of time implies p=0.01%. As seen in chapter 7, the attenuation causes a reduction of the ratio ( ( ) ) ( ( ( ) ) ) ( ) ( ) given by for uplink and for the downlink
( )
Represents a reduction (in dB) of the figure of merit due to increase of noise
temperature For a successful design (system), one must have a ( This can be achieve by including a margin ) ( ) defined as
in the clear sky link budget with ( ) ( )
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8.2 POWER RESTORAL TECHNIQUES

These techniques optimize the link without touching the basic signal format. They include; Beam diversity Power control Site diversity
8.2.1 BEAM DIVERSITY

The receive power density on the satellite downlink can be increased during path attenuation by switching to a satellite antenna with a narrower beamwidth. The narrower beamwidth correspond to a higher antenna gain, concentrating the power onto a smaller area on the earth surface, resulting in higher EIRP at the ground terminal undergoing the path attenuation. This is shown in figure (8.1) below
The increase in EIRP can be very significant as displayed in figure (8.2) . For example the use of the metropolitan spot beam antenna in place of CONUS antenna will provide 24.1dB of additional EIRP.
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8.3 POWER CONTROL

The objective of power control is to vary the transmit power in direct proportion to the attenuation on the link, so that the received power stays constant during severe fade. We can have uplink power control and downlink power control.
8.3.1 UPLINK POWER CONTROL

Provide a direct means of restoring the link the uplink signal during rain attenuation events. Two types of power control can be implemented, closed loop and open loop power control systems
8.3.1.1 CLOSED LOOP

In a closed loop system, the transmit power level is adjusted directly as the detected received signal level at the satellite, returned via a telemetry link back to the ground, varies with time. Control rages of up to 20dB are possible and response time can be nearly continuous if the telemetered received signal level is available on a continuous basis. This is shown below in figure 8.3a.
8.3.1.2 OPEN LOOP

In an open loop power control system, the transmit power level is adjusted by operation on a radio frequency control signal that itself undergoes path attenuation and is used to infer the attenuation experience on the uplink.
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This control signal is called Beacon and is sometimes at the same frequency as the uplink. The system is shown in figure 8.3b
8.4 SITE DIVERSITY

It describes the use of geographically separate ground terminals in a space communication link to overcome the effect of downlink path attenuation during intense rain period. It improves overall link performance by taking advantage of the limited size and extent of intense rain cells. This is shown in figure (8.4)
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8.5 SIGNAL MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES

This involves optimization techniques in which the basic format of the signal is modified. Space segment costs are typically the most significant operating expense for any satellite-based service, having direct impact on the viability and profitability of the service. A satellite transponder having finite resources in terms of bandwidth and power, the transponder leasing costs are determined by bandwidth and power used. For optimal utilization, a satellite circuit should be design to use similar share of transponder bandwidth and transponder power. The traditional approach to balancing a satellite circuit involves trade-off between modulation and coding. A lower order modulation requires less transponder power at the expense of more bandwidth. Conversely a higher order modulation reduces required bandwidth, but at a significant increase in power. Some of the new dimension optimization techniques of satellite communications are; DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier (CnC), Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM)
8.5.1 OPTIMIZATION BY DOUBLETALK CARRIER-IN-CARRIER

This innovative technology provides a significant improvement in bandwidth and power utilization, beyond what is possible with traditional with forward error correction (FEC) and modulation alone, allowing users to achieve unprecedented savings. When combined with advanced modulation and FEC, it allows for multi-dimensional optimization o o o o o Reducing Operational Expenses(OPEX) Occupied bandwidth and transponder power Reducing Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) BUC/HPA/ size and antenna size Increasing throughput without using additional transponder resources Increasing link availability (margin) without using additional transponder resources Or a combination to meet different objectives
DoubleTalk Carrier-in-carrier bandwidth compression is based on patented Adaptive Cancellation technology that allows the transmit and receive carriers of a duplex link to share the same transponder space. Figure 8.5a shows the typical full duplex satellite link, where the two carriers are adjacent to each other. Figure 8.5b shows the DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier where the two carriers are overlapping, thus sharing the same spectrum.
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DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier is complementary to all advancement in technology, including advanced FEC and modulation techniques. As these technologies approach theoretical limits of power and bandwidth efficiencies, DoubleTalk carrier- in-carrier utilizing advanced signal processing techniques provides a new dimension in bandwidth and power efficiency. DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier allow users to achieve spectral efficiency (bps/Hz) that cannot be achieved with modulation and FEC alone, example when used with 16-QAM, it approaches the bandwidth efficiency of 256-QAM (8bps/Hz). As DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier allows equivalent spectral efficiency using a lower order modulation and/or FEC code, it can simultaneously reduce CAPEX by allowing the use of a smaller BUC/HPA and/or antenna As DoubleTalk carrier-incarrier can be used to save transponder bandwidth and/or transponder power, it has been successfully deployed in bandwidthlimited as well as powerlimited scenarios.
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8.5.6 DOUBLE TALK CARRIER-IN-CARRIER CANCELLATION PROCESS

In traditional full duplex satellite connection between two sites, separate satellite channels are allocated to each direction. If both directions transmitted on the same channel, each side would normally find it impossible to extract the desired signal from the aggregate, due to interference resulting from its local oscillator. However since this interference is produced locally, it is possible to estimate and remove its influence prior to demodulation of the data transmitted from the remote location. DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier achieves state-of-art performance by combining the latest signal processing technology. It continually estimates and tracks all parameter difference between the local uplink signal and its image within the downlink signal. Through advanced adaptive filtering and phase locked loop implementation, it dynamically compensates for this difference by appropriately adjusting the delay, frequency, phase and amplitude of the sampled uplink signal. The result is excellent cancellation performance. For the Double Talk carrier-in-carrier it is necessary to provide each demodulator with a copy of its local modulator output. Figure 8.7 shows the actual movement of signals in this network.
The interference cancellation algorithm uses the composite signal and local copy of S1 to estimate the necessary parameters of scaling, delay offset and frequency offset. DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier can only be used for full duplex link where the transmitting earth station is able to receive itself. Maximum savings is generally achieved when the original link is symmetric in data rate.
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8.6 ADAPTIVE CODING AND MODULATION (ACM)

Adaptive coding and modulation is a statistical, non-static advantage that enables dynamic changes in user throughput. Benefit and value vary over time and are not guaranteed, but are predictable. ACM turns fade margin into increased link capacity- gains of 100% or more are possible, compared to traditional constant coding and modulation (CCM). This is accomplished by automatically adapting the modulation type and FEC code rate to give highest possible throughput. ACM maximizes throughput regardless of Link conditions (noise or other impairments, clear sky, rain fade, etc.). Initial setup is easy, and then requires no further human intervention. With a CCM system, severe rain fading can cause the total loss of the link, and zero throughput. ACM keeps the Link up(with lower throughput)-and can yield much higher system availability It is currently used for IP traffic only.
All satellite links are design to function at a certain annual availability. The closer to 100% we demand of our link availability, the more link margin we need to meet this demand. Figure 8.8a below is a graph of availability vs. link margin of a Ku-Band link from Germany to Nigeria. A change in guaranteed annual availability from 99.8% to 99.6% (as little as 0.2% per year) equates to 17.5 hours per year(365Days*24Hours/day*0.02=17.5Hours). In this link, it can be seen that this 17.5hours/year demands or saves 2.5dB of link margin. This means that someone who requires 99.8% availability instead of 99.6% would need an additional 2.5dB link margin for the entire year. Conversely, deciding to run this link with 99.6% would save 2.5dB of link margin for the entire year.
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Different links have different link margin requirements. Consider the C-Band link between Italy and China with different link availability characteristics. From figure 8.8b you can clearly see that the same change from 99.6% availability to 99.8% availability requires a mere 0.35dB of additional link margin.
Because ACM converts link margin into additional user throughput, it can be clearly seen that the greater the link margin, the greater the benefit of ACM. As link margin is reduced, so too is ACM. I t can also be stated that as guaranteed availability is increased, link margin will also need to be increased. Conversely as the guaranteed availability is reduced, link margin will also need to be reduced and the value of ACM will therefore be reduced.
8.6.1 ACM BACKGROUND

The primary function of ACM is to optimize throughput in a wireless data link, by adapting the modulation order used and the forward error correction(FEC) code rate(which both directly affects spectral efficiency), according to the noise conditions (or other impairments) on the link. The implicit in this concept is that the symbol rate (and power) of the wireless communication system must remain constant. This ensures that the bandwidth allocated for a particular link is never exceeded. Given that the symbol rate does not change, if modulation and coding are changed, the data rate must therefore be modified. This is expressed in the simple equation: symbol rate = bit rate/(modulation order*code rate)
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Rearranging we have; bit rate = symbol rate*modulation order*code rate Therefore in changing to a higher order modulation or code rate, the bit rate is increased, and in changing to a lower order modulation or code rate, the bit rate is reduced.
8.6.2 REQUIREMENTS FOR ACM

a. A modulator and FEC encoder that can instantaneously, when commanded, change either modulation type (order) or FEC encoder rate, or both. This need to be accomplished without the corruption of data anywhere in the path. Block FEC codes are considered to be the most practical in achieving the required synchronization. Recently, a specific nomenclature has emerged to describe a combination of modulation type and code rate-namely, ModCod. The modulator is required to send the value of the ModCod at the start of each code block to signal to the demodulator/decoder how to configure the correct modulation type and FEC code rate. A receiver that is capable of demodulating and decoding the signal transmitted by a) without any prior knowledge of when a change has taken place, but based purely on the value of the ModCod seen at the start of each FEC block. Again this need to be accomplished without the corruption of data anywhere in the path. The receiver in b) need to derive an estimation of the link quality (in terms of , , etc.) and then
b.
c. d.
communicates this estimate, via a return channel, to the modulator in a) The modulator in a) need to be able to process the link metric form the demodulator in b), and then, based upon a predetermined algorithm, adapt the data rate and change the ModCod sent to the receiver at the distant end. Thus, the data rate on the link can be maximized, given the current link noise conditions
A generic example of ACM over satellite is shown in figure 8.9a and 8.9b below.
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9.0 GENERAL CONCLUSION

Satellite communications as we have seen is highly affected by propagation impairments at the atmosphere, nonlinearity of the satellite channel, thermal noise and interference. We saw that the traditional way of overcoming these effects is by increasing the link margin, during fade conditions. The Power restoral technique which we looked at tries to maintain the link in presence of fade conditions by increasing the , to the required value. Some of these techniques can be costly in CAPEX; installing a new site (site diversity), multiple antennas onboard the satellite (beam diversity) for example. Advances in modulation, coding gain, fade adaptation and carrier cancelling technologies can provide substantial saving in bandwidth, improve capacity, improve reliability, or all three while maintaining contracted service level agreements (SLAs). These as we have seen can be realize using DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier and Adaptive coding and modulation. The second technology; Adaptive Coding and Modulation help us to maintain our link in all conditions and greatly increase throughput in clear sky conditions.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
1- Satellite communications systems by 5 edition by Gerard Maral and Michel Bosquet 2- Satellite communications systems engineering by Louis J. IPPOLITO 97
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[SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK OPTIMIZATION] November 26, 2012

November 26, 2012