Satellite Communications

Part II-Satellite Subsystems

Lecturer Madeeha Owais

12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 1

Learning Objectives
Satellite Spacing in Orbit Communication Satellite Classifications Satellite System Link Model Communication Satellite Subsystems

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

Satellite Spacing in Orbit

Geo-stationary satellites must share a limited space and frequency spectrum within a given arc of geostationary orbit Each satellite is assigned a longitude in the geostationary arc above the equator

The position in the slot depends on the frequency band used.

Satellites operating at or near the same frequency must be sufficiently separated in space to avoid mutual interference

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

Satellite Spacing in Orbit

Required spatial separation is dependent on the few variables: Beam widths and side lobe radiation of both earth station and satellite antennas RF carrier frequency Encoding or modulation technique used Acceptable limits of interference Transmit carrier power Initially,3 to 6 of spatial separation for geo-sats Now has been reduced to 2 to make available extra slots. Some positions in GEO orbit, such as mid-atlantic and midpacific position, have higher demand than others
12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 4

Satellite Spacing in Orbit

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

Communication Satellite Classifications

Spinner Satellites Less common type Mostly used in relatively high-altitude geosynchronous or Molniya orbits Intelsat VI Satellite, DSP (Defense Support Program) Satellite of USA
DSP Satellite

Intelsat VI Satellite
Courtesy of Boeing Satellite Systems. All rights reserved.

Communication Satellite Classifications

Three-Axis Stabilized Satellites Their body is roughly box-shaped and have deployable solar-array panels These keep their bodies stable through inertia except for a slow motion about one axis to keep their payload antennas and sensors continuously pointing towards Earth. The solar panels are counter-rotated to track the sun. Examples: Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS), Russian Communication Satellite,

Courtesy of Orbital Sciences Corp. All rights reserved.

Satellite System Link Model

Solar panels

Basic Sections: Uplink Transponder Downlink

CSE 426-F2007

NDG Notes

Uplink Model
Primary component Earth Station Transmitter
IF modulator IF-to-RF microwave up-converter High Power Amplifier(Klystrons or Travelling-wave tubes ) Band pass filter

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

Transponder
Transponder (Transmitter + Responder) Model
To be discussed in coming slides..

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

10

Downlink Model
Primary component Earth Station Receivers
Input BPF LNA(tunnel diode) RF-to-IF down-converter(mixer+BPF)

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

11

Communication Satellite Subsystems

References:Satellites Communications by Timothy Pratt Chapter 3,Titled:Satellites

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

12

 The major subsystems required on the communication satellite are: Attitude and orbit control system(AOCS):It consists of rocket motors that are used to move the satellite back to the correct orbit when external forces causes it to drift. Telemetry,Tracking,Command and Monitoring(TTC & M):This is partly on the satellite and partly on the controlling earth station. A dedicated earth station is used for this purpose. Used for launch sequence deployment, monitoring of command actions, report spacecraft health, control of thrusters and payload etc Power Systems: Mainly solar cells Communications Subsystem: These are major components (represent small part of volume, weight and cost of sat in orbit) of a communication satellite.Includes transponders and antennas Satellite Antennas: Type depends on functionality and coverage
12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 13

Attitude and Orbital Control

AOC system keeps the satellite pointed towards the desired location on the earth. Attitude control means controlling the angular orientation AOCS is needed to get the satellite into the correct orbit and keep it there. Several factors make the space craft tend to rotate and wobble(nutation) and change orbit(e.g gravitational forces from sun,moon ,solar pressure,variations in earths magnetic field) for which orbit maintenance is required Different forms of stabilization for fine pointing are used depending upon type of the satellite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutation
12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 14

 Few Basic Definitions

Roll, Pitch, and Yaw

CSE 426-F2007

NDG Notes

15

Stabilization of Spinner
Spinner Satellites use the angular momentum of its spinning body to provide stabilization Entire craft is rotated at 30-100RPM to provide gyroscopic force Keeps satellite point in same direction
DSP Satellite

http://www.gyroscopes.org/behaviour.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyroscope

Stabilization of Three-Axis Stabilized Sat

Three-Axis Stabilized Satellites keep their body fixed relative to Earths surface and an internal subsystem provides roll and yaw stabilization momentum wheel, which is a solid metallic disk driven by an electric motor is used . By spinning the disk, the stability of the satellite is maintained.

Telemetry and Monitoring (T&M) in TTC & M

Collects data from many sensors and send them to the control earth station for reporting of spacecraft health
Pressure in fuel tanks Current drawn by each subsystem Critical voltages and currents Temperature Status and position of switches Devices used to maintain attitude

Low date rate is used to allow the receiver at the earth station to have narrow band-width and maintain high C/N ratio

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

18

Tracking(T) in TTC & M

The determination of the current orbit and position of the spacecraft Velocity and Acceleration sensors are employed The control earth station can observe the doppler shift of the telemetry carrier to determine the rate of change of range. Triangulation can be used from measurements from several earth stations observing the satellite

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

19

Command(C) in TTC & M

Secure and effective command structure is vital for the successful launch and operation of a communication satellite. During launch sequence backup command system is used to:
Switch on full power so that handover to the main TTC & M is possible Deploy antennas and solar panels Point antennas to desired location

In orbit it is used for:

Making changes in attitude and orbit correction Maintain spacecraft thermal balance Controlling the communication system

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

20

Command(C) in TTC & M

Safeguards against errors in the received commands are built in command structure
Command originates at the control terminal by converting a control code into a command word which is sent in a TDM frame. Validity is checked and sent back via the telemetry link where it is checked again on computer If the command word is received correctly, an execute instruction will be sent to satellite The entire process takes 5-10sec.And minimizes the risk of malfunctioning

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

21

Typical Tracking, Telemetry and Command System

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

22

Power System
All communication satellites obtain their power from solar cell Solar radiation falling on a geostationary spacecraft has intensity of 1.39 kw/m2 Efficiency of solar cells falls with time due to aging and etching of surface. Spacecrafts carry batteries to power the subsystems during launch and eclipses

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

23

Communications Subsystem-1
A communication satellite exists to provide a platform in orbit for relaying voice, video and data communications All other subsystems on the satellite exist to support the comm system Only source of revenue Design is to maximize the traffic capacity Downlink design is the critical part due to limited transmitter power and antenna size and gain. Received power level rarely exceeds 10-10W Satisfactory performance->S/N in receiver must be between 5dB and 25dB depending on the bandwidth of transmitted signal and modulation used.
12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 24

Communications Subsystem-2
Early Communication Satellite(Power Limited)
Transponders B.W=250 or 500Mhz Transmitter output power=1 to 2 W

Later generations(Bandwidth limited)

Transmitter output power up to 200W Increased total channel capacity by re-use of frequency

Techniques employed for Re-use

Spatial Frequency Reuse->Multiple directional antenna beams at the same frequency Polarization Reuse->Orthogonal polarization at same frequency Geo-sats have achieved effective B.W=2250 MHz within a 500MHz band at 6/4 GHz by using spatial and polarization frequency reuse

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

25

Communications Subsystem-3

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

26

Communications Subsystem-4

Repeater/Transponder
The total Repeater bandwidth(up to 500MHz-1.5GHz) is split into sub-bands(a few tens of MHz). Each sub-band is then amplified by a Transponder.

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

27

Communications Subsystem-5

Transponder arrangement of RCAs SATCOM satellite

Transponder Frequency Plan

24 active transponders by adopting orthogonal polarization frequency re-use 500MHz B.W divided into channels of 36MHz Center frequencies are spaced 40MHz apart to allow guard bands
3800

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

28

Communications Subsystem-6

Transponder Technology
Two Types Transparent(Bentpipe) Transponders Onboard Processing(Regenerative)Transponder
Transparent
12/26/2008

Processing

NUST-SEECS

29

Communications Subsystem-7

Transponder Technology
Functionality of Transparent(Bentpipe) Transponder Frequency Translation Amplification

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

30

Communications Subsystem-8

Correct mistake in book

12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 31

Communications Subsystem-9

Transponder Technology
Functionality of Onboard Processing(OBP) Transponder Uplink is demodulated, data recovered prior to processing After processing, data is reformatted for transmission on downlink

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

32

Satellite Antennas
Wire Antennas:monopoles and dipoles Horn Antennas Reflector Antennas Array Antennas

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

33

Satellite Antenna Radiation Patterns: Footprints

Footprint: Geographical representation of satellite antenna radiation pattern. It is the area on Earths surface that the satellite can receive from or transmit to. Shape of footprint depends on:
Orbital Path, Height, Antenna used

Same EIRP Contour Lines Super-imposed on a Geo-graphical Map

12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 34

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/publications/lloyd-wood-iwssc-08-tutorial.pdf

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

35

Footprint Categories
Spot Zonal Hemispherical Earth(Global)

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

36

Footprint Categories
Spot and Zonal Beams:
Concentrated power to very small geographical areas Have high EIRPs Blanket less than 10% of earths surface

Hemispherical Beam
Blanket 20% of Earths surface Have EIRP that are 3dB lower than spot beams

Earth(Global)
Beamwidth of approximately 17 Coverage of upto 42% of earths surface Power levels are considerably low Require large receive dishes for adequate signal detection
NUST-SEECS 37

12/26/2008

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

38

Relations to Remember
An aperture antenna has a gain G given by G = A4A/2 where A=area of the antenna aperture in meters =wavelength in meters A=aperture efficiency If aperture is circular,G= A(D/)2 where D=diameter of circular aperture in meters
3 dB Beam width and aperture dimension are related by: 3dB=75 /D degrees For antennas with A=60% : G=33,000/(3dB )2 where G is not in decibels and beam width is in degrees.Value of constant varies from 28,000 to 35000 for different sources.33,000 typical for reflectors

39

Coverage of Geostationary Satellite

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/publications/lloyd-wood-iwssc-08-tutorial.pdf
12/26/2008 NUST-SEECS 40

Coverage of Geosynchronous Satellite

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/publications/lloyd-wood-iwssc-08-tutorial.pdf

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

41

Coverage of Molniya

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

42

Footprint of Iridium

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

43

Footprint of Teledesic with 840 and 288 satellites

12/26/2008

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/

NUST-SEECS

44

Reading Assignment Chapter 3-Timothy Pratt Book pg 57-92,exclude maths on pg 90 Recommended site visit for Everyone!
http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/

12/26/2008

NUST-SEECS

45