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Transponder(satellitecommunications)Wikipedia

Transponder(satellitecommunications)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Acommunicationssatellite'stransponderistheseriesofinterconnectedunitsthatformacommunications
channelbetweenthereceivingandthetransmittingantennas.[1]Itismainlyusedinsatellitecommunicationto
transferthereceivedsignals.
Atransponderistypicallycomposedof:
aninputbandlimitingdevice(ainputbandpassfilter),
aninputlownoiseamplifier(LNA),designedtoamplifythe(normallyveryweak,becauseofthelarge
distancesinvolved)signalsreceivedfromtheEarthstation,
afrequencytranslator(normallycomposedofanoscillatorandafrequencymixer)usedtoconvertthe
frequencyofthereceivedsignaltothefrequencyrequiredforthetransmittedsignal,
anoutputbandpassfilter,
apoweramplifier(thiscanbeatravelingwavetubeorasolidstateamplifier).
Mostcommunicationsatellitesareradiorelaystationsinorbitandcarrydozensoftransponders,eachwitha
bandwidthoftensofmegahertz.Mosttranspondersoperateonabentpipeprinciple,sendingbacktoEarthwhat
goesintotheconduitwithonlyamplificationandashiftfromuplinktodownlinkfrequency.However,some
modernsatellitesuseonboardprocessing,wherethesignalisdemodulated,decoded,reencodedandmodulated
aboardthesatellite.Thistype,calleda"regenerative"transponder,hasmanyadvantages,butismuchmore
complex.
Withdatacompressionandmultiplexing,severalvideo(includingdigitalvideo)andaudiochannelsmaytravel
throughasingletransponderonasinglewidebandcarrier.
Originalanalogvideoonlyhadonechannelpertransponder,withsubcarriersforaudioandautomatic
transmissionidentificationserviceATIS.Nonmultiplexedradiostationscanalsotravelinsinglechannelper
carrier(SCPC)mode,withmultiplecarriers(analogordigital)pertransponder.Thisallowseachstationtotransmit
directlytothesatellite,ratherthanpayingforawholetransponderorusinglandlinestosendittoanEarthstation
formultiplexingwithotherstations.
NASAdistinguishesbetweena"transponder"anda"transceiver",wherethelatterissimplyanindependent
transmitterandreceiverpackagedinthesameunit,andtheformerderivesthetransmitcarrierfrequencyfromthe
receivedsignal.ThislinkageallowsaninterrogatinggroundstationtorecovertheDopplershiftandthusinfer
rangeandspeedfromacommunicationsignalwithoutallocatingpowertoaseparaterangingsignal.[2]

Transponderequivalent
Atransponderequivalent(TPE)isanormalizedwaytorefertotransponderbandwidth.Itsimplymeanshow
manytransponderswouldbeusedifthesametotalbandwidthsusedonly36MHztransponders.[3][4][5]So,for
example,theARSAT1has24IEEEKubandtransponders:12withabandwidthof36MHz,8with54MHz,and4
with72MHz,whichtotalsto1152MHz,or32TPE(i.e.1152MHzdividedby36MHz).[6][7]

References
1.Roddi,Dennis(2001).SatelliteCommunications(3rded.).NewYork:McGrawHill.p.587.ISBN0071382852.
2.SpaceNetworkUsersGuide(http://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/files/450SNUG.pdf).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transponder_(satellite_communications)

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3."CommercialGeostationarySatelliteTransponderMarketsforLatinAmerica".Frost&SullivanResearchService.2003
0703.Retrieved20150831.
4.JacboGullish,Futron(February2011)."TheNorthAmericanSatelliteMarketNewMethodologyRequired...".
www.satmagazine.com.SatMagazine.Retrieved20150831.
5."Transponder".JSatInternational.Retrieved20150831.
6."ARSAT1TelecommunicationSatellite,Argentina".AerospaceTechnology.Retrieved20150831.
7.Belluscio,AlejandroG.(20141006)."ArSat1:Argentinatocommunicateitsheightenedspaceambitions".NASA
SpaceFlight.Retrieved20150825.

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