19ECE444 Satellite Communication

Dr. Natarajamani S
([email protected])
Assistant Professor
Electronics and Communication Engineering
 Course Contents
1. Introduction
1. What do satellites do? (Types of satellites, The satellite market)
2. Different orbits for different missions.
3. Advantages and disadvantages of satellite communications.
4. Frequency Allocations for satellite services Satellite frequencies
(L, S, C, X, ku, ka, examples)
2. Orbit control and Launching Methods
1. Launch Vehicles and services (How are satellites placed into orbit)
2. Keppler law, coverage area, Doppler effect
3. Tracking, telemetry and Command
4. Attitude control subsystem
5. Launching orbits (polar, inclined, equatorial, LEO, MEO, GEO)
6. Power, Thermal Control
3. Microwave Link Budget
1. Link budget (system noise, uplink, downlink, effects of Rain)
2. Cross link
3. Interference
 Course Contents
4. Space Segment (BUS Configuration and subsystems)
1. Transponder model, Payload, Bus, TT&C
2. Satellite Transponder
3. Station keeping and TT&C subsystem
4. Space segment processing (frequency translation)
5. Earth station Segment
1. Earth station configuration
2. Tracking Telemetry & Command (TT&C) ground facility
3. FECC, Direct broadcasting satellites
4. Home TV systems, LNB
6. Satellite Antennas
1. Corrugated Horn antenna, Double reflector antennas.
2. Multifeed Offset Fed Parabolic Reflector.
3. Shaped reflector for (multibeam radiation).
4. Phased arrays.
5. Earth footprints and power levels (EIRP).
 Course References
Textbook:
1. Satellite Communications, By Timothy Pratt, Charles Bostian, and
Jeremy Allnutt, John Wiley, 2003

References:
1. G. Maral & M. Bousquet, Satellite Communication Systems, John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1999.
2. Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communications”, 3rd edition, McGraw-
Hill, 2001.
3. 2. J.J Spilker, “Digital communications by satellites”, prentice hall,
1977.
4. 3. Bruce R. Elbert, “Introduction to Satellite communications”,
2nd Edition, Artech House,1999.
Course Description:

This course covers the most relevant aspects of satellite communications, with emphasis on the
most recent applications and developments.

The course begins with a review on the background and basic concepts of satellite communications.
Next it covers the orbital aspects, with emphasis on the geostationary orbit. Satellite subsystems,
launching methods, and on-board processing are also discussed.

The design of a digital satellite link is discussed in detail, including link budgets, modulation, error
control coding, baseband signaling theory, and multiple access methods. Frequency assignments and
propagation aspects that affect the satellite link are then discussed.

Antennas and earth station technology are presented, including the design of very small aperture
terminals (VSATs). The course then covers non-geosynchronous orbits and their applications.
Specific applications of satellites are also explored, including the global positioning system
(GPS), satellites for mobile communication, and satellites for internet
 Introduction
Types of satellite services
1. Fixed satellite service (FSS)
• Links for existing telephone networks
• Transmitting TV signals to cable companies.
2. Broadcasting Satellite Service (BSS)
• Direct to home (DTH) =Direct broadcasting satellites (DBS)
3. Mobile satellite service (MSS)
• Land mobile , maritime mobile and aeronautical mobile
4. Navigation satellite service (GPS)
• Global positioning system (S&R)
5. Meteorgolical satellite service (Weather Forecast)
6. Deep Space Satellites
(FSS) Radio Relay station Deep Space Satellites
in space
BSS
 Advantages of satellite communications

1. Mobile/Wireless Communication, independent of location

2. Wide area coverage:country,continent, or globe
3. Wide bandwidth available throughout
4. Independence from terrestrial infrastructure
5. Rapid installation of ground network
6. Low cost per added site
7. Uniform service characteristics
8. Total service from a single provider
9. Small Fading margin (3dB)

Disadvantages of satellite communications

1. High cost for satellite
2. Short life time maximum of 15 years
3. Redundancy in component!
ITU Spectrum allocation and regions
Ku band: DBS and FSS
C band: FSS (no DBS are allowed)
VHF band : certain MSS and data transfer from weather satellites.
L band: MSS and navigation sat. systems.
Uplink freq. > downlink freq.(Ex. FSS:C=6/4 GHz) (DBS:ku14/12GHz)
Spectrum Allocation

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 Radio Frequency Spectrum
Commonly Used Bands

SHF
AM HF VHF UHF L S C X Ku Ka V Q
0.1 1 10 100 1 10 100

MHz GHz

Terrestrial Bands

Space Bands

Shared (Terrestrial and Space)

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 Classical satellite systems

Inter Satellite Link

(ISL)
Mobile User
Link (MUL) MUL
Gateway Link
(GWL) GWL

small cells
(spotbeams)

base station
or gateway
footprint

ISDN PSTN GSM

PSTN: Public Switched User data

Telephone Network
 Initial application of GEO Satellites:
Telephony
1965 Early Bird 34 kg 240 telephone circuits

1968 Intelsat III 152 kg 1500 circuits

1986 Intelsat VI 1,800 kg 33,000 circuits

2000 Large GEO 3000 kg8 - 15 kW power

1,200 kg payload

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 Current GEO Satellite Applications:
Broadcasting - mainly TV at present
DirecTV, PrimeStar, etc.

Point to Multi-point communications

VSAT, Video distribution for Cable TV
Mobile Services
Motient (former American Mobile Satellite), INMARSAT, etc.

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System Elements

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Satellite System Elements
Space Segment

Satellite Coverage Region

Earth SCC
Stations
TT&C Ground Station

Ground Segment
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 Space Segment
– Satellite Launching Phase
– Transfer Orbit Phase
– Deployment
– Operation
– TT&C - Tracking Telemetry and Command Station: Establishes a
control and monitoring link with satellite. Tracks orbit distortions and
allows correction planning. Distortions caused by irregular gravitational
forces from non-spherical Earth and due to the influence of Sun and Moon
forces.
– SSC - Satellite Control Center, a.k.a.:
– OCC - Operations Control Center
– SCF - Satellite Control Facility
Provides link signal monitoring for Link Maintenance and
Interference monitoring.

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 Satellite Subsystems
• Communications
– Antennas
– Transponders
• Common Subsystem (Bus Subsystem)
– Telemetry/Command (TT&C)
– Satellite Control (antenna pointing,attitude)
– Propulsion
Electrical Power
– Structure
– Thermal Control
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 Ground Segment
Collection of facilities, users andapplications.

FSS – Fixed Satellite Service MSS – Mobile Satellite Service

Earth Station = Satellite Communication Station (air, ground or

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sea, fixed or mobile).
System Design Considerations

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 Basic Principles
Satellite

Uplink Downlink
Earth
Station Earth
Station

Source Output
Tx Rx
Information Information

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 Signals
Signals:
Carried by wires as voltage or current
Transmitted through space as electromagnetic waves.
Analog:
• Voltage or Current proportional to signal; e.g., Telephone.
Digital: Generated by computers.
Ex. Binary = 1 or 0 corresponding to +1V or –1V.

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 Separating Signals
Up and Down:
FDD: Frequency Division Duplexing.
f1 = Uplink
f2 = Downlink
TDD: Time Division Duplexing.
t1=Up, t2=Down, t3=Up, t4=Down,….
Polarization
V & H linear polarization
RH & LH circular polarizations

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 Separating Signals
(so that many transmitters can use the same transponder simultaneously)

Between Users or “Channels” (Multiple Access):

FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access; assigns each
transmitter its own carrier frequency
f1 = User 1; f2 = User 2; f3 = User 3, …

TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access; each transmitter is given

its own time slot
t1=User_1, t2=User_2, t3=User_3, t4 = User_1, ...

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access; each transmitter

transmits simultaneously and at the same frequency and each
transmission is modulated by its own pseudo randomly coded
bit stream
Code 1 = User 1; Code 2 = User 2; Code 3 = User 3

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Digital Communication System

TRANSMITTER

Source Source Channel Modulator

Data Coding Coding

RF
Channel

Output Source Channel Demodulator

Data Decoding Decoder

RECEIVER

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 The Future for Satellite
Communications – 1
Growth requires new frequency bands
Propagation through rain and clouds becomes a problem
as RF frequency is increased
C-band (6/4 GHz) Rain has little impact
99.99% availability is possible
Ku-band (10-12 GHz) Link margin of  3 dB needed
for 99.8% availability
Ka-band (20 - 30 GHz) Link margin of  6 dB needed
for 99.6% availability
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 The Future for Satellite
Communications ‐ 2

Low cost phased array antennas for mobiles are

needed
Mobile systems are limited by use of omni-directional
antennas
A self-phasing, self-steering phased array antenna with
6 dB gain can quadruple the capacity of a system
Directional antennas allow frequency re-use

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 Ways to Categorize
Communications Satellites
• Coverage area
– Global, regional, national
• Service type
– Fixed service satellite (FSS)
– Broadcast service satellite (BSS)
– Mobile service satellite (MSS)
• General usage
– Commercial, military, amateur, experimental
 Classification of Satellite Orbits
• Circular or elliptical orbit
Circular with center at earth’s center
– Elliptical with one foci at earth’s center
• Orbit around earth in different planes
– Equatorial orbit above earth’s equator
– Polar orbit passes over both poles
– Other orbits referred to as inclined orbits
• Altitude of satellites
– Geostationary orbit (GEO)
– Medium earth orbit (MEO)
– Low earth orbit (LEO)