2 MARK QUESTIONS --- UNIT 1

1. State Keplers first law?

A. The orbit of the planet is an ellipse with sun at the centre of the foci.
2. State keplers second law?
A. the line segment joining a planet and a sun sweeps out equal areas during equal
intervals of time.
3. what are the reasons for orbital perturbation?
A. a)external torque
1.atmospheric drag
2.aerodynamical forces
3.solar pressure on solar cells
4.magnetic forces acting on the satellite due to earths magnetic field
5.gravitational effect of sun and moon
6.non spherical shape of the earth
b) internal torque
1.fuel movement in space craft
2.thruster misalignment
4.what are the thermal control techniques used in satellite?
A. passive technique
Active technique
1.use of electric heaters
2.use of hinged pipes
3.use of heat pipes
5.what is the use of command sub system?
A. it receives the command from the satellite control centre and verifies the
received commands and execute the commands.
6.what is apogee and perigee?

A. the point in an elliptical orbit which is located farthest from the earthis known as
apogee.
Apogee height=a(1+e)
a =semi major axis
e=eccentricity
perigee: the point in an elliptical orbit which is located close to the earth is known
as perigee.
Perigee height=a(1-e)
7. how are satellites classified based on the altitude?
A. low earth orbit satellite.
Intermediate circular orbit satellite.
Highly eccentric orbit satellite.
Geo synchronous earth orbit satellite
8. what is prograde and retrograde orbit?
A. if the satellite orbiting in the same direction as the earth rotation at an angular
velocity greater than angular velocity of the earth then the orbit is called prograde
orbit.
if the satellite orbiting in the opposite direction as the earth rotation (or)same
direction at an angular velocity less than angular velocity of the earth then the
orbit is called retrograde orbit.
9. what are antenna look angles?
A. earth station antennas are pointed as per some coordinates.these coordinates
are called antenna look angles. two important look angles are
1.azimuthal angle: the angle made by the projected satellite path w.r.t geographical
north.
2.elevation angle: the angle made by the satellite path w.r.t local horizontal plane.
10.what is true (or)mean anamoly?
A. it defines where the satellite is within the orbit w.r.t perigee.it gives the position
of the satellite in orbit at a reference time known as epoch.
11.what is epoch?

A. reference time at which a particular set of parameters describing satellite motion

are defined (or) snap shot taken in a given interval of time which will denote the
various orbital elements.

12. distinguish between active and passive satellites?

A. active: these are used not only for linking but also for transmitting and
processing signals. this type of linking is called bend pipe technology where
frequency translation and power amplification takes place. some active satellites
use regenerative technology in which demodulation, processing and frequency
translation are carried out. the block used for this purpose is called transponder.
Passive: they do not have any on-board processing and are just used to link 2
stations through space.
In this there is loss of power. these are not useful for regular communications or
sensing applications.
13. Mention the 3 regions to allocate frequency for satellite services?
A. WARC divided the globe into 3 geographical regions for the purpose of frequency
allocation.
Region1:Europe,Africa,USSR and mangolia
Region2:it includes nort and south America
Region3:includes asia(except USSR and magnolia), Australia, south west pacific.
14.what are geostationary satellites?advantages?
A. if the satellite is in equatorial plane and is geosynchronous then the satellite is
called geostationary satellite.
Advantages:
1.tracking equipment is avoided.
2.no Doppler shift.
3.cost effective service.
4.quality of service is same for rural and urban areas.
5. three satellites are necessary to cover the entire globe

15. Name any 4 subsystems of space segment?

A. 1.power supply sub system
2. attitude and control subsystem
3. telemetry ,tracking and command subsystem
4. transponder
5. propulsion subsystem
16. What are attitude control techniques used?why is it required?
A. spin and three axis stabilization techniques are used. in order to maintain desired
orientation and orbital position.
17. define the term yaw?
A. the axis which is directed towards the centre of earth along its axis. the satellite
can rotate in clockwise or anticlockwise direction. clockwise rotation is called
positive yaw and anticlockwise is called negative yaw.
18. categorize the different satellite communication services?
A. fixed satellite service
Intermediate satellite service
Meteriological satellite service
Mobile satellite service
Broadcast satellite service
Land mobile satellite service
2 MARK QUESTIONS---UNIT 2
1. What is regenerative transponder?
A. modern satellites use on-board processing, where the signal is demodulated, decoded, re-encoded
and modulated aboard the satellite. This type, called a "regenerative" transponder, has many
advantages, but is much more complex.

2. Define the term transponder?

A. a transponder gathers signals over a range of uplink frequencies and retransmits them on a different set of downlink frequencies to receivers on
Earth, often without changing the content of the received signal or signals
3. Functions of monitoring and control unit?
A. collect status data for classification
--convey the status data to network operators

4.
A.

5.
A.

6.
A.

7.
A.
8.
A.

9.
A.

--interpret the status data and

--to initiate fault isolation
--switch over redundant equipment on command
--convey control data to baseband equipment for traffic assignment, antenna
pointing etc.
Define frequency reuse and mention it types?
Spot beams can be used for frequency reuse to increase the channel
capacity. Different information can be sent to different point using spot
beams. These spot beams use the same carrier frequency but dont cover the
same area this doubles the capacity of the channel.
Operations needed for active attitude control?
Satellite stabilization techniques and jet thrusters for correctional purposes,
keep the solar panels pointed towards the sun so that max power is produced
all the times.
What is redundancy and why is it necessary for satellite subsystem?
Redundancy is duplication of components used in subsystems. It is necessary
because failure of one device may cause catastrophic failure of a complete
subsystem. If in incorporate redundant devices the subsystem continues to
function.
Need for thermal subsystem for satellite?
Thermal subsystem control that provides the flexibility to accommodate
variations in the spacecraft heat load.
Why is it important to have knowledge and calculation of reliability?
we want to know the probability of working of a subsystem after a given
timeperiod.
--we need to provide redundant components where the probability of failure
is too great to be accepted.
Functions of TT&C subsystem?
monitor the performance of all satellite subsystems and transmit the
monitored data to the satellite control centre
--to support the determination of orbital parameters
--to provide a source to earth station for tracking
--to receive commands from the control centre for performing various
functions of the satellite.

2 MARK QUESTIONS----UNIT 3
1. Define earth segment?
A. Earth segment of a satellite communication system consists of transmit earth
station
and receive earth station.
Example : TV Receive Only systems (TVRO systems)
2. Define input backoff ?

A. When a no. of carriers present simultaneously in TWTA the operating point

must be backed off to a linear portion of the transit characteristics to reduce
the effects of inter modulation distortion. So backoff must be allowed in link
budget calculation.

3.
A.
4.
A.
5.
A.

What is noise power spectral density ?

Noise power spectral density is the noise power per unit of bandwidth;

Types of antennas used in space craft ?

Wire antenna, horn antenna, reflector antenna, array antenna.
What are the common HPA and LNA used in earth station ?
LNAparametric amplifier, GaAsFET
HPATWTA(travelling wave tube amlplifier).
6. What is VSAT write its applications ?
A. Very Small aperture terminal
Diameter is less than 2.4m, in VSAT two way communication is possible.
Application:
- Used in banking and financial institutions
- Used in airline
- For hotel booking, petroleum agencies
- Large retail source located at various places use VSAT
- In inventory control.
7. What is polarization interleaving ?
A. In TVRO a combination of parabolic reflector with a offset horn is used to
receive the downlink frequency band of 12.212.7 GHz. Spans a range of
500MHz which accommodates 32 TV channels each of which is 24MHz wide.
Obviously some overlap occurs b/w channels but these are alternatively
polarized left and right hand circular to reduce interference to acceptable
levels. This is referred as polarization interleaving.
8. State any four subsystems of earth segment?
A. Antenna subsystem
--attitude control subsystem
--propulsion subsystem
--telemetry tracking and command subsystem
--power subsystem
9. Define TVRO ?
A. Television receive-only (TVRO) is a term used chiefly in North America to
refer to the reception of satellite television from FSS-type satellites,
generally on C-band analog; free-to-air and unconnected to a commercial
DBS provider.
10.What is effective isotropic radiated power ?
A. Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) is the output power when a signal is
concentrated into a smaller area by the Antenna.
11.What are basic requirements of earth station antenna ?
A. it must have highly directive gain
--it must have low noise temperatue

--it must be easily controlled and steered so that a tracking system can be
employed to point the antenna beam accurately towards the satellite taking
into account the satellites drift in position.
12.Compare MATV and CATV ?
A. MATV Master Antenna TV system.
It is used to provide reception of DBS TV channels to the user group.
Example : Apartment users
It consists of one outdoor unit and various indoor units. Each user can
independently
access all the channels.
CATV Community Antenna TV system.
As in MATV system, it consists of one outdoor unit and separate feeds for
each sense of
polarization.
16. How the capacity of a satellite communication system can be increased ?
A. by increasing the bandwidth
17.What are the various losses to be considered in link design ?
A. Transmission loss, feeder loss, antenna misalignment loss.
2 MARK QUESTIONS---UNIT 4
1. Disadvantages of FDMA?
Ans:
A. Impossible for receiver to receive the data from more than one station at a single point of time
B. Maximum Data Rate for every channel is small and fixed.
C. Requires special filters to avoid interference between any narrow channel.

2. What is pseudo random sequence? How is it implemented?

A. a sequence of numbers whose properties approximate the properties
of sequences of random numbers.
Implemented by PN sequence generator
3. What is GIS?
A. A geographic information system or geographical information system (GIS)
is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present
all types of spatial or geographical data.
4. Define frame efficiency?
A. It is a measure of the fraction of frame time used for the transmission of

traffic.
5. Define guard time?
A. It is necessary to between bursts to prevent the bursts from overlapping. The
guard
time will vary from burst to burst depending on the accuracy with which
the various
bursts can be positioned within each frame.
6. What is PDOP?
A. With the GPS system ,dilution of position is taken into account through a
factor
known as the position dilution of precision.
7. Define SS TDMA?
A. A modern pattern is a repetitive sequence of satellite switch modes,also
referred to
as SS/TDMA.
8. Limitations of FDMA satellite access?

A. a. If the traffic in the downlink is much heavier than that in the uplink, then
FDMA is relatively inefficient.
b. Compared with TDMA, FDMA has less flexibility in reassigning channels.
c. Carrier frequency assignments are hardware controlled.
9. What is payload?
A. Payload is the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight
For a rocket, the payload can be a satellite, space probe

10.What is TDMA mention advantages?

A.

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access Techniques

Only one carrier uses the transponder at any one time, and therefore Inter
modulation
products, which results from the non-linear amplification of multiple
carriers are absent.
Advantages : The transponder traveling wave tube can be operated at
maximum power
at Output.
11.What is meant by digital speech interpolation?
A. DSI exploits the fact that human speech signals contain periods of activity
and periods of silence. This allows an operator to multiplex N telephone
conversations over Nv channels, where N can be larger than Nv. The basic
idea is that a conversation only needs to occupy a channel whenever the
speakers voice is generation a sound. During periods of silence, other users
can use the channel
12.What is meant by space division multiple access(SDMA)?
A. In SDMA, also known as SDM (spatial-division multiplex), satellite dish
antennas transmit signals to numerous zones on the earth's surface. The

antennas are highly directional, allowing duplicate frequencies to be used for

multiple surface zones.
13.Distinguish between demand assigned and pre assigned multiple access?

Similar to leased line

used in a terrestrial
telephone network

Similar to dialup line used in

a terrestrial telephone
network

Example: INSAT
FDMA for TV/Radio
Network

Example: INMARSAT space

system

PAMA concept is
used in AM/FM/TV
application

DAMA concept is used in

mobile telephone
applications in GSM/CDMA
networks

The merit of PAMA

network is low earth
station costs
and control over
backoff,
wastage of
resources if not
occupied by users.
Not economical as
need to pay even if
service is not utilized

The merit of DAMA

network is efficient
use of resources as they
are allocated till the
duration of call.
Economical as need to
pay based on usage

Demerit: PAMA is not

flexible to actual traffic
conditions and hence
it is not resource
efficient

Demerit: In DAMA, more

complex system is used at
earth station side as entire
network operation is carried
by control station

A.
14.What is ECEF?
A. The geocentric equatorial coordinate system is used with the GPS system.It
is called as earth centered, earth fixed coordinate system.
15.State 4 access techniques?
A. FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, CSMA, DAMA.
16.State 2 merits of TDMA over FDMA?

A. Advantages : The transponder traveling wave tube can be operated at

maximum power output.
Compared with TDMA, FDMA has less flexibility in reassigning channels

17.What do you understand by DAMA?

A. . DAMA systems assign communication channels based on requests issued from user terminals to a
network control system. When the circuit is no longer in use, the channels are then returned to the
central pool for reassignment to other users.

18.What is ALOHA?
A. ALOHA is a system for coordinating and arbitrating access to a shared communication
19.Define Frequency hopping spread spectrum?
A. FHSS is a method of transmitting radio signals by rapidly switching a carrier among many
frequency channels, using a pseudorandom sequence known to both transmitter andreceiver.

20.Define multiplexing and multiple access?

A. Multiplexing means multiple analog message signals or digital data streams are combined into
one signal over a shared medium.
Multiple access allows several terminals connected to the same multi-point
transmission medium to transmit over it and to share its capacity.
21.Why guard time is required in TDMA?
A. guard intervals are used to ensure that distinct transmissions do not interfere with one another
22.What is SPADE system?
A. SPADE stands for "Single carrier per channel Pulse code modulated multiple Access Demand access
Equipment", it is used in sattellite communication system at the earth stations for the reception of
signals from satellites in PCMed SCPC signals on demand access basis.

23.Define process gain and jam margin in spread spectrum multiple access?
A. In a spread spectrum system, the process gain (or 'processing gain') is the ratio of the spread (or
RF) bandwidth to the unspread (or baseband) bandwidth. It is usually expressed in decibels (dB).
Jam margin: It is the maximum jammer power to signal power ratio that a spread spectrum receiver
can tolerate, while still maintaining the specified bit-error-rate.

24.What is carrier sense multiple access? How is it different from aloha system?
A. nodes attempt to avoid collisions by transmitting only when the channel is sensed to be
"idle".
In the Aloha method, each source in a communication network transmits data every time
there is a frame to be transmitted. If the frame successfully reaches the destination, the
next frame is transmitted. If the frame is not received at the destination, it will be
transmitted again