SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

GROUND STATIONS
• ALSO CALLED EARTH STATION, THE TERRESTRIAL BASE OF THE
SYSTEM.
• COMMUNICATES WITH THE SATELLITE TO CARRY OUT THE
DESIGNATED MISSION.
• LOCATED AT THE END USER’S FACILITIES OR MAY BE LOCATED
REMOTELY WITH GROUND-BASED INTERCOMMUNICATION LINKS
BETWEEN THE EARTH STATION AND THE END USER.
• EARLY DAYS OF SATELLITE SYSTEMS EARTH STATIONS WERE
TYPICALLY PLACED IN REMOTE COUNTRY LOCATIONS. BECAUSE OF
THEIR ENORMOUS ANTENNAS AND OTHER CRITICAL
REQUIREMENTS, IT WAS NOT PRACTICAL TO LOCATE THEM IN
DOWNTOWN OR SUBURBAN AREAS.
• TODAY EARTH STATIONS ARE STILL COMPLEX BUT THEIR ANTENNAS
ARE SMALLER. EARTH STATIONS ARE NOW LOCATED ON TOP OF
TALL BUILDINGS OR IN OTHER URBAN AREAS DIRECTLY WHERE THE
END USER RESIDES. THIS OFFERS THE ADVANTAGE OF ELIMINATING
COMPLEX INTERCOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS BETWEEN THE EARTH
STATION AND THE END USER.
 MAJOR SUBSYSTEMS OF EARTH STATIONS

• THE ANTENNA SUBSYSTEM

• THE RECEIVE SUBSYSTEM
• THE TRANSMIT SUBSYSTEM
• THE GROUND CONTROL EQUIPMENT(GCE) SUBSYSTEM
• THE POWER SUBSYSTEM
GENERAL BLOCK DIAGRAM OF EARTH STATION
ANTENNA SUBSYSTEMS

• HAVE A RELATIVELY LARGE PARABOLIC DISH ANTENNA THAT IS USED FOR

SENDING AND RECEIVING SIGNALS TO AND FROM THE SATELLITE. THE
ANTENNA IN AN EARTH STATION MUST STEERABLE SO THAT IT CAN
ADJUST ITS AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION AND CAN BE PROPERLY ALIGNED
WITH THE SATELLITE.
• DIPLEXER- USED TO PERMIT A SINGLE ANTENNA TO BE USED FOR
MULTIPLE TRANSMITTERS AND/OR RECEIVERS.
RECEIVE SUBSYSTEM

• THE DOWN LINK OF THE EARTH STATION. IT CONSISTS OF

VERY LOW-NOISE PREAMPLIFIERS THAT TAKE THE SMALL
SIGNAL RECEIVED FROM THE SATELLITE AND AMPLIFY IT.
THE SIGNAL IS DEMODULATED AND SENT ON TO OTHER
PARTS OF THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
TYPES OF TUNING

• RF TUNING (RADIO FREQUENCY)-THE SECOND LOCAL

OSCILLATOR HAS A FIXED FREQUENCY TO ACHIEVE THE FINAL
CONVERSION.
• IF TUNING (INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY) – THE FIRST LOCAL
OSCILLATOR IS FIXED IN FREQUENCY AND THE SECOND IS MADE
TUNABLE.
RECEIVER GROUND CONTROL EQUIPMENT

• CONSISTS OF ONE OR MORE RACKS OF EQUIPMENT USED FOR

DEMODULATING AND DEMULTI-PLEXING THE RECEIVED SIGNALS.
TRANSMITTER SUBSYSTEM

• THE UPLINK OF THE EARTH STATION. IT CONSISTS OF ALL THE

ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT THAT TAKES THE SIGNAL TO BE
TRANSMITTED, AMPLIFIES IT, AND SENDS IT TO THE ANTENNA
TWO BASIC PARTS OF TRANSMIT SUBSYSTEM

• UP CONVERTERS- TRANSLATE THE BASEBAND SIGNALS

MODULATED ON TO CARRIERS UP TO THE FINAL UPLINK
MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES.
• POWER AMPLIFIERS- GENERATE THE HIGH-POWER SIGNALS THAT
ARE APPLIED TO THE ANTENNA.
POWER SUBSYSTEMS

• MOST EARTH STATIONS HAVE BACKUP POWER SYSTEMS IF AN AC

POWER FAILURE OCCURS. THE BACKUP POWER SYSTEM MAY
CONSIST OF A DIESEL ENGINE DRIVING AN AC GENERATOR. WHEN
AC POWER FAILS, AN AUTOMATIC SYSTEM STARTS THE DIESEL
ENGINE. THE GENERATOR CREATES THE EQUIVALENT AC POWER,
WHICH IS AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHED TO THE SYSTEM.
SATELLITE APPLICATION

Communication Satellite – main application for satellites is communication

• APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATION
• LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE WORLDWIDE.
• TV (DIRECT BROAD CAST SATELLITE) SYSTEM IS AN ALL DIGITAL SYSTEM- DATA
COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO REDUCE THE DATE RATE IN ORDER
TO PRODUCE HIGH QUALITY PICTURE AND SOUND.
• SATELLITE CELL PHONES - USE LOW-EARTH-ORBIT SATELLITES TO PERFORM THE
RELAY SERVICES TO THE MAIN TELEPHONE SYSTEM OR TO MAKE
CONNECTION DIRECTLY BETWEEN ANY TWO CELLULAR TELEPHONES USING
THE SYSTEM.
DIGITAL SATELLITE RADIO

• MOST POPULAR OPTIONS IN NEW CARS AND TRUCKS IS

DIGITAL SATELLITE RADIO. THE SYSTEM USES DIGITAL
TRANSMISSION TECHNIQUES THAT ENSURE HIGH-QUALITY
STEREO SOUND THAT IS IMMUNE TO NOISE.
SURVEILLANCE SATELLITES

• SATELLITES CAN LOOK AT THE EARTH AND TRANSMIT

WHAT THEY SEE TO GROUND STATIONS FOR A WIDE
VARIETY OF PURPOSES.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF OBSERVATION SATELLITES

• THE METEOROLOGICAL, OR WEATHER, SATELLITE- THESE

SATELLITES PHOTOGRAPH CLOUD COVER AND SEND
BACK TO EARTH PICTURES THAT ARE USED FOR
DETERMINING AND PREDICTING THE WEATHER.
• GEODETIC SATELLITES PHOTOGRAPH THE EARTH FOR
THE PURPOSE OF CREATING MORE ACCURATE AND
MORE DETAILED MAPS.
 GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEMS(GNSS)

• MULTIPLE SATELLITE SYSTEMS USED FOR WORLDWIDE NAVIGATION.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM(GPS)

• KNOWN AS NAVSTAR, A SATELLITE-BASED NAVIGATION SYSTEM

THAT CAN BE USED BY ANYONE WITH AN APPROPRIATE RECEIVER
TO PINPOINT HER OR HIS LOCATION ON EARTH. THE ARRAY OF
GPS SATELLITES TRANSMITS HIGHLY ACCURATE, TIME-CODED
INFORMATION THAT PERMITS A RECEIVER TO CALCULATE ITS EXACT
LOCATION IN TERMS OF THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE ON EARTH
AS WELL AS THE ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM(GPS)

• AN OPEN NAVIGATION SYSTEM WHICH MEANS ANYONE WITH A

GPS RECEIVER CAN USE IT.
• AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF A MODERN SATELLITE-BASED SYSTEM
AND THE HIGH TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
USED TO IMPLEMENT IT.
MAJOR SEGMENTS OF GPS

• SPACE SEGMENT - CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITES ORBITING ABOVE THE EARTH WITH

TRANSMITTERS THAT SEND HIGHLY ACCURATE TIMING INFORMATION TO GPS RECEIVERS ON
EARTH.
• CONTROL SEGMENT- REFERS TO THE VARIOUS GROUND STATIONS THAT MONITOR THE
SATELLITES AND PROVIDE CONTROL AND UPDATE INFORMATION.
• USER SEGMENT- THE RECEIVERS IN THE USER SEGMENT THEMSELVES MAY BE USED ON LAND,
SEA, OR AIR.
GPS RECEIVERS

• A COMPLEX SUPER HETERODYNE MICROWAVE RECEIVER DESIGNED

TO PICK UP THE GPS SIGNALS, DECODE THEM, AND THEN
COMPUTE THE LOCATION OF THE RECEIVER. THE OUTPUT IS
USUALLY AN LCD DISPLAY GIVING LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, AND
ALTITUDE INFORMATION AND/OR A MAP OF THE AREA.