Satellite Communications

Fahad Faraz Ahmad Reg#2009-ee-470

Overview
Basics of Satcom Working of Satellite Modulation Schemes Types & services VSAT & GPS Frequency Bands Satellite Communication Organizations

What is Satellite?
Satellite is a large microwave repeater in the space.

It contains several transponders which listens to some portion of spectrum, amplifies the incoming signal and broadcasts it in another frequency.

Major Parts:
Altitude and Orbit Control System

rocket to move satellite back to the correct orbit keep antennas point toward earth
Operation center

TTC & M SSC - Satellite Control Center

OCC - Operations Control Center SCF - Satellite Control Facility Power system

electrical power from solar cells

Communication subsystem

one or more antennas and a set of receivers and transmitters (transponders)

How do Satellites Work?

Use a satellite as a relay station. One Earth Station sends a transmission to the satellite. This is called a Uplink. The satellite Transponder converts the signal and sends it down to the second earth station. This is called a Downlink.

Transponders
Repeaters Carried by Communications Satellites Low Noise Amplifier(LNA) Heterodyning (frequency changing) High Power Amplifier(HPA)

Factors in satellite communication

Elevation Angle: The angle of the horizontal of the earth surface to the center line of the satellite transmission beam. Coverage Angle: A measure of the portion of the earth surface visible to a satellite taking the minimum elevation angle into account.

Other Factors:
Propagation Delay Free Space Loss Satellite Footprint Atmospheric Attenuation Atmospheric absorption Traveling ionospheric disturbances Cloud attenuation Rain attenuation

Propagation Delay:

Modulation schemes:

Satellite communication services:

Fixed Service Satellites (FSS) Example: Point to Point Communication Broadcast Service Satellites (BSS) Example: Satellite Television/Radio Also called Direct Broadcast Service (DBS). Mobile Service Satellites (MSS) Example: Satellite Phones

Types of Satellite based Networks

GEO Geostationary Orbits

36,000 km above Earth Commercial and military satellites Three satellite are used for whole earth coverage
MEO Medium Earth Orbits

From 5000 to 15000 km Navigation satellites (GPS)

LEO Low Earth Orbits

500 to 1000 km above Earth Military intelligence satellites, weather satellites

HEO High Elliptical Orbits

Satellite Handover

VSAT Network
At the Very Small Aperture Terminal a lower performance microwave transceiver and lower gain dish antenna (smaller size) is used. Ideal for centralized networks with a central host (Banking institutions with branches all over the country). Star configuration Mesh configuration Use the ALOHA and TDMA for communication

VSAT Network Component:

A VSAT network has three components: A central hub (MES) The satellite A Number of VSAT earth stations in various locations across a country or continent

Global Positioning System(GPS)

GPS is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth 6 orbit and 24 or more GPS satellites It is maintained by the United States government Freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

Basic concept of GPS

A GPS receiver calculates its position by precisely timing the signals sent by GPS satellites high above the Earth. Each satellite continually transmits messages that include the time the message was transmitted satellite position at time of message transmission

Components of GPS:
The current GPS consists of three major segments Space segment (SS) Control segment (CS) User segment (US)

MAC(Media Access Control) protocols for satellite links

ALOHA:
Every station can transmit any time Very low efficiency 18- 36 %. FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access): It is the oldest and most common. the available satellite channel bandwidth is broken into frequency bands for different earth stations.

 TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) :

Each earth station gets to transmit in a fixed time slot only. Requires time synchronization between the Earth Stations.

CDMA : (Code Division Multiple Access)

Combination of time/frequency multiplexing ( a form of spread spectrum modulation). It provides a decentralized way of providing separate channels without timing synchronization.

Frequency Bands
Different kinds of satellites use different frequency bands.
LBand: 1 to 2 GHz, used by MSS S-Band: 2 to 4 GHz, used by MSS, NASA, deep space research C-Band: 4 to 8 GHz, used by FSS X-Band: 8 to 12.5 GHz, used by FSS and in terrestrial imaging, ex: military and meteorological satellites Ku Band: 12 to 14.5 GHz Ka Band: 17 to 31 GHz, The Ka and Ku bands are reserved exclusively for satellite communication but are subject to rain attenuation

Advantages of Satellite Communication:

The advantages of satellite communication over terrestrial communication are:

The coverage area of a satellite greatly exceeds that of a terrestrial system. Transmission cost of a satellite is independent of the distance from the center of the coverage area. Satellite to Satellite communication is very precise. Higher Bandwidths are available for use.

Disadvantages of Satellite communication:

The disadvantages of satellite communication: Launching satellites into orbit is costly. There is a larger propagation delay in satellite communication than in terrestrial communication. Satellite bandwidth is gradually becoming used up.

Satellite communication Organizations

ITSO previously known by the acronym, INTELSAT, global cooperation in satellite communications ESA ESA is responsible for developing new technology for European space industries for the field of satellite communications NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAEA) China National Space Administration(CNSA) etc.

Thank you