1. Satellite Communications
Lecture 26

2. Overview Requirement of Satellite Communication
Satellite UpLink and DownLink
Types of Satellites
Satellite Foot Print (Coverage Area)
Satellite Transmission Bands
UpLink and DownLink Frequencies
Signal Propagation Delay
Transponder
Effect of Rain on Satellite Communication
Microwave Communication (Why)
Satellite System Elements
Losses
Capacity Allocation Strategies

3. Why Satellite Communication?
The Earth is a sphere & the microwave frequencies travel in straight line but to connect two regions very far away on the two side of the sphere, the link requires lot of repeaters because of Earth’s curvature.
A single satellite can do the magic linking the continents with one repeater.

4. Motivation to use Satellites

5. Communication Satellite
A Communication Satellite can be looked upon as a large microwave repeater
It contains several transponders which listens to some portion of spectrum, amplifies the incoming signal and broadcasts it in another frequency to avoid interference with incoming signals.

7. Satellite
It is a repeater which receives signal from Earth at one frequency, amplify it & transmit it back to Earth at other frequency.

8. EARTH STATION
There are two earth station in a simple Satellite communication link. One transmits the signal to satellite called transmitting Earth station.
The other receives the signal from satellite called receiving Earth Station.

9. UPLINK & DOWN LINK
The communication link from Transmitting earth station to satellite is called Up-link.
The communication link from satellite To receiving earth station is called Down-link.

10. Altitudes of Orbits Above the Earth
There are 3 common types of satellite based on altitude, i.e. GEO, MEO & LEO
Orbit
Altitude
Missions possibles
Low-Earth orbit LEO
250 to 1,500 km
Earth observation, meteorology, telecommunications (constellations)
Medium-Earth orbit MEO
10,000 to 30,000 km
Telecommunications (constellations), positioning, science
Geostationary Earth orbit GEO
35,786 km
Telecommunications, positioning, science
Elliptical orbit
Between 800 and 27,000 km
Telecommunications
Hyperbolic orbit
Up to several million km
Interplanetary missions

12. Types of Satellite Orbits
Based on the inclination, i, over the equatorial plane:
Equatorial Orbits above Earth’s equator (i=0°)
Polar Orbits pass over both poles (i=90°)
Other orbits called inclined orbits (0°<i<90°)
Based on Eccentricity
Circular with centre at the earth’s centre
Elliptical with one foci at earth’s centre

13. Types of Satellite based Networks
Based on the Satellite Altitude
GEO – Geostationary Orbits
36000 Km = Miles, equatorial, High latency
MEO – Medium Earth Orbits
High bandwidth, High power, High latency
LEO – Low Earth Orbits
Low power, Low latency, More Satellites, Small Footprint
VSAT
Very Small Aperture Satellites
Private WANs

14. Satellite Orbits
Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO): 36,000 km above Earth, includes commercial and military communications satellites, satellites providing early warning of ballistic missile launch.
Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): from 5000 to km, they include navigation satellites (GPS, Galileo, Glonass).
Low Earth Orbit (LEO): from 500 to 1000 km above Earth, includes military intelligence satellites, weather satellites.

15. Satellite Orbits

16. GEO - Geostationary Orbit
In the equatorial plane
Orbital Period = 23 h 56 m s
= 1 sidereal day*
Satellite appears to be stationary over any point on equator:
Earth Rotates at same speed as Satellite
Radius of Orbit r = Orbital Height + Radius of Earth
Avg. Radius of Earth = Km
3 Satellites can cover the earth (120° apart)
*More detail in next lecture: A sidereal day is the time between consecutive crossings of any particular longitude on the earth with reference to
inertial space (or it’s own axis); I.e., in practice, with reference to any star other than the sun. This corresponds to a 360 degree rotation.

17. NGSO - Non Geostationary Orbits
Orbit should avoid Van Allen radiation belts:
Region of charged particles that can cause damage to satellite
Occur at
~ km and
~ km

18. LEO - Low Earth Orbits
Circular or inclined orbit with < 1400 km altitude
Satellite travels across sky from horizon to horizon in minutes => needs handoff
Earth stations must track satellite or have Omni directional antennas
Large constellation of satellites is needed for continuous communication (66 satellites needed to cover earth)
Requires complex architecture
Requires tracking at ground

19. HEO - Highly Elliptical Orbits
HEOs (i = 63.4°) are suitable to provide coverage at high latitudes (including North Pole in the northern hemisphere)
Depending on selected orbit (e.g. Molniya, Tundra, etc.) two or three satellites are sufficient for continuous time coverage of the service area.
All traffic must be periodically transferred from the “setting” satellite to the “rising” satellite (Satellite Handover)

20. Satellite Orbits

21. Why Satellites Remain in Orbits

23. Orbital Period
The time taken by a satellite to complete one rotation in its orbit is called its period.
The GEO satellite takes 23 hrs & 56 minutes & 4.1 Seconds to complete its rotation which is approximately equal to the period of rotation of earth around its axis. This is why it appears to be stationary by the observer on Earth moving with the same speed as that of satellite. So one GEO stationary satellite can serve a ground user round the clock.

24. Orbital Period
Satellite System
Orbital Height (Km)
Orbital Velocity (Km/Sec)
Orbital Period
(H M S)
Intelsat (GEO)
35,786
3.0747
New ICO (MEO)
10,255
4.8954
Iridium (LEO)
1,469
7.1272
Notice as altitude decreases, the velocity must be increased to minimize the gravitational effect.

25. Coverage Area of Satellite
The Earth surface covered by satellite radiations is called FOOT PRINT. The coverage area is inversely proportional to frequency. The foot print will be large if the frequency of down link is low.

26. GEO satellite Coverage
One GEO can cover 1/3 of earth surface so the earth is divided in 3 regions.
AOR (Atlantic Ocean Region)
POR (Pacific Ocean region)
IOR (Indian Ocean region)

27. FREQUENCIES for Satellite Communication
Letter Designation
Frequency range
USE
L band
1 to 2 GHz
Satellite phone, GPS
S band
2 to 4 GHz
Satellite phone
C band
4 to 8 GHz
TV transmission
X band
8 to 12 GHz
Ku band
12 to 18 GHz
TV transmission, Communication
K band
18 to 26.5 GHz
Ka band
26.5 to 40 GHz
Satellite Internet
Q band
30 to 50 GHz
Experimental
U band
40 to 60 GHz

28. Satellite Transmission Bands
Frequency Band
Downlink
Uplink C
3,700-4,200 MHz
5,925-6,425 MHz Ku
GHz
GHz Ka
GHz
GHz
The C band is the most frequently used. The Ka and Ku bands are reserved exclusively for satellite communication but are subject to rain attenuation

29. FREQUENCIES For Uplink & Down link
Uplink uses higher frequency than the down link.
Frequency of satellite is always specified as
UPLINK frequency/ Down link Frequency
e.g. C band 6/4 GHz
Ku band14/11 GHz
Ka band30/20 GHz

30. Signal Propagation DELAY
Using c= 3*10 ^ 8 m/s & time= distance(altitude)/ speed
Uplink delay from earth station to Satellite.
Round trip delay 4* uplink delay.
All other delays in signal coding, compression, & processing on Satellite & earth Station are neglected.
orbit
Average altitude of Orbit
Uplink Delay
Round trip delay
LEO
800 Km
2.7 ms
10.8 ms
MEO
10,355 Km
34.5 ms
138 ms
GEO
35,786 Km
119.3 ms
480 ms = ½ Second

31. Round trip delay of GEO signal

32. Transponder
The BW of satellite is divided into channels allowing many earth stations to use this BW. The Electronics to support each channel is called Transponder.
Each transponder consist of band pass filter to select particular channel, down converter & output amplifier.
Each satellite can have a large number of active & spare transponders typically 12 to 44 active transponder in each satellite.
The total BW of transponder is usually 36,54 or 72 MHz.

33. Transponder

34. Effect of rain on signal
Rain heavily effects the wireless communication above 10 GHz.
So Ku band & Ka band will be effected by rain & specially above 20 GHz the Ka Band link can fail during heavy rain fall.

35. Why fup is always Higher than fdown?
The beam of higher frequency is narrow & that of lower is broad. As the earth station has to target the signal to a small point (satellite) in space so it does it by using narrow beam produced by higher frequency. While the Satellite has to cover a large area on earth to provide services to many Earth station so it does it by using broad beam produced by lower frequency.
As the rain effects higher frequencies more than lower one so they need to be boosted up more to overcome the propagation losses. The Energy can be given to signal much more easily on earth than on satellite because the satellite has limited power resources like solar cells & batteries so we use higher frequencies on Earth & amplify them with enough power supply resources we have on Earth

36. Up & down frequencies of C band

37. Satellite Signals
Base band signals can be analog or digital. But the final signal transmitted towards the satellite or from the satellite is always analog as it is an RF signal.

38. Increasing bandwidth of Satellite
Multiplexing
Use of Audio & video compression in telephone & TV signals.
Frequency Reuse
Same frequency but orthogonal polarization.
Increasing angular spacing of two satellites in same orbit using similar frequencies.

39. Life of Satellite A satellite has two life.
Design life: it is the predicted life of the electronic systems working in satellite.
Maneuver life: It is the life during which full maneuver capabilities exist in satellite to change its position. It depends on fuel tank storage capacity & it is usually less than design life.
At the end of useful GEO satellite life , it is raised to graveyard orbit.

40. Uses of Satellite Military communication Telecommunication
Satellite phone.
VSAT (very small aperture terminal)
Cable TV
DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) TV (with Dish Antenna)
GPS (Global Positioning System)
Satellite Internet
Weather forecasting
Photography
GIS (geographical Information System)
X-Ray & infrared view of universe
Navigation
Deep Space exploration
& many more

42. Satellite Missions

43. Satellite Microwave Transmission
Satellites can relay signals over a long distance
Geostationary Satellites
Remain above the equator at a height of about miles (geosynchronous orbits)
Travel around the earth in exactly the same time, the earth takes to rotate

44. Why Do Microwaves are Used for Satellite Communications?
High enough frequency to carry the information,
long enough wavelength to penetrate the atmosphere.
They do not rapidly disperse in the atmosphere so the power does not need to be very high to reach a distant point.
They can be focused by a suitable dish to increase the reception of low power signals.
They can be modulated to carry the signal and are resistant to interference.
They travel in straight enough lines to be able to aim them. They are easy to produce and easy to detect.

45. Satellite System Elements

46. Space Segment Satellite Launching Phase Transfer Orbit Phase
Deployment
Operation
TT&C - Tracking Telemetry and Command Station
SSC - Satellite Control Center, a.k.a.:
OCC - Operations Control Center
SCF - Satellite Control Facility
Retirement Phase

47. Ground Segment Collection of facilities, Users and Applications
Earth Station = Satellite Communication Station
(Fixed or Mobile)

48. Satellite Uplink and Downlink
The link from a satellite down to one or more ground stations or receivers
Uplink
The link from a ground station up to a satellite.
Some companies sell uplink and downlink services to
television stations, corporations, and to other telecommunication carriers.
A company can specialize in providing uplinks, downlinks, or both.

49. Why Two Frequencies for Uplink and Downlink in Satellite Com
The reason the uplink and downlink frequencies are different in satellites is because otherwise the satellite's transmitter and receiver would interfere with one another. The signals have to operate on different frequencies.
But
If you could send a signal, then wait, the receiver could be protected from the transmitted signal on the same frequency, but with high speed, continuous transmission, the receiver cannot be turned off while the transmitter is transmitting. (an example of something that transmits and receives on the same frequency is pulsed RADAR, where the transmitter sends out a pulse, and then the echo is picked up by the receiver)

50. Why Uplink Frequency is Higher than Downlink Frequency
The signals have to cross the atmosphere which presents a great deal of attenuation. The higher the frequency, the more is the signal loss and more power is needed for reliable transmission.
A satellite is a light-weight device which cannot support high-power transmitters on it. So, it transmits at a lower frequency (higher the frequency, higher is the transmitter power to accommodate losses) as compared to the stationary earth station which can afford to use very high-power transmitters. This is compensated by using highly sensitive receiver circuits on the earth station which is in the line-of-sight (LOS) of the satellite.

51. Uplink/Downlink Mobile/Satellite
A mobile is a portable device which cannot afford high-power transmission as it has a small battery with limited power. The 'free space path loss' comes to play. The higher the transmitting frequency, the higher is the loss. Since a mobile station (cellphone) cannot afford to transmit at high power to compensate for this loss, it must transmit on a lower frequency as a lower frequency presents lesser free space path loss. Therefore, mobile-to-base station (uplink) frequencies are lower than base station-to-mobile(downlink) frequencies.

52. Satellite Uplink and Downlink

53. Satellite Communication
When using a satellite for long distance communications, the satellite acts as a repeater.
An earth station transmits the signal up to the satellite (uplink), which in turn retransmits it to the receiving earth station (downlink).
Different frequencies are used for uplink/downlink.

54. Satellite Transmission Links
Earth stations Communicate by sending signals to the satellite on an uplink
The satellite then repeats those signals on a downlink
The broadcast nature of downlink makes it attractive for services such as the distribution of TV programs

55. Direct to User Services
Two way Service (Communication)
One way Service (Broadcasting)

56. Satellite Signals
Used to transmit signals and data over long distances
Weather forecasting
Television broadcasting
Internet communication
Global Positioning Systems

57. Advantages of Satellite Communication
Can reach over large geographical area
Flexible (if transparent transponders)
Easy to install new circuits
Circuit costs independent of distance
Broadcast possibilities
Temporary applications (restoration)
Niche applications
Mobile applications (especially "fill-in")
Terrestrial network "by-pass"
Provision of service to remote or underdeveloped areas
User has control over own network
1-for-N multipoint standby possibilities
Transponders are microwave repeaters carried by communications satellites. Transparent transponders can handle any signal whose format can fit in the transponder bandwidth. No signal processing occurs other than that of heterodyning (frequency changing) the uplink frequency bands to those of the downlinks. Such a satellite communications system is referred to as a bent-pipe system. Connectivity among earth stations is reduced when multiple narrow beams are used. Hence, the evolution proceeded from the transparent transponder to transponders that can perform signal switching and format processing.

58. Disadvantages of Satellite Communication
Large up front capital costs (space segment and launch)
Terrestrial break even distance expanding (now approx. size of Europe)
Interference and propagation delay
Congestion of frequencies and orbits
Breakeven Distance: As the cost of Satellite Circuit is independent of distance on the Earth between the two ends, whilst the cost of a terrestrial circuit is approximately directly proportional to that distance, the concept of a "breakeven" distance where the costs are equal has been used to determine where services should be routed via satellite. This breakeven distance varies according to the size of the route, growth rate, and any special networking requirements.

59. When to use Satellites
When the unique features of satellite communications make it attractive
When the costs are lower than terrestrial routing
When it is the only solution
Examples:
Communications to ships and aircraft (especially safety communications)
TV services - contribution links, direct to cable head, direct to home
Data services - private networks
Overload traffic
Delaying terrestrial investments
1 for N diversity
Special events
1 for N Diversity: Where there is negligible likelihood of route failure, there is no need for route diversity protection and the type of protection used is known as "1 for N". In point to point radio systems it is (typically 7 : 1) throughout the world. If a worker section down a route fails, the traffic is switched to a stand-by section. After repair of the worker, traffic is returned to it after a suitable period of time. This period of time is that necessary for a stability test, to check that the fault has been genuinely cleared. Traffic loss due to section failure can typically be reduced by several hundred times by the use of "1-for-N" protection.

60. When to use Terrestrial
PSTN - satellite is becoming increasingly uneconomic for most trunk telephony routes
but, there are still good reasons to use satellites for telephony such as: thin routes, diversity, very long distance traffic and remote locations.
Land mobile/personal communications - in urban areas of developed countries new terrestrial infrastructure is likely to dominate (e.g. GSM, etc.)
but, satellite can provide fill-in as terrestrial networks are implemented, also provide similar services in rural areas and underdeveloped countries

61. Frequency Bands Allocated to the FSS(Fixed service satellite)
Frequency bands are allocated to different services at World Radio-communication Conferences (WRCs).
Allocations are set out in Article S5 of the ITU Radio Regulations.
It is important to note that (with a few exceptions) bands are generally allocated to more than one radio services.
CONSTRAINTS
Bands have traditionally been divided into “commercial" and "government/military" bands, although this is not reflected in the Radio Regulations and is becoming less clear-cut as "commercial" operators move to utilize "government" bands.
FSS: Stands for Fixed Satellite Services. Satellite communications in the FSS frequency band were initially developed in order to provide transmission links between the public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) of different countries, first intercontinental and then regional (e.g. the Intelsat and Eutelsat systems respectively);

62. Earth’s atmosphere
Source: All about GPS [

63. Atmospheric Losses
Different types of atmospheric losses can disturb radio wave transmission in satellite systems:
Atmospheric absorption
Atmospheric attenuation
Traveling ionospheric disturbances

64. Atmospheric Absorption
Energy absorption by atmospheric gases, which varies with the frequency of the radio waves.
Two absorption peaks are observed (for 90º elevation angle):
22.3 GHz from resonance absorption in water vapour (H2O)
60 GHz from resonance absorption in oxygen (O2)
For other elevation angles:
[AA] = [AA]90 cosec 

65. Atmospheric Attenuation
Rain is the main cause of atmospheric attenuation (hail, ice and snow have little effect on attenuation because of their low water content).
Total attenuation from rain can be determined by:
A = L [dB]
where  [dB/km] is called the specific attenuation, and can be calculated from specific attenuation coefficients in tabular form that can be found in a number of publications
where L [km] is the effective path length of the signal through the rain; note that this differs from the geometric path length due to fluctuations in the rain density.

66. Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances
Traveling ionospheric disturbances are clouds of electrons in the ionosphere that provoke radio signal fluctuations which can only be determined on a statistical basis.
The disturbances of major concern are:
Scintillation;
Polarisation rotation.
Scintillations are variations in the amplitude, phase, polarisation, or angle of arrival of radio waves, caused by irregularities in the ionosphere which change over time.
The main effect of scintillations is fading of the signal.

67. What is Polarisation?
Polarisation is the property of electromagnetic waves that describes the direction of the transverse electric field.
Since electromagnetic waves consist of an electric and a magnetic field vibrating at right angles to each other.
it is necessary to adopt a convention to determine the polarisation of the signal.
Conventionally, the magnetic field is ignored and the plane of the electric field is used.

68. Types of Polarisation Linear Polarisation (horizontal or vertical):
the two orthogonal components of the electric field are in phase;
The direction of the line in the plane depends on the relative amplitudes of the two components.
Circular Polarisation:
The two components are exactly 90º out of phase and have exactly the same amplitude.
Elliptical Polarisation:
All other cases.
Linear Polarisation
Circular Polarisation
Elliptical Polarisation

69. Satellite Communications
Alternating vertical and horizontal polarisation is widely used on satellite communications
This reduces interference between programs on the same frequency band transmitted from adjacent satellites (One uses vertical, the next horizontal, and so on)
Allows for reduced angular separation between the satellites.

71. 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

72. 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)

73. Minimum Elevation Angle
Reasons affecting minimum elevation angle of earth station’s antenna (>0o)
Buildings, trees, and other terrestrial objects block the line of sight
Atmospheric attenuation is greater at low elevation angles
Electrical noise generated by the earth's heat near its surface adversely affects reception

74. GEO Orbit Advantages of the the GEO orbit
No problem with frequency changes
Tracking of the satellite is simplified
High coverage area
Disadvantages of the GEO orbit
Weak signal after traveling over 35,000 km
Polar regions are poorly served
Signal sending delay is substantial

75. LEO Satellite Characteristics
Circular/slightly elliptical orbit under 2000 km
Orbit period ranges from 1.5 to 2 hours
Diameter of coverage is about 8000 km
Round-trip signal propagation delay less than 20 ms
Maximum satellite visible time up to 20 min
System must cope with large Doppler shifts
Atmospheric drag results in orbital deterioration

76. LEO Categories Little LEOs Big LEOs Frequencies below 1 GHz
5MHz of bandwidth
Data rates up to 10 kbps
Aimed at paging, tracking, and low-rate messaging
Big LEOs
Frequencies above 1 GHz
Support data rates up to a few megabits per sec
Offer same services as little LEOs in addition to voice and positioning services

77. MEO Satellite Characteristics
Circular orbit at an altitude in the range of 5000 to 12,000 km
Orbit period of 6 hours
Diameter of coverage is 10,000 to 15,000 km
Round trip signal propagation delay less than 50 ms
Maximum satellite visible time is a few hours

78. Frequency Bands Available for Satellite Communications

79. Satellite Link Performance Factors
Distance between earth station antenna and satellite antenna
For downlink, terrestrial distance between earth station antenna and “aim point” of satellite
Displayed as a satellite footprint (Figure 9.6)
Atmospheric attenuation
Affected by oxygen, water, angle of elevation, and higher frequencies

80. Satellite Network Configurations

81. Capacity Allocation Strategies
Frequency division multiple access (FDMA)
Time division multiple access (TDMA)
Code division multiple access (CDMA)

82. Frequency-Division Multiplexing
Alternative uses of channels in point-to-point configuration
1200 voice-frequency (VF) voice channels
One 50-Mbps data stream
16 channels of Mbps each
400 channels of 64 kbps each
600 channels of 40 kbps each
One analog video signal
Six to nine digital video signals

83. Frequency-Division Multiple Access
Factors which limit the number of subchannels provided within a satellite channel via FDMA
Thermal noise
Intermodulation noise
Crosstalk

84. Forms of FDMA Fixed-assignment multiple access (FAMA)
The assignment of capacity is distributed in a fixed manner among multiple stations
Demand may fluctuate
Results in the significant underuse of capacity
Demand-assignment multiple access (DAMA)
Capacity assignment is changed as needed to respond optimally to demand changes among the multiple stations

85. FAMA-FDMA FAMA – logical links between stations are preassigned
FAMA – multiple stations access the satellite by using different frequency bands
Uses considerable bandwidth

86. DAMA-FDMA
Single channel per carrier (SCPC) – bandwidth divided into individual VF channels
Attractive for remote areas with few user stations near each site
Suffers from inefficiency of fixed assignment
DAMA – set of subchannels in a channel is treated as a pool of available links
For full-duplex between two earth stations, a pair of subchannels is dynamically assigned on demand
Demand assignment performed in a distributed fashion by earth station using CSC

87. Reasons for Increasing Use of TDM Techniques
Cost of digital components continues to drop
Advantages of digital components
Use of error correction
Increased efficiency of TDM
Lack of intermodulation noise

88. FAMA-TDMA Operation
Transmission in the form of repetitive sequence of frames
Each frame is divided into a number of time slots
Each slot is dedicated to a particular transmitter
Earth stations take turns using uplink channel
Sends data in assigned time slot
Satellite repeats incoming transmissions
Broadcast to all stations
Stations must know which slot to use for transmission and which to use for reception

89. FAMA-TDMA Uplink

90. FAMA-TDMA Downlink

91. Summary Requirement of Satellite Communication
Satellite UpLink and DownLink
Types of Satellites
Satellite Foot Print (Coverage Area)
Satellite Transmission Bands
UpLink and DownLink Frequencies
Signal Propagation Delay
Transponder
Effect of Rain on Satellite Communication
Microwave Communication (Why)
Satellite System Elements
Losses
Capacity Allocation Strategies