Anda di halaman 1dari 8

1

QUESTION BANK FOR SATELLITE


COMMUNICATION
(EEE F472/ EEE C472)


SUBMITTED TO :
DR. M.K DESHMUKH
PREPARED BY
S.Aditya 2011A8PS350G
Aditya Chandratre 2011A8PS330G
2
QUESTION BANK FOR CHAPTER 3 :
MAJOR TOPICS :
SATELLITE SUBSYSTEMS, ANTENNAS ,TRANSPONDERS,
RELIABILITY AND SPACE QUALIFICATION
Q1) What are the major subsystems in satellite communication?
Ans) The major subsystems required on the communications satellite are:

Attitude & orbit control system (AOCS), consists of rocket
motors that are used to move the satellite back to the correct orbit
when external forces causes it to drift.
Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C), this is partly on the
satellite and partly on the controlling earth station. A dedicated
earth station is used for this purpose.
Power system (mainly solar cells)
Communications subsystem, these are the major components of a
communications satellite (transponders & antennas)
Q2) What are some of the functions of the TTC subsystem in satellite
communication?
Ans)
Tracking
The determination of the current orbit and position of the
spacecraft.
Velocity & acceleration sensors are employed.
The control earth station can observe the doppler shift of the
telemetry carrier to determine the rate of change of the range.
Triangulation can be used from measurements from several earth
stations observing the satellite.
Telemetry System
Collects data from many sensors and sends them to the control
earth station.
Pressure in fuel tanks
Current drawn by each subsystem
Critical voltages & currents
3
Temperatures.
Status & positions of switches
sighting devices used to maintain attitude

Q3) What are spin and 3-axis stabilized satellite system? Mention some
advantages and disadvantages of 3 axis stabilized satellite system.

Ans) A spin-stabilized satellite is a satellite which has the motion of one axis
held (relatively) fixed by spinning the satellite around that axis, using the
gyroscopic effect. The attitude of a satellite or any rigid body is its orientation in
space. If such a body initially has a fixed orientation relative to inertial space, it
will start to rotate, because it will always be subject to small torques. The easiest
form of attitude stabilization is to give the rigid body an initial spin around an
axis of minimum or maximum moment of inertia. The body will then have a
stable rotation in inertial space

A three axis stabilized satellite is stabilized in motion along all three
directions. Done using an internal gyroscope and small thrusters jets or
rockets. Because its spin is so stable, the internal gyroscope can be used
as a sensor to tell the satellite when its attitude (direction) is changing.
The satellite can then correct the problem using thrusters. Thrusters
usually contain compressed gas that when sent out of the end of the
thrusters will move the satellite in space. The force of the compressed gas
(the action) causes the satellite to move in the opposite direction (the
reaction).
4

The disadvantage : Thrusters, however, are heavy and use up lots of power
The advantage : The satellite as a whole can point stably in one direction; for
example, the solar panels can always point at the sun, and the instruments
can always point at their target
Q4) A spinner satellite has solar cells wrapped round a cylindrical drum 3.00
m in diameter, with a height of 5.0 m on station. The drum is rotated at 60
rpm to spin-stabilize the satellite. At the end of life, the solar cells are
required to deliver 4.0 kW of electrical power. Calculate the efficiency of the
solar cells at end of life. Assume an incident solar power of1.39 kW/m2, and
that the effective solar radiation absorbing area of the solar cells is equal to
the cross sectional area of the drum.
Ans) Area of solar cells absorbing sunlight is equivalent to cross sectional area of
drum. A = 3.0 m* 5.0 m = 15.0 m
2
.
At the end of life the solar cells are producing 4000 watts of electrical power.
Hence efficiency at end of life is
EoL
= 4000 / (15 x 1390) = 19.2%
Q5) In Q4 if the solar cells degrade by 15 percent over the lifetime of the
satellite, so that the end-of- life output power is 85% of the beginning-of- life
output power, what is the output of the solar cells immediately after launch?
Ans) The beginning of life output of the cells is
BoL
where

BoL
= 4000 / 0.85 = 4706 watts
5
Q6) In Q4 If the drum covered in solar cells of the spinner design had been
replaced by solar sails that rotated to face the sun at all times, what area of
solar sails would have been needed? Assume that cells on solar sails generate
only 90% percent of the power of cells on a spinner due to their higher
operating temperature.
Using the end of life output of 4000 W, the efficiency of the solar cells on the
sails is ss = 0.9 19.18 = 17.26 %. The area of solar sails required is A where A
= 4000 / (0.1726 1390) = 16.67 m2
Q7) What are spot beam antennas ?
Ans) A spot beam, antenna emits a satellite signal that is specially
concentrated in power so that it will cover only a limited geographic area on
Earth.

Multiple Spot beams for satellite antenna.
8) What is space qualification?
Ans) Space qualification involves detailed procedures undertaken to ensure
that all, components, systems and the satellite as a whole are invoked after
careful screening and testing. The satellite so constructed is measured for its
reliability using the reliability theory.
9) What are the different kinds of antennas used for satellite communication?
Ans)
1) A Horn antenna or microwave horn is an antenna that consists of a flaring
metal waveguide shaped like a horn to direct radio waves in a beam. Horns are
widely used as antennas at UHF and microwave frequencies, above 300 MHz
6
They are used as feeders (called feed horns) for larger antenna structures such
as parabolic antennas, as standard calibration antennas to measure the gain of
other antennas.
2) An Reflector antenna is an antenna that reflects electromagnetic waves.
Antenna reflectors can exist as a standalone device for redirecting radio
frequency (RF) energy, or can be integrated as part of an antenna assembly.
The function of a standalone reflector is to redirect electro-magnetic (EM)
energy, generally in the radio wavelength range of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
3) An Array antenna is a set of individual antennas used for transmitting
and/or receiving radio waves, connected together in such a way that their
individual currents are in a specified amplitude and phase relationship. This
allows the array to act as a single antenna, generally with improved directional
characteristics (thus higher antenna gain) than would be obtained from the
individual elements
4) Wire antennas are also used widely in satellite communication

Q10) The earth subtens an angle of 17
o
when viewed from geo stationary orbit.
What should be dimensions of such an antenna? Assume frequency of
operation to be 4GHz.
Ans) D/= 75/
3dB
= 4.4 Hence at 4GHz we may choose =0.075m so D=0.33m.







7
Q11) Explain the bath-tub curve in light of satellite reliability. Explain its three
regions of operation.

Ans) The bathtub curve is a plot of failure rate vs. time. It is characterized by
three regions in time: an initial region of decreasing failure rate, and
intermediate region of relatively constant failure rate, and a final region of
increasing failure rate. The bathtub curve is actually a composite curve, made
up of the sums of three smaller curves: infant mortality, random failures, and
wear out. Infant mortality failures are caused by defects in the product which
cause it to fail early in its lifetime. They are also called intrinsic failures, since
they are due to causes internal to the product. This type of failures decrease
sharply with time. Random failures occur at a somewhat constant rate over the
entire life of the product. Ideally, in a mature product, where the design and
processes are good, the failures are usually due to forces external to the
product, such as mishandling, external interface failures, or accidents. They are
therefore called extrinsic failures. In the time period after infant mortality, but
before the beginning of wear out, random failures dominate. This region is also
called the useful life region of the product.
The final region of the bathtub curve represents the time when the product
begins to wear out because it has reached the end of its useful life. There is
usually only a few wear out failure mechanisms, which results from the
stresses accumulated over the life of the product. These failures are intrinsic,
and the failure rate increases in this region.


8
Q12) A geostationary satellite provides service to a region which can be covered
by the beam of an antenna on the satellite with a beamwidth of 1.8
o
. The
satellite carries transponders for Ku band and Ka band, with separate antennas
for transmit and receive. For center frequencies of 14.0/11.5 GHz and 30.0/20.0
GHz, determine the diameters of the four antennas on the
satellite. Find the diameters of the two transmitting antennas. Specify the
diameter and calculate the
gain at each frequency.

Ans) beamwidth: q3 dB = 75 / D.
Hence D = 75 / q3 dB. Gain = 33,000 / (q3 dB)
2

The transmitting antennas on the satellite operate at the lower frequency
(downlink) in each
band.
For 11.5 GHz: l = 0.02609 m, D = 75 0.02609 / 1.8 = 1.087 m
For 20 GHz: l = 0.015 m, D = 75 0.015 / 1.8 = 0.625 m
G = 33,000 / 1.82 = 10.185 or 40.1 dB

Q13) What is meant by the term MTBF ? What is difference between MTBF and
MTTF?

Ans) Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the predicted elapsed time between
inherent failures of a system during operation. MTBF can be calculated as the
arithmetic mean (average) time between failures of a system. The MTBF is
typically part of a model that assumes the failed system is immediately repaired
(mean time to repair, or MTTR), as a part of a renewal process. This is in contrast
to the mean time to failure (MTTF), which measures average time to failures
with the modelling assumption that the failed system is not repaired (infinite
repair time).

Q14) Suppose in a satellite communication system it is observed that in a time t
36 out of 800 components have failed. Calculate failure rate

Ans ) Failure rate = No. of components Failed during time t / No.of Components
Survived = 36/764= 0.0471.

Q15) In the above problem also calculate MTBF.
Ans) MTBF of a satellite = 1/ Failure rate = 1/0.0471 = 21.23

Anda mungkin juga menyukai