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SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS
By
JASON M. AMPOLOQUIO, PECE
Communications Satellite
A spacecraft placed in orbit around the
earth which carries on board microwave
transmitting and receiving equipment
capable of relaying signals from one point
to another.
It uses microwave frequency (1-100 Ghz)
Reasons for Using Microwave Frequency

To penetrate the atmosphere
To handle wideband signals encountered in
present day communications
To make practical use of high gain
antennas aboard the spacecraft
Satellite Communications

Satellite System Elements

Space Segment
It contains the satellite and all terrestrial
facilities for control and monitoring of the
satellite
This includes the tracking,telemetry, and
command stations(TT&C) with satellite
control center
Payload It consists of the receiving and
transmitting antennas and all the electronic
equipment that supports the transmission of
carriers
Platform It consists of all subsystems that
permits the payload to operate
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Ground Segment
It consists of all the earth stations most
often connected to the end users
equipment by a terrestrial network, or in
case of VSAT, directly connected to the
end users equipment
Satellite Service Categories
1. Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) cover links
between satellites and fixed (non moving earth
stations)
2. Mobile Service (MSS) cover links to stations
that maybe in motion (mobile) including ships
(maritime mobile-MMSS), aircraft (aeronautical
mobile-AMSS),and land vehicles (land mobile
LMSS)
3. Broadcast Services include TV (DBS-TV) and
audio (DBSA)
4. Intersatellite Service satellite-to-satellite
cross links
Frequency Bands
Uplink/Downlink Allocation
The higher frequency suffers greater spreading or
free-space loss and an earth station aims upward
with well controlled antenna sidelobes
An earth station has better transmitting assets than
a satellite because it has unlimited power available
and can use large aperture antennas and large
power amplifiers
A satellite spews a signal to earth must be limited
in flux density to avoid interference with services
sharing the same band
A satellite does not have transmission assets of an
earth station because it derives power from solar
cells backed up by secondary cells.
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Broad Categories of Satellites
Passive Satellite
Simply reflects a signal back to earth
No gain devices on board to amplify or repeat
the signal
Otherwise called bent pipe satellite
(frequency translating RF repeater)
Active Satellite
Receives,amplifies,retransmits the signal
Also called processing satellite (used in
digital circuits where the signal is demodulated
to baseband and regenerates the signal)
Satellite Evolution
1. Moon in the late 1940s became the first
satellite transponder
2. Sputnik 1 the first active earth satellite
launched in 1957 by Russia.It transmitted
telemetry information for 21 days
3. Explorer 1 lunched by USA late that year. It
transmitted telemetry information for nearly five
months.
4. Score a 150-lb conical shaped satellite.It is
the first artificial satellite used for terrestrial
communications
5. Echo- a 100-ft diameter plastic balloon with
aluminum coating.It achieved the first
transatlantic transmission using a satellite.
Satellite Evolution
6. Telstar 1- the first satellite to receive and
transmit simultaneously. It was damaged by the
radiation of the newly discovered Van Allen
belts.
7. Telstar II accomplished the first successful
transatlantic transmission of video
8. Syncom 1- was the first attempt to place a
geosynchronous satellite into orbit but was lost
during orbit injection
9. Intelsat International Telecommunications
Satellite Organization
10. Early Bird the first Intelsat Satellite.It provided
over 480 voice channels

Block Diagram of a Communications Satellite
Satellite Orbits
The trajectory followed by the satellite in
equilibrium between two opposing forces
(gravitational force and inertial centrifugal
force)
Maximum extension at apogee and minimum
at perigee
Classifications of Orbit
Elliptical Orbit (64 deg inclination)
Circular Inclined (Polar orbit)
Circular orbit with Zero Inclination (Equatorial)
! Geosynchronous or Geostationary
! Non synchronous Satelllites
Prograde or Posigrade
Retrograde
! LEO/MEO/HEO/GEO (based on altitude)
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Classifications of Orbits
(By Inclination)
Ascending Node
Descending Node
Classifications of Orbits
(By Altitude and Shape)
Main Orbit Types
LEO
Circular or inclined orbit < 1400 km altitude
Satellite travels across sky from horizon to
horizon in 5 to 15 mins =>needs hand off
Earth station must track satellites
Large constellation of Satellites (66 needed to
cover earth)
Requires complex architecture
LEO sats need lower RF freq (low distances bet
sat and ground means lower antenna gains=>lower
frequencies
LEO Applications
Communications (voice and high speed data)
Iridium (comprises 66 LEO satellites)
Globalstar (fourty-eight satellites)
Teledesic (288 satellites for high speed data service)
Military Surveillance
Weather
Atmosphere Studies
Earth Observation/Remote Sensing
Polar ice cap monitoring
Tracking plantation changes for harvests
Rescue and Search
MEO
Ellipso
ICO (Intermediate
Circular Orbit)
Odyssey
Navistar
Archemedis
Voice and Data
communications
Radiodetermination
and radionavigation
Molniya
Tundra
Communication
Services at High
altitudes
HEO
Direct Broadcast
Fixed Satelite Service
Inersatellite Links
GEO
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MEO Applications
GPS is MEO satellite sstem
GPS satellites broadcast pulse trains with very
accurate time signals
A receiver able to see four GPS satellites can
calculate its position within 30 m anywhere in
the world
24 satellites in clusters of four, 12 hour orbital
period
Advantages GEO
Stationary
No switching
required
They cover larger
area
The effects of
Doppler shift are
negligible
They suffer great
deal FSL due to
distance
Time delay
Congestion
Coverage problem
(about above 80
deg)
Lower angle of
elevation
Disadvantages
GEO
GEO Applications
Initial application-telephony
Broadcasting (Direct TV)
Point to multipoint
Video Distribution for Cable TV
Mobile Services
Inmarsat (International Maritime Satellite Org )
MSAT (Mobile Satellite)
Weather Observation
Main Orbit Types
Comparison of Orbit Types
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Orbital Calculations
Classifications According to
Stabilization Method
Spinner Satellite
Use the angular
momentum of its
spinning body to provide
roll and yaw stabilization
Three-Axis Stabilizer
The body remains fixed
relative to earths surface
Internal subsytem
provides roll and yaw
stabilization
Classifications According to
Territorial Coverage
Domestic Satellite
Domsat
Single country
Regional Satellite
Specific regions
Global Satellite
Earth
Look Angles
Angle of Elevation
The angle formed between the direction of travel
of a wave radiated from earth station antenna and
the horizontal
5 degrees is the minimum acceptable angle of
elevation
Azimuth
The horizontal pointing angle of an antenna
Measured in clockwise direction in degrees from
true north
Look Angles Look Angles
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Look Angles
Look Angles
(Declination)
Satellite Location
PAS 4 72
APSTAR 2R 76.5
THAICOM 3 78.5
ST 1 - 88
INSAT 1 93.7
ASIASAT 2 100.5
ASIASAT 3 105.5
BS 2 110
PALAPA C2 113
JCSAT 3 128
APSTAR 1A - 134
AGILA 2 146
MEASAT - 148
PAS 8 166
PAS 2 - 169
Footprint
Spot Beams
Small geographic area
Zonal Coverage
Less than one-third of
the earths surface
Earth Coverage
One-third of the
earths surface with
approximate antenna
beamwidth of 17
degrees.
Footprint
Spacing or Spatial Isolation
Factors to be Considered:
Bamwidths and sidelobe
radiation of both the earth
sattion and satellite
antennas
RF Carrier Frequency
Encoding or modulation
techniques
Acceptable limits of
interference
Transmit carrier power
Note: 3 to 5 deg is required
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Frequency Reuse
A way to increase the capacity of a
limited bandwidth when an allocated
band is filled
Methods Frequency Reuse
Reducing antenna beamwidth so
that different beams of the same
frequency can be directed to
different geographical areas on
earth
Dual Polarization (less effective
because the atmosphere has a
tendency to reorient or repolarize
electromagnetic wave)
Satellite Communications

Uplink
The primary component is the earth station transmitter
Satellite Transponder
The transponder receives, amplifies,and retransmits
the signal back to earth using another frequency .
Downlink
The primary component is the earth station receiver.
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TVRO Diagram
Intersatellite Links (ISL) or
Satellite Cross Links
This refers to the communications between satellites
In necessary for some applications.
System Block Diagram
Transponder Bandwidth
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Satellite System Parameters
Path Loss Calculations
Satellite System Parameters
Antenna Calculations
GAIN BEAMWIDTH
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Satellite System Parameters
Transmit Power and Bit Energy
Satellite System Parameters
Effective Isotropic Power (EIRP)
-defined as an equivalent transmit power
Satellite System Parameters
Equivalent Noise Temperature
Satellite System Parameters
Noise Density
Satellite System Parameters
Carrier-to-Noise DensityRatio

The average wideband carrier power-to-noise
density ratio
The wideband carrier power is the combined
carrier power of the carrier and its associated
sidebands
Satellite System Parameters
Energy of Bit-Noise Density Ratio

One of the most important and most often used
parameters when evaluating a digital radio system
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Satellite System Parameters
Gain-to-Equivalent Noise Temperature
Ratio

Is a figure of merit used to represent the quality of
a satellite or an earth station receiver
Satellite System Parameters
Antenna Noise Temperature (cont)

Satellite System Link Equations
Uplink Equations
Downlink Equation Downlink Equation
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Frequency Division Multiple
Access (FDMA)
F1 = user 1
F2 = user 2
F3 = user 3
! With this technique, each stations transmissions are
assigned specific uplink and downlink frequency bands
within an allotted satellite bandwidth (preassigned or
demand assigned)
! Transmissions from different stations are separated in
frequency domain

Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA)
T1 = user 1
T2 = user 2
T3 = user 3
! With this technique, each station transmits a short
burst of information during a specific time slot or epoch
within a TDMA frame
! The burst must be synchronized so that each stations
burst arrives at the satellite at different times
! Transmissions from different earth stations are
separated in time domain
Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA)
Code 1 = user 1
Code 2 = user 2
Code 3 = user 3
! With this technique, each station transmit within the
same frequency and have no limitations on when they
may transmit or on which carrier frequency
! Signal separation is accomplished with encryption/
decryption
! Also known as Spread Spectrum Multiple Access