EEE 545:SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS
Danson Njue
Course Outline
Orbital Aspects: Kepler law-orbit fundamentals-orbit shape-satellite speed
and period-angle of indication-station keeping-attitude control-orbital
elements-orbital perturbation-SSP-satellite launching transfer orbitantenna look angles-LEO, MEO, GEO-Sun synchronous orbit constellation
Link Design: Frequency of operation-bands-propagation effects on the
signal-attenuation, frequency rotation, ice and snow effects
depolarization-sun transit outage-eclipse-EIRP-Power budget equationUplink power-Downlink power-C\No,G\T-t system noise-thermal noiseintermodulation noise
Space and Earth Segment: Space craft subsystem-power-attitude
control-telemetry tracking and command-transponder-stabilization
subsystem-thermal protection-payload-bus- antenna subsystem-earth
segment-low noise amplifiers-high power transmitters-TWTA, Klystron
amplifiers-redundancy configuration-Cassegrain antenna
Satellite Services: Satellite bandwidth-frequency division multiplexingtime division multiplexing-multiple access-FDMA, TDMA, CDMA-INSAT
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, weather forecasting, mobile satellite service,
satellite navigation
Reference Books
The Satellite Communication Applications Handbook ;
Author: Bruce R. Elbert;
Satellite Communication Engineering; Author: Michael O.
Kolawole;
Satellite Communications; Author: Dennis Roddy
Introduction (1)
The word satellite originated from the Latin word Satellit
which means an attendant who is constantly going round
and attending to the master
A satellite is basically a body that around another larger
body in a mathematically predictable path called an orbit
There are about 750 satellite in space, most of which are
used for communication. A communication satellite refers
to a station in space that is used to transmit
telecommunication, radio and TV signals
The first satellite was launched in 1957
The origin of satellite
The concept of using satellite was first proved by the
Naval Research Lab in the US in 1940s. It involved the
use of the moon to establish a very low data rate link
between Washington and Hawaii
In Oct-1957, Russia launched SPUTNIK, the first artificial
spacecraft to orbit the earth which transmitted telemetry
information for 21 days
In 1958, America launched an experimental satellite
known as the EXPLORER
In 1963, two satellites (Intelsat and Molniya) were
launched and in 1965, they were used to transmit Video
and Voice signals
The Concept of satellite communications
(1)
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.
The Concept of satellite communications
(2)
The Concept of satellite communications
(3)
Space Segment
The following takes place at the space segment;
Satellite Launching Phase
Transfer Orbit Phase
Deployment
Operation
TT&C - Tracking Telemetry and Command Station
SSC - Satellite Control Center;
OCC - Operations Control Center
SCF - Satellite Control Facility
Retirement Phase
The Concept of satellite communications
(4)
Ground Segment
Satellite
The ground segment consists of a collection of facilities, users and
applications. The Earth/Ground station can consist of either mobile or fixed
stations
The Concept of satellite communications
(5)
Relay satellite; Used for communicating with two stations that
are too far away to use conventional means
Uplink: Refers to the link from a ground station up to a satellite
Downlink: Refers to the link from a satellite down to one or
more ground stations or receivers
NB: Some satellite 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
Keplers laws of planetary motion (1)
Sir Johannes Kepler observed the planetary motion and
derived three laws based on the geometry of ellipses.
Major axis: Longest
diameter of an ellipse
Minor axis: Shortest
diameter of an ellipse
Keplers laws of planetary motion (2)
Law 1:
Planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at one focus of the ellipse
Keplers laws of planetary motion (3)
Law 2:
A line joining the planet from the center of the sun sweeps out equal areas in
equal times (periods).
For a 30-day period, areas A and B
are equal
Keplers laws of planetary motion (3)
Law 3:
The squares of the periods of two planets orbits are proportional to each other as
the cubes of their semi-major axis
P12 a13
3
2
P2 a2
In other words, (Period of orbit)2 is proportional to (semi-major axis of orbit)3
p2a3; Therefore P2 = ka3, where k is some constant number.
We can find k if p is expressed in (Earths orbit) years and a is expressed in terms
of the distance between Sun & Earth. This distance is called 1 Astronomical Unit, or
1 A.U. T
Substituting above values into the equation yields k=1; Therefore, p2=a3
Satellite transmission bands
Frequency band
Downlink
Uplink
3.7GHz-4.2GHz
5.925GHz-6.425GHz
Ku
11.7GHZ-12.2GHz
14GHz-15.5GHz
Ka
17.7GHZ-21.2GHZ
27.5GHZ-31GHZ
Note; The Ka and Ku bands are reserved exclusively for satellite
communication but are subject to rain attenuation. The C-band is the most
frequently used satellite band
The size of satellite dishes (antennas) depends on the transmission
frequency - =c/f.
As wavelength increases (and frequency decreases), larger antennas
(satellite dishes) are necessary to gather the signal effectively and
minimize losses.
Applications of satellites
Satellite TV broadcasting
High speed broadband networks
Voice Telephony networks
Corporate networks for multinational businesses
Weather forecasting
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
Advantages of Satellite Communication
Can be used to provide large geographical coverage area
Very viable for provision of service to remote or
underdeveloped areas
Highly flexible
Easy to install new circuits
Circuit costs independent of distance
Broadcast possibilities
Very viable for temporary applications
Very viable for niche applications
Mobile applications
Can be used for terrestrial network "by-pass"
User has control over own network
Satellite can be used to achieve highly redundant systems
(1:N multipoint standby diversity)
Disadvantages of Satellite Communication
Large up-front capital requirements
Interference and propagation delay
Congestion of frequencies and orbits
Operation of satellites
A Earth Station sends
message in GHz range.
(Uplink)
Satellite receives and
retransmit signals back.
(Downlink)
Other Earth Stations
receive message in useful
strength area. (Footprint)
Satellite Orbits
Low Earth Orbits (LEOs)
Middle Earth Orbits (MEOs)
Geosynchronous Earth Orbits (GEOs)
Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO)
Altitude (375-1000 miles)
Revolution time: 90 min - 3
hours.
Advantages:
Reduces transmission delay
Eliminates need for bulky receiving
equipment.
Disadvantages:
Smaller coverage area.
Shorter life span (5-8 yrs.) than
GEOs (10 yrs).
Low Earth Orbits can be
categorized into; Little, Big,
and Mega (Super) LEOs.
Little LEOs
0.8 GHz range
Small, low-cost applications
Mainly used for short, narrowband communications such
as vehicle tracking, environmental monitoring and twoway data communication.
Big LEOs
2 GHz or above range
Can offer global services, which can be subject to
regulatory requirements.
Used for technology devices such as high-speed, high-
bandwidth data communications, and video conferencing.
They carry voice and high-speed data services.
The main uses are data communications and real-time
voice delivery to hand-held devices.
Mega (Super) LEOs
Wider frequency range; 20-30 GHz range
They share the same advantages and drawbacks of other
LEOs and are intended to operate with inter-satellite links
to minimize transmission times and avoid dropped
signals.
Mainly used for broadband data applications since they
are optimized for packet-switched data rather than voice.
Middle-Earth-Orbits (MEO)
MEOs orbits between the altitudes of 5,600 and 9,500
miles- 8000km to 20,000km above the earth surface.
Average distance from the moon is about 240,00 miles
These orbits are primarily reserved for communications
satellites that cover the North and South Pole.
Unlike the circular orbit of the geostationary satellites,
MEOs are placed in an elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit.
Approximately a dozen medium Earth orbiting satellites
are necessary to provide continuous global coverage 24
hours a day.
Geosynchronous-Earth-Orbit (GEO) - 1
Orbit is synchronous with the earths rotation.
From the ground the satellite appears fixed.
Altitude is about 23,000 miles and provide coverage to 40% of
planet per satellite.
The typical service life expectancy of a geostationary satellite is
10-15 years.
NB: Because geostationary satellites circle the earth at the
equator, they are not able to provide coverage at the
Northernmost and Southernmost latitudes.
Geosynchronous-Earth-Orbit (GEO)- 2
Geostationary satellites are
commonly used for
communications and weatherobservation.
The altitude is chosen so that it
takes the satellite 24 hours to
orbit the Earth once, which is
also the rotation rate of the
Earth. This produces the cloud
animations seen on TV weather
bulletins.
Can take images approximately
every minute.
Geosynchronous-Earth-Orbit (GEO)- 3
Advantages and disadvantages of GEO satellites
Advantages:
Weather images can be
displayed.
Television broadcasts are
uninterrupted.
Used to track major
developments such as
hurricanes 24 hours a day.
Disadvantages:
It takes longer for the signal
to get to earth and back to
satellite.
Increased difficulty of
telephone conversations.
GEOs are not positioned in
the farthest northern and
southern orbits.
