INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

ABUL KHAIR BIN ANUAR DEPT OF COMMUNCATION ENGINEERING (JEP) FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING (FKEE) UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA (UTHM)

History (His story)

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857 - 1935) Russian visionary of space flight. First described the multi-stage rocket as means of achieving orbit. Hermann Noordung (1892 - 1929) Postulated the geostationary orbit. Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008 ) The Future of World Communication, Wireless World, Oct 1945 Described the properties of geostationary orbit, a circular orbit in the equatorial plane of the earth such that a satellite appears to hover over a fixed point on the equator and only three satellites needed to provide total coverage over the inhabited earth. Proposed that satellites in geo orbit would provide direct broadcast television similar to DBS systems (although at that times televisions still in its infancy and it was not yet known whether radio signal could penetrate the ionosphere
BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

The space race, legacy of the SPUTNIK Oct 4th 1957, Sputnik 1, launch from Tyurastam, USSR

Means Friendly Traveller, weighed just 184.3 pounds (83.6kg) continue to send signals for 21 days before decaying 3 months after launch on Jan 4th 1958 Spirited the technological competition in the space race

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Next was Explorer 1 on Jan 31st 1958

USA answers to Sputnik Carried scientific equipment to study the Earth atmosphere Found the van Allen belt Transmitted telemetry for nearly 5 months

SCORE, Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment

Dec 18, 1958 by the USA, 150 pounds conicalshaped satellite The first artificial satellite used for relaying terrestrial communication First bent pipe repeater

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Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

1960, ECHO (USA) First communicating satellite (passive) into space 100 ft diameter plastic balloon with aluminium coating 1962, Telstar First active communication satellite 1962, Relay (USA) First comm. satellite to transmit TV signal worldwide 1963, Syncom II (USA) First geosynchronous communications satellite Jul 1964, IntelSat formed 1965, INTELSAT 1 (Early Bird) launched 68 kg, 480 telephone channels, annual cost $32,500 per channel Caused by launch cost, satellite, short lifetime and low capacity 1965, MOLNYA series launched
BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Important Milestone

1000 AD, Chinese invented the rocket 1903, Konstantin Tsiokovsky, publishes his ideas on space flight 1926, first liquid propellant rocket launched by R.H. Goddard in the USA 1942, first successful launch of V-2 rocket in Germany 1945, Arthur C. Clarke published his ideas on geostationary satellite for worldwide communications

Today, satellite communications is very much a fact of everyday life Form an essential part of telecommunications systems worldwide carrying large amount of data and telephone traffic in addition to television signals Cost is distance insensitive, it cost about the same to provide a satellite communication link over a short distance as it does over a longer distance due to its wide coverage According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are around 900 satellites currently in operation (not including the secret/ classified satellite).
BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

ARCHITECTURE OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Space segment

Satellite All terrestrial facilities for the control and monitoring of the satellite Tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) station Satellite control centre Station keeping Check vital function of the satellite Satellite can be divided into two parts Payload Consists of the receiving and transmitting antennas and all the electronic equipment which support the transmission of carriers and information Platform (bus) All the subsystems which permit the payload to operate such as structure, electrical power supply, temperature control, attitude and orbit control, propulsion equipment, TT&C equipment
BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Ground segment

All the earth stations; receive, or both transmit and receive The simplest is Home TV receive-only (TVRO) Most complex Terminal station used for international communication network Stations are distinguished by Size : varied according to volume of traffic to be carried on space links Type of traffic : telephone, television or data Satellite can link network of ground station in three ways: Point-to-point : signal transmitted in one part of the world to another individual stations Point-to-multipoint : From one stations to an unlimited number of independent receiving stations (e.g. satellite TV broadcasting Multipoint-to-point : From many point to a single controlling station (e.g. environmental data-collection

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

The performance of a satellite link is typically specified in terms of it channel capacity Definition A channel is one-way link from transmitting earth station through the satellite to the receiving earth station A circuit is full duplex link between two earth station A half circuit is a two-way link between an earth station and the satellite only The capacity of a link is specified by these types and number of channels and the performance requirement of each channel the term channel may also apply to televisions and data circuits The quality of a radio link is specified by it carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) The quality of the total link determines the quality of the signals delivered to the end user in accordance with the type of modulating and coding used

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

The satellite has dual role

To amplify the received carriers for retransmission downlink The carrier power input at the satellite receiver is in the order of 100pW to 1nW The carrier power at the output of the transmission amplifier is of the order of 10 to 100W The power gain is thus of the order of 100 to 300dB To change the frequency of the carrier to avoid re-injection of a fraction of the transmitted power to the receiver The rejection capability of the input filters at the downlink frequency combines with the low antenna gains between the transmitting output and the receiving input to ensure isolation of the order of 150dB

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Conventional satellite

Regenerative satellite

Figure 1.1 Conventional and regenerative satellite

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Definitions

Local communications Communications limited in distance e.g. few tens of kilometres Regional communications Communications over a specific region of the world such as groups of countries or continent Global communications World wide established link Communications can be classified into two main categories Real time communications Delayed communications This distinction is essential for identifying the type of service that can be performed, since it will affect the system design Possible mix of the two concept within the constrain of a cost-effective design e.g. LEO satellite systems can well be adopted for providing

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

(a) Typical Vista application (b) domestic/regional Vista network with standard A or B gateway
BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

The design of a satellite communications system present many interesting alternatives and tradeoffs

Choice of orbits Method of multiple access Method of modulation and coding Trade off between power and bandwidth

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

The most favourable orbits for satellite communication

LEO (Low Earth Orbit)

Altitude : 300 km 2,000 km (more common : 600 km 1,000 km) Either elliptical or (more usual) circular Many different type, no firm decision as to what constitutes a LEO Polar (inclination = 90o, circular) Near polar ( inclination ~90o, circular) Circular inclined LEqO ( inclination = 0o, circular) Period : 90 minutes 2 hours Negligible transmission delay between end-users and satellite Radius of the footprint varies from 3,000 to 4,000 km The maximum time during which a satellite above a local horizon for an observer on the ground is up to 20 minutes Large Doppler shift Affected by atmospheric drag which cause the orbit to gradually deteriorate

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

ICO ( Intermediate Circular Orbit) or MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) Altitude : between 10,000 20,000 km Orbit period depends on altitude, e.g. ~10,000 km altitude period ~ 6 hours Stable orbits, allowing more accurate long term orbital predictions Large area of coverage Slower Doppler shift Some radiation effect (high electron dose) GEO ( Geostationary Earth Orbit Satellites) Altitude 35, 786 Circular prograde orbit in the equatorial plane Orbital period 23 hours 56 minutes Appear fixed above the surface of the earth Footprint cover almost 1/3 of the earth surface ( from ~75oS to ~75oN) Roundtrip delay ~250ms Doppler shift non or low

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Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Three satellite used to cover the inhabited world

Tomasi Electronic Communications Systems, 5e
Copyright 2004 by Engineering, Dept. Of Communication Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, All rights Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia reserved.

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Satellites in geosynchronous earth orbits

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

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HEO ( Highly Elliptical Orbit)

Have a perigee at about 500 km above the surface of the earth and apogee as high as 50,000 km The orbits are inclined at 63.4o in order to provide communications services to location at high northern latitude Orbit period varies from 8 to 24 hours Owing to the high eccentricities of the orbit, a satellite will spend about two-third of the orbital period near apogee and during that time it appears to be almost stationary for an observer on the earth Free space loss and propagation delay is comparable to that of GEO Large Doppler shift (due to large movement of satellite in HEO)

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Example of HEO Russian Molniya Employs 3 satellite in three 12 hours orbits separated by 120o around the earth Apogee : 39, 354 km, Perigee : 1000 km Russian Tundra 2 satellites in two 24 hour orbits separated by 180o around the earth Apogee : 53, 622 km, Perigee : 17, 951 km Loopus system Achimedes System (ESA)

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

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Highly elliptical orbit

Various type of orbits

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

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The appropriate orbit is often suggested by

The nature of the service The business plan, or The constraints of the communication link

Example : Satellite Mobile Telephony System Iridium

Inclination 86.4o , 6 plane , 11 per plane LEO constellation of 66 satellites in polar orbit at an altitude of 780 km The orbital period is 100 minutes and a given satellite is in view for only 10 minutes before handover of a call to a following satellite Has extensive on-board processing and telephone call is routed through constellation via inter-satellite links The choice of LEO was dictated by the desire to : minimize power on both the satellite and the mobile handset minimize satellite antenna size minimize time delay, or latency for a two-way signal maximize the angle of elevation

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

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GlobalStar

A constellation of 48 satellites ( 8 plane , 6 per plane) in orbit inclined at 52 at an altitude of 1,414km Concentrates coverage over the temperature regions of the earth from 70S to 70N Employed spatial diversity - signal are combined in the receiver to mitigate losses due to blockage and multipath effects The inclined, non-polar orbit constellation was chosen to ensure that at least two satellites are visible at all times Uses non-processing, or "bent-pipe" satellite Relay communications between the user and a gateway- the party being call will be connected with the gateway. Through the PSTN (maximizing the use of existing, low cost communication service or back through a satellite if the party is another Globalstar user.

BEE 4243 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

ICO

Consists of 10 operational satellites in MEO at an altitude of 10,390km The orbit is an excellent compromise between LEO and GEO The satellite antenna size and power are relatively modest and the latency is still small The number of satellite required for global coverage is significantly less than LEO and the dwell time is considerably longer Has a period of revolution of six hours and the time a satellite is visible is on the order of two hours - circular orbit constellation in the equatorial plane, design for communication in tropical region elliptical orbit to maximize coverage over northern hemisphere Asia Cellular Satellite system GEO orbit Serve Pacific rim Satellite antenna ~12m across
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Dept. Of Communication Engineering, Faculty Of Electrical And Electronics, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

ECCO

Ellipse

AceS

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