Satellite Communication

Dr. Mohammad Faisal

Professor, Dept. of EEE
COMMUNICATION
SATELLITE
SYSTEMS
A satellite communication
system can take on several
different forms:
▪ System I shows an uplink from a ground-based
earth station to satellite, and a downlink from
satellite back to ground. Modulated carriers in the
form of electromagnetic fields are propagated up to
the satellite. The satellite collects the impinging
electromagnetic field and retransmits the
modulated carrier as a downlink to specified earth
stations.
▪ A satellite that merely relays the uplink carrier as a
downlink is referred to as a relay satellite or
repeater satellite. More commonly, since the
satellite transmits the downlink by responding to
the uplink, it is also called a transponder.
• System II shows a satellite crosslink between two satellites
prior to downlink transmission. By spacing multiple
satellites in proper orbits around the Earth, worldwide
communications between remote earth stations in
different hemispheres can be performed via such
crosslinks.
• System III shows a satellite relay system involving earth
stations, near-earth users (aircraft, ships, etc.), and
satellites. An earth station communicates to another earth
station or to a user by transmitting to a relay satellite,
which relays the modulated carrier to the user.
• Since an orbiting satellite will have larger near-earth
visibility than the transmitting earth station, a relay
satellite allows communications to a wider range of users.
The user responds by retransmitting through the satellite
to the earth station.
• The satellite systems of Figure 1.2 can perform a wide variety
of functions, besides the basic operation of completing a long-
range communication link. Today's satellites are also used for
navigation and position location, terrain observations, weather
monitoring, and deep-space exploration, and are an integral
part of wide area distribution networks.
• Figure 1.3a shows a satellite navigation system, in which
signals from multiple satellites can be received simultaneously
by a moving or stationary receiver and processed
instantaneously to determine its location and velocity. This
forms the basis of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system
in which a network of orbiting satellites are continually
available to provide the ranging signals for authorized users
anywhere in the world.
• Figure 1.3b shows a satellite serving as a terrestrial
observation vehicle in which weather, terrain, or
agricultural information can be collected by cameras and
monitors and transmitted to earth-based locations.
• Figure 1.3c shows a satellite as a primary interconnection
between a vast network of moving vehicles and fixed-
point earth stations, with voice, data, or command
information being exchanged.
• The use of space vehicles to probe the outer universe by
returning television and scientific data (Figure 1.3d) has
been carried out successfully for several decades.
Although simpler in structure and limited in
communication capability, these vehicles represent,
again, a form of communication satellite whose design
principles are similar to those of Figure 1.2
Earth Station
• An earth station is simply a transmitting or receiving or both
power station operating in conjunction with an antenna
subsystem.
• Earth stations are usually categorized into large and small
stations by the size of their radiated power and antennas.
• Larger stations may use antenna dishes as large as 10-60 m in
diameter, while smaller stations may use antennas of only 3-
10 m in diameter, which can be roof-mounted.
• The current trend is toward very small aperture terminals
(VSATs), using 1-3 ft (0.3-0.9 m) antennas that can be
attached to land vehicles or even manpacks.
• Large stations may often require antenna tracking and
pointing subsystems continually to point at the satellite
during its orbit, thereby ensuring maximum power
transmission and reception.
• An earth station may transmit or receive single or multiple
television signals, voice, or data (teletype, commands,
telemetry, etc.) information, as well as ranging (navigation)
waveforms, or perhaps a combination of all these items.
• In a transmitting station (Figure 1.4a), the baseband
information signals (telephone, television, telegraph, etc.)
are brought in on cable or microwave link from the various
sources. The baseband information is then multiplexed
(combined) and modulated onto intermediate-frequency
(IF) carriers to form the station transmissions, either as a
single carrier or perhaps a multiple of contiguous carriers.
• If the information from a single source is placed on a carrier,
the format is called single channel per carrier (SCPC) .
• More typically, a carrier will contain the multiplexed
information from many sources, as in telephone systems. The
entire set of station carriers is then translated to radio
frequencies (RF) for power amplification and transmission.
• A receiving earth station corresponds to a low-noise wide
band RF front end followed by a translator to IF (Figure l.4b).
COMMUNICATION SATELLITES
• A communication satellite is basically an electronic
communication package placed in orbit.
• The prime objective of the satellite is to initiate or aid
communication transmission from one point to another. In
modern systems this information most often corresponds to
voice (telephone), video (television), and digital data
(teletype).
• A satellite transponder must relay an uplink or forward link
electromagnetic field to a downlink, or a return link.
• Fig. 1.5b: The satellite contains a receiving front end that first
collects and filters the uplink. The collected uplink is then
processed so as to translate or reformat to the downlink
frequencies. The downlink carrier is then power-amplified to
provide the retransmitted carrier.
• In addition to the uplink repeating operation,
communication satellites may involve other important
communication subsystems as well (Figure 1.6).
• Since satellites may have to be monitored for position
location, a turnaround ranging subsystem is often required
on board. This allows the satellite to return instantaneously
an uplink ranging waveform for tracking from an earth
station.
• In addition, communication satellites must have the
capability of receiving and decoding command words from
ground-control stations. These commands are used for
processing adjustments or satellite orientation and orbit
control.
• Most satellites utilize a separate satellite downlink to
specific ground-control points for transmitting command
verification, telemetry, and engineering "housekeeping"
data.
• These uplink and downlink subsystems used for tracking,
telemetry, and command (TT &C) are usually combined with
the uplink processing channels in some manner. This means
that, although they are not part of the mainline
communication link, their design and performance does
impact on the overall communication capability of the entire
system.
• Telemetry is the on-site collection of measurements or other
data at remote points (satellite) and their automatic
transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication:
Earth Station) for monitoring.
• Telemetry is the collection of measurements and onboard
instrument readings required to deduce the health and status
of all of the subsystems on the satellite.
• The TT&C subsystem must collect, process, and transmit this
data from the satellite to the ground.
Satellite Orbits
ORBITING SATELLITES

• Typical paths of an orbiting satellite are sketched in

Figure 1.7. The satellite encircles the Earth with an
orbit that can be equatorial, polar, or inclined.
• The subsatellite point is the instantaneous vertical
projection on the Earth's surface of the satellite
point in orbit. The subsatellite point therefore maps
the satellite orbit along the Earth. Equatorial orbits
circle the Earth with subsatellite points along the
equator. Polar orbits have satellite points that pass
through the poles.
• An orbit may be elliptical or circular. For a circular orbit, a satellite must
achieve a velocity of (here 𝑔0 = 𝐺𝑀, where G gravitational constant
and M is mass of earth)
• As the orbit altitude h increases, the required
satellite velocity decreases, while the orbit period
increases.
• Satellites with altitudes in the approximate range of
100-1000 miles are referred to as low Earth orbiters
(LEO), and circle the Earth every few hours.
• If the satellite orbits in an equatorial plane at exactly
the same angular velocity as the Earth rotates, it will
appear to be fixed at a specific point in the sky when
viewed from the Earth. Such a satellite is said to be
in synchronous, or geostationary, orbit. A
synchronous satellite will have a subsatellite point
on the Earth that will remain at a fixed point on the
equator.
• Satellites placed in synchronous orbit can be located by
their effective stationary longitude position relative to
the Earth. These positions can be identified by the lines
of longitude at the Equator at which the subsatellite
point falls. If the Earth is viewed from above the North
Pole, the synchronous orbit appears as a circle in the
equatorial plane through the Earth's center, as shown in
Figure 1.9. Points on this circle can be identified by their
longitudinal angles, with zero degrees at the Greenwich
Meridian and angles defined in either the east or west
directions. Note that the range of angles from about 55°
W to about 160° W represent favorable locations for the
North American continent.
• Figure graphically illustrates some of these satellite locations
as they sit in their orbit high above the Equator.
• All orbital slots must be requested and reserved from
worldwide governing agencies that assign and control orbit
locations.
Problems:
• If a satellite is in geostationary orbit, and a subsatellite point
is projected down normal to the Earth, the subsatellite point
will theoretically remain at a fixed point on the Equator.
However, geostationary satellites can drift due to the
gravitational effects of the moon and sun, causing the
satellite orbit to become slightly inclined. Over a year's time,
this drift, if uncorrected, can produce an inclination of
several degrees. For this reason some amount of station-
keeping (position control) is applied occasionally to the
satellite to compensate for the drifts.
• Another disadvantage of geostationary satellites is that
points on Earth beyond about 800 latitude are not visible.
• Adv: geostationary satellites require simpler earth
stations, with no tracking or hand over involved, since the
satellite always appears at (approximately) the same point
in the sky.
• LATITUDE: the angular distance of a place north or
south of the earth's equator.
• latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–
south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Latitude is an
angle (defined below) which ranges from 0° at the Equator to
90° (North or South) at the poles. Lines of constant latitude, or
parallels, run east–west as circles parallel to the equator.
• LONGITUDE: It is the measurement east or west of the prime
meridian. Longitude is measured by imaginary lines that run
around the Earth vertically (up and down) and meet at the
North and South Poles. These lines are known as meridians.
• The meridian that runs through Greenwich, England, is
internationally accepted as the line of 0 degrees longitude, or
prime meridian.
• Inclined orbits can provide visibility to the higher
northern and southern latitudes, although they
require the earth stations to continually track the
satellite.
• This often necessitates an acquisition operation, and
sometimes involves handover from an orbiting
satellite leaving the area to a new satellite entering
the area.
• In addition, inclined orbits usually require multiple
satellites to be spaced along the orbit in order to
provide continuous coverage to a particular earth
station.
• Satellites in inclined orbits have orbits that are more
elliptical than circular. As a result, the satellite moves
farther out (to a higher altitude) during some portions of
its orbit than others. The peak altitude during an orbit is
called the apogee, while the minimum altitude is called
the perogee. The satellite has a lower velocity during
the apogee phase than during the perogee.
• The Global Positioning Satellite network will use 24
orbiting Navstar satellites distributed over three orbit
planes inclined by 63° from the equator plane, and offset
from each other by 120°. Each plane contains eight
satellites spaced in circular prograde 12-hr orbits of
altitude of approximately 12,000 miles. The planes and
orbits have been selected to guarantee at least six
satellites will be in view from any point on Earth at any
time to provide navigational signals.
• Polar orbits are primarily used for weather satellites, with
altitudes of about 1000 miles and orbit periods of about 100
min. During one satellite revolution, however, the Earth rotates
about 25°.
• From a communication point of view, there are several
key parameters associated with an orbiting satellite:
• (1) coverage area, or the portion of the Earth's surface
that can receive the satellite's transmissions;
• (2) the elevation angle at which an earth station
observes the satellite;
• (3) the slant range (actual line-of-sight distance from a
fixed point on the Earth to the satellite); and
• (4) the length of time a satellite is visible with a
prescribed elevation angle.
• Elevation angle is important, since communications can be
impaired significantly if the satellite must be viewed at a low
elevation angle, that is, an angle too close to the horizon.
A sidereal day is approximately 86164.0905 seconds (23 h
56 min 4.0905 s or 23.9344696 h)
SATELLITE FREQUENCY BANDS
• The frequencies used for satellite communications are
selected from bands that are most favorable in terms of
power efficiencies, minimal propagation distortions,
and reduced noise and interference effects. These
conditions tend to force operation into particular
frequency regions that provide the best trade-off's of
these factors. Unfortunately, terrestrial systems
(ground-to-ground) tend to favor these same bands.
Hence, there must be concern for interference effects
between satellite and terrestrial systems.
• In addition, space itself is an international domain, just
as are airline airways and the oceans, and satellite use
from space must be shared and regulated on a
worldwide basis.
• For this reason, frequencies to be used by satellites are
established by a world body known as the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), with broadcast
regulations controlled by a subgroup known as the
World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC).
• An international consultative technical committee (CCIR)
provides specific recommendations on satellite
frequencies under consideration by WARC.
• The basic objective of these agencies is to allocate
particular frequency bands for different types of satellite
services and also to provide international regulations in
the areas of maximum radiation levels from space,
coordination with terrestrial systems, and the use of
specific satellite locations in a given orbit.
Satellite Orbits
➢There are different ways to classify satellite orbits. According to the
altitude of satellites, satellite orbits can be classified as the following
types:
• Low earth orbit (LEO) has an altitude range of less than 5000 km.
Satellites in this type of orbit are called LEO satellites. The period of the
satellite is about 2–4 hour (h).
• Medium earth orbit (MEO) has an altitude range between 5000 and
20 000 km. Satellites in this type of orbit are called MEO satellites. The
period of the satellite is about 4–12 h.
• Highly elliptical earth orbit (HEO) has an altitude range of more than
20 000 km. Satellites in this type of orbit are called HEO satellites. The
period of the satellite is more than 12 h.
• Geostationary orbit (GEO) is a circular geosynchronous orbit in the
plane of the Earth’s equator with a radius of approximately 42 164 km
(26 199 miles) measured from the centre of the Earth. It has an altitude
of approximately 35 786 km or 22 236 miles above mean sea level. It
maintains the same position relative to the Earth’s surface
• Note that the space surrounding the earth is not
as empty as it looks. There are mainly two kinds of
space environment constraints to be considered
when choosing orbit altitude.
• The Van Allen radiation belts where energetic
particles such as protons and electrons are confined
by the earth’s magnetic field. They can cause
damage to the electronic and electrical components
of the satellite.
• Space debris belts where spacecraft are
abandoned at end of their lifetime. They are
becoming of increasing concern to the international
community as they can also cause damage to
satellite networks particularly satellite
constellations and to space missions in the future.