SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, TECHNIQUES, LINK CAPACITY AND

BUDGET

Satellite
A spacecraft placed in orbit around the earth
which carries on board microwave receiving
and transmitting equipment; repeater,
capable of relaying signals from one point
on earth to other points.
1940s 1950s
- moon was the first passive satellite used
1945
- Arthur C. Clarke proposed message
transmissions via
satellite
1954
- the U.S. Navy conducted the Earth Moon
Earth experiment
1957
- Russia launched the SPUTNIK 1 the first
active satellite
1958
- the U.S. launched the SCOREwhich
rebroadcasted Pres. Eisenhowers
Christmas message.
1960
- NASA, Bell Labs and Jet Propulsion Lab
launched the Echo;
accomplished the first transatlantic
transmission
1962
- AT & T launched the TELSTAR 1 the first
duplex satellite transmission
1963
- AT & T launched TELSTAR 2 for
telephone, TV, fax and data transmission
1965
- COMSAT launched the EARLY BIRD
which transmitted messages to five earth
stations with 66 telephone circuits using
FDM techniques
1966
- The National Development Company and
POTC established the DOMSAT ushering
satellite technology to the Philippines
1967
- PHILCOMSAT; Philippines, installed the
first earth station at the foot of Sierra Madre
Mountains, Mount Pinugay, Baras, Rizal
1970
- China launched its first satellite
1972
- USA launched LANDSAT 1 for remote
sensing missions

1974
- Western Union launched the WESTAR for
TV and data transmission
- Russia launched RESURS-0 for remote
sensing mission
1976
- Indonesia launched its first satellite;
PALAPA A-1
1986
- France launched the SPOT-1 for remote
sensing service
1988
- India launched its first satellite; INSAT-C
- Russia launched the OKEAN for remote
sensing
1993
- Thailand launched its first satellite;
THAICOM 1.
- They also launched the Microsatellite
Program through United NASA and GE
1997
- Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation
launched AGUILA II; the first Philippine
Satellite
Syncom I
- was the first attempt to place
geosynchronous satellite into orbit but was
lost during orbit injection
Syncom III
- used to broadcast the 1964 Olympic
Games from Tokyo

Satellite Link
A communications path formed between two
or more ground stations transmitting and
receiving radio communications traffic via
satellite
a. Uplink
- that portion of the satellite
communications link involving the
transmission of traffic from the ground
station up to the satellite
b. Downlink
- that portion of a satellite
communications link involving the
transmission of traffic from the satellite to
earth terminal

Components of Satellite Systems

1. Earth Station and Uplink Components
- Earth Station is that portion of satellite link
which receives, processes and transmits
communications between the earth and a
satellite
Components of Earth Station
a. IF Modulator converts input baseband
signal to FM, QAM IF
b. IF-RF Microwave Up Converter
converts IF to RF carrier frequencies
c. High Power Amplifier (HPA) provides
adequate input sensitivity and output
power to propagate signal transponder
using a Klystron.
d. Output Band Pass Filter limits
bandwidth
2. Transponder Components
- microwave repeaters carried by
communication satellites. Transponders have
the following function: receiving, amplification,
frequency conversion and retransmission.
Components of a Transponder
a. Input Band Limiting Device limits total
noise applied to LNA input.
b. Input Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)
amplifies signals, usually a tunnel diode
c. Frequency Translator shift oscillator,
which converts highband uplink
frequency to lowband downlink
frequency
d. Low-Level Power Amplifier amplifies
(TWT) RF signal for transmission
through the downlink to station receiver.
e. Output Bandpass Filter limits output
bandwidth
3. Downlink Components
a. Bandpass Filter (BPF) limits input
noise power to LNA
b. Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) highly
sensitive, low noise device usually a
tunnel diode or parametric amplifier
c. RF-to-IF Down Converter mixer /
bandpass filter combination which
converts the received RF signal to an IF
frequency

Types of Satellite Transmissions

1. Payload actual user information
conveyed through the system
2. Bus Transmission includes control
mechanisms that support the payload
operation

Categories of Satellites
According to Function
1. Passive Satellite a communications
satellite not equipped with electronic
devices to retransmit communications.
Such satellite acts only as a reflector of
radio waves.
2. Active Satellite a satellite equipped
with electronic devices to receive,
amplify, convert, and retransmit signals

Classifications of Satellite Orbital

Patterns
Satellite Orbital Pattern
- Orientation of Satellite Orbit with respect to
the earth.
Angle of Inclination
-angle formed by the Equatorial and orbital
planes.
1. Equatorial Orbit rotation about the
earths equator, usually for geosynchronous
communications satellites. i = 0;Coverage
area: 42.5% (surface area)
2. Polar Orbit rotation over the North and
South Poles, used for non-communications
mission such as weather and surveillance
observation. i = 90; Coverage area: 100%
(surface area)

3. Inclined Orbit rotation creating as angle

between the equatorial polar plane. They are
easily launched and have higher payload
capacity but are difficult to track. 0<i<90;
Coverage area: >42.5% (surface area)

Categories of Satellites
Based on Orbit
1. Non-Synchronous or Orbital rotate
around the earth in low altitude elliptical
or circular pattern. (s e)

a. Prograde Orbit when a satellite orbits in

the same direction as that of earths rotation
(counterclockwise; s > e)
b. Retrograde Orbit when a satellite orbits in
the opposite as the earths rotation but as an
angular velocity less than of the earth. (s <
e; clockwise)
2. Geostationary or Geosynchronous orbit
in a circular pattern with an angular velocity
equivalent to that of earth with an orbital time of
about 24 hours. (23 hours, 56 mins, 4.091 sec)

Orbital Terminology
Orbit the path of a celestial body or satellite
in unpowered flight.
Ascending Node point where the orbit
crosses the equatorial plane going from South
to North
Descending Node point where the orbit
crosses the equatorial plane going from North
to South
Apogee the highest point of the orbit or it is
the point in an earth satellite orbit, which is the
farthest away from the earth; lowest velocity
Perigee the point in an earth satellite orbit,
which is the closest in the earth; fastest velocity
Eccentricity a number between zero and
one which describe the shape of an ellipse. A
circle has an eccentricity of zero.
Elliptical Orbits
Major Axis the longer axis of the
ellipse, the line adjoining the perigee and
apogee thru the center of the earth, called the
line of apsides
Minor Axis the shorter axis of the
ellipse, the line perpendicular to the major axis
and halfway between the perigee and apogee

Access Techniques
- refers to the way a communications system
uses a satellite transponder.
Multiple Access
- in communications satellites, those satellites
so equipped that they may function as a portion
of a communications link between more than
one pair of ground stations simultaneously.
Multiple Access Back-Off refers to the
satellite output power that is lost due to the
necessity for backing off on earth station
radiated power to avoid generating excessively
high intermodulation products in the satellite. It
ranges from 1 to 2 dB
Satellite Multiple Access Technique
1. Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA)
a satellite transponder is divided into
smaller frequencies hand segments where
each segment is assigned to use for his uplink
or downlink frequency.
a. Pre-assigned a given number of
available voice hand channels from
each earth station are assigned
dedicated destinations. This method is
only economically feasible in situations
where sources / destination locations
have very low traffic density during the
busy hour.
b. Demand Assigned (DAMA) voice
band channels are assigned on asneeded basis. It provides more
versatility and more efficient use of the
frequency spectrum.

Mean Distance the average distance from

the center of the earth

2. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

- works in the time domain and is
applicable to digital systems because
information storage is required. In this method,
stations are restricted to precise time slot. It
has no restrictions on frequency or bandwidth.
Presently, it is the most dominant method used
of providing the most efficient method of
transmitting digitally modulated carries (PSK).

Satellite Accessing Technique

Free space loss

- Signal power is diminished by geometric

spreading of
the wavefront, commonly known as Free
Space Loss.
- The power of the signal is spread over a wave
front, the
area of which increases as the distance from
the
transmitter increases. Therefore, the power
density
diminishes.

link path, is greater than the minimum received

signal level of the receiving radio, then a link is
possible.
- The difference between the minimum
received signal level and the actual received
power is called the link margin.
- The link margin must be positive, and should
be maximized
(should be at least 10dB or more for reliable
links).
Example link budget calculation.

Free Space Loss (@2.45 GHz

- Using decibels to express the loss and using
2.4 GHz as the signal frequency, the equation
for the Free Space Loss is:

Lets estimate the feasibility of a 5 km link, with

one access point and one client radio.

Lfs = 100 + 20*log(D)

The access point is connected to an antenna

with 10 dBi gain, with a transmitting power of
20 dBm and a receive sensitivity of -89 dBm.

- ...where Lfs is expressed in dB and D is in

kilometers
Free Space Loss (any frequency)
- Using decibels to express the loss and using
a generic
frequency f, the equation for the Free Space
Loss is:

The client is connected to an antenna with 14

dBi gain, with a transmitting power of 15 dBm
and a receive sensitivity of -82 dBm.
The cables in both systems are short, with a
loss of 2dB
at each side at the 2.4 GHz frequency of
operation.

Lfs = 32,45 + 20*log(D) + 20*log(f)

Link budget: AP to Client link
- ...where Lfs is expressed in dB,
D is in kilometers and f
is in MHz.

Link budget
- The performance of any communication link
depends on the quality of the equipment being
used.
- Link budget is a way of quantifying the link
performance.
- The received power in an 802.11 link is
determined by three
factors: transmit power, transmitting antenna
gain, and
receiving antenna gain.
- If that power, minus the free space loss of the

20 dBm (TX Power AP)

+ 10 dBi (Antenna Gain AP)
- 2 dB (Cable Losses AP)
+ 14 dBi (Antenna Gain Client)
- 2 dB (Cable Losses Client)
40 dB Total Gain
-114 dB (free space loss @5 km)
-73 dBm (expected received signal level)
--82 dBm (sensitivity of Client)
8 dB (link margin)

Fresnel Zone
-

The First Fresnel Zone is an ellipsoidshaped volume around the Line-ofSight path between transmitter and
receiver.

- The Fresnel Zone is important to the integrity

of the RF link because it defines a volume

around the LOS that must be clear of any

obstacle for the the maximum power to reach
the receiving antenna.
- Objects in the Fresnel Zone as trees, hilltops
and buildings can considerably attenuate the
received signal, even when there is an
unobstructed line between the TX and RX.
The radius of the first Fresnel Zone at a
given point between the transmitter and
the receiver can be calculated as:
r = 17.31 * sqrt((d1*d2)/(f*d))
-

...where r is the radius of the zone in meters,

d1 and d2 are distances from the obstacle to
the link end points in meters, d is the total link
distance in meters, and f is the frequency in
MHz.
- Note that this gives you the radius of the
zone, not the height above ground. To calculate
the height above ground, you need to subtract
the result from a line drawn
directly between the tops of the two towers.

Clearance of the Fresnel Zone and

earth curvature
This table shows the minimum height above
flat ground required to clear 70% of the first
Fresnel zone for various link distances at 2.4
GHz.
Notice that earth curvature plays a small role at
short distances, but
becomes more important as the distance
increases.

Typically, 20% - 40% Fresnel Zone

blockage introduces little to no
interference into the link.
- It is better to err to the conservative side
allowing
no more than 20% blockage of the Fresnel
Zone.
-

Radio Mobile
-

Radio Mobile is a free tool to aid in the

design and simulation of wireless
systems.

It can automatically calculate the power budget

of a radio link, calculating the Fresnel zone
clearance. It can use digital maps,
GIS(Geographical Information Systems), or
any other digital map, including maps provided
by yourself.
It predicts the performance of a radio link by
using information about the equipment and a
digital map of the area. It is a public domain
software that runs on windows, or using Linux
and Wine emulator.
- - Runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT,
2000 and XP.
Uses Digital terrain Elevation Model for
the calculation of coverage, indicating
received signal strength at various point
along the path.
- Radio Mobile automatically builds a
profile between two points in the digital
map showing the coverage area and 1st
Fresnel zone.
Different antenna heights can be tried to
achieve optimum
performance.

Win vs Web Radio Mobile

Web version
- Pros: runs on any machine (Linux, Mac,
Tablet);
does not require big downloads; saves
sessions; user friendly
-

Considering the importance of the

Fresnel Zone, it is important to quantify
the degree to which it can be blocked.

- Cons: requires connectivity; only certain

frequencies
Windows version
- Pros: runs offline; can use the GPS

- Cons: runs on Windows only; requires big

downloads; hard to learn

Introduction
The old earth stations and antennas
were large sizes.
The Satellite was suffering from weak
transmission and the impact of higher
noise on the ground stations.
So the receiving stations must be large
size and complex installation.
These satellites have developed
and become a high transmitter.
So the ground stations changed
to small size Stations with less
expensive and less complex and
called VSAT.
What is a VSAT?
A very small aperture terminal
(VSAT) is a small telecommunication
earth station that receives and transmits
data, video or voice via satellite.
The "very small" component of the
VSAT acronym refers to the size of the
VSAT dish antenna-typically about 60
cm to 3.8 m.
Components of VSAT
It has two basic components:
a. Ground Segment (earth segment),
which is divided into:
- Outdoor Unit (ODU), which contains
the antenna.
- Indoor Unit (IDU), which contains the
interface between the VSAT and the
customers
Equipment (PCs, TVs,
Telephones).
b. Space Segment namely
satellite.
Uplink & Downlink
VSAT uses different frequencies:

Ku-band frequency: is usually

used in North America and
Europe by using small VSAT

antenna with uplink frequency

about 18 GHz and downlink
around 12 GHz.
C-band frequency: is usually
used in Asia, Africa and South
America and operating with
much larger antenna, with uplink
frequency around 6 GHz as for
downlink frequency around 4
GHz.
The new Ka-band frequency:
is typically in the downlink
frequencies up to 22 GHz and
uplink frequencies up to 31
GHz.

The satellites that are used in the VSAT

system?
VSAT system used geostationary earth
orbit (GEO) satellites that revolve
around the equator at the same
rotational speed as the earth.
Appearing as though they are not
moving at all, GEOs are always in the
same place above the earth. They also
cover a large geographic area.
Direction from earth:
36,000 km (22,282 miles).
Speed: 11,300 Km/h.
VSAT Advantages:
High flexibility to increase the size of
the network in the future.
Able to integrate large number of the
networks.
Cover distant geographical locations.
Ability to handle Voice, Video and Data.
VSAT Disadvantages:
Requires clear line of sight between
dish and satellite.
Outages in some cases, because of the
weather. These outages normally last
for a few minutes.
VSAT Network Topologies
The connection between Terminal and
Terminal called (Point to Point).
The connection between Hub and
Terminals called (Point to Multipoint).

This network enables direct

communication from one point to
another.
Its usually found in telephone and data
lines.
larger VSAT antenna sizes (3.8 m
typically).
If one of the components fails there is
another line.

The most important types of link are:

Star Topology.
Mesh Topology.
Star Topology
VSAT terminals cannot communicate
directly with each other, they have to go
through the hub.
It is commonly used for internet
connection purpose.
Smaller VSAT antenna sizes (1.8 m
typically).
The performance of the network is
directly dependent on the performance
of the hub.
Mesh Topology

Summary
VSAT is a perfect solution in answering
voice, data and video, especially in the
absence of terrestrial transmission
coverage.
Utilizing VSAT offers maximum benefit,
which enables company to expand very
fast without affected by lack of local
telecommunication network
infrastructure.
VSAT is available anywhere in the
Kingdom with the ability to connect
remote areas.