SATELLITE TECHNOLOGIES

A satellite is a telecommunications device in orbit around the Earth. Satellite communications utilizes radio freqencies as the
communications meduim and uses satellites to receive, amplify and retransmit an earth-based station's uplink signal back
down to a receiving earth station.

It is important to remember that all satellite communication is simplex--that is, the uplink and downlink are separated. All
satellite connections are handled separately and frequently sold and purchased as separate services.

BASICS
• Satellite Orbits
• Satellite Tracking
• Satellite Subsystems
• Frequency Bands
• Polarity

THE RF CIRCUIT
• Uplink / Downlink Chains
• Power
o Radiated
o Reflected
o Effective
• Interference
o Noise
 Carrier to Noise Ratio
 Signal To Noise Ratio
 Noise Floor
  Noise temperature
o Spectrum Interferance
 Saturation
 Solar/Sun Outage
o Intermodulation
o Harmonic Distortion
• Attenuation
o Rain Fade
o Atmospheric Absorbption
o Impedance
• Gain
o Antenna Gain
o Amplifier Gain
 Gain over Temperature (G/T)
 Effective Output Power
• Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR)
• Free space loss
• Backoff

MODULATION
• PSK - Phase Shift Keying
o BPSK
o QPSK
o nPSK
o Concentric PSK
• QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

MULTIPLEXING
• OFDM - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

ERROR CORRECTION
 • Forward Error Correction

CONVOLUTIONAL CODING (LINE CODING TECHNOLOGIES)

• Viterbi
• Reed Solomon

DIGITAL SERVICES
• Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC)
• Multiple Channels Per Carrier (MCPC)
• Digital Video Broadcast (DVB)

EARTH STATION EQUIPMENT

UPLINK CHAIN
• Data Source (Router)
• Modulator
• Up-Converter
• Amplifiers
• Wave Guide
o Baseball Switch
• Dish
o Antenna
o Feed Horn
o Mesh vs. Solid

DOWNLINK CHAIN
• Antenna (Dish)
 • Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)
• Low Noise Block Downconverter (LNB)
• Down-Converter
• Demodulator
• Data Destination

AMPLIFIERS
High Power Amplifiers are used to amplify a signal before it is transmitted to the satellite. There are various mechanical means
to amplify a signal before uplinking it to the satellite. Which type of amplifier you chose depends on a number of factors.
Linearity, efficiency, reliability and cost are major considerations in an uplink design.

The three types of amplifiers are:

• Klystron Power Amplifiers (KPA)

• Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTA)
• Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA)

KLYSTRON POWER AMPLIFIERS (KPAS)

The Klystron tube is perhaps the oldest technology and the most widely used.

Advantages

• High power output

• Easier to repair
• Cheaper dollar per watt operational cost
• Linear power consumption
• Longer life (up to 8 years!!)

Disadvantages
 • Bigger and heavier than TWTAs or SSPAs
• Small frequency range (40-80 Mhz range)

TRAVELLING WAVE TUBE AMPLIFIERS (TWTAS)

TWTAs are built using foot-long vacuum tubes to do their amplifying. Power is applied to the tube generating temperatures in
the plasma ranges. A radio frequency is then emitted into the tube and the radio wave is amplified as it passes through the
tube's heated interior. Pre-distortion linearizers are often used with TWTAs to increase the amplification ability of the device.
These devices have the advantage of being able to amplify a wide range of frequencies (about 500 Mhz range) allowing them
to handle an entire satellite from one antenna (dish).

Advantages

• Simultaneously amplify a wider range of frequencies.

• Smaller device

Disadvantages

• Harder to repair
• More expensive to operate than KPAs or SSPAs
• Shorter Lifespan (4-6 years)

SOLID STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS (SSPAS)

SSPAs perform signal amplification via solid state electronics rather than a vacuum or Klystron tube. Typically, the SSPA uses a
frequency-combination method of amplifying the signal. The SSPA's use quartz based oscillator clocks and signal mixers
combined in series to step up the power. Because these systems work in series, when any given oscillator/amplifier component
fails, the signal weakens rather than failing completely as occurs with TWTA and KPA's.

Advantages

• Physically much smaller than KPAs and TWTAs

 • Builds amplification in stages
• Device typically experiences only partial failures which allows the system to continue functioning, but at lower output power.

Disadvantages

• Higher power consumption

• Failures introduce instabilities in the transmission.
• Non-linear power consumption over amplification range.

SATTELLITE ORBITS
Satellites are launched into orbit, which is to say that they are shot up into the sky on rockets to get them up above the
atomosphere where there is no friction. The idea is to get them flying so fast, that when they fall back to earth, they fall
towards earth at the same rate as the earth's surface falls away from them. When an object's path arouind the earth
"trajectory" matches the earth's curvature, the object is said to be "in orbit".

ORBITAL DISTANCES
1-way
Orbit Distance Miles Km
Delay
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) 100-500 160 - 1,400 50 ms
Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) 6,000 - 12,000 10 -15,000 100 ms
Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) ~22,300 36,000 250 ms

SATELLITE ORBITS
LOW EARTH (LEO)
[ Satellite phone, Military, Observation ]

Orbiting the earth at roughly 160-500 miles altitude, low earth orbit (LEO) satellites orbit the earth in roughly 90 minute to 1.5
hour periods. This means that they are fast moving ( >17,000mph), and sophisticated ground equipment must be used to
track the satellite, increasing it's cost. Satellites in this orbital range have a very small 'footprint', so lots of them are required
to enable world wide communication (35 or more).

MIDDLE EARTH (MEO)

[ Weather Satellites, Observation ]

Most of the satellites in this orbital altitude circle the earth at approximately 6,000 to 12,000 miles above the earth in an
elliptical orbit around the poles of the earth. As the earth rotates, these satellites cover the entire surface of the earth. Fewer
satellites are required to create coverage for the entire earth, as these satellites are higher and have a larger footprint.
GEOSTATIONARY/GEOSYNCHRONOUS (GEO)
[ Television, Communications ]

At 22,240 miles above the earth, craft inserted into orbit over the equator and travelling at approximately 6,880 miles per hour
maintain their position over the earth's surface. Since the satellite follows the earth, and takes 24 hours to complete it's orbit
around the earth, geostationary orbits are also called geosynchronous.

Craft in geostationary orbit don't need to be tracked, reducing the cost of earthstation equipment. They have the advantage of
height, giving them the broadest footprint (it covers the most territory), but this same height makes them unsuitable for Voice,
Voice over IP and other latency sensitive services due to the ground-satellite-ground propagation times. Additional power and
larger dishes are also required.

Geostationary satellites are 'parked' in positions over the equator to maximize coverage over the inhabited portions of the
earth.This area is referred to as teh 'Clarke Belt'. The geostationary orbits around the earth were first proposed by the noted
author Arthur C. Clarke.

POLAR ORBIT
This orbit flies the satellite over the earth from pole to pole. They are typically inserted at lower orbits. Many polar orbits are
elliptical in nature, and most polar craft are in the MEO altitude.

ELLIPTICAL
An elliptical orbit is an oval shaped orbit used to place the orbit close to earth in specific locations and to orbit at specific
intervals. An elliptical orbit has two critical distances called apogee and perigee. Perigee is when an orbital object is closest to
the earth. Apogee is when it is farthest away. Elliptical orbit satellites cover the polar regions where the geostationary satellites
cannot reach.

TRACKING
All satellites are tracked using two main indicators called 'azimuth' and 'elevation'. These two measurements have been used
since the first days when man started writing down the positions of the stars and planets as observed from the earth.

AZIMUTH

Azimuth is a 360° measurement of a point along the horizon of the earth. This measurement starts at zero at the point on the
compass that indicates north, and counts up clockwise with East being 90°, South 180°, and West 270°.

ELEVATION

The angle to the satellite from the observer's position as measured from the horizon is referred to as the 'elevation'.

Using just these two measurements, we can point the satellited dish at a satellite and start receiving a signal.

SATTELLITE SUBSYSTEMS
The modern satellite is an extremely complicated piece of equipment composed of more than a half-dozen major subsystems
and thousands of parts. Satellites live and die in space and are subjected to an extremly hostile environment. Below is the
'short list' of what goes into building a satellite.

COMMON SATELLITE SUBSYSTEMS

PROPULSION
The propulsion system is only partly the components that get the satellite into orbit. Other chemical or electrical motors are
used to move the satellite back into the correct orbit when either atmospheric drag, magnetic fields or the solar winds deflect
the satellite out of it's correct trajectory. These motors boost it back to the correct altitude, speed the satellite up, slow it down,
or change the angle of the trajectory.

POWER
Solar panels are used in combination with batteries to provide a constant source of electrical power on the satellite. The
batteries are used when the satellite is not in direct sunlight, and allows the satellite to continue to function. LEO satellites
have greater need of batteries, while GEO satellites have less, as they are exposed to the sun longer.

COMMUNICATIONS
The communications subsystem uses transmitters, receivers or transponders (transmitter and receiver in one component). The
communications subsystem handles all transmit and receive communications functions. If it is a communications satellite, this
will be a heavy portion of the satellite's construction.

SUPERSTRUCTURE
The satellite must survive the violent forces of the rocket ride into space. The superstructure of the satellite not only supports
it in space, but reduces the shock and vibration the internal components might suffer during the launch.

THERMAL
The whole point of the thermal system is to regulate the temperature of the satellite's components. Too hot or too cold, or too
great a swing in temperature will prematurely end the useful life of a satellite. This system dissipates the heat away from
earth, out into space, so as not to interfere with the satellite's operation.

ATTITUDE
The satellite must face the earth at all times. The attitude control system allows the satellite to remain pointed correctly. These
are often very small motors compared to the propulsion system.

TELEMETRY AND COMMAND

The satellite must inform the sattellite operations center what it's current state is, and where it is located in orbit. Often a
simple 'beacon' system is used to allow the ground station to track the satellite in orbit. Additional information is relayed to the
ground, such as the craft's operating temperature, state of it's programs and operating system, as well as a host of other
internal functions.
SUMMARY
Satellites must cope with the high temperatures of sitting in direct sunlight, and the near absolute-zero temperatures they
drop down to in the shadow of the earth. The very fact that they move rapidly between the two extremes in temperature
means their lifespans are very short. As if this were not enough, they must cope with the solar wind, which creates a buildup of
static electricity on the satellite.

All these factors contribute to requiring that the components of the satellite be very durable and therefore very, very
expensive. This is why very few companies and governments operate satellites, and only a handful of companies build them.

FREQUENCIES USED IN SATTELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

There are a number of radio frequency ranges in use in satellite communications such as C, X, Ku, Ka and even EHG and V-
band. To prevent interferance caused by multiple sites transmitting on the same frequencies, government agencies and
standards organizations around the globe try to keep the usage organized and often such controls take the form of
government regulations which carry the weight of law.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Corporation periodically holds frequency auctions to sell available spectrum.
Unauthorized use of a regulated frequencies without authorization by the United States government or by its current lease-
owner is punishable by fines or jail time.

Earth stations use unregulated frequencies within their facilities. Earth stations need to manipulate and transport the data in
the signal without interfering with other radio communications in the area. The frequencies earthstations use are often in the
same ranges as local radio and television broadcasts which can cause interferance for both parties even if they are not on the
same frequency. Thus, radio shacks and/or the devices within them are heavilly sheilded to prevent such interferance.

Satellites use different, higher frequencies that are regulated.

Satellites have power and regulatory restrictions governing which frequencies they may use. In addition, there are other
requirements such as weather that may restrict use of certain frequencies. Below is a chart listing the approximate ranges of
each frequency band.

EARTHSTATION FREQUENCIES
BAND FREQUENCY
IF 70 - 150 Mhz
L 800 - 2150 MHz
SATELLITE FREQUENCIES (Ghz)
BAND DOWNLINK UPLINK
C 3.700 - 4.200 5.925 - 6.425
X
7.250 - 7.745 7.900 - 8.395
(Military)
FSS:
10.700 - 11.700
FSS & Telecom: 14.000 -
Ku DBS: 14.800
(Europe) 11.700 - 12.500
DBS: 17.300 - 18.100
Telecom:
12.500 - 12.750
FSS: FSS:
Ku 11.700 - 12.200 14.000 - 14.500
(America) DBS: DBS:
12.200 - 12.700 17.300 - 17.800
Ka ~18 - ~31 GHz
EHF 30 - 300
V 36 - 51.4
DBS = Direct Broadcast Satellite
FSS = Fixed Service Satellite

ADDITIONAL LINKS

• Spectrum Use Summary from United States NTIA.gov website

POLARITY
The polarity of a radio wave is controlled by the Electrical plane of the signal. For communications purposes, polarity allows for
the reuse of frequencies to increase the total amount of transmission capacity on a satellite. By using one type of polarity to
transmit to the satellite, and another to receive, the same signal may be used twice. Frequencies using different polarities do
not interfere with each other.

LINEAR
Linear transmission means that a signal's broadcast geometry fits in a single plane. There are two types of linear broadcast for
radio and microwave signals, horizontal and vertical.

• Horizontal propagation is parallel to the earth's surface.

• Vertical is perpendicular to the earth's surface.

CIRCULAR
Circular polarity is created by changing the signal polarity from horizontal to vertical in either a clockwise or counterclockwise
direction.

• Right hand polarity is clockwise, and is also referred to as A-polarity.

 • Left hand polarity is counter-clockwise and is also referred to as B-polarity.

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK CHAINS

The term uplink chain is used to refer to the series of pieces of equipment that are
used to produce a radio frequency signal for sending out data. The description
provided here is imprecise as the exact configuration can vary widely. The downlink
chain is built using nearly the same equipment in reverse order.

Take a look at the drawing below and note the path of devices on the left hand side
with all the up arrows.

DIGITAL SATELLITE UPLINK CHAIN

How it works:

I. Digital data is sent to the modulator which takes the data and converts it into a
modulated signal in the Intermediate Frequency range (70-140 Mhz). The modulators use standards such as Digital Video
Broadcast to organize communication over the microwave link.
II. The Intermediate Frequency is piped to an "up converter" (usually via shielded coaxial cable) which mixes the intermediate
frequency with a higher frequency to produce a final frequency which carries the modulated data.
III. Noise is removed from the signal via either a band pass filter or other means and then it is amplified in a Klystron, Travelling Wave
Tube or Solid State amplifier.
IV. The final cleaned signal is transmitted down the wave guide to the dish.
V. The feed horn at the focal point of the dish emits the high frequency radio transmission, which the dish focuses into a directional
transmission at the satellite.

Computer data is sent through a serial cable to a modulator. The modulator takes the data and produces a radio freqency from
it. This frequency is usually in what is called the 'L-band' range (70-140Mhz). The modulator passes the information over
coaxial cable to an 'up converter', which converts the radio frequency from 'L-band' up to microwave freqencies in the C, S, X,
Ka, and Ku band ranges (frequencies above 1,000 Mhz). Once the final signal has been produced, it's amplified to increase its
total effective output power. The signal is then sent out a dish via the feed horn.

DOWNLINK CHAIN
How it works:

I. The satellite transmits a signal containing data

II. The signal is received at the sattellite dish
III. The signal is amplified and fed to the Down Converter
IV. The Down Converter downmixes the signal to create an intermediate frequency
V. The intermediate frequency is fed to the demodulator and converted into a data signal
VI. The datastream is forwarded into the network via a router.

EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER

The effective radiated power is the power output by the transmission system from signal through amplification to transmission
gain from a directional antenna's surface and shape. The ammount of power will be equal to that supplied to the antenna
multiplied by the gain a directional antenna provides. This value is frequently measured in watts or joules per second.

SUN OUTAGE
Sun outage occurs whenever the earth station, the satellite and the sun are in a direct, or near direct line with each other.
Satellites are essentially electromagnetic energy sources that radiate their energy within a narrow spectrum of frequencies in
specific direction (towards earth in most cases). The energy radiated by the satellite as a signal weakens as it travels through
the atmosphere and needs something to increase the signal strength when it reaches the ground. Satellite dishes are dish
shaped because the dish focuses the electromagnetic signal of the satellite on the receiver. The sun is a HUGE electromagnetic
energy source, however and by far exceeds the output power of a satellite When the dish is pointed at the sun (because the
satellite is directly between the sun and the dish), the dish is flooded with the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including on
the frequencies the satellite uses to communicate with the ground station.

Essentially, the sun's radiation drowns out the satellite Fortunately, this only occurs for a few hours each day for just a few
weeks out of the year, and those dates vary based on your location on the earth's surface and your angle (azimuth and
elevation) to the satellite. If you know your longitude and latitude, the azimuth and elevation setting for your satellite, then
calculating when the sun will be directly behind the satellite is largely a matter of a mathematical calculation.

OTHER RESOURCES
Online calculators

• http://home.online.no/~jensts/SUNcalc/SUNcalc.htm