Communication Pay Load

Space and Ground segments

Architecture of a Satellite Comm System
Architecture of a Satellite Comm System
It comprises of a ground segment and a space segment
Space segment:
Contains a satellite as well as terrestrial facilities for
control and monitoring of Satellite
It includes tracking, telemetry and command
station(TT&C) together with the satellite control
centre where all the operation associated with station
keeping and checking the vital functions of the
satellite are performed
Uplink waves transmitted from earth station and
received by satellite
Downlink station transmitting to receiving earth
station
Link analysis Quality of radio link is specified by Carr-
to-noise ratio. Quality of link from sta to sta is an
important factor, discussed in detail in preceding lecs
Multiple Access Satellite is a nodal point of network
access to satellite or satellite transponder by several
carriers implies the use of multiple access techs
A satellite consist of payload and a platform
Payload consists of the Rx and Tx ants and all the
electronic equipment which supports Tx of carriers

Architecture of a Satellite Comm System
Platform consists of all the sub systems which
permit the payload to operate
These include
Structure
Electric power supply
Temp control
Attitude and orbit control
Propulsion equipment
Tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) equipment

Architecture of a Satellite Comm System
The main role of Payload are:-
To amplify the received carriers for retransmission on
down link. Carrier power at the input of Satellite Rx is of
the order of 100 pW to 1 nW. The carrier power at the
out put of Tx Amp is 10 100 W. The power gain is of
the order of 100 to 130 dB
Change the freq to avoid re-injection in to receiver
Architecture of a Satellite Comm System
Payload functionality
COLLECT microwave signals from given zone on earth
AMPLIFY radiofrequency carrier
CONVERT carrier frequency from uplink to downlink frequency
TRANSMIT microwave signals to given zone on earth
9
SATELLITE LINK MODEL
A Satellite System Basic Sections: Uplink, Satellite
Transponder, and Downlink
Transponder (Transmitter + Responder) Model
RF-to-RF Repeater
Tunnel Diode
Communications Payload
Engineering
Owen Clarke
10
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Payload Function
3 Payload Constraints
4 Payload Specifications
5 Payload Configurations
6 Payload Equipment


11
Communications Payload Function
Repeater
Uplink Downlink
Communications Payload = Antenna Sub-System + Repeater
Receive
Antenna
Transmit
Antenna
12
Typical Repeater Functions
Receive and filter uplink signals
Provide minimum C/No degradation
Provide variable high gain amplification
Downconvert Frequency for re-transmission
Filter high power downlink signal and re-transmit
Provide high reliability in functionality
Beam-to-beam interconnectivity
Functional re-configurability
Beamforming
13
Why High Reliability?
Everyone wants machines, tools, people, services to be reliable
What is special about Communications Satellites?
Inaccessibility of the orbits used
LEO Generally highly inclined
GEO High altitude means: High potential energy AND High kinetic energy
Either way large high energy launch vehicles required
Very expensive to launch in the first place
Inaccessible to astronauts or remote control vehicles
Repair by external intervention virtually impossible
The design must be tolerant of internal failures
14
Pay Load Cosntraints
Accommodation
Physical size, must fit on spacecraft platform, compatibility with launch
vehicle fairing
Thermal Dissipation
Limited ability of spacecraft to radiate heat, radiator area
Mass
Impacts fuel, life, cost, functionality
Power consumption
Impacts thermal design, mass of power sub-system
Thermal Control
performance versus mass of thermal control hardware
Received Noise
Thermal noise
Transmit ter Noise
Includes: Passive Intermodulation Noise

15
Quality of the Receive System G/T
The quality of the satellite receive system, in terms of its ability to receive a given
signal with a high signal to noise ratio is usually expressed as:
G/ T
Where:
G = Antenna Gain (Relative to that of an isotropic radiator and referenced
to an arbitrary interface at the utput of the antenna)
T = The Noise Temperature of the complete System (Referenced to the
same interface at the output of the antenna)

16
Noise Temperature
Ts = Ta + T1 + T2 / G1 + T3 / (G1.G2) +
T4 / (G1.G2.G3) ...
Ta = Antenna Noise Temperature
1 2 3 4
Concatenation of Noise Sources
Ts = Noise Temperature of the Complete System
17
Payload Constraints
Spurious Products
Mixing products: From Frequency Converters
Intermodulation products: Non linearity in active devices
Passive intermodulation products (PIMP): Transmit chain, post High
Power Amplification
In Band: Directly impacts C/N
0

Out of Band: Interference to other transponders or systems
18
Payload Constraints Spurious
Products

Linear devices can be characterised by:
S
out
= aS
in

Memoryless Non-linear devices can be approximated over a limited
signal range by a polynomial relationship such as:
S
out
= a
1
S
in
+ a
2
S
in
2
+ a
3
S
in
3
+ a
4
S
in
4
+
If 2 signals are applied such that:
S
in
= Asin
1
t + Bsin
2
t
Then S
out
is found to contain frequency components as follows:

1
,
2
, (
1
-
2
), (
1
+
2
), 2
1
, 2
2
, (2
1
-
2
), (
1
- 2
2
), 3
1
,
3
2

19
Intermodulation Products (2)
Order of a product is m = n + k for frequency nf
2
- kf
1
for 2 carriers
For many closely spaced carriers, IMPs are distributed contiguously
3rd order products most important in band
(C/I
3
) multi-carrier = (C/I
3
) 2carrier - 8 dB
f1 f2
5 th Order Products
5x(f2-f1) 3x(f2-f1)
f1 f2
3rd Order Product
20
Intermodulation Products (3)
Type of product Order Number of products of the
type
N=5 N=10
2F
1
F
2
3 N(N-1) 20 90
F
1
+ F
2
F
3
0.5N(N-1)(N-2) 30 360
3F
1
2F
2
5 N(N-1) 20 90
2F
1
+ F
2
2F
3
N(N-1)(N-2) 60 720
3F
1
F
2
F
3
0.5 N(N-1)(N-2) 30 360
2F
1
+ F
2
F
3
F
4
0.5 N(N-1)(N-2)(N-3) 60 2520
F
1
+ F
2
+ F
3
2F
4
0.5 N(N-1)(N-2)(N-3) 60 2520
F
1
+ F
2
+ F
3
F
4
F
5
0.5 N(N-1)(N-2)(N-3)(N-4) 120 15120
Total 400 21780
21
Intermodulation Products (1)
-20 -15 -10 -5 0
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
Input Back Off (dB)
Output Back Off (dB) IMP Level (dB)
N=1
N=3
N=10
F1+F2-F3
2F1-F2
22
Non Linearities
Transmit Characteristics
Gain vs frequency
Gain slope
Gain ripple
Group delay vs frequency
Group delay slope
Group delay ripple
AM/PM conversion
AM/PM transfer
AM modulation of one carrier transferred to PM modulation of another

Repeater Architecture
General:
Organization of repeater is based on mission
and technological specs, large power gain and
low noise temp over a wide bandwidth are
desired in addition to frequency conversion
Low Noise Amplification and Frequency
Conversion: Mixer or freq converter has higher
NF and requires amplification of the signal,
LNA serves this purpose,
Characterization of Non Linarites
AM/AM Conversion Coefficient: slope of the Characteristic curve is
called AM/AM conversion, In the linear region it is =1, it decreases
close to Sat, where its value is less than1
Power Gain: ratio of P
o
to P
i,
it is constant in the linear region and
called small signal gain, gain decreases as saturation is approached,
at sat, G
sat
Point of Compression to I dB: The out put power obtained when
the actual characteristic deviates by 1 dB from an extension of the
linear region, this point corresponds to a reduction of 1 dB gain
from G
sat

AM/PM Conversion factor: The effect of non linearity also appears
in phase, Kp = /P
1
i

Input / Output Power Back Off , already discussed
Transfer Coefficient K
t
: In multicarrier operation non linear phase
effects also cause transfer of AM of one carrier into phase mod of
other carriers, K
t
is defined by the slope of the AM/PM curve
Capture Effect: When power of one carrier at the input is lower
than other by p
i
, and at output difference is p
o
w.r.t. other
carrier, then capture effect = p
o
/p
i
, it is always greater than 1.
Equipment Characteristics
Receiver: LNA at f
u
, followed by Frequency converter are accommodated in the same housing
at RF conductors are micro strip circuits produced by Photolithography, Aluminium is used as
substrate and covered by gold using vacuum thin film technology
at IF hybrid circuits are employed and un encapsulated active components are used,
size is generally limited to30x20x10 cm
power consumption is 5 to 15W
LNA at input is major contributor to G/T, initially Tunnel diodes were used, then parametric
amplifiers, FETs using GaAs and high mobility electron technology(HMET), for higher frequencies(30
GHz and above) for their low noise contribution
Frequency Converter: frequency of LO = F
u
- F
d
, standardized for C band at 2.2 GHz, KU band at
1.5,2.58, or3.6 GHz, conversion loss= input power level/ output power level at the converter, gen 5-
10 dB, Freq stability LO= +-1to+-5x10
-6
at specific temp, frequency is obtained by multiplier circuits
or by direct synthesis using VCO locked to Quartz reference freq
Amplification after freq conversion, gen multistage amplifiers are used and a variable attenuator
(PIN diode ) is used to control gain through tele command , over all receiver gain is 60-70 dB, this
gain should be constant over the entire BW, ripple if any should not exceed 0.5 dB, requires
meticulous matching- achieved through isolators/circulators- that dissipate waves reflected at the
interface
Input Multiplexers(IMUX)
MUX is a passive device used to combine signals at different freqs from different sources onto a single output or
to route signals from a single source to different outputs. MUX are configured as interconnected high selectivity
BPFs, performance depends on tech used, insertion loss, channel spacing and isolation etc
IMUX: divides the total BW into sub bands, BPFs define the BW of various channels/ transponders, to ensure more
channel spacing, separate batteries of odd and even Channels are arranged as shown in IMUX fig. Loss of MUX
depends on number of time a signal passes through the isolator@0.1 dB , losses thus differ from channel to
channel. The farthest transponder suffers max loss, this loss is compensated by the HPA
OMUX: Recombines the transponder out puts after PA. Losses at OMUX are critical as these affect the EIRP
directly. Coupling in this case is used by coupling the output filters to a common wave guide, short circuited at one
end, thus characteristics of each filter influence the output of the entire system. Design and optimization of OMUX
is more critical when guard bands are narrow. For certain application (back up sat) MUX with tuneable (tele
command) BPFs are used.
Major features of BPFs: Amplitude and group delays should be minimum, ripples in pass band to be min, sharp roll
off, ripples cause spurious AM/PM and this degrades performance of demodulators at ES. Chebashev or Elliptic
filters with several poles(4-8) are commonly used. Group delay equalizers are also used to achieve the desired
performance.
WG Cavity filters have high Q factor, Bi,tri and quadric mode filters have also been developed
Coupling of TE &TM mode filters is in progress, will offer new possibilities
In order to limit drift f0 below2.5x10-4 over the life time, dimentional variations of the cavity resonators must be
avoided, Al (coefficient of thermal expansion 22x10
-6
) is being replaced with C (1.6x10
-6
)
MUX using Surface Acoustic Wave(SAW) tech has small size, sharp cut off but group delay is nearly 25ns
Channel Amplifier(HPA)
Due to loss at the out put of IMUX/power splitter power is insufficient to drive the
channels out put stage, Channel Amplifier /driver gain (20-30 dB) compensates
through linear behaviour. Gen Bipolar or FETs are used for this purpose.
HPA Provides for power output for each channel
Nominal o/p power is defined at saturation, operating point is adjusted to control IM
products, IBO is adjusted for max value of (C/N
o
)T
An imp parameter is its efficiency, is ratio of output RF power to electric power
consumed by HPA
Types of HPA commonly employed
TWTA, impart Kinetic energy to the EM wave by an electron beam, suitably
accelerated, finally the electrons are collected by the collector, an electric power
conditioner (EPC) generates assorted voltages required for the operation(upto 4000
V),its efficiency is 80 % but overall efficiency is 40 %, total mass is 2.2 Kg(TWT o.7 &
EPC 1.5 Kg),
Main features, power at saturation=8-50W, Efficiency=40-50%, (C/N)
IM
at saturation
=10-12 dB, AM/PM conversion coefficient=4.5
0
/dB

SSA, FETs used, operating freqs and power delivered constantly improving, initially
used for C , now Ku band, Power output= 10 W at 4 GHz, efficiency 20-30%, G
sat
50
dB, (C/N)sat 14-18dB, AM/PM conversion coefficient= 2
o
/dB power supply provides
bias voltages, efficiency is 85-90%, mass1to2 Kg
SSAs show more linear behaviour, more efficiency, lower power levels so far

36
Payload Configurations -
Channelisation
37
Payload Configurations - Redundancy
S
w
i
t
c
h

N
e
t
w
o
r
k

S
w
i
t
c
h

N
e
t
w
o
r
k

38
Payload Configurations - Eutelsat 2
39
Payload Configurations Inmarsat 3
C-BAND
Rx HORN
LHCP
RHCP
C-BAND
RECEIVER
LHCP
RHCP
FORWARD
I.F.
PROCESSOR
L-BAND Tx
ANTENNA
BEAM
FORMER
OUTPUT
NETWORK
22 OFF
SSPAs
L-BAND TRANSMIT SECTION
L-BAND Rx
ANTENNA
22-OFF
LOW NOISE
AMPLIFIERS
RETURN
COMBINER
RETURN
I.F.
PROCESSOR
LHCP
RHCP
C-BAND
SSPAs
OMUX
LHCP
RHCP
C-BAND
Tx HORN
TT & C
~
~
~
~
~
~
40
Payload Configurations Trends
Mobile
SS
MARECS INMARSAT 2 INMARSAT 3 INMARSAT 4
Payload Mass (Kg) 100 130 208 932
Payload Power (W) 500 660 1725-2138 9000
Design Lifetime
(Years)
7 10 13 13
Launch Periods 1981-84 1990-92 1996-97 2004
No of S/C in Series 3 4 5 2 + 1
FSS/DBS ECS EUTELSAT 2 HOTBIRD W3A
Payload Mass (Kg) 117 208 268 507
Payload Power (W) 638 2090 4188 6900
No Of Channels 12/14 16 20/22 50
Design Lifetime
(Years)
7 8-10 12-15 12+
Launch Periods 1983-88 1990-95 1996-98 2004
No of S/C in Series 5 6 6 1
41
On-board Processing Why?
Beamforming
Beam-to-beam interconnectivity
Improved link performance
More flexibility
Improved immunity to interference
Multi-rate communications
Reduced complexity of earth stations
42
On-board Processing Why Not?
Power dissipation
Mass
Thermal dissipation
Packaging
Radiation hardness
Reliability
Difficult to make Future Proof
Should not do processing onboard which could be done on the
ground by reconfiguring the overall system

43
Transparent
- Channel to beam routing flexibility in multi-beam coverage
- Uplink to Downlink frequency mapping flexibility
- Channel Bandwidth flexibility

Regenerative
- Independent optimisation of uplink and downlink access,
modulation and coding
- Link advantage through isolation of uplink and downlink noise
and interference effects
- Data rate conversion and signal reformatting
- Packet level switching
- Security features
Transparent Or Regenerative
45
SATELLITE LINK MODEL
A Satellite System Basic Sections: Uplink, Satellite
Transponder, and Downlink
Downlink Model
Architecture of a Satellite Comm System
Ground / Earth Station:
Contains earth Stas , End user eqpt
Vary in size, 30m dish (INTELSAT Network) to 0.6m
dish (Dir television receiving station)
It contains Major sub subsystem of Ground Station :-
a) High Power Amplifier (HPA)
b) Solid State Power Amp (SSPA)
c) Modem Sub Systems
d) Antenna Sub Systems
e) Power Sub Systems



Earth Station
Earth Station Architecture