Typed by: EPAN, ALECXIS JANE H.

PASSIVE REFLECTOR
Edited by: CONTRERAS, CLARISSE ANNE S. • a device that simply “bounces” signals from one
WIRELESS COMMS place to another
FINAL TERM NOTES
MOON
SATELLITE • became the first passive satellite in 1954, when
• In astronomical terms, a SATELLITE is a US Navy successfully transmitted the first
celestial body that orbits around a planet message over this Earth-to-moon-to-Earth
• In aerospace terms, a SATELLITE is a space communication system
vehicle launched by human and orbits earth or
another celestial body ACTIVE SATELLITE
• In electronics engineering, a COMMUNICATIONS • An active Satellite is capable of receiving,
SATELLITE is a microwave repeater in the sky amplifying, reshaping, regenerating, and
that consists of the following; retransmitting information.
 Receiver
 Transmitter SPUTNIK I
 Amplifier • In 1957, Russia launched Sputnik I, the first
 Regenerator active earth satellite
 Filter • It transmitted telemetry information for 21 days
 on board computer
 multiplexer EXPLORER I
 demultiplexer • In later 1957, US launched Explorer I, which
 antenna transmitter telemetry information for nearly five
 waveguide, etc. months

TRANSPONDER SCORE
- A satellite radio repeater • In 1958, NASA launched Score, a 150-pound
conical-shaped satellite
SATELLITE SYSTEM • Rebroadcast President Eisenhower’s 1958
Christmas Message
• a delayed repeater satellite as it received
transmission from earth stations, stored them
on magnetic tape, and then rebroadcast them
later to ground stations farther along in its orbit

• Satellite system consists of:
 One or more satellite space vehicles
 A ground base stations
 User network of earth stations
CATEGORIES OF TRANSMISSION TO AND FROM
SATELLITES
1. BUS. includes control mechanisms that
support the payload operation
2. PAYLOAD. actual user information conveyed
through the system
ECHO
• In 1960, NASA with Bell Telephone Laboratories
and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched
ECHO
• Echo passively reflected radio signals it
received from large earth station antennas
• 100ft in diameter, covered by aluminum
• The first transatlantic transmission using a
satellite was accomplished using ECHO
COURIER
• Also in 1960, the department of defense
launched courier
• It is the first transponder type satellite
• Courier transmitted 3W of power and lasted only SATELLITE TIME
17 days • The United States currently utilizes 24% of
available worldwide satellite time, then Great
TELSTAR I Britain with 13%, followed by France with 6%
• In 1962, AT&T launched Telstar I, the first active
satellite to simultaneously receive and transmit
radio signals
SATELLITE
• But electronic equipment in Telstar I was
• A satellite remains in orbit because the
damaged by radiation from the newly
centrifugal force caused by its rotation around
discovered VAN ALLEN BELTS
earth is counterbalanced by earth’s
gravitational pull
TELSTAR II
• Telstar II was launched in 1963, and was
KEPLER’S LAWS
electronically identical to Telstar I except more
• Discovered by German astronomer Johannes
radiation resistant.
Kepler (1571-1630)
• Telstar II was used for telephone, television,
• Laws that govern satellite motion
facsimile, and data transmissions
• Telstar II accomplished the first successful
KEPLER’S FIRST LAW (1609)
transatlantic video transmission
• States that a satellite will orbit a primary body
following an elliptical path
SYNCOM I
• Syncom I, launched in February 1963, was the
first attempt to place a geosynchronous satellite
in orbit
• Unfortunately, Syncom I was lost during orbit
injection

SYNCOM II AND III

• Syncom II and III were successfully launched in
February 1963 and august 1964 respectively
• Syncom III satellite was used to broadcast the
1964 Olympic Games from Tokyo  BARYCENTER. center of mass of a two-body
system is always centered on one of the foci
INTELSAT I (EARLY BIRD)
• first commercial telecommunications satellite
• It was launched from Cape Kennedy in 1965
• It uses two transponders and a 25-Mz
bandwidth to simultaneously carry one
television signal and 480 voice channels

MOLNIYA
• Molniya are domestic satellites (Domsats)
launched by the former Soviet Union in 1966
• Molniya means “lightning”

ANIK
• In 1972, Canada launched its first commercial
satellite designated Anik, which is an Inuit word
meaning “Little Brother”
KEPLER’S SECOND LAW (1609)  P is the ratio of the rime of ONE SIDEREAL
• LAW OF AREAS. states that for equal intervals DAY (ts = 23 hours and 56 minutes) to the
of time a satellite will sweep out of equal areas time of one revolution of earth on its own
on the orbital plane, focused at the barycenter axis (te =24 hours)
𝒕𝒔
𝑷=
𝒕𝒆
Where: P = (ts / te )
= 1436 min / 1440 min
= 0.9972

SATELLITE ORBITS
• ORBIT SATELLITES. nonsynchronous satellites
which rotate around earth in an elliptical or
circular pattern:

 PERIGEE. point closest approach to earth
(greatest velocity)
 APOGEE. farthest point from earth (least
velocity
In terms of SHAPE
 CIRCULAR ORBIT. the speed or rotation is
constant
 ELLIPTICAL ORBIT. the speed depends on
the height the satellite is above the earth

In terms of SPEED OF ROTATION

 PROGRADE OR POSIGRADE ORBIT. if the
satellite is orbiting in the same direction as
the earth’s rotation (CCW) and at an angular
velocity greater than that of earth (ωs>ωe)
o RETROGRADE ORBIT. If the satellite
is orbiting in the opposite direction
as Earth’s rotation or in the same
direction with an angular velocity
KEPLER’S THIRD LAW (1619) less than that of Earth (ωs<ωe)
• HARMONIC LAW. states that the square of the
periodic time of orbit is proportional to the cube SATELLITE ORBITAL PATTERNS
of the mean distance between the primary and • All satellites rotate around earth in an orbit that
the satellite forms a plane that passes through the center of
𝜶 = 𝑨𝑷𝟐/𝟑 gravity of earth called GEOCENTER
Where: A = constant • Three paths that a satellite can follow as it
Aearth = 42241.0979 rotates around the earth
α = semimajor axis (km)  INCLINED. virtually all orbits except those
P = mean solar earth days that travel directly above the equator or
directly over the north and south poles

 EQUATORIAL. angle of inclination is 0°. All
geosynchronous satellites are equatorial
orbits
 POLAR
SATELLITE ELEVATION
• LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO)
 Operate in 1GHz-2.5GHz frequency range
 Less path loss, lower transmit power,
smaller antennas, and less weight
 IRIDIUM. Motorola’s satellite-based mobile
telephone system. A LEO system utilizing 66
satellite-constellation orbiting approx. 480
miles above earth’s surface.
• MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT
 Operate in 1.2GHz-1.66GHzz frequency band
 Orbit between 6,000 and 12,000 miles above
earth
 NAVSTAR. Department of defense’s satellite
based global positioning system. A MEO
system with a constellation of 21 working
satellites and 6 spares orbiting
approximately 9,500 miles above earth
• GEOSYNCHRONOUS EARTH ORBIT (GEO)
 Operates in 2 GHz to 18GHz frequency
spectrum with orbits 22,300 miles above the
earth’s surface
 GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES. are those
that orbit in circular pattern with an angular
velocity equal to that of the earth. They
appear to be stationary, remain in a fixed
position in respect to a given point on earth.
ADVANTAGES OF GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES
1. Geosynchronous satellites remain almost
stationary in respect to a given earth station.
Consequently, expensive tracking
equipment is not required at the earth
stations.
2. Geosynchronous satellites are available to
all earth stations within their shadow 100%
of the time. The shadow of a satellite
includes all the earth stations that have a
 line-of-sight path to it and lie within the 1. SPINNERS. uses the angular momentum of
radiation pattern of the satellite’s antennas. its spinning body to provide roll and yaw
3. There is no need to switch from one stabilization.
geosynchronous satellite to another as they
orbit overhead. Consequently, there are no
transmission breaks due to switching times.
4. The effects of Doppler shift are negligible.

DISADVANTAGES OF GEOSYNCHRONOUS
SATELLITES
1. Geosynchronous satellites require
sophisticated and heavy propulsion devices
onboard to keep them in a fixed orbit.
2. High-altitude geosynchronous satellites
introduce much longer propagation delays. 2. THREE-AXIS STABILIZERS: yaw, pitch, and
The round-trip propagation delay between roll
two earth stations through a
geosynchronous satellite is between 500 ms
and 600 ms.
3. Geosynchronous satellites require higher
transmit powers and more sensitive
receivers because of the longer distances
and greater path losses.
4. High-precision spacemanship is required to
place a geosynchronous satellite into orbit
and to keep it there.

QUESTIONS!
1. A satellite is kept in orbit by a balance between
two forces: Centrifugal force & gravitational Pull
2. A satellite that revolves in the same direction as SPATIAL SEPERATION
the earth rotates is said to be ____orbit • Spatial separation of satellites in
3. The geometric shape of a non-circular orbit is geosynchronous orbit
______
4. The center of gravity of the earth is called
Geocenter.
5. The time for one orbit is called ____
6. The angle of inclination of a satellite is 0° if it
orbits over the equator and is 90° if it orbits over
the north and south poles
7. A satellite that rotates around the equator
22,300 miles from the earth is said to be
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit

SATELLITE CLASSIFICATIONS

TWO PRIMARY CLASSIFICATIONS FOR

COMMUNICATION SATELLITES
• The required spatial separation is dependent on FOOTPRINTS CLASSIFICATION
the following variables
Beamwidths and side lobe radiation of
both the earth station and satellite
antennas
RF carrier frequency
Encoding or modulation technique used
Acceptable limits of interference
Transmit carrier power
• Generally, 1° to 4° of spatial separation is
required, depending on the variables stated
previously

SATELLITE ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERNS

FOOTPRINTS
• The geographical representation of a satellite
antenna’s radiation pattern is called a footprint
or sometimes a footprint map
a. spot; b. zonal; c. earth
• In essence, a footprint of a satellite is the area
on earth’s surface that the satellite can receive
1. HEMISPHERICAL BEAMS. hemispherical
from or transmit to
antennas typically target up to 20% of the
• The area on earth covered by a satellite depends
earth’s surface
on the location of the satellite in its orbits, its
2. SPOT AND ZONAL BEAMS. the smallest
carrier frequency, and the gain of its antenna
beams are spot beams followed by zonal
• Satellite engineers select the antenna and
beams. Spot and zonal beams blanket less
carrier frequency for a particular spacecraft to
than 10% of the earth’s surface
concentrate the limited transmitted power on a
3. EARTH BEAMS (GLOBAL). earth coverage
specific area of earth’s surface antennas are capable of covering
• The shape of a satellite’s footprint depends on
approximately 42% of earth’s surface, which
the: is the maximum view of any one
Satellite orbital path
geosynchronous satellite
Satellite height
Type of antenna used SATELLITE SYSTEM LINK MODELS
• The contour lines represent limits of equal An uplink
receive power density A satellite transponder
A downlink

UPLINK MODEL
• The primary component within the uplink
section of a satellite system is the earth station
transmitter

• Radiation patterns from a satellite antenna are

generally categorized as
Spot
Zonal
Hemispherical
Earth (global)
TRANSPONDER
• RF-to-RF repeater

DOWNLINK MODEL

CROSSLINKS
• Satellite cross-links or intersatellite links

• A disadvantage of using an ISL is that both the

transmitter and the receiver are space bound

QUESTIONS!!!
1. A communications satellite is basically a
radio repeater
2. The signal path from a satellite to a ground
station is called the _____.