Microwave & Satellite

Communication

Engineer Muhammad Haleem Junejo

B.E( Electronics), MSc (Satellite Communication Engineering),CCNA
MPEC
haleemjunejo@gmail.com
Introduction
 Satellite Communications

Introduction & Systems Overview

•Resources
–Frequencies
􀂙 Vhf
􀂙 L band
􀂙 S band
􀂙 C band
􀂙 Ku band
􀂙 Ka band
􀂙 Q/V bands
–Orbits
􀂙 GEO
􀂙 HEO
􀂙 LEO
􀂙 MEO
-Radio Regulations-
Why radio regulations?
•Radio regulations rule the assignment and use of frequencies so as to
AVOID causing HARMFUL INTERFERENCE from one communication
system to another.
•Two important aspects are to be considered:
–Allocation of frequency bands to the various services (WARC)
–Standards for performance and compatible inter working of radio
systems (CCIR).
•Space radio communication services are:
–Fixed satellite service
–Mobile satellite service
–Broadcasting satellite service
–Earth exploration satellite service
–Space research service
–Radio determination satellite service
–Amateur satellite service
–Inter-satellite service
Major system trends in Satellite Communications

•Fixed service
–Telephony growing slowly
–Video distribution, moderately
–VSATs slowly
–IP for back haul increasing and interest in
broadband
•Broadcast service
–Growing fast digital TV services-interactive
–Radio, multicast and multimedia content
•Mobile services
–Growing moderately for vehicles—reqt for broader
bandwidth
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Communication Fundamentals
Interference considerations in satellite systems

 Limited orbits & spectrum resources force

close satellite spacing & sharing of spectrum
with other services (e.g. radio relay links).
 Need to take account of interference, to &
from other satellite systems, existing &
planned.
 Need to take account of interference, to &
from other services, existing & planned.
 Need to efficiently use resources so that
others can operate at future dates using some
of the remaining resources.
 Interference considerations

1.Terrestrial systems (restrictive if exclusive

bands not used).

2. Interference with same satellite network.

3. Interference with other satellite networks.

Link Performance Interference
Link Performance Interference
Evolution of Satellite
Communications
development of commercial satellite communication

1945 Arthur C Clarke

1956 First transatlantic telephone cable
1962 Telstar
1964 Intelsat founded
1965 Early bird
1969 Intelsat completes global system
1976 Marisats launched
1977 Eutelsat created
1979 Inmarsat created
1982 Inmarsat starts operations
1983 EutelsatF1 launched
development of commercial satellite communication
1984 PanAmSat founded
1985 SES Astrain corporated
1987 Iridium conceived
1988 First transatlantic fiber cable
1988 First PanAmSat launch
1989 First SES Astra launch
1995 PanAmSat completes global system
1998 Iridium service launch
2001 Intelsat & Eutelsat privatisations
2002 SDR operation US –SIRIUS/XM
2004 DMB in Japan/Korea
2005 INTELSAT PANAMSAT Merger
2006 SES/New Skies merger –one manufacturer in Europe!
HYLAS new UK operator launched
Evolution of Satellite Communications
Evolution of Satellite Communications
I4 Wide-beam coverage
I4-Narrow-beam
Orbit Options
Satellite Communications
Systems Architecture
 Ground Segment Functions
 Track satellite motion with antenna system
 Boot Telemetry signal with high gain antenna
 Process, record and analyse Telemetry data
 Transmit commands to satellite using high power -
unblock able' uplink signal
 Provide Ranging data
 Perform scheduled operations
 Maintain communications with spacecraft under all
possible circumstances
 Data Distribution
 Satellite Health data to Satellite Control Centre
 Experimental data to user groups/investigators
 Alarm/Alert warning messages
Single Ground Station Model
Ground Station Components
Typical Ground Station
MCC – plans
and operates
the entire
space mission

SOCC – satellite
bus and
communication
systems

POCC – onboard
payload
instruments
 Location of Ground Segment
 The number and location of TT&C stations will vary
according to the orbit and mission
 Geo-stationary Orbit
 Once on station only one TT&C facility, which may also be the
Satellite Control Centre (SCC) is required in satellite service
area e.g. ASTRA/SES Luxembourg EUTELSAT Paris
 Large organizations with multiple service areas INTELSAT,
INMARSAT maintain remote or multiple TT&C facilities
 Deep Space Network
 A network of very large installations (often multiple antennas)
maintained in varying longitudes to provide near continuous
coverage of the plane of the solar system.
– The system is US led and maintained by NASA/JPL locations
Australia,Mexico,Hawaii
 ESOC - network controlled from Darmstadt
 Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Locations of STDN Stations
STDN - NASA’s Satellite Tracking and Data Network
 Earth Station Technology
-Earth Station Architecture
Earth Station Technology
Earth Station Architecture
Space Segment
 Space Segment Functions
 Maintain Earth coverage for antenna
 low gain omni directional antennas
 high gain directional antennas for stabilized
platform
 Receive commands from authorized sources
 Transmit spacecraft Telemetry and status
 Receive ranging signals and retransmit in
coherent mode
 Maintain communications with Earth
stations under all possible circumstances
 Transmit payload data
 Satellite Subsystems
• Communications Payload
• –Antennas
• –Repeater
• Bus
• –Structure
• –Electrical power subsystem
• –Satellite attitude control subsystem
• –Propulsion subsystem
• –Thermal control subsystem
• –Telemetry, tracking and command (TTC)
 Attitude/Orbit Control
 Satellites experience external forces which can disturb
orbits and attitude

 Compensation uses rocket propulsion (jets)

 Disturbing torques? –solar pressure and magnetic

disturbances

 Techniques used -Spin stabilization (old INTELSAT‘s)

 Three axis momentum (momentum wheels)
(most modern/satellites)
 Gravity gradient (SSTL/Orbcom)
 Reaction control
 Magnetic control
 Solar sailing (EurostarSeries)
 Structural
Spacecraft frame and skeleton
Mechanical support and rigidity
shock loads
Rigours of launch (vibration table)
Temperature cycling.
Radiation fields –vacuum.
Minimum mass and cost.
Pyrotechnics –deployments.
 Tracking, Telemetry and command
(TT&C)
Transmits/receives house keeping data to/from satellite
allowing ranging, Doppler, tracking and commands from
ground control

Measures temperature, pressure, voltages, currents,

GPS, etc.
Formats data –command and data handling (C&DH)
Dedicated TTC transponder
Commands to initiate mode changes, turn on/off
equipment, fire thrusters, etc.
 Power Supply

 Solar photovoltaic cells –Si & GaAs–sized to

produce average power requirements –10-25%
efficient –lifetime degradation due to space
radiation. BOL and EOL power

 Batteries (clinical) –eclipse and peak power

requirements Nicad Lithi-ion

 Regulation and conditioning (need to survive

millions of charge/discharges and distribution to
various parts of the bus).
 Thermal
 On earth –Radiation/conduction/convection
In space -only radiation

 Objects > 273K radiate heat energy

 Thermal control is achieved by using external

surface properties together with heaters,
thermostats, heat pipes and interface fillers

 Sun shields, black paint, heat shields etc.

 Propulsion
 Need thrusters to create momentum –propellants

 Cold gas –precise, low thrust, simple

 Liquid propellant -Hydrogen, hydrogen peroxide

-Higher thrust –more complex

 Bipropellants -Liquid hydrogen, oxygen etc

-very high thrust –complex and expensive
-high mass propellant

 Electric Propulsion -electrostatic –electro –thermal

-ion engines
Access Schemes in Satellite Networks
Satellite Network organisation
Satellite Network organisation
 Satellite Networks
Fixed and Demand Assignment
 Satellite Networks
Fixed and Demand Assignment
Basic multiple access techniques
FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS
(FDMA)
Basic multiple access techniques
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
Basic multiple access techniques
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
Various layers of multiple access
FDMA (1 carrier per link)
FDMA(1 carrier per station)
FDMA throughput
 FDMA Summary

Access Channel: give frequency band

Advantages

 Use of existing hardware to a greater extent than other techniques

 Network timing not required

Disadvantages

 As the number of accesses increases, intermodulation noise reduces

the usable repeater output power (TWT back-off). Hence there is a loss
of capacity relative to single carrier/transponder capacity
 The frequency allocation may be difficult to modify
 Uplink power coordination is required
 TDMA Satellite System
• In a TDMA system, each earth station transmits
traffic bursts, synchronized so that they occupy
ASSIGNED NON-OVERLAPPING time slots. Time
slots are organized within a periodic structure
called TIME FRAME.
• A burst is received by all stations in the downlink
beam and any station can extract its traffic from
any of the bursts
• a BURST = link from one station to several
stations (TDMA=one-link-per-station scheme)
TDMA Satellite System
Principles of Time Division Multiple
Access (TDMA)
TDMA throughput
 TDMA summary
Access Channel: given time slot within time frame

Advantages

 Digital signaling provides easy interfacing with developing digital

networks on ground
 Digital circuitry has decreasing cost
 Higher throughput compared to FDMA when number of accesses is
large

Disadvantages

 Stations transmit high bit rate bursts, requiring large peak power
 Network control is required
 Generation and distribution of burst time plans to all traffic stations
 Protocols to establish how stations enter the network
 Provision of redundant reference stations with automatic switchover to
control the traffic stations
 Means for monitoring the network
CDMA Spread spectrum communications
Direct sequence systems
 Direct sequence systems
-power spectrum of data and of spread signal-
 CDMA
Frequency hopping systems
 Multiple access
Comparison of multiple access techniques
Advantages/disadvantages
 Random Access Schemes (1)

 FDMA/TDMA/CDMA fixed access have

been designed for circuit/stream traffic
 Bursty data traffic –e.g. packets-more
efficiently dealt with via random access
schemes
 In random access there is no permanent
assignments –resource is allocated when
needed on a random basis
 Random Access Schemes (1) ctd
 In random access or contention methods, no station is
superior to another station and none is assigned the
control over another. No station permits, or does not
permit, another station to send. At each instance, a
station that has data to send uses a procedure defined
by the protocol to make a decision on whether or not to
send.
 Random Access Schemes (2)

 Simplest system is ALOHA –transmit packets and

if collide, retransmit with random time difference.
 Performance via ‗throughput versus delay‘
Throughput = N λL/R
–N= no transmissions
–λ= packet generation rate (S-1)
–L= packet length (bits)
–R= transmission bit rate (bits/s)
ALOHA doesn‘t need synchronization
Maximum throughput 18%
Frames in a pure ALOHA
network
 Random Access Schemes (3)

 SLOTTED-ALOHA confines
transmission to slot boundaries
and needs time synchronization
 Maximum throughput is
increased to 36%
 As system rapidly becomes
unstable as collisions build up,
usual to operate below maxima
Frames in a slotted ALOHA network
 Random Access Schemes (4)

For variable length messages need to

employ more complex scheme e.g.
slotted reject ALOHA
Use multi-packet message and only
re-transmit sub-packets that collide
Increases throughput (≈0.37)
independent of message length
Random Access Schemes (5)
Slotted Reject-Aloha
Comparison of random access
 Summary

Select RA scheme for traffic type and

delay/throughput (α number of tx’s)
Take care to achieve stability
ALOHA: short bursty traffic
S-ALOHA: short bursty traffic –better
throughput
S-R.ALOHA: variable length messages
DA-TDMA: stream or file transfers
 VSATs
 􀂙 Why VSAT? –advantages and disadvantages
 􀂙 Structure of VSAT networks -star/mesh
 􀂙 Traffic types and their description
 􀂙 Choice and comparison of multiple access
systems
 􀂙 Capacity and throughput analysis -protocols
and network interfaces
 􀂙 VSAT system design drivers
 􀂙 Regulatory and licensing aspects.
 Genesis of VSATs: WHAT IS A VSAT?

 􀂉 VSAT is an acronym for Very Small Aperture Terminal.

 􀂉 It is a small satellite terminal that can be used for one-

way and/or interactive communications.

 􀂉 ETSI (the European Telecommunications Standards

Institute) define, in brief, a VSAT as a one or two-way
terminal used in a star, mesh or point to point network.

 􀂉 Antenna size is restricted to being less than or equal to

1.8 m at Ka band, 3.8 m at Ku band and 7.8 m at C band
 Genesis of VSATs: ETSI VSAT Ku-Band
Frequency Bands
 The VSATs are operating in one or more frequency
ranges in part of the following bands allocated:-

 exclusively to the Fixed Satellite Services (FSS):

 14,00 GHz to 14,25 GHz (earth-to-space);
 12,50 GHz to 12,75 GHz (space-to-earth).

 􀂙 or in the shared parts of the following bands,

allocated to the FSS and Fixed Services (FS):
 14,25 GHz to 14,50 GHz (earth-to-space);
 10,70 GHz to 11,70 GHz (space-to-earth).
 Genesis of VSATs
 􀂙 VSATs were first employed for data distribution to a
large number of locations.
 􀂙 They provided a means to avoid the highly regulated
(monopoly based) communications infrastructure as well
as the associated high charges for such networks (also
known as ‗by-pass‘).
 􀂙 Most early use was in private networks.
 􀂙 VSAT networks first appeared in the early 1980‘s when
Equatorial Communications, a start-up company launched
by Ed Parker and Dean Mack in a warehouse near Palo
Alto, initiated the first use of really small dish antennas for
receive-only applications.
 􀂙 Data distributors like ―wire services‖ were quick to
jump to using the technology to economically distribute
information to thousands of receive only VSAT‘s.
Genesis of VSATs: WHY USE A VSAT?
Genesis of VSAT Systems
Early Equatorial Communications Inc.
VSAT (CDMA)

Mid 1980s
C-Band
2 way
Current day outdoor unit
2 Way VSAT Structure
Genesis of VSAT Systems: Hardware
SATELLITE SERVICE EVOLUTION
 VSAT evolution

 􀂙 More than 30,000 Equatorial C-band (4/6 GHz)

60 cm antenna systems were sold in the early
1980s.

 􀂙 Equatorial later developed a C-band (4/6 GHz)

2 way system using 1m x 0.5 m antennas and
sold about 10,000 units in 1984-85.

 􀂙 2005 around 1.4 million VSAT terminal in use

globally.
 VSAT Network Topologies
Star –employs a large hub
 Large antenna hub enables
small VSAT with low power
VSAT transmitter
 Typical of networks in the
1980s and 1990s
Mesh –VSAT to VSAT
 Need higher VSAT and
satellietransmit powers but
eliminates double delay
 Typical of networks in the
last 5 years
VSAT Network Topologies
VSAT Network Topologies
VSAT Network Topologies: TCP/IP
VSAT Network Topologies: Extension
with Wireless Distribution
SAMPLE OF VSAT USERS (1984-1994)
SAMPLE OF VSAT USERS (1995-1999)
Geographic location of VSAT terminals
 Internet Protocol (IP) over Satellite

 􀂉 TCP/IP consists of TCP -Transmission Control Protocol and IP -Internet

Protocol which form a protocol stack.

 􀂉 TCP/IP is primarily oriented mostly to terrestrial based networks, when

Satellite Internet access and VSAT systems are yet to be utilized commercially.
Despite significant optimizations and enhancements proposed over the many
years, TCP/IP operation has not changed significantly since RFC 793,
published in 1981.

 􀂉 Applying standard TCP/IP to Satellite Internet access circuits leads to the

under-utilization of the link and degraded performance.

 􀂉 There is the issue of round trip latency due to the fact that geostationary
satellites are 30,000 km above the earth surface: it takes approximately half a
second for the signal to travel from the user to the satellite and back to the
hub.

 􀂉 Additionally, there is a packet loss possible due to the error rate of the link.
 Internet Protocol (IP) over Satellite

 􀂙 There are a number of solutions available in order to

overcome TCP/IP performance degradation.

 􀂙 Usually, these solutions are named TCP accelerators and

Performance Enhancing Proxies (PEP).

 􀂙 TCP accelerators use various techniques to substitute

TCP/IP with a protocol set which is more optimized for Satellite
Internet access.

 􀂙 Most of solutions use UDP as the primitive IP packets

transport while speed and window size negotiations are done
inside the TCP accelerator protocol.

 􀂙 Most of the TCP accelerators also bundle a number of well

known techniques in order to improve the performance of the
Satellite Internet circuit. These techniques usually include DNS
caching, HTTP pre-fetching and on-the-fly traffic compression.
 ACCESS TECHNIQUES

 􀂙 FDMA -Frequency Division Multiple Access

 􀂙 TDMA -Time Division Multiple Access
 􀂙 CDMA -Code Division Multiple Access

 􀂙 MF-TDMA -Multi-Frequency Time Division Multiple Acces

 􀂙 DAMA with SCPC

 –Demand Assigned Multiple Access with Single Channel Per
 Carrier

 􀂙 DAMA with MF-TDMA

 –Demand Assigned Multiple Access with Multi-Frequency Time
 Division Multiple Access

 􀂙 PCMA -Paired Carrier Multiple Access

 Optimizing the Access System

 􀂙 Different VSAT platforms use various technologies in order

to access the satellite radio space segment and share it among
multiple subscribers.

 􀂙 Many of sharing techniques are based on TDMA technology.

 􀂙 The concept of sharing the satellite space segment among

multiple subscribers is based on allocating a group of users
the same transmit and/or receive frequencies and dividing it
into many timeslots.

 􀂙 Simple approaches allow users to transmit randomly,

decreasing the overall performance of the network down to
almost 15-20% while more complex concepts dedicate
timeslots to every subscriber, raising the performance to near
80%.
 Multiple Access Schemes
TDMA
► Packet-based
► Star and mesh Topology
► Large volume (1000s) for Star
► Small volume (10s to 100s) for Mesh
► Efficient for random/Bursty Traffic and Bandwidth on Demand

􀂉 SCPC-DAMA
► Circuit switched
► Star and Mesh topology
► Small to medium volume (10s to 100s)
► Efficient for dedicated/continuous data transfers

SPREAD SPECTRUM (CDMA)

► Packet-based
► Star topology
► Large volume (1000s)
► Efficient for random /bursty Traffic
•
Single Channel per carrier (SCPC)
Access.
 Multi-Frequency TDMA (MF-TDMA)
 􀂉 The conventional TDMA uses only one frequency and
all Earth stations transmit and receive on a single
frequency, whatever the destination of the bursts is.

 􀂉 Therefore, it does not provide power efficiency and the

satellite link speed is limited.

 􀂉 To solve this inefficiency, the MF-TDMA was proposed.

The MF-TDMA reduces satellite antenna sizes and
transmission power, and increases satellite network
bandwidth.

 􀂉 Most of the future broadband satellite networks will use

MF-TDMA or MF-TDMA-like schemes.
 DAMA with MF-TDMA

 􀂉 In order to achieve a greater efficiency in broadband

satellite networks, the DAMA scheme can be used with
other access schemes such as MF-TDMA.

 􀂉 By exchanging signaling packets, the process of call

setup involves the negotiation among the Earth station and
a master control station (MCS) which controls the satellite
network.

 􀂉 The signaling packets are transmitted in the

synchronization area which is a fixed portion in the MF-
TDMA frame.

 􀂉 Once the connection is established, a certain amount of

memory and bandwidth is allocated to the new connection.
MF-TDMA
MF-TDMA
MF-TDMA
MF-TDMA
Paired Carrier Multiple Access
 Paired Carrier Multiple Access
􀂙 Bandwidth saving is by the overlaying of the two
channels
􀂙 No power is saved as we still need to transmit
both carriers across the transponder
􀂙 We can re-use up to twice the available
bandwidth limited by
►The point where we have bandwidth and power parity
on the Transponder
►A need for asymmetry of the two carriers
􀂙 Available from ViaSat, HNS, Transcendent
Technologies (DoubleTalk)
 Standards
 􀂙 In the early years of VSATs the lack of compliance to
any specific standards and the shortage of agreed
standards were significant impediments to the
development of a thriving VSAT market.

 􀂙 In the early 1990s there were some 27 vendors offering

VSAT products with around 20 different interfaces, service
quality levels and network management approaches. Loose
association with protocols such as X25.

 􀂙 On the other hand, Standards Bodies were not very

interested in spending resources to develop standards if
the market was not mature and significant.

 􀂙 In the late 1990s the market had matured sufficiently for

the open standards to be developed ( the need for
proprietary systems to protect high investment values had
diminished).
 STANDARDISATION OF SATELLITE
TERMINALS IN ETSI
 􀂙 The relevant standardization body for Standards falling
under
the scope of the R&TTE Directive is the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which is
responsible for all telecommunication-related standards.

 􀂙 The focal point for all satellite-related activities within ETSI

is
the Technical Committee for Satellite Earth Stations and
Systems
(TC-SES).

 􀂙 ETSI publishes DVB standards within its range of standards

and reports.
 DVB
 􀂙 The Digital Video Broadcasting Project
(DVB) is an industry-led consortium of over
270 broadcasters, manufacturers, network
operators, software developers, regulatory
bodies and others in over 35 countries
committed to designing global standards for
the global delivery of digital television and
data services.
 􀂙 Services using DVB standards are
available on every continent with more than
120 million DVB receivers deployed.
 􀂙 DVB publishes it standards via ETSI.
www.dvb.org
 DVB Return Channel via Satellite (DVB-RCS)

• 􀂙 In 1995 SES/Astra began working with various

industry bodies (ETSI, DAVICS, DVB and others)
to establish a standards-based return channel
design for the DVB system (DVB-RCS).

• 􀂙 DVB-RCS was adopted as a standard by ETSI

during mid-2000 joining a range of DVB standards
which include return channels for wireless, cable
and other media.

• 􀂙 DVB-RCS offers high bandwidth on the forward

and return links -with a 45 Mbps outbound channel
and an inbound channel of 2 Mbps working with a
multiple-frequency TDMA access scheme.
 Political Aspects

 􀂙 The USA led the way in competition policies for the

telecommunications industry during the late 1970s and
early 1980s.
 􀂙 Restrictive legislation was reduced and regulation
minimized with market forces encouraged.
 􀂙 This resulted in an expansion of telecommunication
service companies and associated growth of
entrepreneurial developments and products.
 􀂙 VSAT systems owe a great deal to these developments
as a catalyst to their market places.
 􀂙 The UK followed by Western Europe lagged but were
not far behind.
 Political Aspects

 􀂙 Elsewhere in the world, politics have molded the shape of VSAT

services in many countries.

 􀂙 Competition in domestic services is one thing, but many

governments maintained their monopoly on international services.

 􀂙 1994 saw Europe in the interim stages of liberalization and this was
only really completed by 2000.

 􀂙 During the early 1990s, Latin America was probably exhibiting the
fastest rates of deregulation. Services were relatively free in Chile,
Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Mexico.

 􀂙 Africa has been hard for a number of reasons, but now many of the
key economies in the region have liberalized, the market has begun to
look more attractive and some limited regional services are possible.
 Political Aspects

 􀂙 Difficult economic conditions and the swift market correction which

took place in early 2001 left many operators and system vendors in a
precarious position.

 􀂙 Manufacturers and operators went searching for customers able to

pay a commercial rate for a service and found them in the SME
segment.

 􀂙 Broadband access services targeted at enterprises -as opposed to

enterprise networks which also connected IP services -finally became
a reality and Europe in particular saw wholesalers begin to develop
programmers for value added resellers in order to address smaller
customer sales.

 􀂙 As the major markets of Asia and Latin America struggled, Africa

suddenly assumed the role of golden opportunity and a gold rush
ensued and, mostly, still remains.
 Political Aspects
 􀂙 Where VSAT platforms have moved on is in the
integration of products around a core IP-centric
design.
 􀂙 Having established IP as the primary element
of the system architecture, all of the vendors have
gone on to build router capabilities into their
systems as an inherent part of their feature set.
 􀂙 Various features have been added -
acceleration, QoS, classes of service, encryption,
web page acceleration and, in some instances,
support for VoIP.
 􀂙 With increased processing power VoIP
implementations have grown beyond the clumsy
services of a few years ago and are now hard to
distinguish from a toll-quality terrestrial line.
 Political Aspects

 􀂙 Nearly all VSAT systems are now based on IP,

with a very broad spectrum of applications.
 􀂙 At December 2004, the total number of VSAT
terminals ordered stood at over 1 million with
nearly 650,000 sites in service.
 􀂙 Annual VSAT service revenues were $3.88
billion, with TDMA & DAMA hardware revenues at
$746.9 million
 􀂙 Some political will is being expended to
identify if Satellite Broadband can close the so
called ‗Digital Divide‘, but the key questions are
will funding be assured and the market not be
eradicated in terms of timescales and competition.
Communications Payload
Engineering
 Constraints on the Communications Payload
Design
 Constraints from the Platform
 􀂉 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
 - Launcher capability and spacecraft platform set absolute limit
 - Payload Mass Contends with:
 - Life (Mass of station keeping fuel)
 - Cost (Launch cost)
 - Payload Power ( Mass of the Power Sub-system)
 􀂉 Available Electrical Power
 - Mass and accommodation of power sub-system
 􀂉 Temperature Control
 - Comms. performance versus mass and power consumption of
thermal control hardware
 􀂉 Electromagnetic Compatibility with the Platform
 Constraints on the Communications Payload
Design
 Constraints from the Environment
 􀂙 Received Earth Noise
 - Sets lower limit to the communications payload system noise
temperature
 - Typically 100 to 300 Kelvin depending on frequency and
location viewed on the Earth
 􀂙 Ionising Radiation
 - Materials and active electronics must survive for the designed
lifetime
 􀂙 Vacuum
 - No convective heat transfer
 - Multipaction Breakdown
 - Air to vacuum frequency shift for vacuum cavity filters
Constraints on the Communications Payload
Design
Communications Payload Function
Communications Payload
Essential Communication Payload Functions
Satellite Communication Frequencies
Key Communications Requirements
A Satellite Antenna
Antenna Types and Functions
Typical Spacecraft Antennas
Satellite Antenna - Side deployed
 Typical Repeater Functions
 􀂙 Receive and filter uplink signals
 􀂙 Provide minimum C/No degradation
 􀂙 Provide variable high gain amplification
 􀂙 Down convert Frequency for re-transmission
 􀂙 Filter high power downlink signal and re-
transmit
 􀂙 Provide high reliability in functionality
 􀂙 Beam-to-beam interconnectivity
 􀂙 Functional re-configurability
 􀂙 Beam forming
Why High Reliability?
Quality of the Receive System – G/T
Noise Temperature
E.I.R.P
Payload Configurations - Basic Elements
Why Filter?
Why Chanalised Amplification?
Payload Configurations - Channelisation
Input De-Multiplexer – (IMUX)
Payload Equipment - Input Multiplexers
Payload Equipment - Input Multiplexers
Choice of HPA
Dual Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier
(TWTA)
Payload Configurations – Trends
Payload Configurations – Trends
On-board Processing – Why?
On-board Processing – Why Not?
Transparent Or Regenerative
Typical Digital Processor Architecture
Inmarsat 4
Payload Equipment - Receivers
Payload Equipment – Multi-Chip Module
(MCM) Technology
 Payload Equipment - Modular
Microwave Hybrid Technology (MMHT)
Payload Equipment – Integrated Down converter
Hi-Modular Microwave Hybrid Technology (Hi-MMHT)
Payload Equipment - Channel Amplifier
Payload Equipment - Frequency Generator
INMARSAT 4 Digital Signal Processor
 Anechoic Chamber
• An anechoic chamber is a shielded room designed
to attenuate waves. Anechoic chambers were
originally used in the context of acoustic (sound)
echoes caused by reflections from the internal
surfaces of the room, but more recently anechoic
chambers have been used to provide a shielded
environment for radio frequency (RF) and
microwaves. An RF anechoic chamber is designed
to suppress the electromagnetic wave analogy of
echoes: reflected electromagnetic waves, from the
internal surfaces. Both types of chamber are
constructed with echo suppression features and
with effective isolation from the acoustic or RF
noise present in the external environment.
Astra In Anechoic Chamber
Astra Repeater in Assembly and
Integration
Typical Repeater Panel Layout
Astra Repeater Panels
Future Trends
Future Trends – Next Generation
Mobile Payloads
Future Trends – Next Generation
Generic Flexible Payloads
An introduction to Inmarsat