Course Title: Satellite Communication L T P/ SW/F TOTAL CREDIT

S W UNITS
Course Code: ECE606
3 0 2 2 5
Credit Units: 5
Level: PG

Course Objectives:
This course is aimed at showing students how theoretical concepts learned during prerequisite courses are applied in the satellite communications field to
provide valuable services to society worldwide.

This provides an in-depth understanding of different concepts used in a satellite communication system. It will explain the tools necessary for the calculation of
basic parameters in a satellite communication system and hands on experience through practical classes.

The course will cover every aspects of satellite communication like orbital mechanics, launching techniques, satellite link design, earth station technology and
different access system towards a satellite. Different applications of satellite communication are also included.

Prerequisites: The students should have the knowledge of analog and digital communication system before studying this course

Course Contents Weightage

(%)
Module I : Orbital mechanics and Launchers 20%
Orbital Mechanics look angle determination, orbital perturbation, orbit determination, launches and launch vehicles, Satellite Subsystems,
altitude and orbit control system, telemetry, tracking, and communication subsystem and satellite antennas.

Module II: Satellite link design 20%

System noise temperature and G/T ratio, design of downlinks and uplinks with examples, propagation effects and their impact on satellite
earth links, rain and ice effects, attenuation, Analog FM transmission by satellite, TV signals/N ratio for FM video Transmission, Digital
transmission
 Module III: Satellite in networks and DBS television 20%
ATM over satellite, satellite links and TCP, enhancing TCP over satellite channels, split TCP connections, C –band and Ku band home
satellite TV, Orbital spacing, power rating and number of transponders, bit rates for digital television, MPEG compression standards, High
definition TV, digital DBS TV, Satellite radio broadcasting
Module IV: Some specific geostationary satellite and low earth orbit satellites 20%
Coverage and frequency consideration, Frequency band, Azimuth and Elevation Angle consideration of satellites, Intelsat series – INSAT:
GPS, its operation, its accuracy and its applications, other navigation satellites, some other satellites like Orbcomm, Iridium etc.

Module V: VSAT System 20%

Network architectures, access control protocols, multiple access selection, signal formats, VSAT earth station engineering, calculation of link
margins for a VSAT star network, System design procedure

Student Learning Outcomes:

Students completing this course will be able to:
1. Identify the fundamentals of orbital mechanics, the characteristics of common orbits used by communications and other satellites
2. Understand the systems required by a communications satellite to function and the trade-offs and limitations encountered in the design of a
communications satellite system.
3. Be able to calculate an accurate link budget for a satellite or other wireless communications link.
4. Design antenna systems to accommodate the needs of a particular satellite system.
5. Understand how analog and digital technologies are used for satellite communication systems.

Pedagogy for Course Delivery: The course would be covered under theory and laboratory. In addition to assigning small project–based learning, early
exposure to hands-on design to enhance the motivation among the students. It incorporates designing of problems, analysis of solutions submitted by the
student’s groups and how learning objectives were achieved. Continuous evaluation of the students would be covered under quiz, viva etc.

List of Laboratory Experiment

1. To study the baseband analog signals parameters in a satellite link.

2. To measure C/ N ratio.
3. To estimate S/ N ratio.
4. To setup digital satellite communication link.
5. To study effect of fading and measure the fading margin of a received signal.
 6. To measure the propagation delay of a signal in a satellite communication link.
7. To setup a PC to PC satellite communication link using RS-232 port.
8. To transmit and receive the function generator waveform through a satellite communication link.
9. Simulate a Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation in an additive white Gaussian channel (AWGN) in MATLAB.
10. Simulate of BER for Rayleigh and Rician fading models in Matlab.
11. Probability of error for MARY PSK, QAM and scatter plots using Matlab.

Assessment/ Examination Scheme:

Theory L/T (%) Lab/Practical (%) Total

80% 20% 100%

Theory Assessment (L&T):

Continuous Assessment/Internal Assessment
Components Mid-Term Assignment Viva Attendance Presentation Viva End Term Examination
(Drop down) Exam SW Voce
SW
Weightage
10% 7% 8% 5% 5% 5% 60%
(%)

Lab Assessment (P):

Continuous Assessment/Internal Assessment
Components Attendance PR LR Viva End Term Examination
(Drop down)
Weightage (%)
5% 15% 10% 10% 60%

A: Attendance, PR- Performance, LR – Lab Record, V – Viva. EE- External Exam,

Text & References:
Textbooks:

1. Timothy Pratt, Charles W. Bostian, Satellite Communications, John Wiley & Sons.2008
2. Dennis Roddy, Satellite Communications, 4th Ed., Mc. Graw-Hill International Ed. 2009.
References:

1. W. L. Pritchard, J. A. Sciulli, Satellite Communication Systems Engineering, Prentice-Hall, Inc., NJ.

2. M. O. Kolawole, Satellite Communication Engineering, Marcel Dekker, Inc. NY.
3. G. Gordon and W. Morgan, Principles of Communications Satellites