EC 437 Satellite Communication

By
Dr. Taimoor Khan,

Associate Professor, Department of ECE,

Associate Dean (Academic),

National Institute of Technology Silchar (An Institute of National Importance under Ministry of Education,
Govt. of India), Silchar-788 010, Assam, India, M: +91-9411823416/+91-
9864782439, URL: http://ec.nits.ac.in/ktaimoor/

IETE-Prof SVC Aiya Memorial Award Winner

FIE India, FIETE India, SMIEEE, SMIEEE AP-S, SMIEEE MTT-S, SMURSI

Chair, IEEE Silchar Subsection

Faculty Advisor, IEEE MTT-S SBC, NIT Silchar
Regional Coordinator, IEEE AP-S Chapter Award Committee, IEEE AP-S Chapter Award Committee
and IEEE AP-S Paper Award Committee

Visiting Researcher, Queen's University Canada

Visiting Assistant Professor, Asian Institute of Technology Bangkok, Thailand

Taimoor Khan and Yahia M.M. Antar, “Band-Notch Characteristics in Ultra-Wideband Antennas” CRC
Press, Taylor & Francis, 2021, ISBN: 978-0-367-75472-3.

Taimoor Khan, Nasimuddin and Yahia M.M. Antar, “Elements of Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting and
Wireless Power Transfer Systems”, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, 2020, ISBN: 978-0-367-24678-5.
 EC-437 Satellite Communications
Professional Core Elective–II
Unit 1 Introduction to Satellites and Their Applications: Introduction to satellite, History of Evolution of
Satellites, Applications, Evolution of Launch vehicles, Future Trends
Unit 2 Orbital Aspects: Orbit and Trajectory, Basic Principles of Orbiting Satellites, Orbital Mechanics, Orbital
Parameters, Injection Velocity and Resulting Satellite Trajectories, Types of Orbits.
Unit 3 Satellite Launch and In-orbit Operations: Acquiring the Desired Orbit, Satellite Launch Sequence, Orbital
Perturbations, Satellite Stabilization, Orbital Effects on Satellite’s Performance, Eclipses, Sun Transit Outage,
Looks Angles of a Satellite, Earth Coverage and Ground Tracks.
Unit 4 Satellite Hardware and Subsystems: Various Satellite Subsystems, Attitude and Orbit Control, Tracking,
Telemetry and Command Subsystem, payload, Antenna Subsystems.
Unit 5 Satellite Link Design Fundamentals: Transmission Equation, Link Parameters, Link Calculations, C/N, G/T,
EIRP, Back-off Calculation.
Unit 6 Earth Station: Types of Earth Station, Architecture, Design Considerations, Earth Station Hardware, Satellite
Tracking.
Unit 7 Communication Techniques: Amplitude Modulation, Frequency Modulation, Pulse Communication Systems,
Sampling Theorem, Digital Modulation Techniques-ASK, FSK, PSK, DPSK, QPSK, Offset QPSK;
Multiplexing Techniques-FDM, TDM, OFDM, Spread Spectrum Techniques, Multiple Beam, Spot Beam.
Unit 8 Multiple Access Techniques: Introduction, FDMA, SCPC Systems, MCPC Systems, TDMA, TDMA Burst,
TDMA Frame Structure, Unique Word, Frame Efficiency, Frame Acquisition and Synchronization, FDMA vs.
TDMA, CDMA, SDMA.
Unit 9 Recent Trends: Applications, Challenges of Transponders, VSATS, DTH Television, Satellite Telephony,
Satellite Radio

Texts/References Books:
1. Satellite Communications, Dennis Roddy, TMH
2. Satellite Communications, Timothy Pratt, Charles W. Bostian and Jeremy E. Allnutt, Wiley India Pvt Ltd.
3. Digital Satellite Communication, T.T. Ha, MHE
4. Satellite Communications, Maini & Agrawal, Wiley India Pvt Ltd.
 Part A: An Overview

11/22/2022 3
 Basic Radio Transmission Theory

11/22/2022 4
11/22/2022 5
 Friis Transmission Equation
• The formula was presented first by Danish-American radio engineer Harald T. Friis in
1946. The formula is sometimes referenced as the Friis Transmission Equation.
• The Friis transmission formula is used in telecommunications engineering, equating the
power at the terminals of a receive antenna as the product of power density of the incident
wave and the effective aperture of the receiving antenna under idealized conditions given
another antenna some distance away transmitting a known amount of power.
• The Friis Transmission Equation relates the power received to the power transmitted
between two antennas separated by a distance R >2D2/λ, where D is the largest dimension
of either antenna.
• Referring to Figure below, let us assume that the transmitting antenna is initially isotropic.

If the input power at the terminals of the transmitting antenna is Pt , then its isotropic power
density W0 at distance R from the antenna is

where et is the radiation efficiency of the transmitting antenna.

For a non-isotropic transmitting antenna, the power density in the direction (θt, ϕt) can be
written as:

where Gt (θt, ϕt) is the gain and Dt (θt, ϕt) is the directivity of the
transmitting antenna in the direction (θt, ϕt).
Since the effective area Ar of the receiving antenna is related to its efficiency er and directivity Dr
by,

Thus, the amount of power Pr collected by the receiving antenna can be written as:

or the ratio of the received to the transmitted power as

---------(A)

Eqn. (A) assumes that the transmitting and receiving antennas are matched to their respective
lines or loads (reflection efficiencies are unity) and the polarization of the receiving antenna is
polarization-matched to the impinging wave (polarization loss factor and polarization efficiency
are unity).
If these two factors are also included, then the ratio of the received to the transmitted power is
represented by

---------(B)
For reflection and polarization-matched antennas aligned for maximum directional radiation
and reception, then the above equation reduces to

---------(C)
Conclusion:

(A) (C)

(B)

Equations (A), (B) and (C) are known as the Friis Transmission Equation, and it relates the
power Pr (delivered to the receiver load) to the input power of the transmitting antenna Pt .

The inverse of the bracket term (λ/4πR)2 in eqn. (C) is called the free-space loss factor, and it
takes into account the losses due to the spherical spreading of the energy by the antenna.

 4R 
2
Pt Gt Gr
Lp =   Therefore
Pr =
  
…
Lp
 Pt Gt Gr
Pr =
Lp
• This formula assumes idealized case and Free Space Loss (Lp) represents spherical
spreading only.
• Other effects need to be accounted for in the transmission equation:
La= Losses due to attenuation in atmosphere. Lta = Losses associated with
transmitting antenna. Lra = Losses associates with receiving antenna. Lpol = Losses due
to polarization mismatch. Lother = (any other known loss - as much detail as available).
Lr = additional Losses at receiver (after receiving antenna).
Pt Gt Gr
Pr =
L p La Lta Lra L pol Lother Lr
Where,
Pt Gt Gr
Pr = EIRP (effective isotropic radiated power) =
L p La Lta Lra L pol Lother Lr
Pt Gt
EIRP x Gr
= Pt (Power into antenna) = Pout /Lt .
L p La Lta Lra L pol Lother Lr
Lt = Loss between power source and antenna.
Pout Gt Gr
=
Lt L p La Lta Lra L pol Lother Lr
 EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power)
• Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) is the amount of power the transmitter
would have to produce if it was radiating to all the directions equally
• Note that EIRP may vary as a function of direction because of changes in the antenna
gain vs. angle EIRP

Pout Pt
Tx Lt
• The output power of a transmitter Tx is:
Pout watts
• Some power is lost before the antenna:
Pt = Pout /Lt watts reaches the antenna
Pt = Power into antenna
• The antenna has a gain of Gt relative to an isotropic radiator
• This gives an effective isotropic radiated power of:
EIRP = Pt Gt watts relative to a 1 watt isotropic radiator

11/22/2022 12
 Link Power Budget

Transmission:
• HPA Power
• Transmission Losses (cables & connectors)
• Antenna Gain

Tx EIRP

Channel:
• Tx Antenna Pointing Loss
• Free Space Loss
• Atmospheric Loss
• Rx Antenna Pointing Loss
Rx Pr
Reception:
• Antenna gain
• Reception Losses (cables & connectors)
• Noise Temperature Contribution
 Review of dB: Why dB?
There is a large dynamic range of parameters in satellite communications
• A typical satellite antenna has a gain of >500 means received power flux is about one part in
100,000,000,000,000,000,000 of the transmitted power i.e. very much inconvenient way of
representation.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a better way to write these large numbers?

dB Representation

What is a dB?
The deciBel (dB) is the unit for 10 times the base 10 logarithmic ratio of two powers. For
instance: gain is defined as Pout/Pin (where Pout is usually greater than Pin)
Gain in dB: Similarly, loss (in dB) is defined as:

 Pout   Pin 
G = 10  log  dB L = 10 log  dB
 Pin   Pout 
 Linear vs. dB Relationship
Rules:
Multiply A×B: (Add dB values) Squares: (Multiply by 2)
10 log10 ( A x B ) 10 log10 ( A2 )
= 10 log10 ( A) + 10 log10 ( B ) = 2 x 10 log10 ( A)
= AdB + BdB = 20 log10 ( A)
= ( A + B )dB = 2 x ( A in dB)

Divide A/B: (Subtract dB values) Square Roots: (Divide by 2)

10 log10 ( A / B ) 10 log10 ( A )
= 10 log10 ( A) − 10 log10 ( B ) 10
= log10 ( A)
= AdB − BdB 2
= ( A − B )dB 1
= x ( A in dB)
2
Thinking in dB
Note that 18 is 2*3*3.
Since: 2 = 3 dB
and: 3 = 4.8 dB
18 in dB can be quickly written by adding
3 + 4.8 + 4.8 = 12.6
It does not even need a calculator!
This is really handy for checking link budgets quickly.

Conclusion: Its useful to be able to think in dB.

Linear Ratio dB Linear Ratio dB Units Reference

0.001 -30.0 2.000 3.0 dBi isotropic gain antenna
0.010 -20.0 3.000 4.8 dBW 1 watt
0.100 -10.0 4.000 6.0 dBm 1 milliwatt
0.200 -7.0 5.000 7.0 dBHz 1 Hertz
0.300 -5.2 6.000 7.8 dBK 1 Kelvin
dBi/K isotropic gain antenna/1 Kelvin
0.400 -4.0 7.000 8.5 2 2
dBW/m 1 watt/m
0.500 -3.0 8.000 9.0 dB$ 1 dollar
0.600 -2.2 9.000 9.5
0.700 -1.5 10.000 10.0
0.800 -1.0 100.000 20.0
0.900 -0.5 1000.000 30.0
1.000 0.0 18.000 12.6
 Part B: Satellite Link Design

11/22/2022 17
Design of the Satellite Link; An Overview
• A satellite link is defined as an Earth Station → Satellite → Earth Station connection.
• The Earth Station Segment → Satellite Segment is called the uplink
• The Satellite Segment → Earth Station Segment is called the downlink
The Earth station design consists of,
✓ The Transmission Link Design or the Link Budget,
✓ the Transmission System Design.
• The Link Budget establishes the resources needed for a given service to achieve the
performance objectives
• The satellite link is probably the most basic in microwave communications since a line-of-
sight path typically exists between the Earth and space. This means that an imaginary line
extending between the transmitting or receiving Earth station and the satellite antenna passes
only through the atmosphere and not ground obstacles.

11/22/2022 18
Design of the Satellite Link; An Overview
• Free-space attenuation is determined by the inverse square law, which states that the power
received is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.
• There are, however, a number of additional effects that produce a significant amount of
degradation and time variation.
• These include rain effect, terrain effect such as absorption by trees and walls, and some
less-obvious impairment produced by unstable conditions of the air and ionosphere.
• The RF carrier in any microwave communications link begins at the transmitting electronics
and propagates from the transmitting antenna through the medium of free space and
absorptive atmosphere to the receiving antenna, where it is recovered by the receiving
electronics.
• The carrier is modulated by a baseband signal that transfers information for the particular
application.
• The first step in designing the microwave link is to identify the overall requirements and the
critical components that determine performance.

11/22/2022 19
 Design of the Satellite Link
For this purpose, a basic arrangement
of the link is shown here.

11/22/2022 20
Design of the Satellite Link Remedies for Path Loss
• High Gain Antennas
• High Transmitter Power
• Low-noise Receivers
Link budget analysis
• Tracking of Antennas
• Overview
• Antenna gain • Modulation Techniques
• Path loss • Error Correcting Codes
• Obstacle loss
• Frequency Selection
• Atmospheric loss
• Receiver gain
Satellite and Link Losses
PT → Transmitted Power
PR → Received Power
AT →Tx Antenna Aperture
AR → Rx Antenna Aperture
LP → Path Loss
LA → Atmospheric
Attenuation Loss
LD → Diffraction Losses
21
Satellite Link Budget
Satellite Link Budget
• Link budget is actually the sum of all the
losses between: Transmitter (Terminal
A) - Satellite & back down to a Receiver
(Terminal B).
• These losses are reduced by antenna gain at the transmitter, satellite or receiver.
• In order to see if the resultant signal is still going to be big enough to use after it
has been sent to a receiver via satellite, the gains and losses are effectively added
together and the result will be the net gain or loss.
• A loss means the signal has got smaller, and a gain means it has got bigger.
Link Budget and their Interpretation
The link between the satellite and Earth
station is governed by the basic
microwave radio link equation:

Where, pr →power received by the receiving antenna; pt →power applied to the

transmitting antenna; gt →gain of the transmitting antenna; gr →gain of the
receiving antenna; c →speed of light (i.e., approximately 3 × 108 m/s); R →range
11/22/2022 in meters; and f →frequency in Hertz.
(path length) 23
 Link Budget and their Interpretation
• Almost all link calculations are performed after converting from products and
ratios to decibels.
• The same formula, when converted into decibels, has the form of a power
balance:

• The received power in this formula is measured in decibel relative to 1W,

which is stated as dBW.
• The last two terms represent the free-space path loss (A0) between the Earth
station and the satellite.
• If for a GEO satellite, it is assumed that the frequency is 1 GHz and that the
distance is simply the altitude of a GEO satellite (e.g., R = 35,778 km), and the
free-space path loss (A0) = 183.5 dB, then

11/22/2022 24
 Link Budget and their Interpretation
• Correcting the path loss for other frequencies and path lengths using the formula:

Here A0 →free-space path loss in decibels, f →frequency in gigahertz, and R →

path length in kilometers.
• The term ‘R’ on the right can be expressed in terms of the elevation angle from
the Earth station toward the satellite as:

Here φ (phi) → latitude and δ (delta) →longitude of the Earth station minus that of
the satellite (e.g., the relative longitude).
Substituting for R in A0, the correction term in decibels to account for the actual
path loss is obtained.

11/22/2022 25
 Link Budgets Calculation
• The use of link budgets simplifies the C/N ratio calculation, Evaluation the received
power and noise power in a radio link.
• The link budget must be calculated for individual transponder and for each link.
• The uplink and down link C/N ratios must be combined to give an overall C/N.
• The calculation of C/N ratio in a satellite link is based on equation for receiver signal power
(Pr) as well as on the equation for receiver noise power (N).
Receiver Signal Power (Pr in dBW) = EIRP + Gr – Lp – La – Lta – Lra
Where, EIRP (equivalent isotropically radiated power)=10log10(Pt Gt), Gr=10log10(4Ae/2)dB =
Receiver Antenna Gain, Path Loss, LP = 10log10[(4 Ae/) 2] = 20log1o (4R/ )dB, La =
Attenuation in the atmosphere, Lta = Losses associated with transmitting antenna and Lra = Losses
associated with receiving antenna.
A receiving terminal with a system noise temperature Ts (in degree Kelvin) and a noise
bandwidth Bn (in Hz) has a noise power Pn referred to the output terminals of the antenna where
Pn (in watts) = kTsBn watts.
The receiver noise power is usually written in dB units as: N (in dBW) = k + Ts + Bn,
Where, k= Boltzmann’s constant (-228.6 dBw/K/Hz), Ts = System Noise Temperature (in degree
Kelvin) and Bn= Noise Bandwidth of the receiver (in dBHz)

Link Budgets: Downlink Budget Uplink Budget

Overall Link Budget: Downlink Budget + Uplink Budget
Link Budget Example; Downlink Budget
• This particular example is for a C-band digital video link at 40 Mbps, which is capable of
transmitting 8 to 12 TV channels using MPEG 2 standard.
Table 1: Link Budget Analysis for the Downlink (3.95GHz, C-Band)

Table 1 presents the downlink budget in a manner that identifies the characteristics of the satellite
transmitter, transmitting antenna, the path, the receiving antenna, and the expected
performance of the Earth station receiver.
11/22/2022 27
Link Budget Example: Downlink Budget
• It contains the elements that select the desired radio signal (i.e., the carrier) and demodulates the useful
information (i.e., the digital baseband containing the MPEG 2 “transport” bit stream).
• Once converted back to baseband, the transmission can be applied to other processes, such as de-
multiplexing, decryption, and digital-to-analog conversion (D/A conversion).
• System noise temperature (Tsys) is the sum of T0 and the noise contribution of the receive antenna (Ta).
• The overall Earth station figure of merit is defined as the ratio of received gain to system noise
temperature expressed in decibels per Kelvin—for example, G/T
• The same can be said of EIRP for the transmit case. Reception is improved if either the gain is increased or
the noise temperature is decreased; hence the use of a ratio.
• The following parameters relate to the significant elements in the link:
-Transmit power (Pt);
-Antenna gain at the peak (Gt) and Beamwidth at the 3 dB point (θ3dB);
-Feeder waveguide losses (Lt);
-EIRP in the direction of the Earth station;
-Receiver noise temperature (T0);
-Noise Figure (NF).
• Most of these are typically under the control of the satellite engineer.
• Each of the link parameters relates to a specific piece of hardware or some property of the microwave path
between space and ground.
• A good way to develop the link budget is to prepare it with a spreadsheet program. This permits the
designer to include the various formulas directly in the budget, thus avoiding the problem of external
calculation or the potential for arithmetic error (which still exists if the formulas are wrong or one adds
losses instead of subtracting them).
• Commercial link budget software, such as SatMaster Pro from Arrowe Technical Services, does the
same job but in a standardized fashion. 28
 Link Budget Example: Uplink Budget
• Uplink design is easier than the down link in many cases
– Earth station could use higher power Transmitters
• Analysis of the uplink requires calculation of the power level at the input to the transponder
so that uplink C/N ratio can be found.
• With small-diameter earth stations, a higher power earth station transmitter is required to
achieve a similar satellite EIRP.
– Interference to other satellites rises due to wider beam of small antenna
• Uplink power control can be used to against uplink rain attenuation
Table 2: Link Budget Analysis for the Uplink (6.175GHz, C-Band)
Link Budget Example: Uplink Budget
• The repeater in this design is a simple bent pipe that does not alter or recover data from the
transmission of the uplink. The noise on the uplink (e.g., N in the denominator of C/N) will
be transferred directly to the downlink and added to the downlink noise.
• In a baseband processing type of repeater, the uplink carrier is demodulated within the
satellite and only the bits themselves are transferred to the downlink.
• In such case, the uplink noise only produces bit errors (and possibly frame errors, depending
on the modulation and multiple access scheme) that transfer over the re-modulated carrier.
• This is a complex process and can only be assessed for the particular transmission system
design in a digital processing satellite.

11/22/2022 30
Link Budget Example: Overall Link Budget
The last step in link budgeting for a bent-pipe repeater is to combine the two link performances
and compare the result against a minimum requirement—also called the threshold.
Table 3 presents a detailed evaluation of the overall link under the conditions of line-of-sight
propagation in clear sky.
Table 3: Combining the Uplink and Downlink to Estimate overall Link Performance
Link Budget Analysis for the Uplink (6.175 GHz & 3.95 GHz and , C-Band)

Link Budget Summary

• Over a given link specification, estimates the (1) Downlink Budget (2) Uplink Budget and (3)
Overall Link Budget.

11/22/2022 31
Closing the Link
• We need to calculate the Link Budget in order to verify if we are “closing the link”.
Pr > = Cmin ➔ Link Closed
Pr < Cmin ➔ Link not closed
• Usually, we obtain the “Link Margin”, which tells how tight we are in closing the link:
Margin = Pr – Cmin
• Equivalently:
Margin > 0 ➔ Link Closed
Margin < 0 ➔ Link not closed
Why calculate Link Budgets?
• System performance tied to operation thresholds.
• Operation thresholds Cmin tell the minimum power that should be received at the demodulator
in order for communications to work properly.
• Operation thresholds depend on:
-Modulation scheme being used.
-Desired communication quality.
-Additional overheads.
-Channel Bandwidth.
-Thermal Noise power.

11/22/2022 32
 System Figure of Merit

11/22/2022 33
System Figure of Merit
G/Ts: Rx antenna Gain/system Temperature
• Also called the System Figure of Merit, G/Ts
• Easily describes the sensitivity of a receive system
• G/Ts degrades for most systems when rain loss increases
This is caused by the increase in the sky noise component. This is in addition to the
loss of received power flux density.

11/22/2022 34
System Noise Power
System Noise Power
• Performance of system is determined by C/N ratio.
• Most systems require C/N > 10 dB.
(Remember, in dBs: C - N > 10 dB)
• Hence usually: C > N + 10 dB
• It is required to know the noise temperature of the receiver so that one can calculate
N, the noise power (N = Pn).
• Tn (noise temperature) is in Kelvins (symbol K):
T K  = T  C + 273
0 T K  = T(  0

F − 32 )9
5
+ 273

• System noise is caused by thermal noise sources:

-External to Rx system (Transmitted noise on link and Scene noise observed by antenna
-Internal to Rx system
The power available from thermal noise is given as:

N = kTs B (dBW)
where k is a Boltzmann’s constant = 1.38x10-23 J/K(-228.6 dBW/HzK) and Ts is the effective
system noise temperature, and B is the effective system bandwidth.

11/22/2022 36
Carrier to Noise Ratio
C/N: Carrier/Noise Power in Rx
Allows simple calculation of margin if the receiver bandwidth is known and further C/N is
required to know for desired signal type.

C/NO: CARRIER/NOISE PSD

Allows simple calculation of allowable Rx bandwidth if required C/N is known for desired signal
type and it is critical for its calculations involving carrier recovery loop performance calculations

Overall C/N Ratio Calculation

• C/N Ratio for Down Link: [C/N0]D = [EIRP]D + [G/T]D - [Losses]d – [k]
• C/N Ratio for Up Link: [C/N0]U = [EIRP]U + [G/T]U - [Losses]u – [k]
• Overall C/N Ratio: [C/N] = [C/N]D + [C/N]U

11/22/2022 37
Satellite Link Design Methodology
The design methodology for a one-way satellite communication link can be summarized into the
following steps. The return link follows the same procedure:
Step 1: Frequency band determination.
Step 2: Satellite communication parameters determination. Make informed guesses for unknown
values.
Step 3: Earth station parameter determination; both uplink and downlink.
Step 4: Establish uplink budget and a transponder noise power budget to find (C/N)u in the
transponder
Step 5: Determine transponder output power from its gain or output backoff.
Step 6: Establish a downlink power and noise budget for the receiving earth station
Step 7:Calculate (C/N)D and (C/N)u for a station at the outermost contour of the satellite
footprint.
Step 8: Calculate SNR/BER in the baseband channel.
Step 9: Determine the link margin.
Step 10: Do a comparative analysis of the result vis-a-vis the specification requirements.
Step 11: Twist system parameters to obtain acceptable (C/N)0 /SNR/BER values.
Step 12: Propagation condition determination.
Step 13: Uplink and downlink unavailability estimation.
Step 14: Redesign system by changing some parameters if the link margins are inadequate.
Step 15: Are gotten parameters reasonable? Is design financially feasible?
Step 16: If YES on both counts in step 15, then satellite link design is successful – Stop.
Step 17: If NO on either (or both) counts in step 15, then satellite link design is unsuccessful –
Go to step 1. 38
Contents:
Propagation on Satellite-Earth Paths and Its Influence on Link Design
→Absorbitive Attenuation Noise by Atmospheric Gases
→Rain Attenuation, Noise due to Rain, Rain Depolarization
→Tropospheric Multipath and Scintillation Effects
Uplink uses higher frequency than the down link.
FREQUENCIES Bands for SatCom
Band Freq range USE Band Downlink Uplink
Satellite phone, C 3.7-4.2 GHz 5.925-6.425 GHz
L band 1-2 GHz
GPS Ku 11.7-12.2 GHz 14.0-14.5 GHz
S band 2-4 GHz Satellite phone Ka 17.7-21.2 GHz 27.5-31.0 GHz
C band 4-8 GHz TV transmission
→The C band is the most frequently used.
X band 8-12 GHz →The Ka and Ku bands are reserved
TV Transmission, exclusively for satellite communication but are
Ku band 12-18 GHz
Communication
subject to rain attenuation
K band 18-26.5 GHz
SatCom Bands Notation:
Ka band 26.5-40 GHz Satellite Internet Notation: Uplink frequency/Downlink Frequency.
Q band 30-50 GHz Experimental For example; C band→ 6/4 GHz, Ku band→14/11
GHz, Ka Band→30/20 GHz
U band 40-60 GHz Experimental
11/22/2022 40
Why fup is always Higher than fdown?
• The signals have to cross the atmosphere which presents a great deal of attenuation. The higher
the frequency, the more is the signal loss and more power is needed for reliable transmission.
• The beam of higher frequency is narrow & that of lower is broad. As the earth station has to
target the signal to a small point (satellite) in space so it does it by using narrow beam
produced by higher frequency. While the Satellite has to cover a large area on earth to provide
services to many Earth station so it does by using broad beam produced by lower frequency.
• As the rain effects higher frequencies more than lower one so they need to be boosted up more
to overcome the propagation losses. The Energy can be given to signal much more easily on
earth than on satellite because the satellite has limited power resources like solar cells &
batteries so we use higher frequencies on Earth & amplify them with enough power supply
resources we have on Earth.
• A satellite is a light-weight device which cannot support high-power transmitters on it. So, it
transmits at a lower frequency (higher the frequency, higher is the transmitter power to
accommodate losses) as compared to the stationary earth station which can afford to use very
high-power transmitters. This is compensated by using highly sensitive receiver circuits on the
earth station which is in the line-of-sight (LOS) of the satellite.

41
Why Two Frequencies
• The reason the uplink and downlink frequencies are different in satellites is because otherwise
the satellite's transmitter and receiver would interfere with one another. The signals have to
operate on different frequencies. But
• If you could send a signal, then wait, the receiver could be protected from the transmitted
signal on the same frequency, but with high speed, continuous transmission, the receiver
cannot be turned off while the transmitter is transmitting. (an example of something that
transmits and receives on the same frequency is pulsed RADAR, where the transmitter sends
out a pulse, and then the echo is picked up by the receiver).

Why Do Microwaves are Used for Satellite Communications?

◼ High enough frequency to carry the information.
◼ Long enough wavelength to penetrate the atmosphere.
◼ They do not rapidly disperse in the atmosphere so the power does not need to be very
high to reach a distant point.
◼ They can be focused by a suitable dish to increase the reception of low power signals.
◼ They can be modulated to carry the signal and are resistant to interference.
◼ They travel in straight enough lines to be able to aim them. They are easy to produce
and easy to detect.
42
Signal Propagation DELAY and Round Trip Delay Concept
◼ Using c= 3*10 ^ 8 m/s & time = distance(altitude)/ speed
◼ Uplink delay→ from earth station to Satellite.
◼ Round trip delay→ 4* uplink delay.
◼ All other delays in signal coding, compression, &
processing on Satellite & earth Station are neglected.
Orbit Avg Uplink Round Round Trip Delay Concept (GEO Signal)
Altitude Delay trip delay
LEO 800 Km 2.7 ms 10.8 ms
MEO 10,355 Km 34.5 ms 138 ms
GEO 35,786 Km 119.3 ms 480 ms
Signal Propagation
• Propagation in free space is always like light (straight line). But
• Receiving power influenced by
-fading (frequency dependent)
-Shadowing (blocking)
-reflection at large obstacles
-refraction depending on the density of a medium A dB O2
resonance
-scattering at small obstacles
-diffraction at edges 100

10
50%RH
50%RH
shadowing reflection refraction diffraction
scattering
1.0
Propagation in Earth’s Atmosphere
• Attenuation in clear air 0.1
• Atmospheric gases cause attenuation Dry air
• Oxygen, water vapor, are important
• Oxygen resonance 55 – 60 GHz
• Water vapor absorption 22 – 23 GHz 3 10 100 GHz
• Clear air attenuation is low below 10 GHz
Fig. Zenith Attenuation in Clear Ai

44
Propagation in Rain Atmospheric Absorption
• Water vapor and oxygen contribute most
• Water vapor: peak attenuation near 22GHz, low
below 15GHz.
• Oxygen: absorption peak near 60GHz, lower
below 30 GHz.
• Rain and fog may scatter (thus attenuate) radio
waves.
• Attenuation in rain
• Not very significant below 10 GHz
• Low frequency band usage helps.
• Increases approximately as frequency squared Earth’s Atmosphere
• Attenuation in dB  (RF frequency)2
• Rain attenuation is a major factor in design of radio
communications links operating above 10 GHz.
• Rain heavily effects the wireless communication above
10 GHz. So Ku band & Ka band will be effected by
rain & specially above 20 GHz the Ka Band link can
fail during heavy rain fall.
• Particularly important for satellite communication

June 2013 45
 Earth Atmosphere

11/22/2022 46
 What is Earth’s Atmosphere?
• is a thin layer of gases that surrounds the Earth
• composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.03% carbon
dioxide, and traces amounts of other gases
• is held close to the earth by gravity
• divided into different layers according to major changes in temperature
Satellite communication in earth’s atmosphere
▪ The presence of atmospheric gases, clouds, fog, precipitation, and turbulence cause uncontrolled variation
in the signal characteristics
▪ can result in a reduction of the quality and reliability of the transmitted information.
Earth’s Atmosphere: • Mesosphere, The lair between 50
and 90 km above the ground surface
is called Mesosphere.
• Objects (like meteorites) entering the
atmosphere start heating in this lair.

• At heights of 90 km and above, the

existence of charged particles signals
the beginning of the ionosphere
region.
• The ionosphere is divided into four
• The lowest part of the atmosphere is broad regions called D, E, F, and
called the troposphere and it extends from topside.
the ground surface and up to about 10 km.
• All weather is confined to this lower
region.

• The atmosphere above 10 km is called the

stratosphere.
• Within the stratosphere, incoming solar
radiation is able to break up molecular
Oxygen (O2) and to form Ozone (O3).
Earth's atmosphere – the ionosphere
• D-Region: The region between about 75
and 95km above the Earth in which the
(relatively weak) ionization is mainly
responsible for absorption of high-
frequency radio waves.
• E-Region: The region between about 95
and 150km above the Earth.
• F-Region: The region above about 150km
in which the important reflecting layer, F2,
is found. The F-layer is the region of
primary interest to radio communications.
Atmospheric Losses
• Different types of atmospheric losses can disturb radio wave transmission in satellite
systems:
Atmospheric absorption Atmospheric attenuation Traveling ionospheric disturbances
Atmospheric Absorption
Energy absorption by atmospheric gases, which varies with the frequency of the radio waves.
Radio waves at frequencies above 10 GHz are subject to molecular absorption.

• Two absorption peaks are observed (for 90º elevation angle):

→Peak of water vapor absorption at 22 GHz
→Peak of oxygen absorption near 60 GHz
• Favorable windows for communication:
→From 28 GHz to 42 GHz. →From 75 GHz to 95 GHz
51
Atmospheric Attenuation (Effect of Rain)
• Presence of raindrops can severely degrade the reliability and performance of
communication links.
• The effect of rain depends on drop shape, drop size, rain rate, and frequency.

• Estimated attenuation due to rain: A = aR b

Where, A = attenuation (dB/km), R = rain rate (mm/hr) whereas a and b depend on drop sizes
and frequency.

Atmospheric Attenuation (Effects of Vegetation)

• Trees near subscriber sites can lead to multipath fading.
• Multipath effects from the tree canopy are diffraction and scattering.
• Measurements in orchards found considerable attenuation values when the foliage is
within 60% of the first Fresnel zone.
• Multipath effects highly variable due to wind.
Atmospheric Attenuation (Other Impairments)
Reflection, Diffraction, Scattering, Refraction, Fading, Intersymbol Interference etc.

52
Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances
• Traveling ionospheric disturbances are clouds of electrons in the ionosphere that
provoke radio signal fluctuations which can only be determined on a statistical basis.
• The disturbances of major concern are:
→Scintillation;
→Polarization rotation.
• Scintillations are variations in the amplitude, phase, polarization, or angle of arrival
of radio waves, caused by irregularities in the ionosphere which change over time.
• The main effect of scintillations is fading of the signal.

53
What is Polarization?
• Polarization is the property of electromagnetic waves that describes the direction of
the transverse electric field.
• Since electromagnetic waves consist of an electric and a magnetic field vibrating at
right angles to each other.
• it is necessary to adopt a convention to determine the polarization of the signal.
• Conventionally, the magnetic field is ignored and the plane of the electric field is
used. • Linear Polarisation (horizontal or vertical): The two orthogonal
components of the electric field are in phase. The direction of the line
Types of Polarisation in the plane depends on the relative amplitudes of the two
components.
• Circular Polarisation: The two components are exactly 90º out of
phase and have exactly the same amplitude.
• Elliptical Polarisation: All other cases.

Linear Circular Elliptical

Polarisation Polarisation Polarisation 54
Satellite Communications
• Alternating vertical and horizontal polarisation
is widely used on satellite communications
• This reduces interference between programs
on the same frequency band transmitted from
adjacent satellites (One uses vertical, the next
horizontal, and so on)
• Allows for reduced angular separation
between the satellites.

55
When to use Satellites
• When the unique features of satellite communications make it attractive.
• When the costs are lower than terrestrial routing.
• When it is the only solution.
• Examples:
→Communications to ships and aircraft (especially safety communications)
→TV services - contribution links, direct to cable head, direct to home
→Data services - private networks
→Overload traffic
→Delaying terrestrial investments
→Special events

When to use Terrestrial

• PSTN-satellite is becoming increasingly uneconomic for most trunk telephony routes.
• but, there are still good reasons to use satellites for telephony such as: thin routes,
diversity, very long distance traffic and remote locations.
• Land mobile/personal communications - in urban areas of developed countries new
terrestrial infrastructure is likely to dominate (e.g. GSM, etc.).
• but, satellite can provide fill-in as terrestrial networks are implemented, also provide
similar services in rural areas and underdeveloped countries.
56
Interference Considerations in Satellite Systems
Two Aspects of Interference:
→Interference with other satellite networks.
→Interference within same satellite network.

Interference considerations in satellite systems

• Limited orbits & spectrum resources force close satellite spacing & sharing of
spectrum with other services.
• 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.
11/22/2022 59
11/22/2022 60
 Uplink and downlink
interferences
→S1 is the desired satellite and
S0 and S2 are the adjacent
satellites;
→T1 and R1 are the transmit
and receive terminals that
communicate with S1
→T0 and T2 are the transmit
terminals that are linked to S0
and S2

11/22/2022 61
Two Satellites Geolocation

A Transmitting Station sends a signal to a satellite.

This signal is received by the Receiving Station.

Earth Station Earth Station

Two Satellites Geolocation

Transmitting Station antenna characteristics

usually result in a lower power copy of signal
being received by a nearby satellite.
Primary
Secondary Satellite
Satellite

Solid lines: Majority of signal energy

Dashed lines: Some signal energy

Earth Station Earth Station

Two Satellites Geolocation

When another antenna is aimed at the nearby

Secondary Satellite, this low power copy of the
signal can be received.
Primary
Secondary Satellite
Satellite

Earth Station Earth Station

Two Satellites Geolocation

The signal path lengths are different through the

two satellites, so the Receiving Station sees
different delay on the signals received from each.
Primary
Secondary Satellite
Satellite

Earth Station Earth Station

Two Satellites Geolocation

The resulting Differential Time Offset (DTO)

results in partial location information.

Primary
Secondary Satellite
Satellite

Earth Station Earth Station

Two Satellites Geolocation

The two satellites are moving with respect to the

ground and each other, so the Receiving Station
sees different Doppler shift on the signals
Primary
received from each.
Secondary Satellite
Satellite

Earth Station Earth Station

Two Satellites Geolocation

The resulting Differential Frequency Offset (DFO)

results in additional location information.

Primary
Secondary Satellite
Satellite

Earth Station Earth Station

Single Satellites Geolocation

LEO or MEO:

LEOsat
Doppler shift

Time Intercept site

Target

Shape of curve is position

dependant
Single Satellites Geolocation

GSO: Difficult problem to solve…

• Will never be as accurate as two-satellite
GEOsat
correction
… but …
• Has applications where secondary satellites are
hard to find (e.g. Ka-band)
• Better than nothing!
Currently offered as a service
Doppler shift

Time Intercept site

Target
Interference due to Adjacent satellites
θ→ Angular Separation between two satellites as
viewed by the earth station.
β→ Angular Separation between two satellites as
viewed from the center of the Earth i.e. Difference in
the longitudinal positions of the two satellites.
→ The terms θ and β are related to:

dA→ Slant Range of Satellite A

dB→ Slant Range of Satellite B and
r→ Radius of Geostationary Orbit
Carrier-to-Interference Ratio i.e. C/I
Downlink Carrier-to-Interference Ratio:
Uplink Carrier-to-Interference Ratio:
The Overall Carrier-to-Interference Ratio: interfering satellite in dB
The Interfering EIRP is given as:
Where,
EIRP→ Desired Effective Isotropic Radiated
Power in dBW
EIRP’→ Interfering EIRP in dBW
G→ Earth station Antenna Gain in the direction of
desired satellite in dB
G’→ Earth station Antenna Gain in the direction of
EIRP*→ EIRP of Interfering Earth Station in
dBW
GI→ On Axis Transmit Antenna Gain of
interfering Earth Station in dB.
 Thank You

11/22/2022 73
 EC-437 Satellite Communications
Professional Core Elective–II
Unit 1 Introduction to Satellites and Their Applications: Introduction to satellite, History of Evolution of
Satellites, Applications, Evolution of Launch vehicles, Future Trends
Unit 2 Orbital Aspects: Orbit and Trajectory, Basic Principles of Orbiting Satellites, Orbital Mechanics, Orbital
Parameters, Injection Velocity and Resulting Satellite Trajectories, Types of Orbits.
Unit 3 Satellite Launch and In-orbit Operations: Acquiring the Desired Orbit, Satellite Launch Sequence, Orbital
Perturbations, Satellite Stabilization, Orbital Effects on Satellite’s Performance, Eclipses, Sun Transit Outage,
Looks Angles of a Satellite, Earth Coverage and Ground Tracks.
Unit 4 Satellite Hardware and Subsystems: Various Satellite Subsystems, Attitude and Orbit Control, Tracking,
Telemetry and Command Subsystem, payload, Antenna Subsystems.
Unit 5 Satellite Link Design Fundamentals: Transmission Equation, Link Parameters, Link Calculations, C/N,
G/T, EIRP, Back-off Calculation.
Unit 6 Earth Station: Types of Earth Station, Architecture, Design Considerations, Earth Station Hardware, Satellite
Tracking.
Unit 7 Communication Techniques: Amplitude Modulation, Frequency Modulation, Pulse Communication
Systems, Sampling Theorem, Digital Modulation Techniques-ASK, FSK, PSK, DPSK, QPSK, Offset QPSK;
Multiplexing Techniques-FDM, TDM, OFDM, Spread Spectrum Techniques, Multiple Beam, Spot Beam.
Unit 8 Multiple Access Techniques: Introduction, FDMA, SCPC Systems, MCPC Systems, TDMA, TDMA Burst,
TDMA Frame Structure, Unique Word, Frame Efficiency, Frame Acquisition and Synchronization, FDMA vs.
TDMA, CDMA, SDMA.
Unit 9 Recent Trends: Applications, Challenges of Transponders, VSATS, DTH Television, Satellite Telephony,
Satellite Radio
Texts/References Books:
1. Satellite Communications, Dennis Roddy, TMH
2. Satellite Communications, Timothy Pratt, Charles W. Bostian and Jeremy E. Allnutt, Wiley India Pvt Ltd.
3. Digital Satellite Communication, T.T. Ha, MHE
4. Satellite Communications, Maini & Agrawal, Wiley India Pvt Ltd.