The Future of Satellite

Communications
Joel Klooster
ENGR 302
May, 2002

History
Sputnik - Russian (Oct 4, 1957)
Only

lasted 92 days in orbit

Echo - 1st TV satellite (1960)

Telstar - 1st active TV satellite (1962)
Syncon - 1st earth synchronous (1964)

Types of Orbits
Geosynchronous
Same

rotational velocity as earth

Maintains position relative to earth
Altitude - 35 786 km
Velocity - 11 300 km/hr

Asynchronous
Much

lower altitude = much higher velocity

Position over earth constantly changing

Operation of Satellites
Transmission
Reception
Low Noise Converter
Polarization
Tuner
Antennas

Radio Signal Propagation

Free Space Propagation Model
Line-of-sight

with no obstructions

Friis free space equation

2

P r ( d )

P t Gt Gr

4 2 d2 L

4 A e
2

Path Loss (PL)

Fading of electromagnetic signal
Positive difference between received
power and transmitted power (in dB)
PL

10 log

Gt Gr 2
4 2 d 2

The Solution??

Lasers!!

Advantages of Laser
Communications
Frequencies 7 - 8x higher
Higher bandwidth
Smaller beam divergence
Smaller antennas
Higher data rates

What type of Laser is

used?
Neodymium: yttrium, aluminum, garnet
(Nd:YAG) most common type
Rod

of crystalline YAG lightly doped with

Nd is used as the amplifier
Optical energy excites Nd atoms to higher
energy state
Return to normal energy state emits
energy at wavelength of 1.664 um

Modulation
What actually drives the communication
Birefringence modulator most useful
Uses electric-field induced birefringence
of the crystal to rotate polarized light

Optical Detectors
Receiver must somehow convert the
laser energy to an electric current
Photon-wave theory of light
Photons

have some momentum that exerts

a force on the receiver
Frees electrons from atoms of cathode
Photoelectrons attracted to anode, creating
a current

Optical Modulation
Formats
Based on short energy pulses with a
high peak power and low duty cycle
Three Types
Pulse

Gated Binary Modulation (PGBM)

Pulse Polarization Binary Modulation
(PPBM)
Pulse Interval Modulation (PIM)

Pulse Interval
Modulation
Most efficient type of modulation
N separate time slots in pulse interval
Transmit

log2(N) bits per pulse

Pulse sent during one of these time

slots
Time slot is value of the word
Translated

in binary data

Example of PIM

Conclusion
Satellites very important for modern
communications
Radio Frequency communication
reaching the end of its usefulness
Laser Communications will eventually
be the method of choice for satellites

Questions