Satellite & Cellular Radio

Project of

Satellite Communication for the Martian Colonies

Sanaz Roshanmanaesh Mohammad shabash Mohammad Abbas
Zein Jaber Mahyar Alzobaidy Caglar Sekman

Supervisors:
Dr. Peter Gardner
Dr. Costas Constantinou

March 2011
 Satellite constellation

2 orbits each consist of 6 satellites MMO

Astra 2C taken as a model for the spacecraft
Orbit altitude of 5000 Kilometres
 Satellite constellation

•A combination of 20 beams in each satellite

•3dB beamwidth of 5 degrees per beam
•One complete orbit in 6.49 hours
•Each satellite covers area of approximately
15.2 Million square Km
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Outline
 Introduction
 Satellite Transponder
* HTS BPF
* Antenna
* LNA & HPA
 Ground station outline design
* BPF
* Antenna
* LNA & HPA
* Duplexer
Satellite & RF Radio
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Introduction
 Frequencies:
Uplink “Ground Station-Satellite”
5500 ~ 6000 MHz
Downlink “Satellite- Ground
Station” 4000 ~ 4500 MHz

* Beacon Frequency:
5000MHz

Satellite & RF Radio

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Satellite Transponder
 A receiver-transmitter that will generate a reply signal
upon proper electronic interrogation
 Total block diagram of designed satellite transponder

6 GHz 4 GHz
Equaliser D/C Amp2 HPA BPF
Frequency DMUX

Frequency MUX
6 GHz LNA Amp1 4GHz

HTS
BPF

Satellite & RF Radio

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Antenna of Transponder
 Reflector Antenna
 Two separated
antenna
 Circular polarization

Satellite & RF Radio

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Antenna of Transponder
 Rx Antenna (6GHz)
* Diameter 0.8m. Aperture Efficiency 0.7, radiation
efficiency 0.9. Physical temperature 50 K.
* Gain 33dBi, Beam Width : 3.5 degree
 Tx Antenna (4GHz)
* Diameter 0.9m. Aperture Efficiency 0.7, radiation
efficiency 0.9. Physical temperature 50 K.
* Gain 30dBi, Beam Width : 5 degree

Satellite & RF Radio

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HTS filter
 Expensive but economical
because of Two important
properties:
* Low Insertion Loss
* Small size and weight
 Low temperature in out of
Mars atmospher
 Lead to small noise figure
in receiver
 Insertion Loss=0.5 dB
Satellite & RF Radio
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LNA & HPA of Transponder

 LNA
* Noise figure=1.5dB
* Gain=20dB
* Amp1 (NF=3dB, Gain=40 dB)
* Total NF of receiver=2.0135
 HPA
* 10 Watt, SSPA (Solid State Power Amplifier)
* Saturated output power 13dBW=43dBm
 3dB back-off
* Gain 30 dB & Efficiency: 38%
* GaN HFETs Technology
Satellite & RF Radio
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Outline of Ground Stations

 Transceiver Configuration (Using one antenna)
* Utilizing Waveguide Duplexer
 Insertion Loss @ 4GHz: 1dB
 Insertion Loss @ 6GHz: 1.2dB
 BPF 4 GHz
Ant. LNA Amp1 D/C
BPF
* Waveguide filters

IF Processing
 Insertion loss=1dB

Duplexer
 Amp1: Gain: 40dB
 Amp1: Gain: 30dB 6 GHz
BPF HPA Amp2 U/C

Satellite & RF Radio

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Antenna of Ground Station

 Using a common antenna for transmitting & receiving
* since the ratio of the U/L to the D/L frequencies is no more
than 1.5
* Reflector Antenna, Helical feed, Circular polarization
* Diameter 2m. Aperture Efficiency 0.7, radiation efficiency
0.9. Physical temperature 50 K
 Rx Mode (4GHz)
* Gain 37dBi, Beam Width : 2.5 degree
 Tx Mode (6GHz)
* Gain 40dBi, Beam Width : 1.8 degree

Satellite & RF Radio

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LNA & HPA of Ground Station

 LNA
* Noise figure=1.5dB
* Gain=20dB
* Amp1 (NF=3dB, Gain=40 dB)
* Total NF of receiver=2.5135
 HPA
* 100 Watt, TWTA (Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier)
* Saturated output power 23dBW=53dBm
 3dB back-off
* Gain 40 dB

Satellite & RF Radio

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Down/Up Converter
* Conversion Loss of Mixer: 4dB
* Insertion Loss of filter: 2dB
* Total Loss of Converter: 6dB
* Noise temperature: 3000K
* A synthesizer with suitable frequency steps should be used as
a local oscillator
* DMUX and Equaliser loss: 12 dB (Physical temp. 50 K)
BPF BPF
4000~4500 5500~6000 5500~6000 4000~4500
MHz MHz MHz MHz

Local Local
Oscillator Oscillator
Satellite & RF Radio
Link Budget Calculation

Receiver

Power Noise at receiver

EIRP calculation
• Antenna noise (Tant)
Gain and losses calculation
• Active device noise
Receiver figure of merit
• M = Gr/Ts (dB/K) • Thermal noise

29/04/2019 15
Link budget
 Losses
 Atmospheric attenuation will be neglected because Mars is dominated by C
O2 and N2. It is found that the attenuation values due to oxygen at Mars ar
e reduced by a factor of 14,000 relative to Earth, Such a small attenuation is
negligible for telecommunications.
 This table provide to us the Attenuation around mars for various frequency
Link budget
 Since we know that the power at the receiver is defined by the following equation

S (dBW) = Pt (dBW) +Gt(dB) +Gr (dB) – Lp (dB) – Lat (dB)

 We need first to determine the transmitter power
 Carrier to noise spectral density ratio is defined by these equations
C/N0 (dBHz) = Eb/N0+ 10log10(B) (2)
= Pt +Gt– Lt + 10log10(Gr/Ts) – 10log10(k) (3)
Where
Pt transmited power , Gt antenna transmited gain
Lt is the total losses
K is boltzman losses
(Gr/Ts) is the figure of merit
Eb/N0 is the energy per noise density for modulation
B is the bit rate.
Since we know the modulation sachem and the bit rate, we can calcuate C/N0
For a QPSK modulation and BER 10-3 of , Eb/N0 = 21dB , where B =45Gb/s. Substitut
ing these values in Eq (2)

C/N0 = 21 + 101og10 45G = 127.53 (dBHz)

 Link budget

In order to calculate (Gr/Ts) , we need to evaluate the noise system temperature Ts.
we simplified the receiver architecture as shown below
TA

+ 1/L + GLA + GA

TF TLA TAmp

Where
L= 0.5 dB , l= 1.122. FGLA=1.5 dB, fgla= 1.413. GLA= 20 dB FGA= 3dB, fGA= 2. GA= 30 dB
TF = 210 (1.122-1)=25.62K. TLA=210(1.413-1)=86.73. TAmp=210(2-1)=210.
TA= 50 K.
Ts= TA + TF + TLA/ (1/L) + TAmp/ (GLA * (1/L)) + ...........
Ts = 50 + 25.2 + 96.432 + 2.36 = 173.992 K
 The results confirms that the major contributors to the system noise temperature are the first two de
vices comparing the ‘ front end ‘ area of the satellite receiver.
Link budget

10log10(Gr/Ts) = 10log10 (3162.278/173.992 ) = 12.6 dB/K

Pt = C/N0 - Gt + Lt - 10log10(Gr/Ts) – 10log10(k)

Where
Lt = Lp + Lat
Lp = 20 log (4пd/𝜆) = 176 dB , Lat = 0.45 dB
Pt= 127.53 – 45 + 176.5 – 12.6 – 228.6
Pt = 17.83dB , 61 watt

N (dBW) = 10log10k (dBW/Hz/K) + 10 log10 (Tant + Te) (dBK) + 10log10B (dB

Hz)
N = -228.6 + 22.4 + 87
N = - 119.2 dBw
 Link budget

4/6 GHz link; satellite antenna = 1m earth antenna = 3m

up link down link Unit
Pt tx power 17.83 27 dBW
Gt tx ant gain 45 37 dB
Lp free space loss -176 -178.5 dB
La atmosph loss -0.45 -0.45 dB
Gr rx ant gain 35 40 dB
Pr rx power -78.62 -74.96 dBW
T noise temp 173.992 460.7 K
B bandwidth 500 500 MHz
N noise power - 119.2 dBw -114.9 dBW
S/N at rx 40.58 39.9 dB

note – up and down link values different due to different frequencies

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 Multiple Access Techniques

SDMA High spectral

Inflexible, antennas fixed efficiency & Low
PAPR
Inflexibility
- Able to provide fixed traffic patterns
CDMA
- Unable to perform very well for the
FDMA
future broadband satellite
communication services.
OFDM
Complex
receivers,
Need power TDMA
Useful in Broadband Robust against inter
& Mobile Satellite symbol interference
Guard space needed (multipath Comm. (ISI) and fading
propagation), synchronization difficult
Power Efficiency or Spectral Efficiency ?

• Spectral/Bandwidth Efficiency is not

No Bandwidth important
restrictions

Importance: • QPSK (modulation technique)

High power • No need for 16-QAM ( less power
efficiency & efficient )
Low PAPR
Block diagram of OFDM system

 The main drawback of OFDMA scheme: High PAPR Low Power Efficiency.
Block diagram of SC-FDMA/DFT-S OFDM Syste
m
 DFT- spreading block between the S/P & IFFT blocks
 Low PAPR High power efficiency
BER & BLER for QPSK
 Challenges

 Same scheme by both downlink and uplink  Complexity & Cost of term
inals equipment will be Reduced.

 Uplink: Increasing Pt  compensate for the fading

 Downlink: Difficult to compensate for the fading by high power.

 Solution: Employing the efficient coding scheme

 The link scheme based on the OFDM/TDM technique

frequency & power more efficient

 Satellite Electrical Power System
• A Satellite has to produce its own power!!
• Power Requirements of subsystem on board.

PDCU

Energy
Solar Storage Payload
Array
System
 Primary Source
Solar Panels
* Gallium Arsenide 3-junction solar cells .

* 2 Solar panels.

* Efficiency up to 26 % of the sun energy.

* Each panel measures 5.35 × 2.53m

* 3744 individual photovoltaic cells.

* Power produced at 32 v.

* Power produced is 7000watts

Primary Source
 Secondary Source
 Lithium Ion Cells (Batteries)
 Higher energy density than the Nickel-based batteries.
 Operating voltage is 3.6 to 3.9 v which reduces the
number of cells.
 65% volume advantage and 50% mass advantage.
 150 Kg should be considered.
 A regulator system that bleeds off the excess power
as heat will be used.

 Used for the night hours (12 per martian day)

 Performance and Future

• Factors with adverse impact:

 variation in Mars-Sun distance

 Atmos. Scattering and accumulation of mars dust on arrays.

 dust accumulation will decrease solar cell performance by 77% after only 2 years.

• Approaches:
 Array vibrating technique for dust removal.

 Use RTG or fuel cells as secondary power sources during eclipses.

 RTG provide more power for less mass but they are much more expensive.
Communications Gateway

 Building a publicly accessible gateway on Mars.

 Gateways should be positioned in deep space so th
at information can be passed back and forth.
 Robust redundancy is required for gateways to ens
ure reliable, long term operations.
 Orbital dynamics could be a problem in the name
of position of gateways at solar LaGrange points
Communications Gateway
 A proposed system called Interplanetary Internet (
IPN) can be used for deep space communication a
nd linked to Earth by satellites.
 There will be a network between two internets wit
h a local gateway.
 Data rate of minimum 1 Mbps would be enough fo
r real time data transfer.
 Parcel Transfer Protocol (PTP) can be also used if
necessary.
 TCP/IP protocol can be used on both planet.
 Technical Challenges

 Interactive protocols do not work as the distance is

long.
 Latency or delay may occur.
 Antenna’s weight should be small.
 Low bandwidth.