Dr. N.G.P.

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Coimbatore-641048

DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

TWO MARKS WITH ANSWERS

EC6004 / SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

REGULATION: 2013

Prepared by Reviewed by

Mr.U.Vinothkumar, AP/ECE Dr.P.Sivakumar/Academic Coordinator

Approved by

HoD/ECE Principal
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

EC6004 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION LTPC3003

OBJECTIVES:

1. To understand the basics of satellite orbits.

2. To understand the satellite segment and earth segment.

3. To analyze the various methods of satellite access.

4. To understand the applications of satellites.

UNIT I SATELLITE ORBITS 9

Kepler‟s Laws, Newton‟s law, orbital parameters, orbital perturbations, station keeping, geo stationary
and non Geo-stationary orbits – Look Angle Determination- Limits of visibility –eclipse-Sub satellite
point –Sun transit outage-Launching Procedures - launch vehicles and propulsion.

UNIT II SPACE SEGMENT AND SATELLITE LINK DESIGN 9

Spacecraft Technology- Structure, Primary power, Attitude and Orbit control, Thermal control and
Propulsion, communication Payload and supporting subsystems, Telemetry, Tracking and command.
Satellite uplink and downlink Analysis and Design, link budget, E/N calculation- performance
impairments-system noise, inter modulation and interference, Propagation Characteristics and Frequency
considerations- System reliability and design lifetime.

UNIT III EARTH SEGMENT 9

Introduction – Receive – Only home TV systems – Outdoor unit – Indoor unit for analog (FM) TV –
Master antenna TV system – Community antenna TV system – Transmit – Receive earth stations –
Problems – Equivalent isotropic radiated power – Transmission losses – Free-space transmission – Feeder
losses – Antenna misalignment losses – Fixed atmospheric and ionospheric losses – Link power budget
equation – System noise – Antenna noise – Amplifier noise temperature – Amplifiers in cascade – Noise
factor – Noise temperature of absorptive networks – Overall system noise temperature – Carrier to- Noise
ratio – Uplink – Saturation flux density – Input back off – The earth station - HPA – Downlink – Output
back off – Satellite TWTA output – Effects of rain – Uplink rain– Fade margin – Downlink rain – Fade
margin – Combined uplink and downlink C/N ratio – Inter modulation noise.

UNIT IV SATELLITE ACCESS 9

Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice, Data, Video, Analog – digital transmission system, Digital video
Brocast, multiple access: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, Assignment Methods, Spread Spectrum
communication, compression – encryption.

UNIT V SATELLITE APPLICATIONS 9

2
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

INTELSAT Series, INSAT, VSAT, Mobile satellite services: GSM, GPS, INMARSAT, LEO, MEO,
Satellite Navigational System. Direct Broadcast satellites (DBS)- Direct to home Broadcast (DTH),
Digital audio broadcast (DAB)- Worldspace services, Business TV(BTV), GRAMSAT, Specialized
services – E –mail, Video conferencing, Internet.

OUTCOMES:

Upon Completion of the course, the students will be able to:

 Analyze the satellite orbits.

 Analyze the earth segment and space segment.

 Design various satellite applications

TEXT BOOK:

1. Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communication”, 4th Edition, Mc Graw Hill International, 2006.

REFERENCES:

1. Wilbur L. Pritchard, Hendri G. Suyderhoud, Robert A. Nelson, “Satellite Communication Systems

Engineering”, Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2007.
2. N. Agarwal, “Design of Geosynchronous Space Craft”, Prentice Hall, 1986.
3. Bruce R. Elbert, “The Satellite Communication Applications”, Hand Book, Artech House Bostan
London,
1997.
4. Tri T. Ha, “Digital Satellite Communication”, II nd edition, 1990.
5. Emanuel Fthenakis, “Manual of Satellite Communications”, Mc Graw Hill Book Co., 1984.
6. Robert G. Winch, “Telecommunication Trans Mission Systems”, Mc Graw-Hill Book Co., 1983.
7. Brian Ackroyd, “World Satellite Communication and earth station Design”, BSP professional
Books, 1990.
8. G.B.Bleazard, “Introducing Satellite communications“, NCC Publication, 1985.
9. http://nptel.ac.in/.

3
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

QUESTION BANK
SUBJECT CODE/ NAME: EC 6004 / SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

PART-A-TWO MARK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

UNIT-I SATELLITE ORBITS

1. What is Satellite?
An artificial body that is projected from earth to orbit either earth (or) another body of solar
systems.
Types: Information satellites and Communication Satellites

2. Define Satellite Communication.

It is defined as the use of orbiting satellites to receive, amplify and retransmit data to earth
stations.

3. State Kepler’s first law. [Nov/Dec - 2016]

It states that the path followed by the satellite around the primary will be an ellipse. An ellipse has
two focal points F1 and F2. The center of mass of the two body system, termed the bary center is always
centered on one of the foci.
e = [square root of (a2– b2) ] / a

4. State Kepler’s second law. [April/May - 2015]

It states that for equal time intervals, the satellite will sweep out equal areas in its orbital plane,
focused at the barycenter.

5. State Kepler’s third law. [Nov/Dec - 2016]

It states that the square of the periodic time of orbit is perpendicular to the cube of the mean
distance between the two bodies.
a3= 3 / n2
Where, n = Mean motion of the satellite in rad/sec.
3 = Earth’s geocentric gravitational constant. With the n in radians per sec.
The orbital period in second is given by,
P=2/n
6. Define apogee. [April - 2014]
The point farthest from the earth.

7. Define Perigee.
The point closest from the earth.

8. What is line of apsides?

The line joining the perigee and apogee through the center of the earth.

9. Define ascending node. [April/May - 2015]

The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to north.

4
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

10. Define descending node. [April/May - 2015]

The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from north to south.

11. Define Inclination. [April/May - 2019]

The angle between the orbital plane and the earth’s equatorial plane. It is measured at
the ascending node from the equator to the orbit going from east to north.

12. Define mean anomaly.

It gives an average bvalue of the angular position of the satellite with reference to the
perigee.

13. Define true anomaly.

It is the angle from perigee to the satellite position, measured at the earth’s center.

14. Mention the apogee and perigee

Height: r a = a(1+e)
r p = a(1+e)
ha=ra–Rp
hp=rp–Rp

15. What is meant by azimuth angle?

It is defined as the angle produced by intersection of local horizontal plane and the
plane passing through the earth station, the satellite and center of earth.

16. Give the 3 different types of applications with respect to satellite systems.
• The largest international system (Intelsat)
• The domestic satellite system (Dom sat) in U.S.
• U.S. National oceanographic and atmospheric administration’s (NOAA)

17. Mention the 3 regions to allocate the frequency for satellite services. [April/May - 2018]
• Region1: It covers Europe, Africa and Mangolia
• Region2: It covers North & South Ameriaca and Greenland.
• Region3: It covers Asia, Australia and South West Pacific.

18. Give the types of satellite services.

• Fixed satellite service
• Broadcasting satellite service
• Mobile satellite service
• Navigational satellite services
• Meteorological satellite services

19. What is mean by Dom sat?

Domestic Satellites. These are used for voice, data and video transmissions within the country.

20. Define Geosynchronous satellites.

There are a number of perbuting forces that cause an orbit to depart from ideal Keplerian orbit.
The most effecting ones are gravitational fields of sun and moon, non-spherical shape of the Earth,
reaction of the satellite itself to motor movements within the satellites. Thus the earth station keeps
maneuvering the satellite to maintain its position. Within a set of nominal geostationary coordinates. Thus

5
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

the exact GEO is not attainable in practice and the orbital parameters vary with time. Hence these
satellites are called “Geosynchronous” satellites or “Near Geostationary satellites”.

21. What are polar mount antennas?

These antennas are pointing accurately only for one satellite. They have a single actuator which
moves the antenna in a circular arc. Generally some pointing error is seen in these antennas. The dish of
this antenna is mounted on an axis termed as polar axis such that the antenna bore sight is normal to this
axis.

22. Define polar-orbiting satellites. [Nov/Dec - 2018]

Polar orbiting satellites orbit the earth in such a way as to cover the north and south
polar regions.

23. Give the advantage of geostationary orbit.

There is no necessity for tracking antennas to find the satellite positions.

24. Define look angles.

The azimuth and elevation angles of the ground station antenna are termed as look
angles.

25. Write short notes on station keeping.

It is the process of maintenance of satellite’s attitude against different factors that can cause drift
with time. Satellites need to have their orbits adjusted from time to time, because the satellite is initially
placed in the correct orbit, natural forces induce a progressive drift.

26. What are the geostationary satellites? [April – 2014]

The satellites present in the geostationary orbit are called geostationary satellite. The geostationary
orbit is one in which the satellite appears stationary relative to the earth. It lies in equatorial plane and
inclination is ‘0’. The satellite must orbit the earth in the same direction as the earth spin. The orbit is
circular.

27. What is sun transit outage? [April/May - 2018]

The sun transit is nothing but the sun comes within the beam width of the earth station antenna.
During this period the sun behaves like an extremely noisy source and it blanks out all the signal from the
satellite. This effect is termed as sun transit outage.

28. What is earth eclipse of a satellite?

It occurs when Earths equatorial plane coincides with the plane f he Earths orbit around the sun.
These eclipses begin 23 days before the equinox and end 23 days after the equinox. They last for almost
10 minutes at the beginning and end of equinox and increase for a maximum period of 72 minutes at a full
eclipse.

29. Why is launch vehicles used to set satellites?

Low Earth Orbiting satellites are directly injected into their orbits. This cannot be done incase of
GEOs as they have to be positioned 36,000kms above the Earth‟s surface. Launch vehicles are hence
used to set these satellites in their orbits. These vehicles are reusable. They are also known as „Space
Transportation System‟ (STS)

6
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

30. Write a note on Limits of Visibility? [Nov/Dec - 2016]

The east and west limits of geostationary are visible from any given Earth station. These limits are
set by the geographic coordinates of the Earth station and antenna elevation. The lowest elevation is zero
(in theory) but in practice, to avoid reception of excess noise from Earth. Some finite minimum value of
elevation is issued. The earth station can see a satellite over a geostationary arc bounded by +- (81.30)
about the earth stations longitude.

31. Why Thermal Control is Necessary? [April/May - 2015]

Thermal control ensures that each item of equipment is maintained at temperatures consistent with
nominal operation. Most equipment only operates correctly if maintained at the right temperature and if
temperature changes are within acceptable limits. In our terrestrial environment or in laboratories,
temperature is often regulated "naturally". Satellite environments in orbit are completely different
(vacuum, microgravity, radiation, etc.). This means that thermal conditions are very particular and likely
to cause dangerous changes in temperature. Correct temperature can only be achieved by applying
scientific method and specific "thermal control" technology.

UNIT-2 SPACE SEGMENT AND SATELLITE LINK DESIGN

1. Give the two segments of basic satellite communication.
a. Earth segment (or) ground segment
b. Space segment

2. Write short notes on attitude control system.

It is the system that achieves and maintains the required attitudes. The main functions of attitude
control system include maintaining accurate satellite position throughout the life span of the system.

3. What is declination?
The angle of tilt is often referred to as the declination which must not be confused with the
magnetic declination used in correcting compass readings.

4. What is meant by payload?

It refers to the equipment used to provide the service for which the satellite has been launched.

5. What is meant by transponder?

In a communication satellite, the equipment which provides the connecting link between
the satellite’s transmit and receive antennas is referred to as the transponder.

6. Write short notes on station keeping. [April/May - 2018]

It is the process of maintenance of satellite’s attitude against different factors that can cause drift
with time. Satellites need to have their orbits adjusted from time to time, because the satellite is initially
placed in the correct orbit, natural forces induce a progressive drift.

7. What is meant by Pitch angle? [April/May - 2019]

Movement of a spacecraft about an axis which is perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. It is the
degree of elevation or depression.

7
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

8. What is an propellant?
A solid or liquid substance burnt in a rocket for the purpose of producing thrust.

9. What is an Yaw?
Yaw is the rotation of a vehicle about its vertical axis.

10. What is an zero ‘g’?

Zero ‘g’ is a state when the gravitational attraction is opposed by equal and opposite inertial forces
and the body experiences no mechanical stress.

11. Describe the spin stabilized satellites.

In a spin stabilized satellites, the body of the satellite spins at about 30 to 100 rpm about the axis
perpendicular to the orbital plane. The satellites arem normally dual spin satellites with a spinning section
and a despun section on which antennas are mounted. These are kept stationary with respect to earth by
counter rotating the despun section.

12. What is meant by frequency reuse?

The carrier with opposite senses of polarization may overlap in frequency. This technique is
known as frequency reuse.

13. What is meant by spot beam antenna? [Nov/Dec - 2018]

A beam generated by a communication satellite antenna of sufficient size that the angular spread
of sufficient size that the angular spread of the energy in the beam is very small with the result that a
region that is only a few hundred km in diameter is illuminated on earth.

14. What is meant by momentum wheel stabilization?

During the spin stabilization, flywheels may be used rather than spinning the satellite. These
flywheels are termed as momentum wheels.

15. What is polarization interleaving? [April/May - 2018]

Overlap occurs between channels, but these are alternatively polarized left hand circular and right hand
circular to reduce interference to acceptable levels. This is referred to as polarization interleaving.

16. Define S/N ratio.

The S/N introduced in the preceding section is used to refer to the ratio of signal power to noise power at
the receiver output. This is known as S/N ratio.

17. What is noise weighting?

The method used to improve the post detection signal to noise ratio is referred to as noise
weighting.

18. What is noise power spectral density?

Noise power per unit Bandwidth is termed as the noise power spectral density.

19. What is an intermodulation noise?

Intermodulation distortion in high power amplifier can result in signal product which appear as
noise and it is referred to as intermodulation noise.

8
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

20. What is an antenna loss?

It is added to noise received as radiation and the total antenna noise temperature is the sum of the
equivalent noise temperature of all these sources.

21. Define sky noise.

It is a term used to describe the microwave radiation which is present throughout universe and
which appears to originate from matter in any form, at finite temperature.

22. Define noise factor. [April/May - 2019]

An alternative way of representing amplifier noise is by means of its noise factor. In defining the
noise factor of an amplifiers, usually taken as 290 k.

23. What is an OMT?

The polarization separation takes place in a device known as an orthocoupler or Orthogonal Mode
Transducer.

24. What are the main functions of TT & C? [April/May - 2018]

The main functions of TT&C are:
1) Monitor the performance of all the satellite sub-systems and transmit the monitored data to the
satellite control center.
2) Support the determination of orbital parameters.
3) Provide a source earth station for tracking.
4) Receive commands from the control center for performing various functions of the satellite.

25. List out three axis of stabilization.

Roll ( R )
Pitch( P )
Yaw( Y )

26. What is horizon detectors?

To find the deviation or shift, infrared sensors are used, these are referred to as horizon detectors
and a corresponding control signal is generated which activates a restoring torque.

27. What are the main functions of a Space craft management?

To control the orbit and attitude of the satellite.
To monitor the status of all the sensors in the satellite.
To switch on / off some sections in communication system.

28. Why command system is used?

The command system is used to make changes in attitude and orbit,and also to control the
communication subsystem.

29. Mention the various subsystems present in space segment.

Power subsystem
Attitude and orbit control subsystem
Telemetry tracking and command.
Communication subsystem
Antenna subsystem

9
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

30. What is Uplink Rain fade margin? [Nov/Dec - 2018]

Uplink power control mechanism is needed to compensate for rain fades. The output power from
the satellite is monitored by a central control station and by each earth station.

31. Examine why noise temperature is a useful concept in Communication Receivers? [Nov/Dec -
2016]
The concept of noise is valuable in many receiver systems and enables the receiver design and
performance to be matched to the requirements of the overall system. equivalent noise temperatures of the
receivers used in satellite transponders are about 1000 K. For earth station receivers T, values are between
20 and 1000 K. Equivalent noise temperature is generally more useful when expressed logarithmically
with the unit of dBK, as follows:
Te (dBK) = 10 log Te
This allows us to analyze the noise characteristic: of a device by simply evaluating an equivalent
input noise temperature. Te is a very useful parameter when evaluating the performance of a satellite
system.
32. Formulate Uplink and Downlink equations of satellite access. [Nov/Dec - 2016]

Uplink:
 C 
  EIRP U  T   LOSSES U  K 
G 

N


 O U U

Downlink:

 C 
  EIRP D  T   LOSSES D  K 
G 

N


 O D D

UNIT- 3 EARTH SEGMENT

1. Define earth segment.

Earth segment of a satellite communication system consists of transmit earth station and receive
earth station.
Example : TV Receive Only systems (TVRO systems)

2. Give the difference between KU-band and the C-band receive only systems.
Operating frequency of outdoor unit.

3. What is mean by ODU and IDU.

ODU – The Home Receiver Outdoor Unit
IDU – The Home Receiver Indoor Unit

4. Explain about MATV system. [Nov/Dec - 2016]

MATV – Master Antenna TV system.
It is used to provide reception of DBS TV channels to the user group.
Example : Apartment users
It consists of one outdoor unit and various indoor units. Each user can independently access all the
channels.

10
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

5. Write about CATV system. [April/May - 2019]

CATV – Community Antenna TV system.
As in MATV system, it consists of oneoutdoor unit and separate feeds for each sense of polarization.

6. Define S/N ratio.

The S/N introduced in the preceding section is used to refer to the ratio of signal power to noise
power at the receiver output. This is known as S/N ratio.

7. What is noise weighting?

The method used to improve the post detection signal to noise ratio is referred to as noise
weighting.

8. What is an EIRP? [April/May - 2018]

EIRP means Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power. It is a measure of radiated or transmitted power
of an antenna.

9. What is noise power spectral density?

Noise power per unit Bandwidth is termed as the noise power spectral density.

10. What is an inter modulation noise?

Inter modulation distortion in high power amplifier can result in signal product which appear as
noise and it is referred to as inter modulation noise.
11. What is an antenna loss?
It is added to noise received as radiation and the total antenna noise temperature is the sum of the
equivalent noise temperature of all these sources.
12. Define noise factor.
An alternative way of representing amplifier noise is by means of its noise factor. In defining the
noise factor of an amplifiers, usually taken as 290 k.

13. A satellite downlink at 12 GHz operates with a transmit power of 6 W and an antenna gain of
48.2 dB. Calculate the EIRP in dBW. [Nov/Dec – 2016, April/May - 2015]
EIRP = 10 log 6 + 48.2 = 56 dBW

14. The range between a ground station and a satellite is 42000 km. Calculate the free space loss a
frequency of 6 GHz.
[Free space loss] = 32.4 + 20 log 42000 + 20 log 6000 = 200.4 dB

15. An antenna has a noise temperature of 35 K and it is matched into a receiver which has a noise
temperature of 100 K. Calculate the noise power density and the noise power for a BW of 36
MHz.
N 0 = ( 35 + 100 ) * 1.38 * 10-23
= 1.86 * 10-21
J P N = 1.86 * 10-21* 36 * 106
= 0.067 PW

16. Define Saturation flux density.

The flux density required at the receiving antenna to produce saturation of TWTA is termed the
saturation flux density.

11
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

17. Define EIRP. [Nov/Dec - 2018]

EIRP can be defined as the power input to one end of the transmission link and the problem to find
the power received at the other end.
EIRP = G Ps
Where, Gain of the Transmitting antenna and G is in decibels.
Ps - Power of the sender (transmitter) and is calculated in watts.
Ps [EIRP] = [G] + [Ps] dBW

18. Write down the Link - Power Budget Equation. [April/May - 2019]
The EIRP can be considered as the input power to a transmission link. Due to the above discussed
losses, the power at the receiver that is the output can be considered as a simple calculation of EIRP –
losses.

Losses = [FSL] + [RFL] + [AML] + [AA] + [PL]

The received power that is PR:PR = [EIRP] + [GR] – [Losses] Where; received power in dB.
[PR] equivalent isotropic radiated power in dBW. [EIRP] isotropic power gain at the receiver and its
value is in dB. [GR] free - space transmission loss in dB. [FSL] receiver feeder loss in dB. [RFL]
Atmospheric absorption loss in dB. [AA] Antenna misalignment loss in dB [AML] . Depolarization loss
in dB. [PL]

19. List out the transmission losses.

Free space Transmission
Feeder losses
Antenna Misalignment losses.
Fixed Atmospheric and Ionospheric losses.

20. Define carrier to Noise ratio.

Performance of satellite line is measured by carrier to noise ratio, it is given as CNR or C/N.
C/N is given in decibels.

21. A transponder require a saturation flux density of -110dBw/m 2, operating frequency of 14 GHz.
Total loss = 20dB. Find [EIRP]
Here, [Ѱs] = -dB
F= 14 GHz
[L] = 200 dB
[A] = -(-21.45 + 20 log f) = -44.37
[EIRP] = [Ѱs] +[A] + [L]
= -110-44.37+200
[EIRP] = 45.63 dB

22. What is an absorptive network? [April/May - 2018]

It is one which contains resistive elements. These introduce losses by absorbing energy from thre
signal and converting it to heat. Resistive attenuators, transmission lines and waveguides are all examples
of absorptive networks.

12
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

23. Define input backoff.

In order to remove intermodulation distortion, the operating point of the TWT must be shifted closer to
the linear portion of the curve, the reduction in input power being referred to as input backoff.

24. What is intermodulation distortion?

When multiple carriers are passed through the device with the non-linear transfer characteristic, more
serious form of distortion is introduced known as intermodulation distortion.

25. What is TWTA?

TWTA means Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier. The TWTA is widely used in transponder to
provide the final output power required to the transtube and its power supplies.

26. Define diplexer.

The transit and receive signals are separated in a device known as diplexer.

27. What is SCPC?

SCPC means single channel per carrier. In a thin route circuit, a transponder channel (36 MHz)
may be occupied by a number of single carriers, each associated with its own voice circuit.

28. Write down the Satellite TWTA output.

The power output of TWTA is
[PTWTA] = [EIRP] – [GT]D + [Transmit feeder loss]D
The saturated power output rate is given as,
[PTWTA]S = [PTWTA] + [BO]o/p

29. Define rain rate.

If large flat-bottomed vessels open to the rain, the rain rate is defined as the rate at which the water
level in the container is rising. Its unit is millimeter/hour. It is measured for short duration.

30. Write down the formula for calculating Amplifier Noise Temperature. [April/May - 2018]
N o, in = K (Ta + Te)
Where N o, in = input noise energy
Ta = Antenna noise temperature
Te = Input noise temperature for the amplifier.

UNIT- 4 SATELLITE ACCESS

1. What is a single mode of operation?

A transponder channel abroad a satellite may be fully loaded by a single transmission from an
earth station. This is referred to as a single access mode of operation.

2. What are the methods of multiple access techniques?

FDMA – Frequency Division Multiple Access Techniques

TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access Techniques

3. What is an CDMA?
CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access Techniques

13
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

In this method, each signal is associated with a particular code that is used to spread the signal in
frequency and time.

4. Give the types of CDMA. [April/May - 2019]

1. Spread spectrum multiple access
2.Pulse address multiple access

5. What is SCPC?
SCPC means Single Channel Per Carrier. In a thin route circuit, a transponder channel (36 MHz)
may be occupied by a number of single carriers, each associated with its own voice circuit.

6. What is a thin route service?

SCPC systems are widely used on lightly loaded routes, this type of service being referred to as a
thin route service.

7. What is an important feature of Intelsat SCPC system?

The system is that each channel is voice activated. This means that on a two way telephone
conversation only one carriers is operative at any one time.

8. What is an TDMA? What are the advantages? [April/May - 2018]

TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access Techniques
Only one carrier uses the transponder at any one time, and therefore Inter modulation products, which
results from the non-linear amplification of multiple carriers are absent.
Advantages : The transponder traveling wave tube can be operated at maximum power output.

9. What is preamble?
Certain time slots at the beginning of each burst are used to carry timing and synchronizing
information. These time slots collectively are referred to as preamble.

10. Define guard time.

It is necessary to prevent the bursts from overlapping. The guard time will vary from burst to burst
depending on the accuracy with which the various bursts can be
positioned within each frame.

11. What is meant by decoding quenching? [Nov/Dec - 2018]

In certain phase detection systems, the phase detector must be allowed for some time to recover
from one burst before the next burst is received by it. This is known as decoding quenching.

12. What is meant by direct closed loop feedback?

The timing positions are reckoned from the last bit of the unique word in the preamble. The loop
method is also known as direct closed loop feedback.

13. What is meant by feedback closed loop control?

The synchronization information is transmitted back to an earth station from a distant, that is
termed feedback closed loop control.

14. Define frame efficiency.

It is measure of the fraction of frame time used for the transmission of traffic.

14
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

15. What is meant by digital speech interpolation?

The point is that for a significant fraction of the time, the channel is available for other
transmission and advantages are taken of this in a form of demand assignment known as digital speech
interpolation.

16. What is meant by telephone load activity factor?

The fraction of time a transmission channel is active is known as the telephone load activity factor.

17. What are the types of digital speech interpolation?

• Digital time assignment speech interpolation
• Speech predictive encoded communications

18. What is meant by freeze out? [Nov/Dec - 2018]

It has assumed that a free satellite channel will be found for any incoming speed spurt, but there is
a finite probability that all channels will be occupied and the speech spurt lost. Losing a speech spurt in
this manner is referred to as freeze out.

19. What is DSI?

The DSI gain is the ratio of the number of terrestrial space channels to number of satellite
channels. It depends on the number of satellite channels provided as well as the design objectives.

20. What are the advantages of SPEC method over DSI method?
Freeze out does not occur during overload conditions.

21. Define satellite switched TDMA? [April/May - 2018]

Space Division Multiplexing can be realized by switching the antenna interconnections in
synchronism with the TDMA frame rate, this being known as satellite switched TDMA.

22. What is SS / TDMA?

A repetitive sequence of satellite switch modes, referred as SS/ TDMA.

23. What is processing gain?

The jamming or interference signal energy is reduced by a factor known as the processing gain.

24. What is burst code word?

It is a binary word, a copy of which is stored at each earth station.

25. What is meant by burst position acquisition?

A station just entering, or reentering after a long delay to acquire its correct slot position is known
as burst position acquisition.

26. What is an single access? [April/May - 2015]

A transponder channel aboard a satellite may be fully loaded by a single transmission from earth
station.

27. What is an multiple access technique? [April/May - 2015]

A transponder to be loaded by a number of carriers. These may originate from a number of earth
station may transmit one or more of the carriers. This mode of operation known as multiple access
technique.

15
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

28. What is meant by frequency reuse?

The satellite as a whole to be accessed by earth stations widely separated geographically but
transmitting on the same frequency that is known as frequency reuse.

29. What is meant by space division multiple access?

The satellite as a whole to be accessed by earth stations widely separated geographically but
transmitting on the same frequency that is known as frequency reuse. This method of access known as
space division multiple access.

30. What are the limitations of FDMA-satellite access? [Nov/Dec - 2018]

a. If the traffic in the downlink is much heavier than that in the uplink, then FDMA is relatively
inefficient.
b. Compared with TDMA, FDMA has less flexibility in reassigning channels.
c. Carrier frequency assignments are hardware controlled.

31. Write about pre-assigned TDMA satellite access. [Nov/Dec - 2016]

Example for pre-assigned TDMA is CSC for the SPADE network. CSC can accommodate upto 49
earth stations in the network and 1 reference station. All bursts are of equal length. Each burst contains
128 bits. The bit rate is 128 Kb / s.

32. Write about demand assigned TDMA satellite access.

The burst length may be kept constant and the number of bursts per frame used by the given
station is varied when the demand is varied.

33. How does the Spread spectrum System differ from conventional communication system?
[Nov/Dec - 2016]
The method of achieving the large bandwidth is the main distinction between the two
technologies. In conventional spread-spectrum techniques, the signals are continuous-wave sinusoids that
are modulated with a fixed carrier frequency. In UWB (i.e., Conventional) communications, on the other
hand, there is no carrier frequency; the short duration of UWB pulses directly generates an extremely
wide bandwidth. Another distinguishing factor in UWB is the very large bandwidth. Spread-spectrum
techniques can offer megahertz of bandwidth, while UWB pulses provide several gigahertz of bandwidth.

34. Define Multiplexing. [April – 2014]

Multiplexing (or muxing) is a way of sending multiple signals or streams of information over a
communications link at the same time in the form of a single, complex signal.

35. Write the two basic problems in Satellite digital transmission. [April – 2014]
Noise and distortion constitute two basic problems in the design of transmission systems. Usually,
the transmitter and receiver are carefully designed to minimize the effects of channel noise and distortion
on the quality of reception.
36. Why is Cassegrain antenna popular for large earth stations? [April – 2014]
The larger Earth station antenna use the cassegrain feed type of arrangement because,
1. Waveguide line is short.
2. Radial bends in the waveguide are no longer needed.
3. Due to above the cassegrain arrangement leads to less attenuation and improvement in the
noise figure.

16
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

UNIT - 5 SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

1. Give the 3 different types of applications with respect to satellite systems.

• The largest international system (Intelsat)
• The domestic satellite system (Dom sat) in U.S.
• U.S. National oceanographic and atmospheric administration’s (NOAA)

2. Mention the 3 regions to allocate the frequency for satellite services. [Nov/Dec - 2016]
a. Region1: It covers Europe, Africa and Mangolia
b. Region2: It covers North & South Ameriaca and Greenland.
c. Region3: It covers Asia, Australia and South West Pacific.

3. Give the types of satellite services. [Nov/Dec - 2018]

a. Fixed satellite service
b. Broadcasting satellite service
c. Mobile satellite service
d. Navigational satellite services
e. Meteorological satellite services

4. What is mean by Dom sat?

Domestic Satellites. These are used for voice, data and video transmissions within the country.

5. What is mean by INTELSAT?

International Telecommunication Satellite.

6. What is mean by SARSAT?

Search and rescue satellite.

7. What are the applications of Radarsat? [April/May - 2018]

a. Shipping and fisheries.
b. Ocean feature mapping
d. Iceberg detection
e. Crop monitoring

8. What is ECEF?
The geocentric equatorial coordinate system is used with the GPS system. It is called as earth
centered, earth fixed coordinate system.

9. What is dilution of precision? [April/May - 2019]

Position calculations involve range differences and where the ranges are nearly equal, any error is
greatly magnified in the difference. This effect, brought a result of the satellite geometry is known as
dilution of precision.

10. What is PDOP?

With the GPS system, dilution of position is taken into account through a factor known as the
position dilution of precision.

17
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

11. What is DBS?

Satellites are used to provide the broadcast transmissions. It is used to provide direct transmissions
into the home. The service provided is known as Direct Broadcast Satellite services.
Example : Audio, TV and internet services.

12. Give the frequency range of US DBS systems with high power satellites.
a. Uplink frequency range is 17.3 GHz to 17.8 GHz
b. Downlink frequency range is 12.2 GHz to 12.7 GHz

13. Give the frequency range of US DBS systems with medium power satellites.
a. Uplink frequency range is 14 GHz to 14.5 GHz
b. Downlink frequency range is 11.7 GHz to 12.2 GHz

14. What is DTH? [Nov/Dec - 2018]

DBS television is also known as Direct To Home ( DTH ).

15. Write about bit rates for digital television.

It depends on format of the picture.
Uncompressed Bit rate = (Number of pixels in a frame) * (Number of pixels per second) *
(Number of bits used to encode each pixel)

16. Give the satellite mobile services. [April/May - 2018]

a. DBS – Direct Broadcast satellite
b. VSATS – Very Small Aperture Terminals
c. MSATS – Mobile Satellite Service
d. GPS – Global Positioning Systems
e. Micro Sats
f. Orb Comm – Orbital Communications Corporation
g. Iridium

17. What is GCC and GEC?

GCC - Gateway Control Centers
GEC – Gateway Earth Stations

18. What is INMARSAT?

It is the first global mobile satellite communication system operated at L band and internationally
used by 67 countries for communication between ships and coast so that emergency life saving may be
provided. Also it provides modern communication services to maritime, land mobile, aeronautical and
other users.

19. List out the regions covered by INMARSAT.

• Atlantic ocean region, east (AOR-E)
• Atlantic ocean region, west (AOR-W)
• Indian ocean region (IOR)\
• Pacific ocean region (POR)

20. What is INSAT?

INSAT – Indian National Satellite System.

18
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

INSAT is a Indian National Satellite System for telecommunications, broadcasting,meteorology and

search and rescue services. It was commissioned in 1983. INSAT was the largest domestic
communication system in the Asia-Pacific region.

20. List out the INSAT series.

• INSAT-1
• INSAT-2
• INSAt-2A
• INSAT-2E
• INSAT-3

21. What is GSM? [April/May - 2019]

GSM (Global System for Mobile communications: originally from Group Special Mobile) is the
most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. GSM differs from its predecessors in that both
signaling and speech channels are digital, and thus is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone
system. This has also meant that data communication was easy to build into the system.

22. What is GPRS?

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service available to users of
the 2G cellular communication systems global system for mobile communications (GSM), as well as in
the 3G systems. In the 2G systems, GPRS provides data rates of 56-114 kbit/s.

23. Define DAB.

DAB - Digital Audio Broadcast.

Digital audio broadcasting (DAB), also known as digital radio and high definition radio, is audio
broadcasting in which analog audio is converted into a digital signal and transmitted on an assigned
channel in the AM or (more usually) FM frequency range. DAB is said to offer compact disc (CD)-
quality audio on the FM (frequency modulation) broadcast band and to offer FM-quality audio on the AM
(amplitude modulation) broadcast band.

24. What is DVB?

DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is a set of standards that
define digital broadcasting using existing satellite, cable, and terrestrial infrastructures.

26. What is GRAMSAT? [Nov/Dec - 2016]

The Gramsat Programme (GP) is an initiative to provide communication networks at the state
level connecting the state capital to districts and blocks. The networks provide Computer Connectivity,
Data Broadcasting and TV Broadcasting facilities having applications like e-Governance, National
Resource Information System (NRIS), Development Information, Tele-conferencing, Disaster
Management, Tele-medicine and Distance Education.

27. What are VSATs?

VSATs: Very Small Aperture Terminal System.
It provides two way communication facilities. Typical user gropus include banking and financial
institutions, airlines, hotel booking agencies and large retail stores with geographically dispersed outlets.

19
Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology ECE

28. What is GPS?

GPS – Global Positioning System. It is used for navigation and locating the position. It is
originally called as NAVSTAR and developed for US military services to guide missiles and ships.

29. List out the advantages of Radarsat.

It is not necessary for rotation of solar arrays.

Space craft design is simple.
It is used to provide better power raising capabilities.

30. List out the applications of MSAT. [Nov/Dec - 2018]

Public safety – for police, search and rescue applications.

Aeronautical – in air traffic control.
Marine in communication to domestic coastal fishing vessels.
Land applications – in environmental monitoring and vehicle monitoring.

31. What is the difference between DBS TV and Conventional TV? [April/May - 2015]
A major difference between DBS TV and conventional TV is that with DBS, frequency
modulation is used, whereas with conventional TV, amplitude modulation in the form of vestigial single
side- band (VSSB) is used.

32. Name the services provided by GSM. [April/May - 2015]

GSM offers three basic types of services:
 Telephony services or teleservices

 Data services or bearer services

 Supplementary services

33. What are the features of LEO? [April/May - 2015]
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with an altitude between the Earth's surface
and 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi), with an orbital period of between about 84 and 127 minutes. Objects
below approximately 160 kilometers (99 mi) will experience very rapid orbital decay and altitude loss

34. Write the four kinds of communication that the network structure of MSAT can accommodate.
[April - 2014]
Mobile Radio Service (MRS)
Mobile Telephone Service (MTS)
Mobile Data Service (MDS)
Aeronautical Services

20