Satellite Communications

Aura Ganz

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Introduction

Satellite communications systems exist because
earth is a sphere

Radio waves travel in straight lines at the microwave
frequencies used for wideband communications

Satellites are important in: voice communications,
video & radio transmission, navigation (GPS),
remote sensing (maps, weather satellites) etc.

They cover large areas

Inherent broadcast

Inherent capability of by-passing the whole
terrestrial system

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History

Satellite communications began in October 1957 with the launch
by the USSR a small satellite called Sputnik 1 (4.10.1957)

Beacon transmitter, no communications capability

3.11.1957 Sputnik 2 with Laika

12.4.1961 Vostok1 with Juri Gagarin

First true communication satellites (Telstar I & II) were launched
in July 1962 & May 1963

10/1964 Syncom2: First GEO satellite, 7.4/1.8 GHz (one TV-
channel or several 2-way telephone connections

1987 TVSAT: First DBS-satellite (Direct Broadcast Satellite,
Television-broadcasts directly to home)

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Organizations

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO),
previously known as INTELSAT

global cooperation in satellite communications

Europe: The European Space Agency (ESA)

ESA is responsible for performing R&D and developing new
technology for European space industries for the field of satellite
communications

National organizations:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

China National Space Administration (CNSA)

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Satellite Design Issues

Factors related to satellite system design:

Weight of satellite

Choice frequency band

Atmospheric propagation effects

 Carrying the maximum revenue earning

traffic at minimum cost

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Technology

Orbits

Frequencies

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 Orbits

Putting a satellite into orbit

©2002
Analytical
Graphics,
Inc. 7
Orbits
500-2,000 km

8,000-20,000 km

35,786 km
22,300 miles
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 Orbits

Low Earth Orbits Medium Earth Orbits Geostationary Orbits

Height: 700-2000 km Height: 8000-12000 km Height:35,780 km
Rotation Period: 90 min. Rotation Period: 5-12 hrs. Rotation Period: 24 hrs.
Time in LOS of Time in LOS of Time in LOS of
earth station: 15 min. earth station: 2-4 hrs. earth station: 24 hrs.

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Satellites in Orbit

10
Satellite Coverage

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Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO)
Satellites are stationary with respect to a fixed point on earth

Uses:

Communications (DBS, data)

Advantages:

large area coverage

satellite rotation is synchronous to earth

three satellites can cover the whole globe

low system complexity

Simplest space configuration and simple space control system

No need for tracking system at earth stations

No variation of propagation delay and elevation angle

Disadvantages:

long propagation delay (one way ~125 msec)

high transmission power is required

large on-board antennas required if low power hand-held user terminals are considered

congestion

no more orbital slots

last slot purchased by MCI in 1996 for $682 million

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Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)

Uses:

Cellular telephone communications

GPS (global positioning system)

Advantages:

lower propagation delay (one way ~35msec)

lower transmission power

more expensive than LEO but cheaper than GEO

Disadvantages:

coverage spot larger than a LEO, but still less than a GEO

still the need to be in rotation to preserve their low altitude

multiple MEO satellites are still needed to cover a region continuously

handovers and satellite tracking are needed, hence, high complexity

Proximity to Van Allen belt creates hazards to electronic systems

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Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Uses:

Data-and-voice communications

Advantages:

short propagation delays (one way 10-15 msec)

low transmission power required

low price for satellite and equipment

Disadvantages:

small coverage spot

they have to be in rotation to preserve their low altitude

greater no. of satellites needed for continuous coverage

high system complexity due the need for handovers and
satellite tracking

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Comparison

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Frequencies
Band Frequency Principal Use
VHF 100-300 MHz Terrestrial B’cast
UHF 300-1000 MHz Terrestrial B’cast
C 4-6 GHz Satellite B’cast
Ku* 12-18 GHz Satellite B’cast
K 18-24 GHz Communications
Ka 24-40 GHz Broadband data
Analog Digital (Primestar originally analog)
* The u in the Ku frequency band means the "band under the K band".
The a in the Ka frequency band means the "band above the K band". 16
Frequencies
 Comparing Broadcast Satellites
Band => C Ku (FSS) Ku (BSS)
Frequency 3.7-4.2 GHz 11.7-12.2 GHz 12.2-12.7 GHz
Orbital Spacing 2 degrees 2 degrees 9 degrees
Power per 5-11 watts 20-60 watts 100-200 watts
transponder 10-17 watts
Antenna 5-12’ (90”) 36” 18”
No. in US orbit 22 (shared) 8
# transponders 12-24 32
Channels per 1-2 5-8 8-10
transponder
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Frequencies

C-band (6/4 GHz) [up/down].

Wide area coverage for broadcast
applications and minimal
disturbance due to rain attenuation

Ku-band (14/12 GHz)

Allows9 degree satellite spacing
which leaves no chance for
adjacent satellite interference.

Ku-band DBS (17/12 GHz)

High-power, more channels

Small dishes (0.6 meters)
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MAC Design Challenges

Satellite uplink is a shared medium

Satellite links are erroneous

Long propagation delays

Limited available bandwidth

Very limited onboard space, power
Highly efficient and low-complexity medium
access control protocols with QoS guarantee
for real-time and interactive applications are
needed !
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MAC Design

Due to large size of the areas covered by a spot beam carrier-sensing
is not possible in a satellite uplink !! (Forget about Ethernet)

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

Bandwidth  Carrier Frequency

allows smaller size antennas

not flexible, not suitable for dynamic bandwidth allocation

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

Bandwidth  time slot

requires high transmission power and large antenna

highly flexible, suitable for dynamic bandwidth allocation

fits well in all-digital network management

synchronization is a problem

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MAC Design

Multi-Frequency Time Division (MF-TDMA)
Bandwidth  Carrier frequency and time slot

hybrid access scheme

in future system

advantages of TDMA and FDMA

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 Demand Assignment Protocols

Earth stations reserve capacity dynamically

No collisions

Centralized control

Fixed rate - reservation is done for connection
lifetime

Variable rate - new reservations allowed during
connections

Highly efficient

High propagation delays

Can guarantee QoS

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 Satellite Network Topology

Remote Station 3
Remote Station 1 Network Control Center
(NCC)

Remote Station 2 23
 Bandwidth
request from
applications

Remote Remote
Station NCC Station
(RS) (RS)

Request
Request z kbyte/s for
x kbyte/s for “DATAGRAM”
“STREAM” traffic
traffic
Request
y kbyte/s for
Application A Application C
“DATAGRAM”
Application B 24
traffic
 Bandwidth request
sent to Remote
Stations Prepare “Session Entry
Message” (SEM) with
requests for: Prepare “Session Entry
Message” (SEM) with
- x kbyte/s for STREAM requests for:
Remote traffic Remote
Station - y kbyte/s for DATAGRAM HUB Station
- z kbyte/s for STREAM traffic
(RS) traffic (RS)

Bus Ethernet
Application A
Application B 25
 Bandwidth RETURN LINK (RS to NCC): TDMA
requests sent to
NCC

channel 1
slot 0
channel 1 channel 1
Remote slot 0 Remote
Station slot 0 NCC Station
(RS) (RS)

Application A Application C
Application B 26
 Allocates frequency/slot for traffic

Bandwidth allocation
(NCC)

Remote Remote
Station HUB Station
(RS) (RS)

Application A Application C
Application B 27
 FORWARD LINK (NCC to RS):
Bandwidth contains slot/frequency
Assignment sent to assigned to each application
Remote Stations

Remote Remote
Station NCC Station
(RS) (RS)

Application A Application C
Application B 28
Traffic transmission
RETURN LINK (RS to HUB): TDMA
from Remote
Stations to NCC

channel 2 channel 1
channel 1 channel 2
Remote Remote
Station NCC Station
(RS) (RS)

Application A Application C
Application B 29
Traffic transmission RETURN LINK (RS to NCC): TDMA
from Remote
Stations to NCC

channel 1 channel 2
Remote Remote
Station NCC Station
(RS) (RS)

Application A Application C
Application B 30
 FORWARD LINK (NCC to RS): TDM
Traffic transmission
In Broadcast to all
from NCC to Remote Remote Stations
Stations

Remote Remote
Station NCC Station
(RS) (RS)

Application A Application C
Application B 31
32
Examples

Direct TV

DBS

Satellite radio

Iridium

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Satellites Traditional Role

Original use for TV distribution (Telstar)

Evolved into trans oceanic telephony trunking
(Intelsat)

Step out into thin route telephony (Spade and
Domsats)

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Digital TV

First roll out in North America used a proprietary
technology (Hughes Direct TV)

Europeans were more active in promoting a
common standard DVB/MPEG2 (SES Astra)

North Americans now realizing the benefit of this
standard (EchoStar, Express-Vu)

A manufacturing community exists in support of
DVB/MPEG (Philips et al)

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Direct to Home Satellite TV
C-band (4 GHz)

6 foot dishes

Analog system

6 MHz channels

Few channels per

satellite

Problems:
• cumbersome/expensive equipment
• expensive hardware
• limited channel selection
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DBS Receiver Technology

Ku-band (higher
frequency) enables small
receiving dish

Digital signal provides

CD quality sound

“Better” picture

Additional services

More channels: 500!”

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DBS

Promise of high-quality, nation-wide service
obtained

DirecTV and Echo Star

Advantages

Easy to add new customers (database change)

Disadvantages

Large customer and venture investment up-front

No standard among providers

Limited bandwidth, HDTV?

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Satellite Radio (2002)

Two competing and incompatible
systems: XM and Sirius

Like Direct Broadcast Television in
idea

Smaller antenna

No need to point

Coming next, Digital Radio in the AM

and FM bands.
Image: Sony

Static free

Additional features (e.g., play list)
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Iridium (1998)

Cell coverage around the world
through a 66 satellite network

Low earth orbit: 485 miles

First phones were brick size/weight

Pricing is way too high
(dollars/minute) for general consumer

Land based systems in other
countries built out faster than
expected

$4 B and company filed for bankruptcy

Niche market for private planes,
boats, artic explorers and military

Source: Iridium
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Current Filings Will Expand
Commercial Satellite Communication Capability

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