SATELLITE

COMMUNICATION

UNIT III EARTH SEGMENT

 Earth Station Technology

The earth segment of a satellite communications system consists of the

transmit and receive earth stations. The simplest of these are the home TV receive-
only (TVRO) systems, and the most complex are the terminal stations used for
international communications networks. Also included in the earth segment are
those stations which are on ships at sea, and commercial and military land and
aeronautical mobile stations.
As mentioned in earth stations that are used for logistic sup- port of satellites, such
as providing the telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) functions, are considered
as part of the space segment.

Terrestrial Interface

Earth station is a vital element in any satellite communication network.

The function of an earth station is to receive information from or transmit
information to, the satellite network in the most cost-effective and reliable
manner while retaining the desired signal quality. The design of earth station
configuration depends upon many factors and its location. But it is
fundamentally governed by its

Location which are listed below,

• In land
• On a ship at sea
• Onboard aircraft
The factors are
• Type of services
• Frequency bands used
• Function of the transmitter
• Function of the receiver
• Antenna characteristics

Transmitter and Receiver

Any earth station consists of four major subsystems

• Transmitter
• Receiver
• Antenna • Tracking equipment
 Two other important subsystems are
• Terrestrial interface equipment
• Power supply

The earth station depends on the following parameters

• Transmitter power
• Choice of frequency
• Gain of antenna
• Antenna efficiency
• Antenna pointing accuracy
• Noise temperature

The functional elements of a basic digital earth station are shown in the below
figure

Figure 3.1 Transmitter- Receiver

Digital information in the form of binary digits from terrestrial networks

enters earth station and is then processed (filtered, multiplexed, formatted etc.)
by the base band equipment.

• The encoder performs error correction coding to reduce the error rate, by
introducing extra digits into digital stream generated by the base band
equipment. The extra digits carry information.
• In satellite communication, I.F carrier frequency is chosen at 70 MHz for
communication using a 36 MHz transponder bandwidth and at 140 MHz for a
transponder bandwidth of 54 or 72 MHz.

• On the receive side, the earth station antenna receives the low -level
modulated R.F carrier in the downlink frequency spectrum.

• The low noise amplifier (LNA) is used to amplify the weak rec eived
signals and improve the signal to Noise ratio (SNR). The error rate requirements
can be met more easily.
• R.F is to be reconverted to I.F at 70 or 140 MHz because it is easier
design a demodulation to work at these frequencies than 4 or 12 GHz.

• The demodulator estimate which of the possible symbols was

transmitted based on observation of the received if carrier.

• The decoder performs a function opposite that of the encoder. Because

the sequence of symbols recovered by the demodulator may cont ain errors, the
decoder must use the uniqueness of the redundant digits introduced by the
encoder to correct the errors and recover information-bearing digits.

• The information stream is fed to the base-band equipment for processing

for delivery to the terrestrial network.

• The tracking equipments track the satellite and align the beam towards
it to facilitate communication.

Earth Station Tracking System

Tracking is essential when the satellite drift, as seen by an earth station

antenna is a significant fraction of an earth station’s antenna beam width.
An earth station’s tracking system is required to perform some of the
functions such as

i) Satellite acquisition
ii)Automatic tracking
iii)Manual tracking
iv)Program tracking.
 Antenna Systems

The antenna system consist of

 Feed System
 Antenna Reflector
 Mount
 Antenna tracking System

FEED SYSTEM

The feed along with the reflector is the radiating/receiving element of

electromagnetic waves. The reciprocity property of the feed element makes the
earth station antenna system suitable for transmission and reception of
electromagnetic waves.

The way the waves coming in and going out is called feed configuration
Earth Station feed systems most commonly used in satellite communication are:
i) Axi-Symmetric Configuration
ii)Asymmetric Configuration
i)Axi-Symmetric Configuration

In an axi-symmetric configuration the antenna axes are symmetrical with

respect to the reflector ,which results in a relatively simple mechanical structure
and antenna mount.

Primary Feed

In primary, feed is located at the focal point of the parabolic reflector.

Many dishes use only a single bounce, with incoming waves reflecting off the
dish surface to the focus in front of the dish, where the antenna is located. when
the dish is used to transmit ,the transmitting antenna at the focus beams waves
toward the dish, bouncing them off to space. This is the simplest arrangement.

Cassegrain

Many dishes have the waves make more than one bounce .This is
generally called as folded systems. The advantage is that the whole dish and
feed system is more compact. There are several folded configurations, but all
have at least one secondary reflector also called a sub reflector, located out in
front of the dish to redirect the waves.
 A common dual reflector antenna called Cassegrain has a convex sub
reflector positioned in front of the main dish, closer to the dish than the focus.
This sub reflector bounces back the waves back toward a feed located on the
main dish’s center, sometimes behind a hole at the center of the main dish.
Sometimes there are even more sub reflectors behind the dish to direct the
waves to the fed for convenience or compactness.

Gregorian

This system has a concave secondary reflector located just beyond the
primary focus. This also bounces the waves back toward the dish.

ii) Asymmetric Configuration

Offset or Off-axis feed

The performance of tan axi-symmetric configuration is affected by the

blockage of the aperture by the feed and the sub reflector assembly. The result is
a reduction in the antenna efficiency and an increase in the side lobe levels. The
asymmetric configuration can remove this limitation..This is achieved by off -
setting the mounting arrangement of the feed so that it does not obstruct the
main beam. As a result ,the efficiency and side lobe level performance a re
improved.

ANTENNA REFLECTOR

Mostly parabolic reflectors are used as the main antenna for the earth
stations because of the high gain available from the reflector and the ability of
focusing a parallel beam into a point at the focus where the feed,i.e., the
receiving/radiating element is located .For large antenna system more than one
reflector surfaces may be used in as in the cassegrain antenna system.

Earth stations are also classified on the basis of services for example:
1.Two way TV ,Telephony and data
2. Two way TV
3. TV receive only and two way telephony and data
4.Two way data
From the classifications it is obvious that the technology of earth station
will vary considerably on the performance and the service require ments of earth
station
For mechanical design of parabolic reflector the following parameters are
required to be considered:
 Size of the reflector
 Focal Length /diameter ratio
 RMS error of main and sub reflector
 Pointing and tracking accuracies
 Speed and acceleration
 Type of mount
 Coverage Requirement

Wind Speed

The size of the reflector depends on transmit and receive gain requirement
and beamwidth of the antenna. Gain is directly proportional to the antenna
diameter whereas the beamwidth is inversely proportional to the antenna
diameter .for high inclination angle of the satellite ,the tracking of the earth
station becomes necessary when the beamwidth is too narrow.

The gain of the antenna is given by

Gain= (η4ΠAeff)/ λ2
Where Aeff is the aperture
Λ is wave length
Η is efficiency of antenna system
For a parabolic antenna with circular aperture diameter D, the gain of the
antenna is :
Gain= (η4Π/ λ2)( ΠD2/4)
= η (ΠD/ λ)2
The overall efficiency of the antenna is the net product of various factors such as

1. Cross Polarization
2. Spill over
3. Diffraction
4. Blockage
5. Surface accuracy
6. Phase error
7. Illumination
In the design of feed, the ratio of focal length F to the diameter of the
reflector D of the antenna system control the maximum angle subtended by the
reflector surface on the focal point. Larger the F/D ratio larger is the aperture
illumination efficiency and lower the cross polarization.

Figure 3.2 Antenna sub systems

ANTENNA MOUNT

Type of antenna mount is determined mainly by the coverage requirement

and tracking requirements of the antenna systems. Different types of mounts
used for earth station antenna are:

i) The Azimuth –elevation mount

This mount consists of a primary vertical axis. Rotation around this axis
controls the azimuth angle. The horizontal axis is mounted over the primary
axis, providing the elevation angle control.

ii) The X-Y mount

It consists of a horizontal primary axis (X-axis) and a secondary axis (Y-

axis) and at right angles to it. Movement around these axes provides necessary
steering.
 ANTENNA TRACKING SYSTEM

Tracking is essential when the satellite drift, as seen by an earth station

antenna is a significant fraction of an earth station’s antenna beam width.

An earth station’s tracking system is required to perform some of the

functions such as

i)Satellite acquisition
ii)Automatic tracking
iii)Manual tracking
iv)Program tracking.

Recent Tracking Techniques

There have been some interesting recent developments in auto -track

techniques which can potentially provide high accuracies at a low cost.

In one proposed technique the sequential lobing technique has been I

implemented by using rapid electronic switching of a s single beam which
effectively approximates simultaneous lobbing.

Receive-Only Home TV Systems

Planned broadcasting directly to home TV receivers takes place in the Ku

(12-GHz) band. This service is known as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service.

There is some variation in the frequency bands assigned to different

geographic regions. In the Americas, for example, the down- link band is 12.2 to
12.7 GHz.

The comparatively large satellite receiving dishes [ranging in diame- ter

from about 1.83 m (6 ft) to about 3-m (10 ft) in some locations], which may be seen in
some “backyards” are used to receive downlink TV signals at C band (4 GHz).

Originally such downlink signals were never intended for home reception but
for network relay to commercial TV outlets (VHF and UHF TV broadcast stations
and cable TV “head-end” studios).
The Indoor unit

Equipment is now marketed for home reception of C-band signals, and some
manufacturers provide dual C-band/Ku-band equipment. A single mesh type
reflector may be used which focuses the signals into a dual feed- horn, which has two
separate outputs, one for the C-band signals and onefor the Ku-band signals.

Much of television programming originates as first generation signals, also

known as master broadcast quality signals.

These are transmitted via satellite in the C band to the network head- end
stations, where they are retransmitted as compressed digital signals to cable and
direct broadcast satellite providers.

 Another of the advantages, claimed for home C-band systems, is the larger
number of satellites available for reception compared to what is available for
direct broadcast satellite sys- terms.

 Although many of the C-band transmissions are scrambled, there are free
channels that can be received, and what are termed “wild feeds.”

 These are also free, but unannounced programs, of which details can be
found in advance from various publications and Internet sources.

 C-band users can also subscribe to pay TV channels, and another

advantage claimed is that subscription services are cheaper than DBS or
cable because of the multiple-source programming available.

 The most widely advertised receiving system for C-band system appears to be
4DTV manufactured by Motorola.

This enables reception of

 Free, analog signals and “wild feeds”

 Video Cipher ll plus subscription services
 Free Digi Cipher 2 services
 Subscription DigiCipher 2 services
 Figure 3.3 TVRO System block diagrams

.
The outdoor unit

This consists of a receiving antenna feeding directly into a low -noise

amplifier/converter combination. A parabolic reflector is generally used, with the
receiving horn mounted at the focus. A common design is to have the focus
directly in front of the reflector, but for better interference rejection, an offset
feed may be used as shown.

Comparing the gain of a 3-m dish at 4 GHz with a 1-m dish at 12 GHz,
the ratio D/l equals 40 in each case, so the gains will be about equal. Although
the free-space losses are much higher at 12 GHz compared with 4 GHz.
 The downlink frequency band of 12.2 to 12.7 GHz spans a range of 500
MHz, which accommodates 32 TV/FM channels, each of which is 24-MHz wide.
Obviously, some overlap occurs between channels, but these are alternately
polarized left-hand circular (LHC) and right-hand circular (RHC) or
vertical/horizontal, to reduce interference to accept- able levels. This is referred to
as polarization interleaving. A polarizer that may be switched to the desired
polarization from the indoor con- trol unit is required at the receiving horn.

The receiving horn feeds into a low-noise converter (LNC) or possibly a

combination unit consisting of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) followed by a
converter.

The combination is referred to as an LNB, for low-noise block. The LNB

provides gain for the broadband 12-GHz signal and then converts the signal to a
lower frequency range so that a low-cost coaxial cable can be used as feeder to the
indoor unit.
The signal fed to the indoor unit is normally a wideband signal cov- ering
the range 950 to 1450 MHz. This is amplified and passed to a tracking filter
which selects the desired channel, as shown in Fig.

As previously mentioned, polarization interleaving is used, and only half

the 32 channels will be present at the input of the indoor unit for any one
setting of the antenna polarizer. This eases the job of the tracking filter, since
alternate channels are well separated in frequency.

The selected channel is again down converted, this time from the 950- to
1450-MHz range to a fixed intermediate frequency, usually 70 MHz although
other values in the very high frequency (VHF) range are also used.

The 70-MHz amplifier amplifies the signal up to the levels required for
demodulation. 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.

The 70-MHz, FM intermediate frequency (IF) carrier therefore must be

demodulated, and the baseband information used to generate a VSSB signal
which is fed into one of the VHF/UHF channels of a standard TV set.
 Master Antenna TV System

A master antenna TV (MATV) system is used to provide reception of DBS

TV/FM channels to a small group of users, for example, to the tenants in an
apartment building. It consists of a single outdoor unit (antenna and LNA/C)
feeding a number of indoor units, as shown in Fig.
It is basically similar to the home system already described, but with
each user having access to all the channels independently of the other users.
The advantage is that only one outdoor unit is required, but as shown, separate
LNA/Cs and feeder cables are required for each sense of polarization.
Compared with the single- user system, a larger antenna is also required
(2- to 3-m diameter) in order to maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio at all the
indoor units.

Where more than a few subscribers are involved, the distribution system
used is similar to the community antenna (CATV) system described in the
following section.

Figure 3.4 CATV System block diagrams

 Community Antenna TV System

The CATV system employs a single outdoor unit, with separate feeds
available for each sense of polarization, like the MATV system, so that all
channels are made available simultaneously at the indoor receiver.

Instead of having a separate receiver for each user, all the carriers are
demodulated in a common receiver-filter system, as shown in Fig. The channels
are then combined into a standard multiplexed signal for transmission over cable
to the subscribers.

In remote areas where a cable distribution system may not be installed,

the signal can be rebroadcast from a low-power VHF TV transmitter.

Figure shows a remote TV station which employs an 8-m (26.2-ft)

antenna for reception of the satellite TV signal in the C band.

Figure 3.5 One possible arrangement for the indoor unit of a community
antenna TV (CATV) system.

With the CATV system, local programming material also may be dis-
tributed to subscribers, an option which is not permitted in the MATV system.
 Test Equipment Measurements on G/T, C/No, EIRP

Measurement of G/T of small antennas is easily and simply measured

using the spectrum analyser method. For antennas with a diameter of less than
meters it is not normally necessary to point off from the satellite.

A step in frequency would be required into one of the satellite transponder

guard bands.

However antennas with a G/T sufficiently large to enable the station to

see the transponder noise floor either a step in frequency into one of the satellite
transponder guard bands and/or in azimuth movement would be required.

The test signal can be provided from an SES WORLD SKIES beacon.

Procedure

(a) Set up the test equipment as shown below. Allow half an hour to warm
up,
and then calibrate in accordance with the manufacturer’s procedures.

Figure 3.6 One possible arrangement for Measurement of G/T

 (b) Adjust the centre frequency of your spectrum analyzer to receive the
SES WORLD SKIES beacon (data to be provided on the satellite used for testing)

(c) Carefully peak the antenna pointing and adjust the polarizer by nulling
the
cross polarized signal. You cannot adjust polarization when using the circularly
polarized SES WORLD SKIES beacon.

(d) Configure the spectrum analyser as follows:

Centre Frequency: Adjust for beacon or test signal frequency (to be

advised).
Use marker to peak and marker to centre functions.

 Frequency Span: 100 KHz

 Resolution Bandwidth: 1 KHz
 Video Bandwidth: 10 Hz (or sufficiently small to limit noise
variance)
 Scale: 5 dB/div
 Sweep Time: Automatic
 Attenuator Adjust to ensure linear operation. Adjust to
provide the "Noise floor delta" described in steps 7 and 8.

(e) To insure the best measurement accuracy during the following steps,
adjust the spectrum analyser amplitude (reference level) so that the measured
signal, carrier or noise, is approximately one division below the top line of the
spectrum analyser display.

(f) Record the frequency and frequency offset of the test signal from the
nominal frequency:
For example, assume the nominal test frequency is 11750 MHz but the
spectrum analyser shows the peak at 11749 MHz. The frequency offset in this case
is -1 MHz.

(g) Change the spectrum analyser centre frequency as specified by SES

WORLD SKIES so that the measurement is performed in a transponder guard
band so that only system noise power of the earth station and no satellite signals
are received. Set the spectrum analyser frequency as follows:
Centre Frequency = Noise slot frequency provided by the PMOC
 (h) Disconnect the input cable to the spectrum analyser and confirm that
the noise floor drops by at least 15 dB but no more than 25dB. This confirms that
the spectrum analyser’s noise contribution has an insignificant effect on the
measurement. An input attenuation value allowing a "Noise floor Delta" in
excess of 25 dB may cause overloading of the spectrum analyser input. (i)
Reconnect the input cable to the spectrum analyser.

(j) Activate the display line on the spectrum analyser.

(k) Carefully adjust the display line to the noise level shown on the
spectrum analyser. Record the display line level.

(l) Adjust the spectrum analyser centre frequency to the test carrier
frequency
recorded in step (e).

(m) Carefully adjust the display line to the peak level of the test carrier on
the
spectrum analyser. Record the display line level.

(n) Determine the difference in reference levels between steps (l) and (j)
which is the (C+N)/N.

(o) Change the (C+N)/N to C/N by the following conversion:

This step is not necessary if the (C+N)/N ratio is more than 20 dB because
the resulting correction is less than 0.1 dB.

(p) Calculate the carrier to noise power density ratio (C/No) using:

The 2.5 dB figure corrects the noise power value measured by the log
converters in the spectrum analyser to a true RMS power level, and the SA
corr
factor takes into account the actual resolution filter
bandwidth. (q) Calculate the G/T using the following:

where,
EIRPSC – Downlink EIRP measured by the PMOC
(dBW) Acorr – Aspect correction supplied by the PMOC
(dB)
FSL – Free Space Loss to the AUT supplied by the PMOC (dB)
La – Atmospheric attenuation supplied by the PMOC (dB)

(r) Repeat the measurement several times to check consistency of the result.

3.7 Antenna Gain

Antenna gain is usually defined as the ratio of the power produced

by the antenna from a far-field source on the antenna's beam axis to the
power produced by a hypothetical lossless isotropic antenna, which is equally
sensitive to signals from all directions.

Figure 3.6 One possible arrangement for Measurement of

Antenna Gain
Two direct methods of measuring the Rx gain can be used; integration of
the Rx sidelobe pattern or by determination of the 3dB and 10dB beamwidths.
 The use of pattern integration will produce the more accurate results but
would require the AUT to have a tracking system. In both cases the
test configurations for measuring Rx gain are identical, and are illustrated in
Figure.

In order to measure the Rx gain using pattern integration the AUT

measures the elevation and azimuth narrowband (±5° corrected) sidelobe
patterns.

The AUT then calculates the directive gain of the antenna through
integration of the sidelobe patterns. The Rx gain is then determine d by reducing
the directive gain by the antenna inefficiencies.

In order to measure the Rx gain using the beamwidth method, the AUT
measures the corrected azimuth and elevation 3dB/10dB beamwidths. From
these results the Rx gain of the antenna can be directly calculated using the
formula below.

where:
G is the effective antenna gain (dBi)
Az3 is the corrected azimuth 3dB beamwidth
(°) El3 is the elevation 3dB beamwidth (°)
Az10 is the corrected azimuth 10dB beamwidth
(°) El10 is the elevation 10dB beamwidth (°)
FLoss is the insertion loss of the feed (dB)

RLoss is the reduction in antenna gain due to reflector inaccuracies, and is

given by:

RLoss =4.922998677(Sdev f )2 dB

where: Sdev is the standard deviation of the actual reflector surface (inches)
f is the frequency (GHz)
 APPLICATIONS

Figure an example of MATV system

Figure an example of Satellite Earth Station