Satellite Communications

Prof. Dr. Pardeep Kumar

Background
 The Earth is a sphere & the microwave frequencies travel
in straight line but to connect two regions very far away
on the two side of the sphere, the link requires lot of
repeaters because of Earth’s curvature.
 A single satellite can do the magic linking the continents
with one repeater.
Overview

 Satellite technology has progressed

tremendously since Arthur C. Clarke first
proposed its idea in 1945
 Can provide a variety of services including
broadband communications, audio/video
distribution networks, maritime navigation,
worldwide customer service and support, military
command and control.
 To play an important role in the emerging 5G
global infrastructure for AAA
History
Satellite History Calendar
 1957
– October 4, 1957: - First satellite - the Russian Sputnik 01
– First living creature in space: Sputnik 02
 1958
– First American satellite: Explorer 01
– First telecommunication satellite: This satellite broadcast a taped message: Score
 1959
– First meteorology satellite: Explorer 07

 1960
– First successful passive satellite: Echo 1
– First successful active satellite: Courier 1B
– First NASA satellite: Explorer 08
 April 12, 1961: - First man in space
 1962
– First telephone communication & TV broadcast via satellite: Echo 1
– First telecommunication satellite, first real-time active, AT&T: Telstar 1
– First Canadian satellite: Alouette 1
 1963
– Real-time active: Telstar 2
 1964
– Creation of Intelsat
– First geostationary satellite, second satellite in stationary orbit: Syncom 3
– First Italian satellite: San Marco 1
Satellite History Calendar
 1957
– October 4, 1957: - First satellite - the Russian Sputnik 01
– First living creature in space: Sputnik 02
 1958
– First American satellite: Explorer 01
– First telecommunication satellite: This satellite broadcast a taped message: Score
 1959
– First meteorology satellite: Explorer 07

 1960
– First successful passive satellite: Echo 1
– First successful active satellite: Courier 1B
– First NASA satellite: Explorer 08
 April 12, 1961: - First man in space
 1962
– First telephone communication & TV broadcast via satellite: Echo 1
– First telecommunication satellite, first real-time active, AT&T: Telstar 1
– First Canadian satellite: Alouette 1
 1963
– Real-time active: Telstar 2
 1964
– Creation of Intelsat
– First geostationary satellite, second satellite in stationary orbit: Syncom 3
– First Italian satellite: San Marco 1
Satellite History Calendar
 1965
– Intelsat 1 becomes first commercial comsat: Early Bird
– First real-time active for USSR: Molniya 1A
 1967
– First geostationary meteorology payload: ATS 3
 1968
– First European satellite: ESRO 2B
 July 21, 1969: - First man on the moon

 1970
– First Japanese satellite: Ohsumi
– First Chinese satellite: Dong Fang Hong 01
 1971
– First UK launched satellite: Prospero
– ITU-WARC for Space Telecommunications
– INTELSAT IV Launched
– INTERSPUTNIK - Soviet Union equivalent of INTELSAT formed
 1974
– First direct broadcasting satellite: ATS 6
 1976 
– MARISAT - First civil maritime communications satellite service started
 1977 
– EUTELSAT - European regional satellite
– ITU-WARC for Space Telecommunications in the Satellite Service
 1979
– Creation of Inmarsat
Satellite History Calendar
 1980 
– INTELSAT V launched - 3 axis stabilized satellite built by Ford Aerospace
 1983 
– ECS (EUTELSAT 1) launched - built by European consortium supervised by ESA
 1984 
– UK's UNISAT TV DBS satellite project abandoned
– First satellite repaired in orbit by the shuttle: SMM
 1985
– First Brazilian satellite: Brazilsat A1
– First Mexican satellite: Morelos 1
 1988
– First Luxemburg satellite: Astra 1A
 1989 
– INTELSAT VI - one of the last big "spinners" built by Hughes
– Creation of Panamsat - Begins Service
– On 16 July 1990, Pakistan launched its first experimental satellite, BADR-I from China
 1990 
– IRIDIUM, TRITIUM, ODYSSEY and GLOBALSTAR S-PCN projects proposed - CDMA designs more popular
– EUTELSAT II
 1992 
– OLYMPUS finally launched - large European development satellite with Ka-band, DBTV and Ku-band SS/TDMA payloads - fails within 3 years
 1993 
– INMARSAT II - 39 dBW EIRP global beam mobile satellite - built by Hughes/British Aerospace
 1994 
– INTELSAT VIII launched - first INTELSAT satellite built to a contractor's design
– Hughes describe SPACEWAY design
– DirecTV begins Direct Broadcast to Home
 1995
– Panamsat - First private company to provide global satellite services.
Satellite History Calendar
 1996 
– INMARSAT III launched - first of the multibeam mobile satellites (built by GE/Marconi)
– Echostar begins Diresct Broadcast Service
 1997 
– IRIDIUM launches first test satellites
– ITU-WRC'97
 1999 
– AceS launch first of the L-band MSS Super-GSOs - built by Lockheed Martin
– Iridium Bankruptcy - the first major failure?
 2000 
– Globalstar begins service
– Thuraya launch L-band MSS Super-GSO
 2001
– XM Satellite Radio begins service
– Pakistan’s 2nd Satellite, BADR-B was launched on 10 Dec 2001 at 9:15a from Baikonour Cosmodrome, Kazakistan
 2002
– Sirius Satellite Radio begins service
– Paksat-1, was deployed at 38 degrees E orbital slot in December 2002, Paksat-1, was deployed at 38 degrees E orbital slot in December 2002
 2004 
– Teledesic network planned to start operation
 2005 
– Intelsat and Panamsat Merge
– VUSat OSCAR-52 (HAMSAT) Launched
 2006
– CubeSat-OSCAR 56 (Cute-1.7) Launched
– K7RR-Sat launched by California Politechnic University
 2007
– Prism was launched by University of Tokyo
 2008
– COMPASS-1; a project of Aachen University was launched from Satish Dawan Space Center, India. It failed to achieve orbit.
 Communication Satellite

 A Communication Satellite can be looked

upon as a large microwave repeater
 It contains several transponders which
listens to some portion of spectrum, amplifies
the incoming signal and broadcasts it in
another frequency to avoid interference with
incoming signals.

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 Satellite

 It is a repeater which receives signal from

Earth at one frequency, amplify it & transmit
it back to Earth at other frequency.

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 EARTH STATION

 There are two earth station in a simple

Satellite communication link. One transmits
the signal to satellite called transmitting Earth
station.
 The other receives the signal from satellite
called receiving Earth Station.

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 UPLINK & DOWN LINK

 The communication link from Transmitting

earth station to satellite is called Up-link.
 The communication link from satellite To
receiving earth station is called Down-link.

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 Microwaves for Satellite Comm
 High enough frequency to carry the information,
 long enough wavelength to penetrate the atmosphere.
 They do not rapidly disperse in atmosphere, so the power
does not need to be very high to reach a distant point.
 They can be focused by a suitable dish to increase the
reception of low power signals.
 They can be modulated to carry the signal and are
resistant to interference.
 They travel in straight enough lines to be able to aim
them. They are easy to produce and easy to detect.

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 Uses of Satellite
 Military communication
 Telecommunication
 Satellite phones
 VSAT (very small aperture terminal)
 Cable TV
 DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) TV (with Dish Antenna)
 GPS (Global Positioning System)
 Satellite Internet
 Weather forecasting
 Photography
 GIS (geographical Information System)
 X-Ray & infrared view of universe
 Deep Space exploration
 & many more

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Satellite Missions
Advantages of Satellites

 The advantages of satellite communication

over terrestrial communication are:
 The coverage area of a satellite greatly exceeds
that of a terrestrial system.
 Transmission cost of a satellite is independent of
the distance from the center of the coverage area.
 Satellite to Satellite communication is very
precise.
 Higher Bandwidths are available for use.
Disadvantages of Satellites

 The disadvantages of satellite

communication:
 Launching satellites into orbit is costly.
 Satellite bandwidth is gradually becoming used
up.
 There is a larger propagation delay in satellite
communication than in terrestrial communication.
Factors in satellite comm.
 The distance between an earth station and a
satellite (free space loss).
 Satellite Footprint: The satellite transmission’s
strength is strongest in the center of the
transmission and decreases farther from the
center as free space loss increases.
 Atmospheric Attenuation caused by air and
water can impair the transmission. It is
particularly bad during rain and fog.
How Satellites are used

 Service Types
 Fixed Service Satellites (FSS)
• Example: Point to Point Communication
 Broadcast Service Satellites (BSS)
• Example: Satellite Television/Radio
• Also called Direct Broadcast Service (DBS).
 Mobile Service Satellites (MSS)
• Example: Satellite Phones
Ground Segment
Orbits Above the Earth
Satellite Orbits
 GEO: 36,000 km above
Earth, includes commercial
and military communications
satellites, satellites providing
early warning of ballistic
missile launch.
 MEO: from 5000 to 15000
km, they include navigation
satellites (GPS, Galileo,
Glonass).
 LEO: from 500 to 1000 km
above Earth, includes
military intelligence
satellites, weather satellites.
Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)

 These satellites are in orbit 35,863 km above

the earth’s surface along the equator.
 Objects in Geostationary orbit revolve around
the earth at the same speed as the earth
rotates. This means GEO satellites remain in
the same position relative to the surface of
earth.
GEO (cont.)
 Advantages
 A GEO satellite’s distance from earth gives it a
large coverage area, almost a fourth of the earth’s
surface.
 GEO satellites have a 24 hour view of a particular
area.
 These factors make it ideal for satellite broadcast
and other multipoint applications.
GEO (cont.)
 Disadvantages
 A GEO satellite’s distance also cause it to have
both a comparatively weak signal and a time
delay in the signal, which is bad for point to point
communication.
 GEO satellites, centered above the equator, have
difficulty broadcasting signals to near polar
regions
Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
 LEO satellites are much closer to the earth
than GEO satellites, ranging from 500 to
1,500 km above the surface.
 LEO satellites don’t stay in fixed position
relative to the surface, and are only visible
for 15 to 20 minutes each pass.
 A network of LEO satellites is necessary for
LEO satellites to be useful
LEO (cont.)
 Advantages
 A LEO satellite’s proximity to earth compared to a
GEO satellite gives it a better signal strength and
less of a time delay, which makes it better for
point to point communication.
 A LEO satellite’s smaller area of coverage is less
of a waste of bandwidth.
LEO (cont.)
 Disadvantages
 A network of LEO satellites is needed, which can
be costly
 LEO satellites have to compensate for Doppler
shifts cause by their relative movement.
 Atmospheric drag effects LEO satellites, causing
gradual orbital deterioration.
Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
 A MEO satellite is in orbit somewhere between 8,000
km and 18,000 km above the earth’s surface.
 MEO satellites are similar to LEO satellites in
functionality.
 MEO satellites are visible for much longer periods of
time than LEO satellites, usually between 2 to 8
hours.
 MEO satellites have a larger coverage area than
LEO satellites.
MEO (cont.)
 Advantage
 A MEO satellite’s longer duration of visibility and
wider footprint means fewer satellites are needed
in a MEO network than a LEO network.
 Disadvantage
 A MEO satellite’s distance gives it a longer time
delay and weaker signal than a LEO satellite,
though not as bad as a GEO satellite.
GEO, MEO & LEO
 Orbital Period

 The time taken by a satellite to complete one

rotation in its orbit is called its period.
 The GEO satellite takes 23:56:4 to complete
its rotation which is approximately equal to
the period of rotation of earth around its axis.
Therefore, it appears to be stationary by the
observer on Earth moving with the same
speed as that of satellite.

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 Orbital Period

Satellite System Orbital Height Orbital Velocity Orbital Period

(Km) (Km/Sec) (H M S)

Intelsat (GEO) 35,786 3.0747 23 56 4.1

New ICO (MEO) 10,255 4.8954 5 55 48.4

Iridium (LEO) 1,469 7.1272 1 55 17.8

Notice as altitude decreases, the velocity must be increased

to minimize the gravitational effect.
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 Coverage Area of Satellite

 The Earth surface covered by satellite

radiations is called FOOTPRINT. The
coverage area is inversely proportional to
frequency. The footprint will be large if the
frequency of down link is low.

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 GEO satellite Coverage

 One GEO can cover 1/3 of earth surface so

the earth is divided in 3 regions.
 AOR (Atlantic Ocean Region)
 POR (Pacific Ocean region)
 IOR (Indian Ocean region)

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Propagation Delay
Frequency Bands
Frequency Bands
Frequency Bands
 Different kinds of satellites use different frequency
bands.
 L–Band: 1 to 2 GHz, used by MSS
 S-Band: 2 to 4 GHz, used by MSS, NASA, deep space research
 C-Band: 4 to 8 GHz, used by FSS
 X-Band: 8 to 12.5 GHz, used by FSS and in terrestrial imaging, ex:
military and meteorological satellites
 Ku-Band: 12.5 to 18 GHz: used by FSS and BSS (DBS)
 K-Band: 18 to 26.5 GHz: used by FSS and BSS
 Ka-Band: 26.5 to 40 GHz: used by FSS
 Satellite Frequencies

 The C band is the most frequently used. The Ka

and Ku bands are reserved exclusively for
satellite comm but are subject to rain attenuation
 Uplink uses higher frequency than the down link.
 Frequency of satellite is always specified as
 UPLINK frequency/ Downlink frequency
 C band 6/4 GHz
 Ku band14/11 GHz
 Ka band30/20 GHz

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Capacity Allocation
 FDMA
 FAMA-FDMA
 DAMA-FDMA
 TDMA
 Advantages over FDMA
FDMA
 Satellite frequency is already broken into
bands and is broken into smaller channels in
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA).
 Overall bandwidth within a frequency band is
increased due to frequency reuse.
FDMA (cont.)
 The number of sub-channels is limited by
three factors:
 Thermal noise (too weak a signal will be effected
by background noise).
 Intermodulation noise (too strong a signal will
cause noise).
 Crosstalk (cause by excessive frequency
reusing).
FDMA (cont.)
 FDMA can be performed in two ways:
 Fixed-assignment multiple access (FAMA):
The sub-channel assignments are of a fixed
allotment. Ideal for broadcast satellite
communication.
 Demand-assignment multiple access (DAMA):
The sub-channel allotment changes based on
demand. Ideal for point to point communication.
TDMA
 TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
breaks a transmission into multiple time slots,
each one dedicated to a different transmitter.
 TDMA is increasingly becoming more
widespread in satellite communication.
 TDMA uses the same techniques (FAMA and
DAMA) as FDMA does.
TDMA (cont.)
 Advantages of TDMA over FDMA.
 Digital equipment used in time division
multiplexing is increasingly becoming cheaper.
 There are advantages in digital transmission
techniques. Ex: error correction.
 Lack of intermodulation noise means increased
efficiency.