Drag Force of an Eddy Current Damper

Closed-form expressions are derived by field calculations for the drag force exerted by spacecraft eddy current dampers. These devices are conducting slabs moving at low speed in a narrow gap between magnets with a rectangular cross section. Finite edge effects of the slab are accounted for. The results can be used for design studies.     

Single Channel Per Carrier Satellite Repeater Capacity, Part 2

This paper analyzes the performance of a number of speech processing techniques that have been considered for single voice channel per carrier transmissions via satellite. This transmission mode is applicable to demand assigiment systems, which make possible the most efficient loading of the satellite transponder applications where the traffic at individual earth terminals is not sufficient to justify a substantial number of dedicated channels. The analysis basically determines the operating point for the satellite transponder which minimizes the required earth terminal G/T. Both analog and digital modulation techniques are considered, and the effects of syllabic companding and voice actuation of carriers are demonstrated. The results are presented in general analytic form, applicable to any modulation technique for which carrier-to-noise density ratio, channel width, and guardband width may be specified. Full carrier modulation is assumed. Curves are also furnished showing the required G/T and uplink per carrier EIRP as a function of the number of voice channels per transponder and the transponder gain. "CCIR/CCITT type" speech quality is assumed, together with a transponder El RP and bandwidth typical of current domestic satellite configurations.     

The USA should begin to deploy a strategic defence system

The US Secretary of Defense argues in favour of an early deployment of some elements of a Strategic Defense System. In this edited version of the Secretary's speech to the National Space Symposium, he gives evidence of Soviet military strength and strategy and explains why the SDI can be deployed now.     

Single Channel Per Carrier Satellite Repeater Channel Capacity

This paper analyzes the performance of a number of modulation and speech processing techniques that have been considered for single voice channel per carrier transmissions via satellite. This transmission mode is applicable to demand assignment systems, which make possible the most efficient loading of the satellite transponder in applications where the traffic at individual Earth terminals is not sufficient to justify a substantial number of dedicated channels. The analysis basically determines the operating point for the satellite transponder which minimizes the required Earth terminal G/T. The fraction of the total link noise allocated to uplink noise is treated as a parameter, so that the cost of improving G/T may be traded against the cost of providing increased Earth terminal transmitter power. Both analog and digital modulation techniques are considered, together with various practical combinations of syllabic companding, voice-actuated carriers, and error-correcting codes. The results are presented in general analytic form, applicable to any modulation technique for which carrier-to-noise density ratio, channel width, and guardband width may be specified. Curves showing required G/T as a function of the total number of voice channels per transponder are also presented for the above-mentioned signal processing techniques, assuming "CCIR/CITT type" speech quality and transponder EIRP and bandwidth typical of current domestic satellite configurations.