Optimum Design of Single Channel per Carrier Satellite Systems

Optimization of available satellite power and transponder bandwidth is utilized to minimize the Earth station G/T in satellite channel per carrier (SCPC) systems. The corresponding optimum transponder output backoff is obtained. Applications in system design are given. In a previous paper [1] the channel capacity of a satellite transponder handling single channel per carrier (SCPC) transmission was derived. The link carrier-to-noise (C/N) ratio was maximized over the output backoff and the maximum bandwidth available was determined. Given the bandwidth per channel for each carrier, the channel capacity was obtained. The objective of the present investigation is to derive the minimum G/T of the Earth station in SCPC systems by optimum utilization of available satellite power and transponder bandwidth. Applications in system design are discussed.     

Management of transponder resources in mobile satellite systems

Allocation of L-band spectrum for land mobile satellite (MSAT) services in Mobile-WARC-87 paves the way for the introduction of such services in the early 1990s. An overview of the proposed network architecture of the Canadian MSAT network is presented. Management of transponder resources, i.e. power, bandwidth, and spot-beam antennas, which poses a set of unique and significant problems in the design and operation of MSAT networks, is addressed. The three-level hierarchical approach used by the Canadian network is described, and the technical requirements for solving the above problems are identified. The two upper levels employ reconfigurable fixed assignment for allocating transponders to antenna spot beams, and transponder power and bandwidth to different services. The lowest level employs demand assignment and packet multiple access protocols for resource sharing among different subscribers. Uncoupling the resource management problems into manageable portions reduces the complexity and enhances the robustness of the network     

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.     

COTS星载双模测控应答机基带设计与实现

提出了一种星载双模测控应答机基带设计方案,采用COTS（商用现货）器件实现,能较好解决星载功率受限和空间辐射效应引起的相关问题。测控应答机主处理器由反熔丝FPGA（现场可编程门阵列）实现,可在低功耗条件下保证最基本测控需求,解调上行DPSK（差分相移键控）信号,调制下行扩频信号;协处理器受主处理器控制,由SRAM（静态存储器）FPGA来实现,对上行扩频信号进行解扩解调。测控应答机可根据星载电源功率情况和不同测控任务切换模式,具有成本低、可靠性高、使用灵活等优势。     

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.     

Optimum Transponder Design for Pseudonoise-Coded Ranging Systems, Weak Signals

Optimization of the bandwidth of a turnaround transponder is carried out for weak signals at the transponder receiver. Optimum transponder bandwidth is found to be around 0.77-1, where T is the period of one element of the ranging code. Linear transponders are compared with transponders having baseband limiting. Phase modulation is assumed. It is shown that, for weak signals, linear transponders are preferable for a partitioning of the transponder transmitted power giving (carrier power)/(total power) > 0.43, while baseband limiters are preferred for (carrier power)/(total power) < 0.43.     

Some practical strategies for reducing intermodulation in satellitecommunications

Various heuristic procedures for obtaining practical solutions to the general one-level carrier frequency assignment problem are described. The problem treated is general in the sense that it accommodates the case where L of the N slots may be explicitly designated as prohibited and unavailable for assignment. This problem occurs in satellite transmission with many small carriers accessing the same transponder where, due to multipath and TV interference from crosspolarized transponders of the same satellite and from copolarized transponders of the adjacent satellites, some portions of the bandwidth of the considered transponder cannot be used. To permit comparison with respect to the intermodulation advantage and central-processing-unit time required, the case without prohibited slots is considered. The sequential insertion procedure in which, starting with two carriers at the two end slots, one additional carrier at a time is optimally inserted into one of the unassigned slots is found best when the ratio between the available bandwidth and the total carrier bandwidth is greater than about 125%. All the heuristic procedures produced assignments whose intermodulation advantages are all greater than the bandwidth ratio     

A (design-oriented) reliability model for active phased arrays insatellite communication systems

This paper proposes a modeling approach to relate the power section reliability of satellite payloads to the on-board antenna complexity. The aim of the model is to support the development of design tools for satellite systems adopting active phased arrays. The achieved results are rendered parametric with respect to a key system requirement, the effective isotropic radiated power, due to its direct impact on transmitter configuration and technological features as well as on the critical compromise between transmitter and antenna specifications     

The IRIDIUMR main mission antenna concept

The design of a novel phased array panel that provides the L-band satellite to ground links for the IRIDIUM global communications system is presented. Key components and aspects of this phased array antenna are discussed, including the beamforming architecture, radiated intermodulation products, the patch radiators, and the T/R module. The strategy for minimizing DC power consumption over a large range of multicarrier rf output power is described. Finally, test results showing compliant array operation are summarized     

Satellite mobile communication and radio positioning systemplanning aspects

System aspects of mobile communication and position determination by satellite are described. Topics of discussion are the choice of frequency, type of modulation/multiple access and system design, and considering the effects of active and passive intermodulation and multipath interference. Communication performance and position determination analyses are conducted with respect to small-scale domestic mobile communication systems, where the satellite mobile transponder constitutes only a fraction of the otherwise fixed services C-band or Ku-band payload, and where the orbit position of the spare satellite(s) is dictated by considerations other than purely radio positioning. The system tradeoffs and arguments presented lead to a particular modulation/multiple access system, which provides high channel capacity, good ranging accuracy, and high resistance to multipath fading     

测控应答机下行调制度问题的技术分析

针对应答机采用不同的接收信号功率控制方式，对下行测距调制度、残留遥控调制度以及转发噪声调制度的情况进行了理论分析，得到了各种情况下的调制度数学模型，可供读者在航天工程的测控链路设计及应答机设计时参考。     

TerraSAR-X active radar ground calibrator system

In April 2006, the TerraSAR-X satellite was launched. This paper describes the development of a novel and highly integrated, digitally-controlled active SAR system calibrator (DARC). It consists of both an active transponder path for absolute radiometric calibration and a calibrated receiver chain for antenna pattern evaluation of the satellite antenna. A total of 16 active transponder and receiver systems and 17 receiver-only systems will be fabricated for a calibration campaign in 2006.     

Bandwidth maximization for satellite laser communication

Free space optical communication between satellites networked together can make possible high speed communication between different places on Earth. The basic free space optical communication network includes at least two satellites. In order to communicate between them, the transmitter satellite must track the beacon of the receiver satellite and point the information optical beam in its direction. The pointing systems for laser satellite communication suffer during tracking from vibration due to electronic noise, background radiation from interstellar objects such as Sun, Moon, Earth, and Stars in the tracking field of view, and mechanical impact from satellite internal and external sources. Due to vibrations the receiver receives less power. This effect limits the system bandwidth for given bit error rate (BER). In this research we derive an algorithm to maximize the communication system bandwidth using the transmitter telescope gain as a free variable based on the vibration statistics model and the system parameters. Our model makes it possible to adapt the bandwidth and transmitter gain to change of vibration amplitude. We also present an example of a practical satellite network which includes a direct detection receiver with an optical amplifier. A bandwidth improvement of three orders of magnitude is achieved in this example for certain conditions, as compared with an unoptimized system     

Low-cost TDRSS communications for NASA's long duration balloonproject

A transponder and RF ground support equipment that are making tracking and data relay satellite system (TDRSS) communications available to lower budget NASA projects are discussed. The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Wallops Flight Facility's long duration balloon project (LDBP) will be the first to take advantage of this TDRSS user hardware for communications through the TDRSS S-band multiple access system during their around-the-world scientific balloon flight campaigns. The transponder is one tenth the cost of the current generation space-qualified transponder, and the TDRSS user RF test set (TURFTS) is less than one half the cost of the currently available transponder test equipment     

A Method for Selection of an Optimum Communication Link

A method is presented for the selection of a communication system based upon optimization of both frequency-dependent and frequency independent parameters. The indicator of quality used is the effective radiated power per cycle per second of information bandwidth. The method involves consideration of the frequency-dependent qualities such as system temperature and propagation losses independently from the frequency-independent quantities such as modulation loss, signal-to-noise ratio, performance margin, etc. Except for temperature and propagation loss effects, the method is made frequency-independent by considering the spacecraft antenna in terms of area while the ground terminal antenna is treated in terms of gain, thus removing wavelength from the transmission equation. An example is presented of the application of the method to the selection of a system for transmission of wide-band video signals over a satellite to earth link. The example illustrates the exchanges that can be made between the frequency-dependent and -independent quantities in order to arrive at an optimum system.     

Modeling of Thermal Perturbations Using Raytracing Method with Preliminary Results for a Test Case Model of the Pioneer 10/11 Radioisotopic Thermal Generators

Electromagnetic radiation emitted from a source carries momentum. Thus, the dissipation of waste thermal energy can produce disturbance forces on spacecraft surfaces if the energy is not dissipated in a symmetric pattern. This force can be computed for a plate element as the quotient of the radiated power in normal direction and the speed of light. Depending on mission and spacecraft design the resulting surface forces have to be included into the disturbance budget. At ZARM an elaborated method for the exact modeling of the disturbances caused by heat radiation was developed which can be used for any satellite mission with high requirements on perturbation knowledge (e.g. LISA, LISA pathfinder, MICROSCOPE). The method which will be presented in this paper is based on raytracing and finite element (FE) thermal analysis. As a demonstration of the potential of the method, preliminary results acquired with a test case model of the Pioneer 10/11 Radioisotopic Thermal Generators (RTGs) will be shown.     

A Test of the Effect of Satellite Spin on Two-Way Doppler Range-Rate Measurements

Analysis indicates that the rotation of a satellite can cause an error in the range-rate measurements of a two-way Doppler tracking system. The error is proportional to the rotation rate, and the constant of proportionality depends on the polarization of the satellite transponder antennas. Measurements made by ground-based simulation confirmed the analytical prediction.     

Scan Beam Antenna Intermodulation Improvement Due to Spatial Dispersion

In the recent development of scan beams for application tomobile satellite or thin route communication systems, theintermodulation (IM) generated by the element amplifiers isspatially dispersed, such that some of the IM radiated energy failsoutside the intended beam area. In addition, some of the IM fallinginside the beam area have frequencies different from the carriersintended for that area.It is shown that for systems with frequency reuse, an average IM noise reduction of several dB can he realized. The improvementin carrier-to-IM noise ratio can be used to increase system capacity,or for given capacity it can be used to reduce RF power amplifierbackoff, which can be translated into a reduction of spacecraftprime power requirement.     

Notes on SCPC-FM System Design and Performance

In many domestic satellite communication systems single-channel per-carrier FM (SCPC-FM) has become the accepted transmission method for thin route communication. The SCPC-FM modem operates over a wide range of carrier frequencies and is designed to use satellite power and bandwidth efficiently. It incorporates elements which make the signal transfer complex, so the system behavior is not immediately obvious. This article investigates the signal processes and analyzes the performance of a companded and preemphasized SCPC-FM system and it furnishes insight into the choice of crucial system parameters.     

Satellite Communication System Using TDM and SSMA

An outline and the multiple access techniques used in a domestic satellite communications system accommodating numerous small Earth stations are presented. Two kinds of Earth stations are employed in this system, a small Earth terminal (SET) and a master Earth station (MES). Forty-eight two-way satellite channels were achieved in the 6/4 GHz bands with a transponder eirp of about 62 dBm. Time division multiplex is employed in the MES to SET link and spread spectrum multiple access in the SET to MES link.