Prospects for commercial satellite services at Q- and V-bands

Some 16 proposed new satellite systems operating at 36 to 46 GHz (Q-band) and 46 to 56 GHz (V-band) have been proposed to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission by U.S. companies. Of these. 14 are intended to provide global, or nearly global, service. One is intended for U.S. domestic service, and one is a package to provide additional store-and-forward capability on an earlier proposed “Little LEO” system. This paper provides a brief summary of the 14 global systems, which for the most part are designed to exploit the wide band of frequencies available for services such as multimedia distribution and Internet access.

Systems are proposed that would use geostationary orbit, medium earth orbit, low earth orbit, and Molniya orbit satellites, and in some cases combinations of two of these orbits. Most of the new systems propose to employ new technologies such as multiple narrow spot-beam antennas, onboard demodulation and routing of traffic between beams, intersatellite links, and in some cases scanning beams to continuously illuminate the service area as the satellite flies by.

Some of the difficulties involved in fielding systems at these high frequencies arise from the propagation impairments that can be expected and the high cost of solid-state power devices for user terminals, which will drive up costs. It is concluded that, while the large amount of bandwidth (3 GHz) proposed by the FCC for these systems is attractive, few if any are likely to be built while spectrum remains available at Ka-band.     

一种基于认知无线电的卫星网络信道接入策略

针对可用无线信道资源紧张与固定信道分配方式导致卫星网络信道利用率低下的问题,提出一种基于认知无线电的卫星网络信道接入策略。卫星用户以分时多址（TDMA）方式接入卫星信道,认知用户通过频谱感知发现卫星网络闲置信道资源,并以S-ALOHA方式接入信道。通过建立基于频谱感知与具有捕获效应的认知用户信道接入模型,分析认知用户最佳频谱感知时间,推导干扰信号在相干叠加与非相干叠加条件下的卫星网络吞吐率性能,并对影响网络吞吐率的因素进行仿真分析。结果表明,该信道接入策略能够在不明显降低高负载时卫星网络吞吐率的前提下有效提高低负载条件下的卫星网络吞吐率,且干扰信号相干叠加比非相干叠加对网络吞吐率性能的提升更为显著。     

低轨卫星高能效载波功率资源联合调度算法

结合多波束低轨（multi-beam low earth orbit, MB-LEO）卫星通信场景，研究了一种多目标载波功率联合优化（joint subcarrier scheduling and power control resource allocation, JSSPC-RA）算法。通过求解整数混合规划非凸优化问题，得到了不同通信需求下MC-DS-CDMA子载波和子载波功率的联合调度方案，实现了系统用户未满足容量和卫星总功耗的最小化。仿真结果表明，相对于传统的载波功率均分策略，JSSPC-RA算法能够在满足系统吞吐量需求的前提下大幅节省卫星总功耗；同时，通过调节权值系数，JSSPC-RA算法可以生成用户吞吐量需求与卫星总能耗折中的系统设计方案，适用于频谱、能量资源高度受限的MB-LEO卫星系统。     

中低轨道卫星星座间的激光链路

阐述在中低轨道卫星星座全球通讯网络中应用的激光星间链路与在中继星间应用的激光星间链路相比，所具有的明显的优势。同时给出了应用于小卫星上的小光学用户终端的基本组成，并指出了当前在中低轨道卫星星座激光星间链路研究中所应当进行的主要研究方面。     

基于网络效用的OFDM卫星移动通信系统呼叫接纳控制

在天地一体化网络中,OFDM卫星移动通信系统更有利于与地面无线网络融合。呼叫接纳控制是无线资源管理中的关键问题,本文针对OFDM卫星移动通信系统提出了一种基于网络效用和动态系统资源的星上呼叫接纳控制方法,采用集中式接纳控制,对卫星系统资源的集中管理可有效降低呼叫等待时延。所提出的接纳控制方法基于不同业务的网络效用函数,采用跨层设计思想,根据物理层卫星信道状态变化更新OFDM子载波传输能力,在呼叫接纳控制过程中动态调整分配业务带宽,实现整个网络效用最大化,同时保证业务的QoS要求。仿真结果表明,在系统业务负载饱和的情况下,该方法系统资源利用效率显著优于基于用户端最小阻塞概率的接纳控制方法和基于用户端业务QoS的接纳控制方法,非常适合于资源受限的卫星系统。     

Space solar power vs space communications

To meet the future needs of energy on Earth, the transmission of solar power from space is being extensively studied. Since the power station will occupy a position in the geostationary orbit and will use radio frequency spectrum for transmission of energy to Earth, the relative benefits of space solar power and space communications should be considered. The resource allocation of orbit-spectrum to a power station requires a sacrifice from space communications as they both utilize similar limited resources. The power station is to energy what communication is to information. While the cost of energy is going up, the cost of information processing, storage, sharing and transmission is decreasing. Also, increased means of communication are used as a measure of energy conservation. With the advent of computer communication and the Large Scale Integrated (LSI) microprocessors, the technique of multiple access, message switching and satellite switching can be cost-effectively combined. The computer-satellite communication will allow information resource sharing among large numbers of users besides the conventional application of space communications. Since space communication means work effectively in many other areas where ultimate energy use and conservation is possible, the space solar power will not be able to compete or substitute on the basis of equality and social benefits. But, as the transmission technology is similar for both areas, the R & D effort for solar power will certainly increase efficiency and reduce cost for space communications.     

Orbit and attitude control of a geostationary inertially oriented large flexible plate-like spacecraft

The paper presents design of a near optimal orbit and attitude control system for a very large flexible rectangular flat plate-like spacecraft in geostationary orbit, with its normal kept in the orbital plane in an inertial orientation. First, assuming the plate to be rigid, an optimal control system is designed. Two control systems are needed: one to balance the gravity gradient torque and the other to control the plate's orbit and attitude against disturbances. The interaction of the structural dynamics with the control system is investigated next. It is shown that the structural dynamics destabilizes the control system. The control design is modified to reduce the interactions, by including just a couple of flexural modes into the control logic and by optimally locating the thrusters a little away from the corners. The control structure interaction which is measured by the residual flexural energy after an orbit or attitude correction, is shown to be reduced by several orders of magnitude by the simple modifications. An approach to find an optimal location of actuators and a concept of “associated modes” are also proposed to help the designer evolve a very simple coupled orbit and attitude controllers with minimum control/structure interactions for very large flexible space systems of the future. This configuration considered represents the proposed solar power satellite, solar reflectors, communication platforms, etc.     

Satellite communications and the Internet: implications for the outer space treaty

The speedily expanding Internet is in the process of transforming the technological, economic, and policy bases for nation-state regulation of telecommunications, including space-based satellite networks. Deployment of the packet-switched Internet has accelerated the liberalization of telecommunications markets and has led to far-reaching regulatory restructuring and policy shifts regarding state ownership and control of networks and information flows. As space-based GMPCS networks become integral parts of the globalizing Internet infrastructure, the state-centric legal paradigm requiring state “authorization and continuing supervision” of space activities by “non-governmental entities” stipulated under Article VI of the OST and associated treaties forming the outer space legal regime will be called increasingly into question. This paper examines the technological, economic/trade, and security issues that question whether the existing state-centric paradigm for regulating Internel-based GMPCS satellite systems will remain in legal phase with emerging liberalized regulatory regimes for terrestrial Internet-based infractructures.     

Trends in the design of future communications satellite systems

This paper presents a review of the trends in communication satellite technology. In the near term the development of moderate size, dedicated satellites is to be expected. In the long term international coordination of orbit and spectrum allocations, introduction of higher-frequency bands, spectrum conserving techniques and the concept of large communication platforms deserve particular attention. Means to improve the cost effectiveness of satellite communications system and technology aspects are considered. Finally some German contributions to these developments are presented, mainly concerning high-power TWTs in the 12 and 20 GHz range.     

Technical and economical comparison between a modular geostationary space platform and a cluster of satellites

In recent years, the identification of a large number of telecommunication missions reflects a growing demand for the provision of a large variety of communications and data transmission services performed by a space segment.

At present, communication space segment use a single operational satellite per orbit position. However, the expected increase of communication channels per space segment will lead to a corresponding increase of satellite mass and size which could exceed the capabilities of existing launch vehicles in terms of mass and volume requirements. Those considerations, coupled with the threatening saturation of the geostationary orbit, lead to the conclusion that an optimal space segment concept must be defined on a technical as well as economical point of view.

Two main concepts may be envisaged: one is a large platform, which can be assembled either in geostationary orbit (resulting in several launches, rendez-vous and docking), or in low earth orbit by using the STS; the other concept is a cluster of satellites.

These candidate concepts are designed to meet the requirements of a reference mission. They are characterized by the required number of modules to be launched, the type of launcher, the new subsystems or equipments to be developed. The concepts are evaluated following technical criteria such as adaptability to other missions, flexibility, growth potential. A cost/benefit evaluation of each solution is presented. A comparison between the different concepts is then made on the basis of the technical/economical attractiveness of each solution.     

基于移动式网络的LEO卫星星座通信网络研究

为飞机等交通工具内的用户提供基于卫星的不间断IP连接，并在卫星星座网络内实现IP路由选择功能，是未来LEO卫星星座通信网络需要解决的关键问题。提出了基于移动式网络技术的LEO卫星星座通信网络体系结构，实现了卫星星座通信网络中的IP路由选择功能，并降低了对地面网路的依赖，实现了对用户段网络随时随地的连接支持。在对卫星星座通信网络中的星地切换模式进行分析的基础上，提出了一种基于虚拟移动路由器的快速星地切换和认证方法。通过NS2仿真试验，给出了新型LEO卫星星座通信网络的传输延迟特性以及快速切换方法的仿真试验结果。仿真试验表明，提出的网络结构是满足未来卫星星座发展需求的，星地间的切换是低时延的。     

Feasibility of using statellites in non-equatorial 24-hour circular orbits for communications

The early sixties witnessed the debate among competing candidate orbits that led to the emergence of perfect geostationary systems as virtually the sole “instruments” for satellite communication. The subsequent problem of overcrowding of geostationary ring on one hand and explosive growth in demand on communication capacity on the other led comsat experts to focus on the alternate routes through various near-earth and medium attitude satellite constellations later proposed for uninterrupted communication. However, the opportunities thrown up by quasi-stationary orbits for augmentation of the space communication capacity have gone abegging. This paper attempts to draw attention of communication satellite designers/planners to the immense potential for utilization of the non-equatorial, 24-hour circular orbits for communication. For the proposed quasi-stationary orbits, the change and/or control of the inclination of the plane is not envisaged in the launch and/or operational phase. The resulting significant payload weight advantage is associated with the problem of periodic as well as secular apparent angular satellite drift relative to the ground terminal. However, the problem may be largely overcome through controlled satellite tilting using solar radiation pressure or through the use of tethered auxiliary mass attachment. Alternatively, it may be possible to overcome the attitude control problem by the use of systems such as on-bard electronically steerable phased array antenna capable of following the line-of-sight to the co-operative ground station.     

低轨星座对静止轨道卫星同频干扰指标研究

随着全球低轨星座系统的快速部署及应用,非静止轨道卫星对静止轨道卫星系统的同频干扰问题日益凸显。为保护静止轨道卫星系统不受有害干扰,国际电联现行无线电规则中规定了非静止轨道卫星系统应满足的等效功率通量密度限值或干扰噪声比限值,但所适用频段及限值标准仍在不断修订完善中。为了精确定量评估低轨星座对静止轨道卫星的同频干扰,通过对等效功率通量密度限值和干扰噪声比限值的确定方法及演进历程进行研究,分析了上述限值与静止轨道卫星实际被干扰的对应关系,并以典型倾斜轨道星座和极地轨道星座为例,分析了不同干扰指标对卫星系统间干扰判定结果的影响,当静止轨道卫星系统的实际被干扰门限低于国际电联制定等效功率通量密度限值选用的参考门限时,建议低轨星座选择干扰噪声比限值作为开展频率干扰分析与判定的依据。     

智能天地一体化网络的卫星跟踪测控技术综述

随着卫星互联网和我国航天测控技术的不断进步,航天测控网络朝着智能化、一体化的方向发展,在自主测控、资源分配等方面进展良好。因此,建立智能天地一体化的航天测控网是我国航天未来发展的重要目标。针对智能航天测控网中的跟踪测轨、遥测和遥控三个方面,分别介绍了相关原理与技术。同时,结合CCSDS提出的空间数据链路标准协议详细介绍了TM、TC、AOS、Proximity-1以及USLP标准,分析了不同标准所使用的技术与实际应用。本文从数据链路层和物理层的角度介绍了智能航天测控系统的工作原理及技术要求,为我国智能天地一体化卫星测控通信网的研究提供参考并予以展望。     

基于带宽按需分配的DVB-RCS宽带卫星MAC协议

多媒体业务的突发性是导致无线资源利用率与业务服务质量之间矛盾的根本原因,基于带宽按需分配的媒体接入控制(Media Access Control,MAC)协议是解决该矛盾的一种有效方式。而在DVB-RCS宽带卫星通信中,带宽按需分配机制的稳定性和业务时延性能均受到星地长时延的不利影响。本文提出一种以控制和业务线性预测相结合的带宽请求算法为核心的DVB-RCS宽带卫星MAC协议,并建立了仿真系统,通过多个场景的仿真表明了协议能够有效的保证系统的稳定性和高资源利用率,以及较低的业务时延。     

GPS based onboard and onground orbit operations for small satellites

In extension to common applications such as groundtrack displays and antenna steering, the SGP4 orbit model is proposed for operational orbit determination in small satellite missions. SGP4 is an analytical orbit model for Low-Earth orbiting satellites that is widely used for the propagation of NORAD twoline elements. Twoline elements may hence be generated completely independent of NORAD. Their use as exclusive source of orbital information simplifies the operations concept and reduces mission costs through the extensive use of existing low-cost mission support software. Due to small computer resource requirements of 8–10kByte, the SGP4 model may also be applied for onboard orbit computations making use of e.g. a 80186 processor, thus ensuring full compatibility of ground-based and onboard operations. The proposed approach is particularly suited in combination with a space-borne GPS receiver, were the C/A-code navigation solutions are treated as measurements that are adjusted in a least-squares sense using the SGP4 model. As consequence, inherent drawbacks of the pure navigation solutions such as data gaps and scatter as well as limited velocity accuracy are avoided, while the operational navigation activities are kept at a minimum. The feasibility of the concept is illustrated based on real GPS navigation data from the TOPEX/Poseidon and the MIR space station with an inherent data quality of 50–100 m. It is shown that 3 hours of data within a 4 day period are sufficient to keep the position error within 4 km, that is considered sufficient for most applications.     

通信卫星系统潜在故障识别与应对方法

针对新一代高集成度、高复杂度通信卫星系统应用背景，以通信卫星平台长寿命、高可靠设计需求为牵引，提出一种基于系统理论事故模型与过程（STAMP）的系统级潜在故障识别与分析方法，在总体设计早期即提出对卫星平台各分系统的可靠性设计需求。以某地球同步轨道（GEO）通信卫星为例介绍该方法，通过构建系统控制逻辑架构自上至下地分析潜在的不安全控制过程，通过检查控制与反馈回路的各环节确定故障发生场景，提出对控制过程的约束条件以消除或降低故障发生的可能，最终形成有针对性的分系统可靠性设计需求。     

一种绕飞编队卫星星间链路系统的总体设计方法

为了建立高精度相对定位编队卫星的星间链路,提出了一种基于GPS的绕飞编队卫星星间链路系统设计方法。针对我国首次以InSAR为背景的任务,以某绕飞编队星座星间链路系统总体方案为例,利用STK/MATLAB分析软件,对天线覆盖区与组阵进行了仿真分析,并根据分析结果做了系统优化,包括星间轨道构型、天线设计组阵图、天线安装位置、链路预算、星间通信措施设计分析以及电磁兼容性分析等。结果表明:基于GPS的编队卫星能够从系统角度优化设计建立星间链路,从而完成编队跟飞、绕飞期间的星间通信与测量任务,为卫星建立星座构型、相对定位测量提供了可靠、稳定的传输通道。该设计方法可为同类卫星或其他类型卫星星间链路系统设计提供参考。     

卫星通信频谱监测中的一种形态学滤波预处理方法

针对卫星信号监测中监视频带宽、背景噪声非平坦造成的信号漏检和误检的问题,结合卫星通信信号的特点提出了一种频谱校正的新方法。该方法将接收的频谱信号视为一维灰度图像,通过改进的形态学滤波检测法,估算出信号中非平坦的背景噪声基底,利用估计的噪声基底完成对原频谱信号的修正,可提高信号检测的准确性。仿真结果表明,该方法降低了信号带宽对传统形态学滤波中结构元素长度选择的影响,计算量小,能高效地实现非平坦频谱信号的底噪校正。     

LEO卫星网络路由算法的OPNET建模与仿真

由于OPNET没有提供标准卫星模块和星上路由器模块,这给卫星网络仿真带来一定难度 。针对LEO卫星网络路由算法,提出了一种OPNET路由仿真模型。该仿真模型主要由卫星网络 域、卫星节点域和路由进程域组成。卫星网络域实现网络拓扑结构的动态变化,节点域利用 无线仿真机制进行数据的发送和接收,路由进程域完成具体算法的实现。为了检验模型的性 能,仿真分析了几种典型的星上路由算法。结果表明,提出的仿真模型是正确可行的,且具 有一定的通用性,为卫星通信网络性能的仿真和分析提供了一种简单有效的途径。