CEC352 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT III SATELLITE LINK DESIGN

Basic link analysis, Interference analysis, Rain induced attenuation and interference,
Ionospheric characteristics, Link Design with and without frequency reuse.

Satellite Uplink and Downlink:

• Downlink

– The link from a satellite down to one or more ground stations or receivers

• Uplink

– The link from a ground station up to a satellite.

• Some companies sell uplink and downlink services to

– Television stations, corporations, and to other telecommunication carriers.

Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP):

• Key parameter in link budget calculations. Conventionally denoted as EIRP

• The maximum power flux density at some distance r from a transmitting antenna of gain
G is

• Isotropic radiator is one which radiates equally in all directions. No real antenna can
radiate equally in all directions, and the isotropic radiator is therefore hypothetical.An
isotropic radiator with an input power equal to GPS would produce the same flux density.
Hence, this product is referred to as the EIRP, or

• EIRP is often expressed in decibels relative to 1 W, or dBW. Let P S be in watts; then

For a paraboloidal antenna, the isotropic power gain is given by

where the wavelength of the signal, D is is the reflector diameter, and is the
aperture efficiency. A typical value for is 0.55

Transmission Losses:

• The [EIRP] may be thought of as the power input to one end of the transmission link, and
the problem is to find the power received at the other end.

• Losses will occur along the way, some of which are constant.

• Other losses can only be estimated from statistical data, and some of these are dependent
on weather conditions, especially on rainfall.

• The first step in the calculations is to determine the losses for clear weather or clear-sky
conditions. These calculations take into account the losses, including those calculated on
a statistical basis, which do not vary significantly with time.

• Losses which are weather-related, and other losses which fluctuate with time, are then
allowed for by introducing appropriate fade margins into the transmission equation

Free-space transmission
r is the distance, or range, between the transmit and receive antennas and GR is the isotropic
power gain of the receiving antenna. The subscript R is used to identify the receiving
antenna.

In decibel notation, the equation becomes

The free-space loss component in decibels is given by

This Equation can also be written as

The received power [PR] will be in dBW when the [EIRP] is in dBW, and [FSL] in dB

Feeder losses
Losses will occur in the connection between the receive antenna and the receiver proper. Such
losses will occur in the connecting waveguides, filters, and couplers.
Antenna misalignment losses
When a satellite link is established, the ideal situation is to have the earth station and satellite
antennas aligned for maximum gain. There are two possible sources of off-axis loss, one at the
satellite and one at the earth station. The off-axis loss at the satellite is taken into account by
designing the link for operation on the actual satellite antenna contour. The off-axis loss at the
earth station is referred to as the antenna pointing loss. Antenna pointing losses are usually only
a few tenths of a decibel.
In addition to pointing losses, losses may result at the antenna from misalignment of the
polarization direction. The polarization misalignment losses are usually small, and it will be
assumed that the antenna misalignment losses, denoted by [AML], include both pointing and
polarization losses resulting from antenna misalignment.

The Link-Power Budget Equation:

• The losses for clear-sky conditions are

[LOSSES] = [FSL] + [RFL]+ [AML]+ [AA]+ [PL]

The decibel equation for the received power is then

[PR] = [EIRP]+ [GR] - [LOSSES]

where [PR] =received power, dBW

• [EIRP] = equivalent isotropic radiated power, dBW

• [FSL] =free-space spreading loss, dB

• [RFL] = receiver feeder loss, dB

• [AML] = antenna misalignment loss, dB

• [AA] = atmospheric absorption loss, dB

• [PL] = polarization mismatch loss, dB

System Noise:

• The receiver power in a satellite link is very small, on the order of picowatts. This by
itself would be no problem because amplification could be used to bring the signal
strength up to an acceptable level.

• However, electrical noise is always present at the input, and unless the signal is
significantly greater than the noise, amplification will be of no help because it will
amplify signal and noise to the same extent. In fact, the situation will be worsened by the
noise added by the amplifier.

• The major source of electrical noise in equipment is that which arises from the random
thermal motion of electrons in various resistive and active devices in the receiver.
Thermal noise is also generated in the lossy components of antennas, and thermal-like
noise is picked up by the antennas as radiation. The available noise power from a thermal
noise source is given by

The noise temperature is directly related to the physical temperature of the noise source
but is not always equal to it.

• Noise power spectral density:

No = N/W = KT (Watts/Hertz)

Antenna noise:

• Antennas operating in the receiving mode introduce noise into the satellite circuit. Noise
therefore will be introduced by the satellite receive antenna and the ground station
receive antenna.

• The antenna noise can be broadly classified into two groups: noise originating from
antenna losses and sky noise. Sky noise is a term used to describe the microwave
radiation which is present throughout the universe and which appears to originate from
matter in any form at finite temperatures. Such radiation in fact covers a wider spectrum
than just the microwave spectrum.
• Antenna losses add to the noise received as radiation, and the total antenna noise
temperature is the sum of the equivalent noise temperatures of all these sources. For large
ground-based C-band antennas, the total antenna noise temperature is typically about 60
K, and for the Ku band, about 80 K under clear-sky conditions. These values do not apply
to any specific situation and are quoted merely to give some idea of the magnitudes
involved.

Amplifier noise temperature:

• Consider first the noise representation of the antenna and the low noise amplifier (LNA)
shown in Figure

• The available power gain of the amplifier is denoted as G, and the noise power output, as
Pno. The input noise energy coming from the antenna is

Two amplifiers in cascade:

• The input noise energy coming from the antenna is

• The output noise energy N0, out will be GN0,ant plus the contribution made by the
amplifier. Now all the amplifier noise, wherever it occurs in the amplifier, may be
referred to the input in terms of an equivalent input noise temperature for the amplifier
Te. This allows the output noise to be written as
Carrier to Noise Ratio:

A measure of the performance of a satellite link is the ratio of carrier power to

noise power at the receiver input, and link-budget calculations are often concerned with
determining this ratio. Conventionally, the ratio is denoted by C/N (or CNR), which is
equivalent to PR/PN. In terms of decibels,

• The uplink of a satellite circuit is the one in which the earth station is transmitting the
signal and the satellite is receiving it

• The true power ratio for the uplink can be given as

• The values to be used are the earth station EIRP, the satellite receiver feeder losses, and
satellite receiver G/T.

• The free-space loss and other losses which are frequency-dependent are calculated for the
uplink frequency.

• The resulting carrier-to-noise density ratio given by Equation is that which appears at the
satellite receiver

• In some situations, the flux density appearing at the satellite receive antenna is specified
rather than the earth-station EIRP
Saturation flux density:

The flux density required at the receiving antenna to produce saturation of the
TWTA is termed the saturation flux density. The saturation flux density is a specified
quantity in link budget calculations, and knowing it, one can calculate the required EIRP
at the earth station.

Carrier-to-Noise Ratio:

A measure of the performance of a satellite link is the ratio of carrier power to noise
power at the receiver input, and link-budget calculations are often concerned with
determining this ratio.

The ratio is denoted by C/N (or CNR), which is equivalent to P R/PN. In terms of decibels,

Effects of Rain:

In the C band and, more especially, the Ku band, rainfall is the most significant
cause of signal fading. Rainfall results in attenuation of radio waves by scattering and by
absorption of energy from the wave. Rain attenuation increases with increasing frequency
and is worse in the Ku band compared with the C band.

Rain attenuation data are usually available in the form of curves or tables showing
the fraction of time that a given attenuation is exceeded or, equivalently, the probability
that a given attenuation will be exceeded. Rain attenuation is accompanied by noise
generation, and both the attenuation and the noise adversely affect satellite circuit
performance.

When a radio wave with some arbitrary polarization passes through raindrops, the
component of electric field in the direction of the major axes of the raindrops will be
affected differently from the component along the minor axes. This produces a
depolarization of the wave; in effect, the wave becomes elliptically polarized

Uplink rain-fade margin:

Rainfall results in attenuation of the signal and an increase in noise temperature,

degrading the [C/N0] at the satellite in two ways. The increase in noise, however, is not usually a
major factor for the uplink. This is so because the satellite antenna is pointed toward a “hot”
earth, and this added to the satellite receiver noise temperature tends to mask any additional
noise induced by rain attenuation.
`The power output from the satellite may be monitored by a central control station or in
some cases by each earth station, and the power output from any given earth station may be
increased if required to compensate for fading. Thus the earth-station HPA must have sufficient
reserve power to meet the fade margin requirement.

Downlink rain-fade margin:

Rainfall introduces attenuation by absorption and scattering of signal energy, and the
absorptive attenuation introduces noise. Let [A] dB represent the rain attenuation caused by
absorption. The corresponding power loss ratio is A = 10[A]/10. Rainfall therefore degrades the
received [C/N0] in two ways: by attenuating the carrier wave and by increasing the sky-noise
temperature.

For low frequencies (6/4 GHz) and low rainfall rates (below about 1 mm/h), the rain
attenuation is almost entirely absorptive. At higher rainfall rates, scattering becomes significant,
especially at the higher frequencies. When scattering and absorption are both significant, the
total attenuation must be used to calculate the reduction in carrier power and the absorptive
attenuation to calculate the increase in noise temperature.

Rain Attenuation:

Rain attenuation is a function of rain rate. By rain rate is meant the rate at which
rainwater would accumulate in a rain gauge situated at the ground in the region of interest (e.g.,
at an earth station). In calculations relating to radio wave attenuation, the rain rate is measured in
millimeters per hour. Of interest is the percentage of time that specified values are exceeded.

The time percentage is usually that of a year; for example, a rain rate of 0.001 percent
means that the rain rate would be exceeded for 0.001 percent of a year, or about 5.3 min during
any one year. In this case the rain rate would be denoted by R0.001. In general the percentage time
is denoted by p and the rain rate by Rp. The specific attenuation α is

where a and b depend on frequency and polarization. Values for a and b are available in
tabular form in a number of publications. The subscripts h and v refer to horizontal and vertical
polarizations respectively. Once the specific attenuation is found, the total attenuation is
determined as

where L is the effective path length of the signal through the rain. Because the rain
density is unlikely to be uniform over the actual path length, an effective path length must be
used rather than the actual (geometric) length.
Figure shows the geometry of the situation. The geometric, or slant, path length is shown
as LS. This depends on the antenna angle of elevation and the rain height hR, which is the height
at which freezing occurs.
1. Calculate, for a frequency of 12 GHz and for horizontal and vertical polarizations,
the rain attenuation which is exceeded for 0.01 percent of the time in any year, for a
point rain rate of 10 mm/h. The earth station altitude is 600 m, and the antenna
elevation angle is 50°. The rain height is 3 km
Ionospheric Effects:
Radio waves traveling between satellites and earth stations must pass through the
ionosphere. The ionosphere is the upper region of the earth’s atmosphere, which has been
ionized, mainly by solar radiation.
The free electrons in the ionosphere are not uniformly distributed but form in
layers. Furthermore, clouds of electrons (known as traveling ionospheric disturbances)
may travel through the ionosphere and give rise to fluctuations in the signal that can only
be determined on a statistical basis.
The effects include scintillation, absorption, variation in the direction of arrival,
propagation delay, dispersion, frequency change, and polarization rotation. All these
effects decrease as frequency increases, most in inverse proportion to the frequency
squared, and only the polarization rotation and scintillation effects are of major concern
for satellite communications.
Ionospheric scintillations are variations in the amplitude, phase, polarization, or
angle of arrival of radio waves. They are caused by irregularities in the ionosphere which
change with time. The main effect of scintillations is fading of the signal.
The fades can be quite severe, and they may last up to several minutes. As with
fading caused by atmospheric scintillations, it may be necessary to include a fade margin
in the link power-budget calculations to allow for ionospheric scintillation.

Link Design with and without frequency reuse:

Frequency reuse is employed to reduce the cross polarization caused by ionosphere, ice
crystals in the upper atmosphere and rain, when the wave being transmitted from satellite to earth
station. Frequency reuse achieved with spot-beam antennas, and these may be combined with
polarization reuse to provide an effective bandwidth.

• Intra –orbital links : connect consecutive satellites on the same orbits

• Inter –orbital links :connect two satellites on the different orbits

Problem-I: A satellite downlink at 12 GHz operates with a transmit power of 6 W

and an antenna gain of 48.2 dB. Calculate the EIRP in dBW

A satellite link operating at 14 GHz has receiver feeder losses of 1.5 dB and a free-
space loss of 207 dB. The atmospheric absorption loss is 0.5 dB, and the antenna
pointing loss is 0.5 dB. Depolarization losses may be neglected. Calculate the total
link loss for clear-sky conditions.
Calculate the free-space loss for the ISL parameters tabulated in Table. Given that
the system margin for transmission loss is 1.8 dB, calculate the received power

Solution: