BEC701 - FIBRE OPTIC COMMUNICATION

UNIT-I
INTRODUCTION TO OPTICAL FIBER

• Evolution of fiber Optic system

• Element of an Optical Fiber Transmission link
• Ray Optics
• Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations
• Mode theory of Circular Wave guides
• Overview of Modes
• Key Modal concepts
• Linearly Polarized Modes
• Single Mode Fibers
• Graded Index fiber structure
 Introduction

• An optical Fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent Fiber

that acts as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit
light between the two ends of the Fiber.
• Optical fibers are widely used in Fiber-optic
communications, which permits transmission over
longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates)
than other forms of communication.
• Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals
travel along them with less loss and are also immune
to electromagnetic interference.
 Evolution of fiber Optic system
First generation
• The first generation of light wave systems uses GaAs
semiconductor laser and operating region was near
0.8 μm. Other specifications of this generation are as
under:
• i) Bit rate : 45 Mb/s
• ii) Repeater spacing : 10 km
Second generation
i) Bit rate: 100 Mb/s to 1.7 Gb/s ii) Repeater
spacing: 50 km
iii) Operation wavelength: 1.3 μm iv)
Semiconductor: In GaAsP
Third generation
i) Bit rate : 10 Gb/s
ii) Repeater spacing: 100 km
iii) Operating wavelength: 1.55 μm
 Evolution of fiber Optic system

Fourth generation
• Fourth generation uses WDM technique. i) Bit rate:
10 Tb/s
• ii) Repeater spacing: > 10,000 km
• Iii) Operating wavelength: 1.45 to 1.62 μm
Fifth generation
• Fifth generation uses Roman amplification technique
and optical solitiors. i) Bit rate: 40 - 160 Gb/s
• ii) Repeater spacing: 24000 km - 35000 km iii)
Operating wavelength: 1.53 to 1.57 μm
 Element of an Optical Fiber Transmission link

Basic block diagram of optical fiber communication

system consists of following important blocks.
1. Transmitter
2. Information channel
3. Receiver.
Block diagram of OFC system
• The light beam pulses are then fed into a fiber – optic
cable where they are transmitted over long distances.
• At the receiving end, a light sensitive device known
as a photocell or light detector is used to detect the
light pulses.
• This photocell or photo detector converts the light
pulses into an electrical signal.
• The electrical pulses are amplified and reshaped back
into digital form.
 Fiber optic Cable
Fiber Optic Cable consists of four parts.
• Core
• Cladding
• Buffer
• Jacket
Core. The core of a fiber cable is a cylinder of plastic
that runs all along the fiber cable’s length, and offers
protection by cladding. The diameter of the core
depends on the application used. Due to internal
reflection, the light travelling within the core reflects
from the core, the cladding boundary. The core cross
section needs to be a circular one for most of the
applications.
Cladding
Cladding is an outer optical material that
protects the core. The main function of the cladding is
that it reflects the light back into the core. When light
enters through the core (dense material) into the
cladding(less dense material), it changes its angle, and
then reflects back to the core.
 Fiber optic Cable

Buffer
• The main function of the
buffer is to protect the
fiber from damage and
thousands of optical fibers
arranged in hundreds of
optical cables. These
bundles are protected by
the cable’s outer covering
that is called jacket.
JACKET
Fiber optic cable’s jackets are available in different
colors that can easily make us recognize the exact
color of the cable we are dealing with. The color
yellow clearly signifies a single mode cable, and
orange color indicates multimode.
• Both the light sources at the sending end and the light
detectors on the receiving end must be capable of
operating at the same data rate.
• The circuitry that drives the light source and the
circuitry that amplifies and processes the detected
light must both have suitable high-frequency
response.
• The fiber itself must not distort the high-speed light
pulses used in the data transmission.
• They are fed to a decoder, such as a Digital – to –
Analog converter (D/A), where the original voice or
video is recovered.
• In very long transmission systems, repeater units
must be used along the way.
• Since the light is greatly attenuated when it travels
over long distances, at some point it may be too weak
to be received reliably.
• To overcome this problem, special relay stations are
used to pick up light beam, convert it back into
electrical pulses that are amplified and then
retransmit the pulses on another beam.
• Several stages of repeaters may be needed over very
long distances.
• But despite the attenuation problem, the loss is less
than the loss that occurs with the electric cables.
 Characteristics of fiber
1)Wider bandwidth: The optical carrier frequency is in
the range 10^13 Hz to 10^15Hz.
2)Low transmission loss: The fibers having a
transmission loss of 0.002dB/km.
3)Dielectric waveguide: Optical fibers are made from
silica which is an electrical insulator. Therefore they do
not pickup any electromagnetic wave or any high
current lightning.
4)Signal security: The transmitted signal through
the fibers does not radiate. Further the signal cannot
be tapped from a Fiber in an easy manner.
5)Small size and weight: Fiber optic cables are
developed with small radii, and they are flexible,
compact and lightweight. The fiber cables can be
bent or twisted without damage.
 Operation of fiber

• A hair-thin Fiber consist of two concentric layers of

high-purity silica glass the core and the cladding,
which are enclosed by a protective sheath .
• Core and cladding have different refractive indices,
with the core having a refractive index, n1, which is
slightly higher than that of the cladding, n2.
• It is this difference in refractive indices that enables
the Fiber to guide the light. Because of this guiding
property, the Fiber is also referred to as an “optical
waveguide.”
 Advatages of optical fiber
1)WAVELENGTH :It is a characteristic of light that is
emitted from the light source and is measures in
nanometres (nm).
2)FREQUENCY :It is number of pulse per second
emitted from a light source. Frequency is measured in
units of hertz (Hz). In terms of optical pulse 1Hz = 1
pulse/ sec.
3)WINDOWS :A narrow window is defined as the range
of wavelengths at which a fibre best operates.
4)ATTENUATION: Attenuation in optical fiber is
caused by intrinsic factors, primarily scattering and
absorption, and by extrinsic factors, including stress from
the manufacturing process, the environment, and physical
bending.
5)DISPERSION :Dispersion is the spreading of light
pulse as its travels down the length of an optical fibre .
Dispersion limits the bandwidth or information carrying
capacity of a fibre.
 Disadvantages of optical fiber

• High investment cost

• Need for more expensive optical transmitters and
receivers
• More difficult and expensive to splice than wires
• Price
• Fragility
• Affected by chemicals
• Opaqueness
• Requires special skills
 Ray Optics
Basic laws of ray theory/geometric optics
• The basic laws of ray theory are quite self-
explanatory
• In a homogeneous medium, light rays are straight
lines.Light may be absorbed or reflected.
• Reflected ray lies in the plane of incidence and angle
of incidence will be equal to the angle of reflection.
• At the boundary between two media of different
refractive indices, the refracted ray will lie in the
plane of incidence. Snell’s Law will give the
relationship between the angles of incidence and
refraction.
 Ray Optics
Refraction of light

• As a light ray passes from

one transparent medium to
another, it changes direction;
this phenomenon is called
refraction of light. How much
that light ray changes its
direction depends on the
refractive index of the
mediums.
 Ray Optics
Refractive Index

• Refractive index is the speed of light in a vacuum

(abbreviated c, c=299,792.458km/second) divided by
the speed of light in a material (abbreviated v).
Refractive index measures how much a material
refracts light. Refractive index of a material,
abbreviated as n, is defined as
• n=c/v
 Ray Optics
Snells Law

• When light passes from one

transparent material to another, it
bends according to Snell's law which
is defined as:
n1sin(θ1) = n2sin(θ2)
where:
n1 is the refractive index of the
medium the light is leaving
θ1 is the incident angle between the light beam and
the normal (normal is 90° to the interface between
two materials)
n2 is the refractive index of the material the light is
entering
θ2 is the refractive angle between the light ray and
the normal
 Ray Optics
Critical angle

• The critical angle can be calculated from Snell's law,

putting in an angle of 90° for the angle of the refracted
ray θ2. This gives θ1:
Since
θ2 = 90°
So
sin(θ2) = 1
Then
θc = θ1 = arcsin(n2/n1)
Numerical Aperture (NA) For step-index
multimode fiber, the acceptance angle is determined
only by the indices of refraction:

Where
n is the refractive index of the medium light is
traveling before entering the fiber
nf is the refractive index of the fiber core
nc is the refractive index of the cladding
 Ray Optics
Total internal reflection

• If the light hits the interface at

any angle larger than this critical
angle, it will not pass through to
the second medium at all.
Instead, all of it will be reflected
back into the first medium, a
process known as total internal
reflection.
 Fiber Optic Modes

Mode is the one which describes the nature of

propagation of electromagnetic waves in a wave
guide.
i.e. it is the allowed direction whose associated angles
satisfy the conditions for total internal reflection and
constructive interference.
Based on the number of modes that propagates through
the optical fiber, they are classified as:
• Single mode fibers
• Multi mode fibers
 Single mode fibers

• In a fiber, if only one mode is transmitted through it,

then it is said to be a single mode fiber.
• A typical single mode fiber may have a core radius of
3 μm and a numerical aperture of 0.1 at a wavelength
of 0.8 μm.
• The condition for the single mode operation is given
by the V number of the fiber which is defined as
such that V ≤ 2.405.
• Here, n1 = refractive index of the core; a = radius of
the core; λ = wavelength of the light propagating
through the fiber; Δ = relative refractive indices
difference.
Single mode fibers
 Single mode fibers

• Only one path is available.

• V-number is less than 2.405
• Core diameter is small
• No dispersion
• Higher band width (1000 MHz)
• Used for long haul communication
• Fabrication is difficult and costly
Multimode fibers
 Multi mode fibers

• If more than one mode is transmitted through optical

fiber, then it is said to be a multimode fiber.
• The larger core radii of multimode fibers make it
easier to launch optical power into the fiber and
facilitate the end to end connection of similar powers.

Some of the basic properties of multimode optical

fibers are listed below :
• More than one path is available
• V-number is greater than 2.405
 Types of fibers based on Refractive Index Profile

Based on the refractive index profile of the core and

cladding, the optical fibers are classified into two
types:
– Step index fiber
– Graded index fiber
 Step index fiber

• In a step index fiber, the refractive index changes in a

step fashion, from the centre of the fiber, the core, to
the outer shell, the cladding.
• It is high in the core and lower in the cladding. The
light in the fiber propagates by bouncing back and
forth from core-cladding interface.
• The step index fibers propagate both single and
multimode signals within the fiber core.
• The light rays propagating through it are in the form
of meridinal rays which will cross the fiber core axis
during every reflection at the core – cladding
boundary and are propagating in a zig – zag manner.
 Step index fiber

• With careful choice of material, dimensions and ,

the total dispersion can be made extremely small, less
than 0.1 ps /(km  nm), making this fiber suitable for
use with high data rates.
• In a single-mode fiber, a part of the light propagates
in the cladding.
• The cladding is thick and has low loss.
• Typically, for a core diameter of 10 m, the cladding
diameter is about 120 m.
• Handling and manufacturing of single mode step
index fiber is more difficult.
 Step index multimode fibers

•A multimode step index fiber is shown.

• In such fibers light propagates in many
modes.
•The total number of modes MN increases
with increase in the numerical aperture.
•For a larger number of modes, MN can be
approximated by
 Step index multimode fibers

where d = diameter of the core of the fiber and V = V –

number or normalized frequency.
The normalized frequency V is a relation among the fiber
size, the refractive indices and the wavelength. V is the
normalized frequency or simply the V number and is given
by

where a is the fiber core radius,  is the operating

wavelength, n1 the core refractive index and  the relative
refractive index difference
 Graded index fiber

• A graded index fiber is shown in Fig.3.27. Here, the

refractive index n in the core varies as we move away
from the centre.
• The refractive index of the core is made to vary in the
form of parabolic manner such that the maximum
refractive index is present at the centre of the core.
• The refractive index (n) profile with reference to the
radial distance (r) from the fiber axis is given as:
 Graded index fiber

when r = 0, n(r) = n1
r < a, n(r) = 1
   r 
2
 2
n 1 1   2    
  a  
 

r ≥ a, n(r) = n2 = n1 (1  2 )2

At the fiber centre we have n1; at the cladding we

have n2; and in between we have n(r), where n is
the function of the particular radius as shown in
Fig. simulates the change in n in a stepwise
manner.
Graded index fiber
 Graded index fiber

• Each dashed circle represents a different refractive

index, decreasing as we move away from the fiber
center.
• A ray incident on these boundaries between na – nb,
nb – nc etc., is refracted.
• Eventually at n2 the ray is turned around and totally
reflected.
• This continuous refraction yields the ray tracings as
shown in Fig.
 Graded index fiber

• The light rays will be propagated in the form skew

rays (or) helical rays which will not cross the fiber
axis at any time and are propagating around the fiber
axis in a helical or spiral manner.

• The effective acceptance angle of the graded-index

fiber is somewhat less than that of an equivalent step-
index fiber. This makes coupling fiber to the light
source more difficult.
 UNIT-II
SIGNAL DEGRADATION IN OPTICAL FIBER
• Attenuation – Absorption losses, Scattering losses,
Bending Losses, Core and Cladding losses,
• Signal Distortion in Optical Wave guides –
Information Capacity determination – Group Delay –
• Material Dispersion, Wave guide Dispersion,
• Signal distortion in SM fibers – Polarization Mode
dispersion, Intermodal dispersion,
• Pulse Broadening in GI fibers
• Mode Coupling – Design Optimization of SM fibers
– RI profile and cut-off wavelength.
Signal Attenuation & Distortion in Optical Fibers

• What are the loss or signal attenuation mechanism in

a fiber?
• Why & to what degree do optical signals get distorted
as they propagate down a fiber?
• Signal attenuation (fiber loss) largely determines the
maximum repeaterless separation between optical
transmitter & receiver.
• Signal distortion cause that optical pulses to broaden
as they travel along a fiber, the overlap between
neighboring pulses, creating errors in the receiver
output, resulting in the limitation of information-
carrying capacity of a fiber.
 Attenuation (fiber loss)
• Power loss along a fiber:

Z=0 Z= l
 p l
P(0) mW P (l )  P ( 0 ) e mw

 p z
P( z)  P(0)e [3-1]

• The parameter  p is called fiber attenuation coefficient in a units of for

example [1/km] or [nepers/km]. A more common unit is [dB/km] that is
defined by:
10  P (0) 
 [ dB/km ]  log   4 .343  p [1 / km ] [3-2]
l 
 P (l ) 
 Fiber loss in dB/km

z=0 Z=l
P (0)[dBm]

P(l )[dBm]  P(0)[dBm]  [dB/km]  l[km] [3-3]

• Where [dBm] or dB milliwat is 10log(P [mW]).
Optical fiber attenuation vs. wavelength
 Absorption

• Absorption is caused by three different mechanisms:

1- Impurities in fiber material: from transition metal
ions (must be in order of ppb) & particularly from
OH ions with absorption peaks at wavelengths 2700
nm, 400 nm, 950 nm & 725nm.
2- Intrinsic absorption (fundamental lower limit):
electronic absorption band (UV region) & atomic
bond vibration band (IR region) in basic SiO2.
3- Radiation defects
 Scattering Loss

• Small (compared to wavelength) variation in material

density, chemical composition, and structural
inhomogeneity scatter light in other directions and
absorb energy from guided optical wave.

• The essential mechanism is the Rayleigh scattering.

Since the black body radiation classically is
proportional to   4 (this is true for wavelength
typically greater than 5 micrometer), the attenuation
coefficient due to Rayleigh scattering is
approximately proportional to   4 .
This seems to me not precise, where the
attenuation of fibers at 1.3 & 1.55 micrometer
can be exactly predicted with Planck’s formula &
can not be described with Rayleigh-Jeans law.
Therefore I believe that the more accurate
formula for scattering loss is

1
5  hc 
 scat    exp( )
 k BT 

h  6.626  10 34 Js, k B  1.3806  10 23 JK -1 , T : Temperature

Absorption & scattering losses in fibers
Typical spectral absorption & scattering attenuations for
a single mode-fiber
 Bending Loss (Macrobending & Microbending)

• Macrobending Loss: The curvature of the bend

is much larger than fiber diameter. Lightwave
suffers sever loss due to radiation of the
evanescent field in the cladding region. As the
radius of the curvature decreases, the loss
increases exponentially until it reaches at a
certain critical radius. For any radius a bit
smaller than this point, the losses suddenly
becomes extremely large. Higher order modes
radiate away faster than lower order modes.
 Microbending Loss
Microbending Loss:
microscopic bends of
the fiber axis that can
arise when the fibers are
incorporated into
cables. The power is
dissipated through the
microbended fiber,
because of the repetitive
coupling of energy
between guided modes
& the leaky or radiation
modes in the fiber.
 Dispersion in Optical Fibers
• Dispersion: Any phenomenon in which the velocity
of propagation of any electromagnetic wave is
wavelength dependent.

• In communication, dispersion is used to describe any

process by which any electromagnetic signal
propagating in a physical medium is degraded
because the various wave characteristics (i.e.,
frequencies) of the signal have different propagation
velocities within the physical medium.
There are 3 dispersion types in the optical fibers,
in general:
1- Material Dispersion
2- Waveguide Dispersion
3- Polarization-Mode
Dispersion
Material & waveguide dispersions are main
causes of Intramodal Dispersion.
 Group Velocity
• Wave Velocities:
• 1- Plane wave velocity: For a plane wave n1
propagating along z-axis in an unbounded
homogeneous region of refractive index , which
is represented by exp( jωt  jk1 z ) , the velocity of
constant phase plane is:  c
v  [3-4]
k1 n1
ω
vp  [3-5]


• 2- Modal wave phase velocity: For a modal wave

propagating along z-axis represented by exp( jωt  jk1 z )
, the velocity of constant phase plane is:
3- For transmission system operation the most
important & useful type of velocity is the group
velocity, V g . This is the actual velocity which the
signal information & energy is traveling down the
fiber. It is always less than the speed of light in the
medium. The observable delay experiences by the
optical signal waveform & energy, when traveling a
length of l along the fiber is commonly referred to as
group delay.
 Group Velocity & Group Delay
• The group velocity is given by:
dω
Vg  [3-6]
d
• The group delay is given by:
l d
g   l [3-7]
Vg dω
• It is important to note that all above quantities depend
both on frequency & the propagation mode. In
order to see the effect of these parameters on group
velocity and delay, the following analysis would be
helpful.
 Input/Output signals in Fiber Transmission System

• The optical signal (complex) waveform at the input of

fiber of length l is f(t). The propagation constant of a
particular modal wave carrying the signal is (ω) . Let
us find the output signal waveform g(t).

z-=0  is the optical signal bandwidth. Z=l

 c  
~
f (t )   f ( ) e j t d  [3-8]

c 

 c  
~ j t  j ( ) l
g (t )   f ( ) e d [3-9]

c 
If     c
d 1 d 2
 ( )   ( c )  (   c )  2
(   c ) 2  ... [3-10]
d   c 2 d    c

c   / 2 c   / 2 d
jt  j[  (c )  ( c )]l
~ jt  j ( ) l ~ d   c
g (t )   f ( )e d   f ( )e d
c   / 2 c   / 2

c   / 2 d
j ( t l )
~ d
 e  j (c )l  f ( )e
  c
d
c   / 2

 j (c ) l d
e f (t  l )  e  j (c )l f (t   g ) [3-11]
d  c

d l
g  l  [3-14]
d   c Vg
 Intramodal Dispersion
• As we have seen from Input/output signal
relationship in optical fiber, the output is proportional
to the delayed version of the input signal, and the
delay is inversely proportional to the group velocity
of the wave. Since the propagation constant,  ω , is
frequency dependent over band width (ω) sitting at
the center frequency ωc , at each frequency, we have
one propagation constant resulting in a specific delay
time.
As the output signal is collectively represented by
group velocity & group delay this phenomenon is
called intramodal dispersion or Group Velocity
Dispersion (GVD). This phenomenon arises due
to a finite bandwidth of the optical source,
dependency of refractive index on the wavelength
and the modal dependency of the group velocity.

In the case of optical pulse propagation down the

fiber, GVD causes pulse broadening, leading to
Inter Symbol Interference (ISI).
 Dispersion & ISI

A measure of information
capacity of an optical fiber for
digital transmission is usually
specified by the bandwidth
distance product in GHz.km.
For multi-mode step index
fiber this quantity is about 20
MHz.km, for graded index
fiber is about 2.5 GHz.km &
for single mode fibers are
higher than 10 GHz.km. BW  L
 How to characterize dispersion?
• Group delay per unit length can be defined as:
 gd 1 d  2 d
    [3-15]
L dω c dk 2 c d 

• If the spectral width of the optical source is not too

wide, then the delay difference per unit wavelength 
along the propagation path is approximately For
spectral components which are  apart, symmetrical
around center wavelength, the total delay difference
d g
over a distance L is:
d
 d 2
2 
• d 2 is called GVD parameter, and shows how
much a light pulse broadens as it travels along an
optical fiber. The more common parameter is called
Dispersion, and can be defined as the delay difference
per unit length per unit wavelength as follows:

1 d g  1 
D  
d     2 c  2 [3-17]
L d d V   2
 g 

• In the case of optical pulse, if the spectral width of

the optical source is characterized by its rms value of
the Gaussian pulse  g , the pulse spreading over
the length of L,   can be well approximated by:
d g
g     DL  [3-18]
d
Material Dispersion
 Material Dispersion
• The refractive index of the material varies as a function of wavelength, n( )
• Material-induced dispersion for a plane wave propagation in homogeneous
medium of refractive index n:

d 2 d 2 d  2 
 mat L  L  L n (  )
dω 2c d 2c d   

L dn 
  n    [3-19]
c d 
• The pulse spread due to material dispersion is therefore:

d mat L  d 2 n
g     2  L  Dmat ( ) [3-20]
d c d

Dmat ( ) is material dispersion

Material Dispersion Diagrams
 Waveguide Dispersion
• Waveguide dispersion is due to the dependency of the
group velocity of the fundamental mode as well as
other modes on the V number, (see Fig 2-18 of the
textbook). In order to calculate waveguide dispersion,
we consider that n is not dependent on wavelength.
Defining the normalized propagation constant b as:
2
 2 / k 2  n2  / k  n2
b 2 2
 [3-21]
n1  n2 n1  n2
• solving for propagation constant:
  n2 k (1  b) [3-22]

2 2
• Using V number: V  ka(n1  n2 )1/ 2  kan2 2 [3-23]
 Waveguide Dispersion
• Delay time due to waveguide dispersion can then be
expressed as: L  d (Vb) 
 wg  n2  n2  [3-24]
c dV 
 Waveguide dispersion in single mode fibers

• For single mode fibers, waveguide dispersion is in the

same order of material dispersion. The pulse spread
can be well
d
approximated as: 2
wg n2 L  d (Vb)
 wg     L  Dwg ( )  V [3-25]
d c dV 2
Dwg ( )
Polarization Mode dispersion
 Polarization Mode dispersion

• The effects of fiber-birefringence on the polarization

states of an optical are another source of pulse
broadening. Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is
due to slightly different velocity for each polarization
mode because of the lack of perfectly symmetric &
anisotropicity of the fiber. If the group velocities of
two orthogonal polarization modes are vgx and vgy
then the differential time delay  pol between these
two polarization over a distance L is   L  L
pol [3-26]
 pol  DPMD L [3-27]
v gx v gy

• The rms value of the differential group delay can be

approximated as:
 Chromatic & Total Dispersion
• Chromatic dispersion includes the material &
waveguide dispersions.
Dch ( )  Dmat  Dwg
[3-28]

 ch  Dch ( ) L 
• Total dispersion is the sum of chromatic , polarization
dispersion and other dispersion types and the total
rms pulse spreading can be approximately written as:
Dtotal  Dch  D pol  ...
[3-29]
 total  Dtotal L 
 Total Dispersion, zero Dispersion

Fact 1) Minimum distortion at wavelength about 1300 nm for single mode silica fiber.
Fact 2) Minimum attenuation is at 1550 nm for sinlge mode silica fiber.
Strategy: shifting the zero-dispersion to longer wavelength for minimum attenuation and dispersion.
 Optimum single mode fiber & distortion/attenuation
characteristics
Fact 1) Minimum distortion at wavelength about 1300
nm for single mode silica fiber.
Fact 2) Minimum attenuation is at 1550 nm for sinlge
mode silica fiber.
Strategy: shifting the zero-dispersion to longer
wavelength for minimum attenuation and dispersion
by Modifying waveguide dispersion by changing
from a simple step-index core profile to more
complicated profiles.
There are four major categories to do that:
1- 1300 nm optimized single mode step-fibers:
matched cladding (mode diameter 9.6 micrometer) and
depressed-cladding (mode diameter about 9
micrometer)
2- Dispersion shifted fibers.
3- Dispersion-flattened fibers.
4- Large-effective area (LEA) fibers (less non
linearities for fiber optical amplifier applications,
effective cross section areas are typically greater than
2
100 m ).
Single mode fiber dispersion
Single mode fiber dispersion
 Single mode Cut-off wavelength & Dispersion

• Fundamental mode is HE11 or LP01

2 a 2 2
• with V=2.405 and c V
  n1  n 2 [3-30]

• Dispersion: d
[3-31]

D ( )   Dmat ( )  Dwg ( )
d [3-32]

  D( ) L 
• For non-dispersion-shifted fibers (1270 nm – 1340 nm)
• For dispersion shifted fibers (1500 nm- 1600 nm)
 Dispersion for non-dispersion-shifted fibers
(1270 nm – 1340 nm)
2
S0 0 2
 ( )   0  (  ) [3-33]
8 
•
 0 is relative delay minimum at the zero-dispersion
wavelength 0 , and S 0 is the value of the
dispersion slope in ps/(nm 2 .km) .
dD
S 0  S (0 )  [3-34]
d    0

S 0  0 4 
D ( )  1  (  ) 
[3-35]

4  
Dispersion for dispersion shifted fibers(1500 nm- 1600 nm)

S0
 ( )   0  (  0 ) 2 [3-36]

D ( )  (  0 ) S 0 [3-37]
Example of dispersion
Performance curve for
Set of SM-fiber
Example of BW vs wavelength for various optical sources for
SM-fiber.
MFD
Bending Loss
Bending effects on loss vs MFD
Bend loss versus bend radius

a  3.6m; b  60m
n n
  3.56  103 ; 3 2  0.07
n2
 Unit-III
FIBER OPTICAL SOURCES

• Direct and indirect Band gap materials

• LED structures – Light source materials – Quantum
efficiency and LED power, Modulation of a LED
• Laser Diodes – Modes and Threshold condition –
Rate equations – External Quantum efficiency –
Resonant frequencies – Laser Diodes structures and
radiation patterns
• Single Mode lasers – Modulation of Laser Diodes,
Temperature effects, Introduction to Quantum laser,
Fiber amplifiers
Direct and indirect Band gap materials
 Direct and indirect Band gap materials

• The band gap represents the minimum energy

difference between the top of the valence band and
the bottom of the conduction band.
• However, the top of the valence band and the bottom
of the conduction band are not generally at the same
value of the electron momentum.
 Direct and indirect Band gap materials

• In a direct band gap semiconductor, the top of the

valence band and the bottom of the conduction band
occur at the same value of momentum.

• In an indirect band gap semiconductor, the maximum

energy of the valence band occurs at a different value
of momentum to the minimum in the conduction band
energy:
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor
device that emits incoherent light, through spontaneous
emission, when a current is passed through it. Typically
LEDs for the 850-nm region are fabricated using GaAs
and AlGaAs. LEDs for the 1300-nm and 1550-nm
regions are fabricated using InGaAsP and InP.
The basic LED types used for fiber optic
communication systems are the surface-emitting LED
(SLED), the edge-emitting LED (ELED), and the
superluminescent diode (SLD
 LED performance differences help link
designers decide which device is appropriate
for the intended application. For short-distance
(0 to 3 km), low-data-rate fiber optic systems,
SLEDs and ELEDs are the preferred optical
source.
Typically, SLEDs operate efficiently for bit
rates up to 250 megabits per second (Mb/s).
Because SLEDs emit light over a wide area
(wide far-field angle), they are almost
exclusively used in multimode systems.
For medium-distance, medium-data-rate systems,
ELEDs are preferred.
ELEDs may be modulated at rates up to 400 Mb/s.
ELEDs may be used for both single mode and
multimode fiber systems. Both SLDs and ELEDs are
used in long-distance, high-data-rate systems. SLDs
are ELED-based diodes designed to operate in the
superluminescence mode. A further discussion on
superluminescence is provided later in this chapter.
SLDs may be modulated at bit rates of over 400
Mb/s.
Surface-Emitting LEDs
The surface-emitting LED (shown in figure 6-1) is also
known as the Burrus LED in honor of C. A. Burrus, its
developer. In SLEDs, the size of the primary active
region is limited to a small circular area of 20 &mu;m to
50 &mu;m in diameter. The active region is the portion
of the LED where photons are emitted. The primary
active region is below the surface of the semiconductor
substrate perpendicular to the axis of the fiber.
A well is etched into the substrate to allow direct
coupling of the emitted light to the optical fiber.
The etched well allows the optical fiber to come
into close contact with the emitting surface.
In addition, the epoxy resin that binds the optical
fiber to the SLED reduces the refractive index
mismatch, increasing coupling efficiency.
Edge-Emitting LEDs
The demand for optical sources for longer distance,
higher bandwidth systems operating at
longer wavelengthsled to the development of edge-
emitting
LEDs. Figure 6-2 shows a typical ELED structure. It
shows the different layers of semiconductor material
used in the ELED. The primary active region of the
ELED is a narrow stripe, which lies below the
surface of the semiconductor substrate. The
semiconductor substrate is cut or polished so that the
stripe runs between the front and back of the device.
The polished or cut surfaces at each end of the stripe
are called facets.
In an ELED the rear facet is highly reflective and the
front facet is antireflection-coated. The rear facet reflects
the light propagating toward the rear end-face back
toward the front facet. By coating the front facet with
antireflection material, the front facet reduces optical
feedback and allows light emission. ELEDs emit light
only through the front facet. ELEDs emit light in a
narrow emission angle allowing for better source-to-fiber
coupling. They couple more power into small NA fibers
than SLEDs. ELEDs can couple enough power into
single mode fibers for some applications. ELEDs emit
power over a narrower spectral range than SLEDs.
However, ELEDs typically are more sensitive to
temperature fluctuations than SLEDs.
In an ELED the rear facet is highly reflective and the
front facet is antireflection-coated. The rear facet reflects
the light propagating toward the rear end-face back
toward the front facet. By coating the front facet with
antireflection material, the front facet reduces optical
feedback and allows light emission. ELEDs emit light
only through the front facet. ELEDs emit light in a
narrow emission angle allowing for better source-to-
fiber coupling. They couple more power into small NA
fibers than SLEDs. ELEDs can couple enough power
into single mode fibers for some applications. ELEDs
emit power over a narrower spectral range than SLEDs.
However, ELEDs typically are more sensitive to
temperature fluctuations than SLEDs.
 Rate equations, Quantum Efficiency & Power of
LEDs
• When there is no external carrier injection, the excess density decays
exponentially due to electron-hole recombination.

n(t )  n0 e t / [4-4]

• n is the excess carrier density,

n0 : initial injected excess electron density

 : carrier lifetime.
• Bulk recombination rate R:

dn n [4-5]
R 
dt 
• Bulk recombination rate (R)=Radiative recombination rate +
nonradiative recombination rate
bulk recombination rate ( R  1/τ ) 
radiative recombination rate ( Rr  1/τ r )  nonradiative recombination rate(Rnr  1/τ nr )

With an external supplied current density of J the rate equation for the electron-hole
recombination is:

dn(t ) J n
  [4-6]

dt qd 
q : charge of the electron; d : thickness of recombination region
In equilibrium condition: dn/dt=0

J
n [4-7]
qd
 Internal Quantum Efficiency & Optical Power

Rr  nr 
int    [4-8]

Rr  Rnr  r   nr  r
int : internal quantum efficiency in the active region

Optical power generated internally in the active region in the LED is:

I hcI
Pint  int h  int [4-9]

q q
Pint : Internal optical power,
I : Injected current to active region
 External Quantum Eficiency

# of photons emitted from LED

ext  [4-10]
# of LED internally generated photons

• In order to calculate the external quantum efficiency, we need to

consider the reflection effects at the surface of the LED. If we consider
the LED structure as a simple 2D slab waveguide, only light falling
within a cone defined by critical angle will be emitted from an LED.
 c
1
ext   T ( )(2 sin  )d [4-11]

4 0
4n1n2
T ( ) : Fresnel Transmission Coefficient  T (0)  [4-12]

(n1  n2 ) 2
1
If n2  1  ext  [4-13]
n1 (n1  1) 2
Pint
LED emitted optical powr, P  ext Pint  [4-14]
n1 (n1  1) 2
 Modulation of LED
• The frequency response of an LED depends on:
1- Doping level in the active region
2- Injected carrier lifetime in the recombination region, . 
i
3- Parasitic capacitance of the LED
• If the drive current of an LED is modulated at a frequency of the
output optical power of the device will vary as:
P0 [4-15]
P( ) 
1  ( i ) 2
• Electrical current is directly proportional to the optical power, thus we
can define electrical bandwidth and optical bandwidth, separately.

 p()   I() 
Electrical BW  10log    20 log  I (0) 
[4-16]

 p ( 0)   
p : electrical power, I : electrical current
  P ( )   I ( ) 
Optical BW  10 log    10 log   [4-17]

 P ( 0)   I ( 0) 
The laser diode light contains only a single
frequency. Therefore, it can be focused by even a
simple lens system to an extremely small point.
There is no chromatic aberration since only one
wavelength exists, also all of the energy from the
light source is concentrated into a very small spot of
light. LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification
by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Laser Diode Construction
The above figure shows a simplified construction
of a laser diode, which is similar to a light emitting
diode (LED). It uses gallium arsenide doped with
elements such as selenium, aluminium, or silicon
to produce P type and N type semiconductor
materials. While a laser diode has an additional
active layer of undoped (intrinsic) gallium arsenide
have the thickness only a few nanometers,
sandwiched between the P and N layers,
effectively creating a PIN diode (P type-Intrinsic-
N type). It is in this layer that the laser light is
produced.
How Laser Diode Work?
Every atom according to the quantum theory, can
energies only within a certain discrete energy level.
Normally, the atoms are in the lowest energy state
or ground state. When an energy source given to the
atoms in the ground state can be excited to go to
one of the higher levels. This process is called
absorption. After staying at that level for a very
short duration, the atom returns to its initial ground
state, emitting a photon in the process, This process
is called spontaneous emission. These two
processes, absorption and spontaneous emission,
take place in a conventional light source.
Amplification and Population Inversion
When favourable conditions are created for the
stimulated emission, more and more atoms are
forced to emit photons thereby initiating a chain
reaction and releasing an enormous amount of
energy. This results in a rapid build up of energy of
emitting one particular wavelength
(monochromatic light), travelling coherently in a
particular, fixed direction. This process is called
amplification by stimulated emission.
The number of atoms in any level at a given time is
called the population of that level. Normally, when
the material is not excited externally, the population
of the lower level or ground state is greater than that
of the upper level. When the population of the upper
level exceeds that of the lower level, which is a
reversal of the normal occupancy, the process is
called population inversion.
Main laser diode types
Some of the main types of laser diode include the
following types:
Double heterostructure laser diode : The double
heterojunction laser diode is made up by sandwiching a
layer of a low bandgap material with a layer on either
side of high bandgap layers. This makes the two
heterojunctions as the materials themselves are
different and not just the same material with different
types of doping. Common materials for the double
heterojunction laser diode are Gallium Arsenide, GaAs,
and aluminium gallium arsenide, AlGaAs.
The advantage of the double heterojunction laser diode
over other types is that the holes and electrons are
confined to the thin middle layer which acts as the
active region. By containing the electrons and holes
within this area more effectively, more electron-hole
pairs are available for the laser optical amplification
process. Additionally the change in material at the
heterojunction helps contain the light within the active
region providing additional benefit.
Quantum well laser diode: The quantum well laser
diode uses a very thin middle layer - this acts as a
quantum well where the vertical component of the
electron wave function is quantised. As the quantum
well has an abrupt edge, this concentrates electrons in
energy states that contribute to laser action, and this
increases the efficiency of the system.

In addition to the single quantum well laser diodes,

multiple quantum well laser diodes also exist. The
presence of multiple quantum wells improves the
overlap between the gain region and the optical
waveguide mode.
 Unit-IV
FIBER OPTICAL RECEIVERS

• PIN and APD diodes

• Photo detector noise, SNR, Detector Response time
• Avalanche multiplication Noise – Comparison of
Photo detectors
• Fundamental Receiver Operation – pre-amplifiers
• Error Sources – Receiver Configuration – Probability
of Error – The Quantum Limit
 PIN Photodetector

The high electric field present in the depletion region causes

photo-generated carriers to separate and be collected across
the reverse –biased junction. This give rise to a current
Flow in an external circuit, known as photocurrent.
Energy-Band diagram for a pin photodiode
 Photocurrent
• Optical power absorbed, P(x) in the depletion region
can be written in terms of incident optical power, P :
0
 s (  ) x
P( x)  P0 (1  e ) [6-1]

• Absorption coefficient s () strongly depends on

wavelength. The upper wavelength cutoff for any
semiconductor can be determined by its energy gap as
follows: 1 . 24
c (m )  [6-2]
E g (eV)
• Taking entrance face reflectivity into consideration,
the absorbed power in the width of depletion region,
w, becomes: (1 Rf )P(w)  P0 (1 e ()w )(1 Rf )
s
Optical Absorption Coefficient
 Responsivity

• The primary photocurrent resulting from absorption

is: q
I p  P0 (1 e ()w )(1 R f )
s [6-3]
h

• Quantum Efficiency:
# of electron - hole photogener ated pairs

# of incident photons
IP / q
 [6-4]
P0 / h 

• Responsivity:
IP q [6-5]
   [A/W]
P0 h
Responsivity vs. wavelength
 Avalanche Photodiode (APD)

Optical radiation

Reach-Through APD structure (RAPD) showing the electric fields in

depletion region and multiplication region.
APDs internally multiply the primary photocurrent
before it enters to following circuitry.
In order to carrier multiplication take place, the
photogenerated carriers must traverse along a high
field region. In this region, photogenerated electrons
and holes gain enough energy to ionize bound
electrons in VB upon colliding with them. This
multiplication is known as impact ionization. The
newly created carriers in the presence of high electric
field result in more ionization called avalanche effect.
 Responsivity of APD

• The multiplication factor (current gain) M for all

carriers generated in the photodiode is defined as:
IM
M  [6-6]
Ip

• Where I M is the average value of the total

multiplied output current & I P is the primary
photocurrent. q
 APD  M  0M [6-7]
h
• The responsivity of APD can be calculated by
considering the current gain as:
Current gain (M) vs. Voltage for different optical
wavelengths
 Photodetector Noise & S/N
• Detection of weak optical signal requires that the
photodetector and its following amplification circuitry
be optimized for a desired signal-to-noise ratio.
• It is the noise current which determines the minimum
optical power level that can be detected. This minimum
detectable optical power defines the sensitivity of
photodetector. That is the optical power that generates a
photocurrent with the amplitude equal to that of the
total noise current (S/N=1)
S signal power from photocurre nt

N photodetec tor noise power  amplifier noise power
 Signal Calculation
• Consider the modulated optical power signal P(t)
falls on the photodetector with the form of:
P (t )  P0 [1  ms (t )] [6-8]

• Where s(t) is message electrical signal and m is

modulation index. Therefore the primary
photocurrent is (for pin photodiode M=1):
q
i ph  MP ( t )  I P [ DC value ]  i p ( t )[ AC current ] [6-9]
h
• The root mean square signal current is then:
2 2 2 2
is  ip M   s [6-9]

2 2 m 2I 2
P
[6-10]
ip   p  for sinusoidal signal
2
 Noise Sources in Photodetecors
• The principal noises associated with photodetectors are :
1- Quantum (Shot) noise: arises from statistical
nature of the production and collection of photo-
generated electrons upon optical illumination. It has
been shown that the statistics follow a Poisson process.
2- Dark current noise: is the current that continues to
flow through the bias circuit in the absence of the light.
This is the combination of bulk dark current, which is
due to thermally generated e and h in the pn junction,
and the surface dark current, due to surface defects,
bias voltage and surface area.
In order to calculate the total noise presented in
photodetector, we should sum up the root mean
square of each noise current by assuming that
those are uncorrelated.

Total photodetector noise current=quantum noise

current +bulk dark current noise + surface current
noise
 Noise calculation (1)
• Quantum noise current (lower limit on the sensitivity):

2 2 2
iQ   Q  2qIP BM F (M ) [6-11]

x
• B: Bandwidth, F(M) is the noise figure and generally is F ( M )  M 0  x  1.0

• Bulk dark current noise:

2 2
i DB   DB  2qI D BM 2 F ( M ) [6-12]

Note that for pin photodiode

I D is bulk dark current
M 2 F (M )  1
• Surface dark current noise: IL is the surface current.

2 2
i DS   DS  2 qI L B [6-13]
 Noise calculation (2)
• The total rms photodetector noise current is:

2 2 2 2 2
iN   N  iQ  iDB  iDS
 2q( I P  I D ) BM 2 F ( M )  2qI L B [6-14]

• The thermal noise of amplifier connected to the photodetector is:

2 2 4k BTB
iT  T  [6-15]
RL

RL input resistance of amplifier, and k B  1 .38  10  23 JK -1 is Boltzmann cte.

 S/N Calculation

• Having obtained the signal and total noise, the signal-to-noise-ratio can be
written as:

2
S iP M 2
 [6-16]
N 2q( I P  I D ) BM 2 F (M )  2qI L B  4k BTB / RL

• Since the noise figure F(M) increases with M, there always exists an
optimum value of M that maximizes the S/N. For sinusoidally modulated
signal with m=1 and F ( M )  M x :

x2 2 qI L  4 k B T / R L [6-17]
M opt 
xq ( I P  I D )
 Photodetector Response Time

• The response time of a photodetector with its output

circuit depends mainly on the following three factors:
1- The
t d transit time of the photocarriers in the
depletion region. The transit time depends on the
carrier drift velocity v d and the depletion layer
width w, and is given by:
w
td  [6-18]
vd
2- Diffusion time of photocarriers outside
depletion region.
3- RC time constant of the circuit. The
circuit after the photodetector acts like RC low
pass filter with a passband given by:

1
B RT  Rs || RL and CT  Ca  Cd [6-19]
2RT C T
Photodiode response to optical pulse

Typical response time of the

photodiode that is not fully depleted
 Various optical responses of photodetectors:
Trade-off between quantum efficiency & response time
• To achieve a high quantum
efficiency, the depletion layer
width must be larger than 1 /  s
(the inverse of the absorption
coefficient), so that most of the
light will be absorbed. At the
same time with large width, the
capacitance is small and RC time
constant getting smaller, leading
to faster response, but wide
width results in larger transit time
in the depletion region. Therefore
there is a trade-off between
width and QE. It is shown that
the best is:

1/s  w 2/s
 Structures for InGaAs APDs
• Separate-absorption-and multiplication (SAM) APD

light

InP substrate
InP buffer layer
INGaAs Absorption layer

InP multiplication layer

Metal contact

• InGaAs APD superlattice structure (The multiplication region is composed

of several layers of InAlGaAs quantum wells separated by InAlAs barrier
layers.
Temperature effect on avalanche gain
Comparison of photodetectors
Receiver Functional Block Diagram
 Receiver Types
+Bias Rf
+Bias +Bias

Is
Is Is
Output
Output Output

Ct
RL RL Ct
50  Equalizer Amplifier
Amplifier Amplifier

Low Impedance High Impedance Transimpedance

Low Sensitivity Requires Equalizer for high BW High Dynamic Range

Easily Made High Sensitivity High Sensitivity
Wide Band Low Dynamic Range Stability Problems
Careful Equalizer Placement Required Difficult to equalize
 Receiver Noise Sources

•Photon Noise
Also called shot noise or Quantum
noise, described by poisson
statistics
•Photoelectron Noise
Randomness of photodetection
process leads to noise
•Gain Noise
eg. gain process in APDs or EDFAs is
noisy
•Receiver Circuit noise
Resistors and transistors in the the
Photodetector without gain Photodetector with gain (APD) electrical amplifier contribute to
circuit noise
 Noise

Noise Power
Johnson noise (Gaussian and white)
2
Vn
Noise Power=4kTB   in2 R
R
Frequency
4kTB
i rms  Vrms  4kTRB
R

Noise Power
Shot noise (Gaussian and white)

1/ 2 1/ 2
rms noise current  i n 2   2qIB  Frequency

“1/f” noise 1/f noise

Noise Power
K
spectral density= V 2 /Hz
f Fc
for FETs
4kT Frequency
K= fc
gm
where fc is the FET corner frequency and  is the channel noise factor
Johnson (thermal) Noise

Noise in a resistor can be modeled as

due to a noiseless resistor in parallel
with a noise current source
The variance of the noise current source is given by:

4kBTB
s i2 = i 2 »
R

Where kB is Boltzman's constant

T is the Temperature in Kelvins
B is the bandwidth in Hz (not bits/sec)
 Photodetection noise

The electric current in a photodetector

circuit is composed of a superposition
of the electrical pulses associated with
each photoelectron

Noise in photodetector The variation of this current is called

shot noise

If the photoelectrons are multiplied by

a gain mechanism then variations in
the gain mechanism give rise to an
additional variation in the current
pulses. This variation provides an
additional source of noise, gain noise

Noise in APD
Circuit Noise
Signal to Noise Ratio

Signal to noise Ratio (SNR) as a

function of the average number of photo
electrons per receiver resolution time for
a photo diode receiver at two different
values of the circuit noise

Signal to noise Ratio (SNR) as a

function of the average number of
photoelectrons per receiver resolution
time for a photo diode receiver and an
APD receiver with mean gain G=100
and an excess noise factor F=2

At low photon fluxes the APD receiver

has a better SNR. At high fluxes the
photodiode receiver has lower noise
Dependence of SNR on APD Gain

Curves are
parameterized by k,
the ionization ratio
between holes and
electrons

Plotted for an average

detected photon flux
of 1000
and constant circuit
noise
 Digital Transmission System (DTS)

• The design of optical receiver is much more complicated than that of optical
transmitter because the receiver must first detect weak, distorted signals and
the n make decisions on what type of data was sent.
 Error Sources in DTS


 
N   P (t ) dt  E [7-1]
h 0
h
eN
n [7-2]
Pr ( n )  N
n!
N is the average number of electron-hole pairs in photodetector,
 is the detector quantum efficiency and E is energy received in a time
interval  and h  is photon energy, where Pr (n) is the probability
that n electrons are emitted in an interval  .
 InterSymbol Interference (ISI)

Pulse spreading in an optical signal, after traversing along optical fiber,

leads to ISI. Some fraction of energy remaining in appropriate time slot
is designated by  , so the rest is the fraction of energy that has spread
Into adjacent time slots.
 Receiver Configuration

The binary digital pulse train incident on the photodetector can be written in the
following form:

P (t )  b
n  
n h p ( t  nT b ) [7-3]

where T b is bit period, b n is an amplitude parameter of the n th message digit

and h p ( t ) is the received pulse shape which is positive for all t.
• In writing down eq. [7-3], we assume the digital
pulses with amplitude V represents bit 1 and 0
represents bit 0. Thus bn can take two values
corresponding to each binary data. By normalizing
the input pulse h p (t ) to the photodiode to have unit
area 

h p (t ) dt  1


b• n represents the energy in the nth pulse.

The mean output current from the photodiode at time
t resulting from pulse train given in eq. [7-3] is
(neglecting the DC components arising from dark
current noise):

q
i (t )  MP(t )   o M  bn h p (t  nTb ) [7-4]

h n  
 Bit Error Rate (BER)

BER  Probabilit y of Error 

# of error over a certain ti me interval t [7-5]

total # of pulses transmitt ed during t
Ne Ne
 B  1 / Tb
Nt Bt

• Probability of Error= probability that the output voltage is

less than the threshold when a 1 is sent + probability that the
output voltage is more than the threshold when a 0 has been
sent.
 vth

Probability distributions for received logical 0 and 1 signal pulses.

the different widths of the two distributions are caused by various signal
distortion effects.
v
P1 (v )   p ( y | 1)dy probablity that the equalizer output vol tage is less than v, if 1 transmitt ed

[7-6]

P0 (v )   p ( y | 0)dy probablity that the equalizer output vol tage exceeds v , if 0 transmitt ed
v
 Pe  q1 P1 (vth )  q 0 P0 (vth )
vth  [7-7]

 q1  p ( y | 1)dy  q  p( y | 1)dy
0
 vth

• Where q 1 and q 0 are the probabilities that the transmitter

sends 0 and 1 respectively.
q 0  1  q1 q 0  q1  0 .5
• For an unbiased transmitter
 Gaussian Distribution
vth vth
1  (v  bon ) 2 
P1 (vth )   p( y | 1)dy    exp  2 dv
 2  on   2 on 
[7-8]
 
1  (v  boff ) 2 
P0 (vth )   p( y | 0)dy    exp  2 dv
vth 2  off vth  2 off 

mean

mean
• If we assume that the probabilities of 0 and 1 pulses are
equally likely, then using eq [7-7] and [7-8] , BER becomes:

1 2 1  Q 
BER  Pe ( Q )   exp(  x )dx  1  erf ( )
 Q/ 2 2  2 
1 exp(- Q 2 /2) [7-9]

2 Q

v th  b off b on  v th [7-9]
Q  
 off  on
x
2 2
erf ( x )   exp(  y )dy [7-10]

 0
 Approximation of error function

Variation of BER vs Q,
according to eq [7-9].
 Special Case
In special case when:

 off   on   & boff  0, bon  V

From eq [7-29], we have: vth  V / 2

Eq [7-8] becomes:

1  V 
Pe ( )  1  erf ( )
2  2 2 
V [7-11]
is peak signal - to - rms - noise ratio.


Study example 7-1 pp. 286 of the textbook.

 Quantum Limit
• Minimum received power required for a specific
BER assuming that the photodetector has a 100%
quantum efficiency and zero dark current. For
such ideal photo-receiver,
Pe  P1 (0)  exp( N ) [7-12]

• Where N is the average number of electron-hole pairs,

when the incident optical pulse energy is E and given by
eq [7-1] with 100% quantum efficiency .
(  1)
 Unit -V
DIGITAL TRANMISSION SYSTEM

• Point-to-Point links – System considerations – Fiber

Splicing and connectors – Link Power budget – Rise-
time budget – Noise Effects on System Performance
– Operational Principals of WDM, Solutions
 Point-to-Point Links
Key system requirements needed to analyze optical
fiber links:
1. The desired (or possible) transmission distance
2. The data rate or channel bandwidth
3. The desired bit-error rate (BER)
LED or laser MMF or SMF pin or APD

(a) Emission wavelength (a) Core size (a) Responsivity

(b) Spectral line width (b) Core index profile (b) Operating λ
(c) Output power (c) BW or dispersion (c) Speed
(d) Effective radiating area (d) Attenuation (d) Sensitivity
(e) Emission pattern (e) NA or MFD
 Selecting the Fiber
Bit rate and distance are the major factors

Other factors to consider: attenuation (depends on?)

and distance-bandwidth product (depends on?) cost
of the connectors, splicing etc.

Then decide
• Multimode or single mode
• Step or graded index fiber
 Selecting the Optical Source

• Emission wavelength depends on acceptable

attenuation and dispersion
• Spectral line width depends on acceptable …………
dispersion (LED  wide, LASER  narrow)
• Output power in to the fiber (LED  low, LASER 
high)
• Stability, reliability and cost
• Driving circuit considerations
 Selecting the detector

• Type of detector
– APD: High sensitivity but complex, high bias
voltage (40V or more) and expensive
– PIN: Simpler, thermally stable, low bias voltage
(5V or less) and less expensive
• Responsivity (that depends on the avalanche gain
& quantum efficiency)
• Operating wavelength and spectral selectivity
• Speed (capacitance) and photosensitive area
• Sensitivity (depends on noise and gain)
 Typical bit rates at different wavelengths

Wavelength LED Systems LASER Systems.

800-900 nm 150 Mb/s.km 2500 Mb/s.km

(Typically
Multimode Fiber)
1300 nm (Lowest 1500 Mb/s.km 25 Gb/s.km
dispersion) (InGaAsP Laser)
1550 nm (Lowest 1200 Mb/s.km Up to 500
Attenuation) Gb/s.km
(Best demo)
Fusion Splicing Method
Fusion splicing is a permanent connection of two or more
optical fibers by welding them together using an
electronic arc. It is the most widely used method of
splicing as it provides for the lowest loss, less
reflectance, strongest and most reliable joint between two
fibers. When adopting this method, fusion splicing
machines are often used. Generally, there are four basic
steps in fusion splicing process as illustrating in
following one by one.
Step 1: strip the fiber
The splicing process begins with the preparation
for both fibers ends to be fused. So you need to
strip all protective coating, jackets, tubes, strength
members and so on, just leaving the bare fiber
showing. It is noted that the cables should be
clean.
Step 2: cleave the fiber
A good fiber cleaver is crucial to a successful
fusion splice. The cleaver merely nicks the fiber
and then pulls or flexes it to cause a clean break
rather than cut the fiber. The cleave end-face
should be perfectly flat and perpendicular to the
axis of the fiber for a proper splice.
Step 3: fuse the fiber
When fusing the fiber, there are two important steps:
aligning and melting. Fist of all, aligning the ends of
the fiber within the fiber optic splicer. Once proper
alignment is achieved, utilizing an electrical arc to melt
the fibers to permanently welding the two fiber ends
together.
Step 4: protect the fiber
A typical fusion splice has a tensile strength between
0.5 and 1.5 lbs and it is not easy to break during normal
handling. However, it still requires protection from
excessive bending and pulling forces. By using heat
shrink tubing, silicone gel and/or mechanical crimp
protectors will keep the splice protected from outside
elements and breakage.
Mechanical Splicing Method
A mechanical splice is a junction of two or
more optical fibers that are aligned and held in
place by a self-contained assembly. A typical
example of this method is the use of
connectors to link fibers. This method is most
popular for fast, temporary restoration or for
splicing multimode fibers in a premises
installation. Like fusion splice, there are also
four basic steps in mechanical splice.
Step 1: strip the fiber
Fiber preparation here is practically the same as for
fusion splicing. Just removing the protective
coatings, jackets, tubes, strength members to show
the bare fiber. Then ensuring the cleanliness of the
fiber.
Step 2: cleave the fiber
The process is the same as the cleaving for fusion
splicing. It is necessary to obtain a cut on the fiber
which is exactly at right angles to the axis of the
fiber.
Step 3: mechanically join the fiber
In this step, heating is not used as in fusion splice.
Simply connecting the fiber ends together inside the
mechanical splice unit. The index matching gel
inside the mechanical splice apparatus will help
couple the light from one fiber end to the other.
Step 4: protect the fiber
Once fibers are spliced, they will be placed in a
splice tray which is then placed in a splice closure.
Outside plant closures without use of heat shrink
tubing will be carefully sealed to prevent moisture
damage to the splices.
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
Why Is WDM Used?
With the exponential growth in communications,
caused mainly by the wide acceptance of the Internet,
many carriers are finding that their estimates of fiber
needs have been highly underestimated. Although most
cables included many spare fibers when installed, this
growth has used many of them and new capacity is
needed. Three methods exist for expanding capacity: 1)
installing more cables, 2) increasing system bitrate to
multiplex more signals or 3) wavelength division
multiplexing.
 Design Considerations

• Link Power Budget

– There is enough power margin in the system to
meet the given BER
• Rise Time Budget
– Each element of the link is fast enough to meet
the given bit rate

These two budgets give necessary conditions

for satisfactory operation
 Optical power-loss model

PT  Ps  PR  mlc  nlsp   f L  System Margin

PT : Total loss; Ps : Source power; PR : Rx sensitivity

m connectors; n splices
 Power Budget Example
• Specify a 20-Mb/s data rate and a BER = 10–9.
• With a Si pin photodiode at 850 nm, the required receiver input signal is –42 dBm.
• Select a GaAlAs LED that couples 50 mW into a 50-μm core diameter fiber flylead.
• Assume a 1-dB loss occurs at each cable interface and a 6-dB system margin.
• The possible transmission distance L = 6 km can be found from
PT = PS – PR = 29 dB = 2lc + αL + system margin = 2(1 dB) + αL + 6 dB
• The link power budget can be represented graphically (see the right-hand figure).
 Rise-Time Budget (1)
• A rise-time budget analysis determines the dispersion
limitation of an optical fiber link.
• The total rise time tsys is the root sum square of the
rise times from each contributor ti to the pulse rise-
time degradation:
– The transmitter rise time ttx
– The group-velocity dispersion (GVD) rise time
tGVD of the fiber
The modal dispersion rise time tmod of the
fiber
The receiver rise time trx

Here Be and B0 are given in MHz, so all

times are in ns.
Solitons
 A Course Material on

SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

By

Mr. C. Sundar Rasu

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION

ENGINEERING

SASURIE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

VIJAYAMANGALAM – 638 056

 QUALITY CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the e-course material

Subject Code : EC2045

Subject : SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

Class : IV Year E

Being prepared by me and it meets the knowledge requirement of the university

curriculum.

Signature of the Author

Name : C. Sundar Rasu

Designation : Assistant Professor

This is to certify that the course material being prepared by Mr. C. Sundar Rasu is of
adequate quality. He has referred more than five books among them minimum one is
from abroad author.

Signature of HD

N.RAMKUMAR
 UNIT I SATELLITE ORBITS 1-22
1 Introduction to satellite communication: 1
1.2 Kepler’s laws: 2
1.2.1 Kepler’s law Introduction:
1.2.2 Kepler’s First Law:
1.2.3 Kepler’s Second Law :
1.3 Newton’s law: 3
1.3.1 Newton's first law:
1.3.2 Newton's second law:
1.3.3 Newton's first law:
1.4 Orbital parameters: 4
1.5 Orbital Perturbations: 6
1.5.1 Effects of non-Spherical Earth:
1.5.2 Atmospheric Drag:
1.6 Station Keeping: 7
1.7 Geo stationary and Non Geo-stationary orbits: 8
1.7.1 Geo stationary:
1.7.2 Non Geo-Stationary Orbit:
1.8 Look Angle Determination: 11
1.9. Limits of visibility: 12
1.10 Eclipse: 13
1.11 Sub satellite Point: 14
1.12 Sun Transit Outage: 15
1.13 Launching Procedures: 18
1.13.1 Introduction:
1.13.2 Orbit Transfer:
1.14 Launch vehicles and propulsion: 19
1.14.1 Transfer Orbit:

UNIT II SPACE SEGMENT & SATELLITE LINK DESIGN 23-50

2.1 Spacecraft Technology- Structure: 23
2.2 The Power Supply: 24
2.3 Attitude Control & Orbit Control: 25
2.3.1 S p i n n i n g satellite stabilization:
2.3.2 Momentum wheel stabilization
2.4 Thermal Control and Propulsion: 26
2.5 Communication Payload & Support Subsystems: 27
2.6 TT&C Subsystem 31
2.6.1 Transponders:
2.6.2 The wideband receiver
2.6.3 The input demultiplexer
2.6.4 The power amplifier
2.7. Satellite uplink and downlink Analysis and Design: 41
2.7.1 Introduction
2.7.2 Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
2.7.3 Transmission Losses
2.8 The Link-Power Budget Equation: 43
2.9 Amplifier noise temperature 44
2.10 The Uplink 45
2.11 Downlink 46
2.12. Inter modulation and interference: 48
2.13. Propagation Characteristics and Frequency considerations: 48
2.13.1 Introduction
2.13.2 Radio Noise
2.14. System reliability and design lifetime: 49
2.14.1 System reliability:
2.14.2. Design lifetime:

UNIT III SATELLITE ACCESS 51-72

3.1 Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice, Data, Video: 51

3.1.1 Voice, Data, Video:
3.1.2 Modulation And Multiplexing:
3.2 Analog – digital transmission system: 52
3.2.1 Analog vs. Digital Transmission:
3.2.2 Digital Data/Analog Signals:
3.3. Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB): 54
3.4 Multiple Access Techniques: 56
3.4.1 Frequency division duplexing (FDD):
3.4.2. Time division duplexing (TDD):
3.4.3 FDMA:
3.4.4 TDMA:
3.4.5 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA):
3.5. Channel allocation schemes: 64
3.5.1 FCA:
3.5.2. DCA and DFS
3.6 Spread spectrum: 65
3.6.1 Spread spectrum Techniques:
3.7 Compression – Encryption: 66
3.7.1 Encryption and Transmission:
3.7.2 Video and Audio Compression:
3.7.3 MPEG Standards :
3.8 Encryption: 67

UNIT IV EARTH SEGMENT 73-90

4.1 Earth Station Technology: 73

4.1.1 Terrestrial Interface:
4.1.2 Transmitter and Receiver
4.1.3. Earth Station Tracking System:
4.2 Antenna Systems : 76
4.2.1 Feed System
 4.2.2 Antenna Reflector :
4.2.3 Antenna Mount:
4.2.4 Antenna Tracking System :
4.3 Receive-Only Home TV Systems: 80
4.3.1 The Indoor unit:
4.3.2 The outdoor unit:
4.4 Master Antenna TV System: 84
4.5 Community Antenna TV System: 85
4.6 Test Equipment Measurements on G/T, C/No, EIRP: 86
4.7 Antenna Gain: 89

UNIT V SATELLITE APPLICATIONS 91-131

5.1 INTELSAT Series: 91

5.2 INSAT: 93
5.2.1 INSAT System:
5.2.2 Satellites In Service:
5.3 VSAT: 97
5.3.1 VSAT Network :
5.3.2 Applications:
5.4 Mobile Satellite Services: 98
5.4.1 GSM:
5.4.2 Global Positioning System (GPS) :
5.5. INMARSAT: 105
5.6 LEO: 106
5.7 MEO: 107
5.8 GEO 108
5.9 Satellite Navigational System: 109
5.10 Direct Broadcast satellites (DBS): 111
5.10.1 Power Rating and Number of Transponders:
5.10.2 Bit Rates for Digital Television:
5.10.3 MPEG Compression Standards:
5.11 Direct to home Broadcast (DTH): 112
5.11.1 DTH Block Diagram:
5.11.2 Advantage:
5.12 Digital audio broadcast (DAB): 113
5.13 Worldspace services:
5.14 Business Television (BTV) - Adaptations for Education: 114
5.15 GRAMSAT: 115
5.16 Specialized services: 116
5.16.1 Satellite-email services:
5.16.2 Video Conferencing (medium resolution):
5.16.3. Satellite Internet access:

Two Marks Question & Answers 118

Important Question Bank 132
 EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
AIM
To enable the student to become familiar with satellites and satellite services.
OBJECTIVES
Overview of satellite systems in relation to other terrestrial systems.
Study of satellite orbits and launching.
Study of earth segment and space segment components
Study of satellite access by various users.
Study of DTH and compression standards.

UNIT I SATELLITE ORBITS 8

Kepler’s Laws, Newton’s law, orbital parameters, orbital perturbations, station keeping,
geo stationary and non Geo-stationary orbits – Look Angle Determination- Limits of
visibility –eclipse-Sub satellite point –Sun transit outage-Launching Procedures - launch
vehicles and propulsion.

UNIT II SPACE SEGMENT AND SATELLITE LINK DESIGN 12

Spacecraft Technology- Structure, Primary power, Attitude and Orbit control, Thermal
control and Propulsion, communication Payload and supporting subsystems, Telemetry,
Tracking and command. Satellite uplink and downlink Analysis and Design, link budget,
E/N calculation- performance impairments-system noise, inter modulation and
interference, Propagation Characteristics and Frequency considerations- System
reliability and design lifetime.

UNIT III SATELLITE ACCESS: 10

Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice, Data, Video, Analog – digital transmission system,
Digital video Brocast, multiple access: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, Assignment Methods,
Spread Spectrum communication, compression – encryption

UNIT IV EARTH SEGMENT 5

Earth Station Technology-- Terrestrial Interface, Transmitter and Receiver, Antenna
Systems TVRO, MATV, CATV, Test Equipment Measurements on G/T, C/No, EIRP, Antenna
Gain.

UNIT V SATELLITE APPLICATIONS 10

INTELSAT Series, INSAT, VSAT, Mobile satellite services: GSM, GPS, INMARSAT, LEO, MEO,
Satellite Navigational System. Direct Broadcast satellites (DBS)- Direct to home Broadcast
(DTH), Digital audio broadcast (DAB)- Worldspace services, Business TV(BTV), GRAMSAT,
Specialized services – E –mail, Video conferencing, Internet.
TOTAL = 45 PERIODS
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Dennis Roddy, ‘Satellite Communication’, McGraw Hill International, 4th Edition, 2006.
2. Wilbur L. Pritchard, Hendri G. Suyderhoud, Robert A. Nelson, ‘Satellite Communication
Systems Engineering’, Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2007.
REFERENCES:
1. N.Agarwal, ‘Design of Geosynchronous Space Craft, Prentice Hall, 1986.
2. Bruce R. Elbert, ‘The Satellite Communication Applications’ Hand Book, Artech
HouseBostan London, 1997.
EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT I SATELLITE ORBITS

1.1 Introduction to satellite communication:

Satellites are specifically made for telecommunication purpose. They are

used for mobile applications such as communication to ships, vehicles, planes,
hand -held terminals and for TV and radio broadcasting.

They are responsible for providing these services to an assigned region

(area) on the earth. The power and bandwidth of these satellites depend upon the
preferred size of the footprint, complexity of the traffic control protocol schemes
and the cost of ground stations.

A satellite works most efficiently when the transmissions are focused with
a desired area.

When the area is focused, then the emissions don ‟ t go outside that
designated area and thus minimizing the interference to the other systems. This
leads more efficient spectrum usage.

Satellite‟s antenna patterns play an important role and must be designed

to best cover the designated geographical area (which is generally irregular in
shape).

Satellites should be designed by keeping in mind its usability for short and
long term effects throughout its life time.

The earth station should be in a position to control the satellite if it drifts

from its orbit it is subjected to any kind of drag from the external forces.

Applications Of Satellites:

 Weather Forecasting
 Radio and TV Broadcast
 Military Satellites
 Navigation Satellites
 Global Telephone
 Connecting Remote Area
 Global Mobile Communication

SCE 1 Dept of ECE

EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
1.2 Kepler’s laws:

1.2.1 Kepler’s law Introduction:

Satellites (spacecraft) orbiting the earth follow the same laws that govern
the motion of the planets around the sun.

Kepler’s laws apply quite generally to any two bodies in space which
interact through gravitation. The more massive of the two bodies is referred to as
the primary, the other, the secondary or satellite.

1.2.2 Kepler’s First Law:

Kepler’s first law states that the path followed by a satellite around the
primary will be an ellipse. An ellipse hast Two focal points shown as F1 and F2in
Fig. 2.1. The center of mass of the two-body system, termed the bary center, is
always center of the foci.

The semi major axis of the ellipse is denoted by a, and the semi minor axis,
by b. The eccentricity e is given by

Figure 1.1 The foci F1 and F2, the

semi major axis a, and the semi
minor axis b of an ellipse.

1.2.3 Kepler’s Second Law :

Kepler’s second law states that, for equal time intervals, a satellite will
sweep out equal areas in its orbital plane, focused at the barycenter. Referring to
Fig. 2.2, assuming the satellite travels distances S1 and S2 meters in 1 s, then the
areas A1 and A2 will be equal. The average velocity in each case is S1 and S2 m/s,
and because of the equal area law, it follows that the velocity at S2 is less than
that at S1.

SCE 2 Dept of ECE

EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

Figure 1.2 Kepler’s second

law. The areas A1and
A2swept out in unit time are
equal.

1.2.4 Kepler’sThird Law:

Kepler’s third law states that the square of the periodic time of orbit is
proportional to the cube of the mean distance between the two bodies. The
mean distance is equal to the semi major axis a.

For the artificial satellites orbiting the earth, Kepler’s third law can be
written in the form
= /
Where n is the mean motion of the satellite in radians per second and is
the earth’s geocentric gravitational constant µ=3.986005 X 1014m3/s2

1.3. Newton’s law:

1.3.1 Newton's first law:

An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced

force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the
same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This law is often
called "the law of inertia".

1.3.2 Newton's second law:

Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The greater the

mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater the amount of force needed (to
accelerate the object).

1.3.3 Newton's first law:

For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action. This means that
for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in
direction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes another object it gets
pushed back in the opposite direction equally hard.

SCE 3 Dept of ECE

EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

1.4. orbital parameters:

Apogee: A point for a satellite farthest from the Earth. It is denoted as ha.

Perigee: A point for a satellite closest from the Earth. It is denoted as hp.

Line of Apsides: Line joining perigee and apogee through centre of the Earth.
It is the major axis of the orbit. One-half of this line‟s length is the semi-major
axis equivalents to satellite‟s mean distance from the Earth.

Ascending Node: The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going
from north to south.

Descending Node: The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going
from south to north.

Inclination: the angle between the orbital plane and the Earth‟s equatorial
plane. Its measured at the ascending node from the equator to the orbit, going
from East to North. Also, this angle is commonly denoted as i.

Line of Nodes: the line joining the ascending and descending nodes through
the centre of Earth.

Prograde Orbit: an orbit in which satellite moves in the same direction as the
Earth‟s rotation. Its inclination is always between 0 0 to 900. Many satellites
follow this path as Earth‟s velocity makes it easier to lunch these satellites.

Retrograde Orbit: an orbit in which satellite moves in the same direction

counter to the Earth‟s rotation.

Argument of Perigee: An angle from the point of perigee measure in the

orbital plane at the Earth‟s centre, in the direction of the satellite motion.

Right ascension of ascending node: The definition of an orbit in space, the

position of ascending node is specified. But as the Earth spins, the longitude of
ascending node changes and cannot be used for reference. Thus for practical
determination of an orbit, the longitude and time of crossing the ascending node
is used.For absolute measurement, a fixed reference point in space is required.

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It could also be defined as “right ascension of the ascending node; right
ascension is the angular position measured eastward along the celestial equator
from the vernal equinox vector to the hour circle of the object”.

Mean anamoly: It gives the average value to the angular position of the
satellite with reference to the perigee.
True anamoly: It is the angle from point of perigee to the satellite‟s position,
measure at the Earth‟s centre.

Figure1.2 Apogee height ha,

perigee height hp, and inclination i.
Lais the line of apsides.

Figure 1.3(a) Prograde and Figure.1.4 The argument of perigee w

retrograde orbits. & right ascension of the ascending
node Ω.

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1.5. Orbital Perturbations:

Theoretically, an orbit described by Kepler is ideal as Earth is

considered to be a perfect sphere and the force acting around the Earth is the
centrifugal force. This force is supposed to balance the gravitational pull of the
earth.

In reality, other forces also play an important role and affect the motion
of the satellite. These forces are the gravitational forces of Sun and Moon along
with the atmospheric drag.

Effect of Sun and Moon is more pronounced on geostationary earth

satellites where as the atmospheric drag effect is more pronounced for low
earth orbit satellites.

1.5.1 Effects of non-Spherical Earth :

As the shape of Earth is not a perfect sphere, it causes some variations

in the path followed by the satellites around the primary. As the Earth is
bulging from the equatorial belt, and keeping in mind that an orbit is not a
physical entity, and it is the forces resulting from an oblate Earth which act on
the satellite produce a change in the orbital parameters.

This causes the satellite to drift as a result of regression of the nodes and
the latitude of the point of perigee (point closest to the Earth). This leads to
rotation of the line of apsides. As the orbit itself is moving with respect to the
Earth, the resultant changes are seen in the values of argument of perigee and
right ascension of ascending node.

Due to the non-spherical shape of Earth, one more effect called as the
“Satellite Graveyard” is seen. The non-spherical shape leads to the small value
of eccentricity (10 -5) at the equatorial plane. This causes a gravity gradient on
GEO satellite and makes them drift to one of the two stable points which
coincide with minor axis of the equatorial ellipse.

1.5.2 Atmospheric Drag:

For Low Earth orbiting satellites, the effect of atmospheric drag is more
pronounces. The impact of this drag is maximumat the point of perigee. Drag
(pull towards the Earth) has an effect on velocity of Satellite (velocity reduces).

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This causes the satellite to not reach the apogee height successive
revolutions. This leads to a change in value of semi-major axis and eccentricity.
Satellites in service are maneuvered by the earth station back to their original
orbital position.

1.6 Station Keeping:

In addition to having its attitude controlled, it is important that a geo-

stationary satellite be kept in its correct orbital slot. The equatorial ellipticity of
the earth causes geostationary satel- lites to drift slowly along the orbit, to one
of two stable points, at 75°E and 105°W.

To counter this drift, an oppositely directed velocity com-ponent is

imparted to the satellite by means of jets, which are pulsed once every 2 or 3
weeks.

These maneuvers are termed east-west station-keeping maneuvers.

Satellites in the 6/4-GHz band must be kept within 0.1° of the desig- nated
longitude, and in the 14/12-GHz band, within 0.05°.

Figure 1.5 Typical satellite motion.(CourtesyofTelesat,Canada,1983.)

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1.7. Geo stationary and Non Geo-stationary orbits:

1.7.1 Geo stationary:

A geostationary orbit is one in which a satellite orbits the earth at

exactly the same speed as the earth turns and at the same latitude, specifically
zero, the latitude of the equator. A satellite orbiting in a geostationary orbit
appears to be hovering in the same spot in the sky, and is directly over the
same patch of ground at all times.

A geosynchronous orbit is one in which the satellite is synchronized

with the earth's rotation, but the orbit is tilted with respect to the plane of the
equator. A satellite in a geosynchronous orbit will wander up and down in
latitude, although it will stay over the same line of longitude. Although the
terms 'geostationary' and 'geosynchronous' are sometimes used
interchangeably, they are not the same technically; geostationary orbit is a
subset of all possible geosynchronous orbits.

The person most widely credited with developing the concept of geostationary
orbits is noted science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (Islands in the Sky,
Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, and the movie 2001: a Space
Odyssey). Others had earlier pointed out that bodies traveling a certain
distance above the earth on the equatorial plane would remain motionless with
respect to the earth's surface. But Clarke published an article in 1945's
Wireless World that made the leap from the Germans' rocket research to
suggest permanent manmade satellites that could serve as communication
relays.

Geostationary objects in orbit must be at a certain distance above the earth;

any closer and the orbit would decay, and farther out they would escape the
earth's gravity altogether. This distance is 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles)
from the surface.

The first geosynchrous satellite was orbited in 1963, and the first
geostationary one the following year. Since the only geostationary orbit is in a
plane with the equator at 35,786 kilometers, there is only one circle around the
world where these conditions obtain.

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This means that geostationary 'real estate' is finite. While satellites are
in no danger of bumping in to one another yet, they must be spaced around the
circle so that their frequencies do not interfere with the functioning of their
nearest neighbors.

Geostationary Satellites:

There are 2 kinds of manmade satellites in the heavens above: One kind of
satellite ORBITS the earth once or twice a day, and the other kind is called a
communications satellite and it is PARKED in a STATIONARY position
22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the equator of the STATIONARY earth.

A type of the orbiting satellite includes the space shuttle and the international
space station which keep a low earth orbit (LEO) to avoid the deadly Van Allen
radiation belts.

The most prominent satellites in medium earth orbit (MEO) are the satellites
which comprise the GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM or GPS as it is called.

The Global Positioning System

The global positioning system was developed by the U.S. military and then
opened to civilian use. It is used today to track planes, ships, trains, cars or
literally anything that moves. Anyone can buy a receiver and track their exact
location by using a GPS receiver.

About 24 GPS satellites orbit the earth

GPS satellites orbit at a height of
every 12 hours.
about 12,000 miles (19,300 km)
and orbit the earth once every 12
hours.

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These satellites are traveling around the earth at speeds of about 7,000
mph (11,200 kph). GPS satellites are powered by solar energy. They have
backup batteries onboard to keep them running in the event of a solar eclipse,
when there's no solar power.

Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct
path. The satellites have a lifetime of about 10 years until all their fuel runs
out.

At exactly 22,300 miles above the equator, the force of gravity is

cancelled by the centrifugal force of the rotating universe. This is the ideal spot
to park a stationary satellite.

Figure. 1.6 & 1.7 At exactly 22,000 miles

(35,900 km) above the equator, the earth's
force of gravity is canceled by the
centrifugal force of the rotating universe. .

1.7.2 Non Geo-Stationary Orbit:

For the geo- stationary case, the most important of these are the
gravitational fields of the moon and the sun, and the nonspherical shape of
the earth.
Other significant forces are solar radiation pressure and reaction of the
satellite itself to motor movement within the satellite. As a result, station-
keeping maneuvers must be carried out to maintain the satel- lite within set
limits of its nominal geostationary position.

An exact geostationary orbit therefore is not attainable in practice, and the

orbital parameters vary with time. The two-line orbital elements are
published at regular intervals.
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The period for a geostationary satellite is 23 h, 56 min, 4 s, or 86,164 s.

The reciprocal of this is 1.00273896 rev/day, which is about the value tabu-
lated for most of the satellites in Fig.
Thus these satellites are geo- synchronous, in that they rotate in
synchronism with the rotation of the earth. However, they are not
geostationary. The term geosynchronous satellite is used in many cases instead
of geostationary to describe these near-geostationary satellites.

It should be noted, however, that in gen- eral a geosynchronous

satellite does not have to be near-geostationary, and there are a number of
geosynchronous satellites that are in highly elliptical orbits with
comparatively large inclinations (e.g., the Tundra satellites).
The small inclination makes it difficult to locate the position of the
ascending node, and the small eccentricity makes it difficult to locate the
position of the perigee.
However, because of the small inclination, the angles w and Ω can be
assumed to be in the same plane.The longitude of the subsatellite point
(thesatellitelongitude) is the east early rotation from the Greenwich meridian.

The Greenwich sidereal time (GST) gives the eastward position of the
Greenwich meridian relative to the line of Aries, and hence the subsatellite
point is at longitudeand the mean longitude of the satellite is given by

Equation(2.31)can be used to calculate the trueanomaly, and because of the

small eccentricity, this can be approximated as v= M + 2esinM.

1.8 Look Angle Determination:

The look angles for the ground station antenna are Azimuth and
Elevation angles. They are required at the antenna so that it points directly at
the satellite. Look angles are calculated by considering the elliptical orbit. These
angles change in order to track the satellite.

For geostationary orbit, these angels values does not change as the
satellites are stationary with respect to earth. Thus large earth stations are used
for commercial communications.
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For home antennas, antenna beamwidth is quite broad and hence no

tracking is essential. This leads to a fixed position for these antennas.

Figure 1.8: The geometry used in determining the look angles for
Geostationary Satellites.

Figure 1.9: The spherical geometry related to figure 1.8

With respect to the figure 1.8 and 1.9, the following information is needed
to determine the look angles of geostationary orbit.

1. Earth Station Latitude:λE

2. Earth Station Longitude: ΦE

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3. Sub-Satellite Point‟s Longitude: ΦSS
4. ES: Position of Earth Station
5. SS: Sub-Satellite Point
6. S: Satellite
7. d: Range from ES to S
8. ζ: angle to be determined

Figure 1.10: A plane triangle obtained from figure 1.8

Considering figure 3.3, it‟s a spherical triangle. All sides are the arcs of a
great circle. Three sides of this triangle are defined by the angles subtended by
the centre of the earth.

o Side a: angle between North Pole and radius of the sub-satellite point.

o Side b: angle between radius of Earth and radius of the sub-satellite point.

o Side c: angle between radius of Earth and the North Pole.

a =900 and such a spherical triangle is called quadrantal triangle. c =

900 – λ

Angle B is the angle between the plane containing c and the plane
containing a.

Thus, B = ΦE-ΦSS
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Angle A is the angle between the plane containing b and the plane
containing c.

Angle C is the angle between the plane containing a and the plane
containing b.

Thus, a = 900

c = 900 - λE

B = ΦE-ΦSS

Thus, b = arcos (cos B cos λE)

And A = arcsin (sin |B| / sin b)

Applying the cosine rule for plane triangle to the triangle of figure

Applying the sine rule for plane triangles to the triangle of figure 3.3
allows the angle of elevation to be found:

1.9. Limits of visibility:

The east and west limits of geostationary are visible from any given
Earth station. These limits are set by the geographic coordinates of the Earth
station and antenna elevation.

The lowest elevation is zero (in theory) but in practice, to avoid

reception of excess noise from Earth. Some finite minimum value of elevation
is issued. The earth station can see a satellite over a geostationary arc
bounded by +- (81.30) about the earth station‟s longitude.

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1.10. Eclipse:

It occurs when Earth‟s equatorial plane coincides with the plane f he

Earth‟s orbit around the sun.

Near the time of spring and autumnal equinoxes, when the sun is
crossing the equator, the satellite passes into sun‟s shadow. This happens for
some duration of time every day.

These eclipses begin 23 days before the equinox and end 23 days after
the equinox. They last for almost 10 minutes at the beginning and end of
equinox and increase for a maximum period of 72 minutes at a full eclipse.

The solar cells of the satellite become non-functional during the eclipse
period and the satellite is made to operate with the help of power supplied
from the batteries.

A satellite will have the eclipse duration symmetric around the time
t=Satellite Longitude/15 + 12 hours. A satellite at Greenwich longitude 0 will
have the eclipse duration symmetric around 0/15

UTC +12hours = 00:00 UTC.

The eclipse will happen at night but for satellites in the east it will
happen late evening local time.

For satellites in the west eclipse will happen in the early morning
hour’s local time.

An earth caused eclipse will normally not happen during peak viewing
hours if the satellite is located near the longitude of the coverage area.
Modern satellites are well equipped with batteries for operation during
eclipse.

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Figure 1.11(i): A satellite east of the earth station enters eclipse during daylight busy)
hours at the earth station. A Satellite west of earth station enters eclipse during night
and early morning hours (non busy time).

1.11. Sub satellite Point:

 Point at which a line between the satellite and the center of the Earth
intersects the Earth’s surface
 Location of the point expressed in terms of latitude and longitude
 If one is in the US it is common to use
o Latitude – degrees north from equator
o Longitude – degrees west of the Greenwich meridian
 Location of the sub satellite point may be calculated from coordinates
of the rotating system as:

  
 cos 1  
zr
Ls 
2  x2  y2  z 2 
 r r r 

Figure 1.11(ii) Sub satellite Point

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1.12. Sun Transit Outage :

Sun transit outage is an interruption in or distortion of geostationary

satellite signals caused by interference from solar radiation.

Sun appears to be an extremely noisy source which completely blanks out

the signal from satellite. This effect lasts for 6 days around the equinoxes. They
occur for a maximum period of 10 minutes.

Generally, sun outages occur in February, March, September and October,

that is, around the time of the equinoxes.

At these times, the apparent path of the sun across the sky takes it
directly behind the line of sight between an earth station and a satellite.

As the sun radiates strongly at the microwave frequencies used to

communicate with satellites (C-band, Ka band and Ku band) the sun swamps the
signal from the satellite.

The effects of a sun outage can include partial degradation, that is, an
increase in the error rate, or total destruction of the signal.

Figure 1.12 : Earth Eclipse of a Satellite and Sun transit Outage

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1.13. Launching Procedures :

1.13.1 Intoduction:

Low Earth Orbiting satellites are directly injected into their orbits.
This cannot be done incase of GEOs as they have to be positioned 36,000kms
above the Earth‟s surface.

Launch vehicles are hence used to set these satellites in their orbits.
These vehicles are reusable. They are also known as „Space Transportation
System‟ (STS).

When the orbital altitude is greater than 1,200 km it becomes

expensive to directly inject the satellite in its orbit.

For this purpose, a satellite must be placed in to a transfer orbit

between the initial lower orbit and destination orbit. The transfer orbit is
commonly known as *Hohmann-Transfer Orbit.

1.13.2 Orbit Transfer:

Figure 1.13: Orbit Transfer positions

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(*About Hohmann Transfer Orbit: This manoeuvre is named for the German
civil engineer who first proposed it, Walter Hohmann, who was born in 1880.
He didn't work in rocketry professionally (and wasn't associated with military
rocketry), but was a key member of Germany's pioneering Society for Space

Travel that included people such as Willy Ley, Hermann, and Werner
von Braun. He published his concept of how to transfer between orbits in his
1925 book, The Attainability of Celestial Bodies.)

The transfer orbit is selected to minimize the energy required for the
transfer. This orbit forms a tangent to the low attitude orbit at the point of its
perigee and tangent to high altitude orbit at the point of its apogee.

1.14 Launch vehicles and propulsion:

The rocket injects the satellite with the required thrust** into the
transfer orbit. With the STS, the satellite carries a perigee kick motor***
which imparts the required thrust to inject the satellite in its transfer orbit.
Similarly, an apogee kick motor (AKM) is used to inject the satellite in its
destination orbit.

Generally it takes 1-2 months for the satellite to become fully

functional. The Earth Station performs the Telemetry Tracking and
Command**** function to control the satellite transits and functionalities.

(**Thrust: It is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second

and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the
accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction
on that system.)

Kick Motor refers to a rocket motor that is regularly employed on

artificial satellites destined for a geostationary orbit. As the vast majority of
geostationary satellite launches are carried out from spaceports at a
significant distance away from Earth's equator.

The carrier rocket would only be able to launch the satellite into an
elliptical orbit of maximum apogee 35,784-kilometres and with a non-zero
inclination approximately equal to the latitude of the launch site.

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TT&C: it‟s a sub-system where the functions performed by the satellite
control network to maintain health and status, measure specific mission
parameters and processing over time a sequence of these measurement to
refine parameter knowledge, and transmit mission commands to the satellite.
Detailed study of TT&C in the upcoming units.

1.14.1 Transfer Orbit :

It is better to launch rockets closer to the equator because the Earth

rotates at a greater speed here than that at either pole. This extra speed at
the equator means a rocket needs less thrust (and therefore less fuel) to
launch into orbit.

In addition, launching at the equator provides an additional 1,036 mph

(1,667 km/h) of speed once the vehicle reaches orbit. This speed bonus means
the vehicle needs less fuel, and that freed space can be used to carry more
pay load.

Figure 1.14: Hohmann Transfer Orbit

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Figure 1.15: Launching stages of a GEO (example INTELSAT)

Rocket launch:

A rocket launch is the takeoff phase of the flight of a rocket. Launches

for orbital spaceflights, or launches into interplanetary space, are usually from
a fixed location on the ground, but may also be from a floating platform (such
as the Sea Launch vessel) or, potentially, from a superheavy An-225-class
airplane[1]

Launches of suborbital flights (including missile launches), can also be from:

 a missile silo
 a mobile launcher vehicle
 a submarine
 air launch:
o from a plane (e.g. Scaled Composites Space Ship One,
Pegasus Rocket, X-15)
o from a balloon (Rockoon, da Vinci Project (under
development))
 a surface ship (Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System)
 an inclined rail (e.g. rocket sled launch)
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"Rocket launch technologies" generally refers to the entire set of systems

needed to successfully launch a vehicle, not just the vehicle itself, but also the
firing control systems, ground control station, launch pad, and tracking
stations needed for a successful launch and/or recovery.

Orbital launch vehicles commonly take off vertically, and then begin to
progressively lean over, usually following a gravity turn trajectory.

Once above the majority of the atmosphere, the vehicle then angles the
rocket jet, pointing it largely horizontally but somewhat downwards, which
permits the vehicle to gain and then maintain altitude while increasing
horizontal speed. As the speed grows, the vehicle will become more and more
horizontal until at orbital speed, the engine will cut off.

Figure 1.16 STS-7/Anik C2 mission scenario. (From Anik C2 Launch

Handbook; courtesy of Telesat, Canada.)

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UNIT II SPACE SEGMENT AND SATELLITE LINK DESIGN

2.1 Spacecraft Technology- Structure:

A satellite communications system can be broadly divided into two

segments—a ground segment and a space segment.

The space segment will obviously include the satellites, but it also
includes the ground facilities needed to keep the satellites operational, these
being referred to as the tracking, telemetry, and command (TT&C) facilities. In
many networks it is common practice to employ a ground station solely for the
purpose of TT&C.

Figure 2.1 (a) Satellite Structure

The equipment carried aboard the satellite also can be classified

according to function. The payload refers to the equipment used to pro- vide the
service for which the satellite has been launched.

In a communications satellite, the equipment which provides the con-

necting link between the satellite’s transmit and receive antennas is referred
to as the transponder. The transponder forms one of the main sections of the
payload, the other being the antenna subsystems.In this chapter the main
characteristics of certain bus systems and payloads are described.

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2.2 The Power Supply:

The primary electrical power for operating the electronic equipment is

obtained from solar cells. Individual cells can generate only small amounts of
power, and therefore, arrays of cells in series-parallel connection are required.

Figure shows the solar cell panels for the HS 376 satellite
manufactured by Hughes Space and Communications Company.

In geostationary orbit the telescoped panel is fully extended so that

both are exposed to sun- light. At the beginning of life, the panels produce
940 W dc power, which may drop to 760 W at the end of 10 years.

During eclipse, power is provided by two nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) long-

life batteries, which will deliver 830 W. At the end of life, battery recharge
time is less than 16 h.

Figure 2.1.(b) Satellite eclipse time as a function of the current day of the year. (Courtesy of
Spilker, 1977. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.)

capacity of cylindrical and solar-sail satellites, the cross-over point is esti- mated
to be about 2 kW, where the solar-sail type is more economical than the cylindrical
type (Hyndman, 1991).

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2.3 Attitude Control & Orbit Control:

The attitude of a satellite refers to its orientation in space. Much of

the equipment carried aboard a satellite is there for the purpose of control- ling
its attitude. Attitude control is necessary, for example, to ensure that directional
antennas point in the proper directions.

In the case of earth environmental satellites, the earth-sensing

instruments must cover the required regions of the earth, which also requires
attitude control. A number of forces, referred to as disturbance torques, can alter
the attitude, some examples being the gravitational fields of the earth and the
moon, solar radiation, and meteorite impacts.

Attitude control must not be con- fused with station keeping, which is
the term used for maintaining a satellite in its correct orbital position, although
the two are closely related.

To exercise attitude control, there must be available some measure of

a satellite’s orientation in space and of any tendency for this to shift. In one
method, infrared sensors, referred to as horizon detectors, are used to detect the
rim of the earth against the background of space.

With the use of four such sensors, one for each quadrant, the center
of the earth can be readily established as a reference point.

Usually, the attitude-control process takes place aboard the satellite,

but it is also possible for control signals to be transmitted from earth, based on
attitude data obtained from the satellite.

Also, where a shift in attitude is desired, an attitude maneuver is

executed. The control signals needed to achieve this maneuver may be
transmitted from an earth station.

Controlling torques may be generated in a number of ways. Passive

attitude control refers to the use of mechanisms which stabilize the satellite
without putting a drain on the satellite’s energy supplies; at most, infrequent
use is made of these supplies, for example, when thruster jets are impulsed to
provide corrective torque. Examples of passive attitude control are spin
stabilization and gravity gradient sta- bilization.

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The other form of attitude control is active control. With active atti-
tude control, there is no overall stabilizing torque present to resist the
disturbance torques. Instead, corrective torques are applied as required in
response to disturbance torques. Methods used to generate active control
torques include momentum wheels, electromagnetic coils, and mass expulsion
devices, such as gas jets and ion thrusters.

Figure 2.2 (a) Roll, pitch, and yaw axes. The yaw axis is directed toward the earth’s
center, the pitch axis is normal to the orbital plane, and the roll axis is perpendicular to the
other two. (b) RPY axes for the geostationary orbit. Here, the roll axis is tangential to the orbit
and lies along the satellite velocity vector.

The three axes which define a satellite’s attitude are its roll, pitch, and
yaw (RPY) axes. These are shown relative to the earth in Fig. 7.4. All three
axes pass through the center of gravity of the satellite. For an equatorial orbit,
movement of the satellite about the roll axis moves the antenna footprint north
and south; movement about the pitch axis moves the footprint east and west;
and movement about the yaw axis rotates the antenna footprint.

2.3.1 Spinning satellite stabilization:

Spin stabilization may be achieved with cylindrical satellites. The satel-

lite is constructed so that it is mechanically balanced about one partic- ular
axis and is then set spinning around this axis. For geostationary satellites, the
spin axis is adjusted to be parallel to the N-S axis of the earth, as illustrated in
Fig. 7.5. Spin rate is typically in the range of 50 to 100 rev/min. Spin is
initiated during the launch phase by means of small gas jets.

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In the absence of disturbance torques, the spinning satellite would
maintain its correct attitude relative to the earth. Disturbance torques are
generated in a number of ways, both external and internal to the satellite.

Solar radiation, gravitational gradients, and meteorite impacts are all

examples of external forces which can give rise to disturbance torques. Motor-
bearing friction and the movement of satellite elements such as the antennas
also can give rise to disturbance torques. The

Figure 2.3 Spin stabilization in the geostationary orbit. The spin axis lies along the pitch
axis, parallel to the earth’s N-S axis.

overall effect is that the spin rate will decrease, and the direction of the angular
spin axis will change. Impulse-type thrusters, or jets, can be used to increase
the spin rate again and to shift the axis back to its cor- rect N-S orientation.

Nutation, which is a form of wobbling, can occur as a result of the

disturbance torques and/or from misalignment or unbalance of the control
jets. This nutation must be damped out by means of energy absorbers known
as nutation dampers.

The antenna feeds can therefore be connected directly to the

transponders without the need for radiofrequency (rf) rotary joints, while the
complete platform is despun. Of course, control signals and power must be
transferred to the despun section, and a mechanical bearing must be provided.

The complete assembly for this is known as the bearing and power
transfer assembly (BAPTA). Figure 2.4 shows a photograph of the internal
structure of the HS 376.

Certain dual-spin spacecraft obtain spin stabilization from a spinning fly-

wheel rather than by spinning the satellite itself. These flywheels are termed
momentum wheels, and their average momentum is referred to as momentum bias
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Figure 2.4 HS 376 spacecraft. (Courtesy of Hughes Aircraft Company Space and
Communications

Group.)

2.3.2 Momentum wheel stabilization

In the previous section the gyroscopic effect of a spinning satellite was

shown to provide stability for the satellite attitude.

Stability also can be achieved by utilizing the gyroscopic effect of a

spinning flywheel, and this approach is used in satellites with cube-like bodies
(such as shown in Fig. and the INTELSAT V type satellites shown in Fig.
These are known as body-stabilized satellites.

The complete unit, termed a momentum wheel, consists of a flywheel,

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the bearing assembly, the casing, and an electric drive motor with associated
electronic con- trol circuitry.

The flywheel is attached to the rotor, which consists of a permanent

magnet providing the magnetic field for motor action. The stator of the motor is
attached to the body of the satellite.

Thus the motor provides the coupling between the flywheel and the
satellite structure. Speed and torque control of the motor is exercised through
the currents fed to the stator.

Figure 2.5 Alternative momentum wheel stabilization systems: (a) one-wheel, (b) two- wheel,
(c) three-wheel.

When a momentum wheel is operated with zero momentum bias, it is

generally referred to as a reaction wheel. Reaction wheels are used in three-
axis stabilized systems. Here, as the name suggests, each axis is stabilized by a
reaction wheel, as shown in Fig. 7.8c. Reaction wheels can also be combined
with a momentum wheel to provide the control needed (Chetty, 1991).
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Random and cyclic disturbance torques tends to produce zero
momentum on average. However, there will always be some disturbance
torques that causes a cumulative increase in wheel momentum, and eventually
at some point the wheel saturates.

In effect, it reaches its maximum allowable angular velocity and can

no longer take in any more momentum. Mass expulsion devices are then used
to unload the wheel, that is, remove momentum from it (in the same way a
brake removes energy from a moving vehicle). Of course, operation of the mass
expulsion devices consumes part of the satellite’s fuel supply.

2.4 Thermal Control and Propulsion:

Satellites are subject to large thermal gradients, receiving the sun’s

radiation on one side while the other side faces into space. In addition, thermal
radiation from the earth and the earth’s albedo, which is the fraction of the
radiation falling on earth which is reflected, can be sig- nificant for low-
altitude earth-orbiting satellites, although it is negligi- ble for geostationary
satellites.

Equipment in the satellite also generates heat which has to be

removed. The most important consideration is that the satellite’s equipment
should operate as nearly as possible in a stable temperature environment.
Various steps are taken to achieve this. Thermal blankets and shields may be
used to provide insulation. Radiation mirrors are often used to remove heat
from the communications payload.

The mirrored thermal radiator for the Hughes HS 376 satellite can
be seen in Fig. These mirrored drums surround the communications equipment
shelves in each case and pro- vide good radiation paths for the generated heat
to escape into the surrounding space.

One advantage of spinning satellites compared with body-

stabilized is that the spinning body provides an averaging of the temperature
extremes experienced from solar flux and the cold back- ground of deep space.

In order to maintain constant temperature conditions, heaters may be

switched on (usually on command from ground) to make up for the heat
reduction which occurs when transponders are switched off. The INTELSAT VI
satellite used heaters to maintain propulsion thrusters and line temperatures
(Pilcher, 1982).
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2.5 Communication Payload & Supporting Subsystems:

The physical principle of establishing communication connections

between remote communication devices dates back to the late 1800s when
scientists were beginning to understand electromagnetism and discovered that
electromagnetic (EM) radiation (also called EM waves ) generated by one
device can be detected by another located at some distance away.

By controlling certain aspect s of the radiation (through a process called

modulation , explained in Section 4.4), useful information can be embedded in
the EM waves and transmitted from one device to another.

The second major module is the communication payload, which is made up of

transponders. A transponder is capable of :

 Receiving uplinked radio signals from earth satellite transmission

stations (antennas).
 Amplifying received radio signals
 Sorting the input signals and directing the output signals through
input/output signal multiplexers to the proper downlink antennas for
retransmission to earth satellite receiving stations (antennas).

2.6 TT&C Subsystem

The TT&C subsystem performs several routine functions aboard the

spacecraft. The telemetry, or telemetering, function could be interpreted as
measurement at a distance. Specifically, it refers to the overall oper- ation of
generating an electrical signal proportional to the quantity being measured
and encoding and transmitting this to a distant station, which for the satellite is
one of the earth stations.

Data which are trans- mitted as telemetry signals include attitude

information such as that obtained from sun and earth sensors; environmental
information such as the magnetic field intensity and direction, the frequency of
meteorite impact, and so on; and spacecraft information such as temperatures,
power supply voltages, and stored-fuel pressure.

Telemetry and command may be thought of as complementary func- tions.

The telemetry subsystem transmits information about the satellite to the earth
station, while the command subsystem receives command sig- nals from the earth
station, often in response to telemetered information. The command subsystem
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demodulates and, if necessary, decodes the com- mand signals and routes these to
the appropriate equipment needed to exe- cute the necessary action.

Thus attitude changes may be made, communication transponders

switched in and out of circuits, antennas redirected, and station-keeping
maneuvers carried out on command. It is clearly important to prevent
unauthorized commands from being received and decoded, and for this reason, the
command signals are often encrypted.

Encrypt is derived from a Greek word kryptein, meaning to hide, and rep-
resents the process of concealing the command signals in a secure code. This
differs from the normal process of encoding which converts characters in the
command signal into a code suitable for transmission.

Tracking of the satellite is accomplished by having the satellite trans-

mit beacon signals which are received at the TT&C earth stations.

Tracking is obviously important during the transfer and drift orbital

phases of the satellite launch. Once it is on station, the position of a geo-
stationary satellite will tend to be shifted as a result of the various dis- turbing
forces, as described previously.

Therefore, it is necessary to be able to track the satellite’s movement

and send correction signals as required.

2.6.1 Transponders:

A transponder is the series of interconnected units which forms a single

communications channel between the receive and transmit antennas in a
communications satellite.

Some of the units utilized by a transponder in a given channel may be

common to a number of transponders. Thus, although reference may be made to a
specific transponder, this must be thought of as an equipment channel rather
than a single item of equipment.

Before describing in detail the various units of a transponder, the

overall frequency arrangement of a typical C-band communications satellite
will be examined briefly. The bandwidth allocated for C-band service is 500
MHz, and this is divided into subbands, one transponder.

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A typical transponder bandwidth is 36 MHz, and allowing for a 4-MHz
guardband between transponders, 12 such transponders can be accommodated in
the 500-MHz bandwidth.

Figure 2.8 Satellite control system. (Courtesy of Telesat Canada, 1983.)

By making use of polar- ization isolation, this number can be doubled.

Polarization isolation refers to the fact that carriers, which may be on the same
frequency but with opposite senses of polarization, can be isolated from one
another by receiving antennas matched to the incoming polarization.

With linear polarization, vertically and horizontally polarized carriers

can be sep- arated in this way, and with circular polarization, left-hand
circular and right-hand circular polarizations can be separated.

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Because the carriers with opposite senses of polarization may overlap
in frequency, this technique is referred to as frequency reuse. Figure 2.9 shows
part of the frequency and polarization plan for a C-band communications
satellite.

Figure 2.9 Section of an uplink frequency and polarization plan. Numbers refer to frequency
in megahertz.

Frequency reuse also may be achieved with spot-beam antennas, and

these may be combined with polarization reuse to provide an effective
bandwidth of 2000 MHz from the actual bandwidth of 500 MHz.

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For one of the polarization groups, Fig. 2.9 shows the channeling
scheme for the 12 transponders in more detail. The incoming, or uplink,
frequency range is 5.925 to 6.425 GHz.

The frequency conversion shifts the carriers to the downlink

frequency band, which is also 500 MHz wide, extending from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz.
At this point the signals are channelized into frequency bands which
represent the individual transponder bandwidths.

2.6.2 The wideband receiver

The wideband receiver is shown in more detail in Fig. 2.10. A duplicate

receiver is provided so that if one fails, the other is automatically switched in. The
combination is referred to as a redundant receiver, meaning that although two
are provided, only one is in use at a given time.

The first stage in the receiver is a low-noise amplifier (LNA). This

amplifier adds little noise to the carrier being amplified, and at the same time
it provides sufficient amplification for the carrier to override the higher noise
level present in the following mixer stage.

Figure 2.10 Satellite transponder channels

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Figure 2.11 Satellite wideband receiver. (Courtesy of CCIR, CCIR Fixed Satellite Services
Handbook, final draft 1984.)

involving noise, it is usually more convenient to refer all noise levels to the LNA
input, where the total receiver noise may be expressed in terms of an equivalent
noise temperature.

In a well-designed receiver, the equivalent noise temperature

referred to the LNA input is basically that of the LNA alone. The overall
noise temperature must take into account the noise added from the antenna,
and these calculations are presented in detail in Chap. 12. The equivalent
noise temperature of a satellite receiver may be on the order of a few hundred
kelvins.

The LNA feeds into a mixer stage, which also requires a local oscil-
lator (LO) signal for the frequency-conversion process.

With advances in field-effect transistor (FET) technology, FET amplifiers,

which offer equal or better performance, are now available for both bands. Diode
mixer stages are used.

The amplifier following the mixer may utilize bipolar junction

transistors (BJTs) at 4 GHz and FETs at 12 GHz, or FETs may in fact be used
in both bands.

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2.6.3 The input demultiplexer

The input demultiplexer separates the broadband input, covering the

frequency range 3.7 to 4.2 GHz, into the transponder frequency channels.

This provides greater frequency separation between adjacent channels

in a group, which reduces adjacent channel interference.

The output from the receiver is fed to a power splitter, which in turn
feeds the two separate chains of circulators.

Figure 2.12 Satellite input multiplexer

The full broadband signal is transmitted along each chain, and the
channelizing is achieved by means of channel filters con- nected to each
circulator,

Each filter has a bandwidth of 36 MHz and is tuned to the

appropriate center frequency, as shown in Fig. 2.11.

Although there are considerable losses in the demultiplexer, these are

easily made up in the overall gain for the transponder channels.

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2.6.4 The power amplifier

The fixed attenuation is needed to balance out variations in the input

attenuation so that each transpon- der channel has the same nominal
attenuation, the necessary adjust- ments being made during assembly.

The variable attenuation is needed to set the level as required for

different types of service (an example being the requirement for input power
backoff discussed later). Because this variable attenuator adjustment is an
operational requirement, it must be under the control of the ground TT&C
station.

Traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) are widely used in transpon- ders

to provide the final output power required to the transmit antenna. Figure 2.13
shows the schematic of a traveling wave tube (TWT) and its power supplies.

In the TWT, an electron-beam gun assembly consisting of a heater, a

cathode, and focusing electrodes is used to form an elec- tron beam. A magnetic
field is required to confine the beam to travel along the inside of a wire helix.

Figure 2.13 Satellite TWTA

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used in ground stations, the magnetic field can be provided by means of a

solenoid and dc power supply. The comparatively large size and high power
consumption of solenoids make them unsuitable for use aboard satellites, and
lower-power TWTs are used which employ permanent- magnet focusing.

The wave actually will travel around the helical path at close to the
speed of light, but it is the axial component of wave velocity which interacts
with the electron beam.

This component is less than the velocity of light approximately in the

ratio of helix pitch to circumference. Because of this effective reduction in
phase velocity, the helix is referred to as a slowwave structure.

The advantage of the TWT over other types of tube amplifiers is that it
can provide amplification over a very wide bandwidth. Input levels to the TWT
must be carefully controlled, however, to minimize the effects of certain forms
of distortion.

The worst of these result from the nonlinear transfer characteristic of

the TWT, illustrated in Fig. 2.14.

Figure 2.14 Power transfer characteristics of a TWT. The saturation point is used as 0-dB
reference for both input and output.

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At low-input powers, the output-input power relationship is linear;

that is, a given decibel change in input power will produce the same decibel
change in output power. At higher power inputs, the output power sat- urates,
the point of maximum power output being known as the satu- ration point.

The saturation point is a very convenient reference point, and input

and output quantities are usually referred to it. The linear region of the TWT
is defined as the region bound by the thermal noise limit at the low end and by
what is termed the 1-dB compression point at the upper end. This is the point
where the actual transfer curve drops

2.7. Satellite uplink and downlink Analysis and Design:

2.7.1 Introduction

This chapter describes how the link-power budget calculations are made.
These calculations basically relate two quantities, the transmit power and the
receive power, and show in detail how the difference between these two powers
is accounted for.

Link-budget calculations are usually made using decibel or decilog

quantities. These are explained in App. G. In this text [square] brackets are
used to denote decibel quantities using the basic power definition.

Where no ambiguity arises regarding the units, the abbreviation dB is

used. For example, Boltzmann’s constant is given as 228.6 dB, although,
strictly speaking, this should be given as 228.6 deci logs relative to 1 J/K.

2.7.2 Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power

A key parameter in link-budget calculations is the equivalent isotropic

radiated power, conventionally denoted as EIRP. From Eqs, the maximum
power flux density at some distance r from a transmitting antenna of gain G i

Pr=

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 PS be in watts; then
[EIRP] = [PS] x [G] dB ,where [PS] is also in dBW and [G] is in dB.

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2.7.3 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:

As a first step in the loss calculations, the power loss resulting from the
spreading of the signal in space must be determined.

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. These will be denoted by RFL, or [RFL] dB, for receiver feeder losses.

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, as shown in Fig. There
are two possible sources of off-axis loss, one at the satellite and one at the earth
station, as shown in Fig.

The off-axis loss at the satellite is taken into account by designing the link for
operation on the actual satellite antenna contour; this is described in more detail
in later sections. 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 (these are in addition to the
polarization losses described in Chap. 5). The polarization misalign- ment losses

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are usually small, and it will be assumed that the antenna misalignment losses,
denoted by [AML], include both pointing and polar- ization losses resulting from
antenna misalignment. It should be noted

Figure 2.15 (a) Satellite and earth-station antennas aligned for maximum gain; (b) earth station
situated on a given satellite “footprint,” and earth-station antenna misaligned.

2.8 The Link-Power Budget Equation:

Now that the losses for the link have been identified, the power at the
receiver, which is the power output of the link, may be calculated simply as
[EIRP] [LOSSES] [GR], where the last quantity is the receiver antenna gain.
Note carefully that decibel addition must be used.

The major source of loss in any ground-satellite link is the free-space

spreading loss [FSL], the basic link-power budget equation taking into account
this loss only. However, the other losses also must be taken into account, and these
are simply added to [FSL]. The losses for clear-sky conditions are

[LOSSES] = [FSL] + [RFL] + [AML] + [AA] - [PL] equation for the

received power is then

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

where [PR] received power, dBW

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[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

2.9 Amplifier noise temperature

Consider first the noise representation of the antenna and the low noise
amplifier (LNA) shown in Fig. 2.15.

The available power gain of the amplifier is denoted as G, and the noise
power output, as Pno.

Figure 2.15 LNA Amplifier gain

For the moment we will work with the noise power per unit bandwidth,
which is simply noise energy in joules as shown by Eq.

The input noise energy coming from the antenna is

N0,ant = kTant

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2.10 The Uplink

The uplink of a satellite circuit is the one in which the earth station is
transmitting the signal and the satellite is receiving it specifically that the uplink
is being considered.

=[ ]−[ ]+[ ]

In this Eq 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.

2.10.1 Input backoff

Number of carriers are present simultaneously in a TWTA, the operating

point must be backed off to a linear portion of the transfer characteristic to reduce
the effects of inter modulation distortion. Such multiple carrier operation occurs
with frequency- division multiple access (FDMA), which is described in Chap. 14.
The point to be made here is that backoff (BO) must be allowed for in the link- budget
calculations.

Suppose that the saturation flux density for single-carrier operation is known.
Input BO will be specified for multiple-carrier operation, referred to the single-
carrier saturation level. The earth-station EIRP will have to be reduced by the
specified BO, resulting in an uplink value of

[EIRP]U = [EIRPS]U + [BO]i

2.10.2 The earth station HPA

The earth station HPA has to supply the radiated power plus the transmit
feeder losses, denoted here by TFL, or [TFL] dB. These include waveguide, filter, and
coupler losses between the HPA output and the transmit antenna. Referring back to Eq.
(12.3), the power output of

The earth station itself may have to transmit multiple carriers, and its
output also will require back off, denoted by [BO]HPA. The earth station HPA
must be rated for a saturation power output given by

[PHPA,sat] = [PHPA] + [BO]HPA

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2.11 Downlink

The downlink of a satellite circuit is the one in which the satellite is trans-
mitting the signal and the earth station is receiving it. Equation can be applied to the
downlink, but subscript D will be used to denote specifically that the downlink is
being considered. Thus Eq. becomes

=[ ]−[ ]+[ ]

In Eq. the values to be used are the satellite EIRP, the earth- station
receiver feeder losses, and the earth-station receiver G/T. The free space and other
losses are calculated for the downlink frequency. The resulting carrier-to-noise
density ratio given by Eq. is that which appears at the detector of the earth
station receiver.

2.11.1 Output back-off

Where input BO is employed as described in a corresponding output BO must

be allowed for in the satellite EIRP. As the curve of Fig. 2.16 shows, output BO is
not linearly related to input BO. A rule of thumb, frequently used, is to take the
output BO as the point on the curve which is 5 dB below the extrapolated linear
portion, as shown in Fig. 12.7. Since the linear portion gives a 1:1 change in
decibels, the relationship between input and output BO is [BO]0 [BO]i 5 dB.
For example, with an input BO of [BO]i 11 dB, the corresponding output BO is
[BO]0

Figure 2.16 Input and output back-

off relationship for the satellite
traveling-wave-tube amplifier; [BO]i
[BO]0 5 dB.

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2.11.2 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.

This produces a depolarization of the wave; in effect, the wave becomes ellipti-
cally polarized. This is true for both linear and circular polar- izations, and the effect
seems to be much worse for circular polarization (Freeman, 1981).

The C/N0 ratio for the downlink alone, not counting the PNU contri- bution, is
PR/PND, and the combined C/N0 ratio at the ground receiver is

Figure 2.17 (a) Combined uplink and downlink; (b) power flow diagram

The reason for this reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals method is that a
single signal power is being transferred through the system, while the various
noise powers, which are present are additive. Similar reasoning applies to the
carrier-to-noise ratio, C/N.

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2.12. inter modulation and interference:

Intermodulation interference is the undesired combining of several signals

in a nonlinear device, producing new, unwanted frequencies, which can cause
interference in adjacent receivers located at repeater sites.

Not all interference is a result of intermodulation distortion. It can come

from co-channel interference, atmospheric conditions as well as man-made noise
generated by medical, welding and heating equipment.

Most intermodulation occurs in a transmitter's nonlinear power amplifier

(PA). The next most common mixing point is in the front end of a receiver. Usually
it occurs in the unprotected first mixer of older model radios or in some cases an
overdriven RF front-end amp.

Intermodulation can also be produced in rusty or corroded tower joints, guy

wires, turnbuckles and anchor rods or any nearby metallic object, which can act as
a nonlinear "mixer/rectifier" device.

2.13. Propagation Characteristics and Frequency considerations:

2.13.1 Introduction

A number of factors resulting from changes in the atmosphere have to be

taken into account when designing a satellite communications system in order to
avoid impairment of the wanted signal.

Generally, a margin in the required carrier-to-noise ratio is incorporated to

accommodate such effects.

2.13.2 Radio Noise

Radio noise emitted by matter is used as a source of information in

radioastronomy and in remote sensing. Noise of a thermal origin has a continuous
spectrum, but several other radiation mechanisms cause the emission to have a
spectral-line structure. Atoms and molecules are distinguished by their different
spectral lines.

For other services such as satellite communications noise is a limiting

factor for the receiving system; generally, it is inappropriate to use receiving
systems with noise temperatures which are much less than those specified by the
minimum external noise.

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From about 30 MHz to about 1 GHz cosmic noise predominates over

atmospheric noise except during local thunderstorms, but will generally be
exceeded by man-made noise in populated areas.

In the bands of strong gaseous absorption, the noise temperature reaches

maximum values of some 290 K. At times, precipitation will also increase the
noise temperature at frequencies above 5 GHz.

Figure 6.1 gives an indication of sky noise at various elevation angles and
frequencies.

Figure 2.18 Sky-Noise Temperature for Clear Air

2.14. System reliability and design lifetime:

2.14.1 System reliability:

Satellites are designed to operate dependably throughout their

operational life, usually a number of years.

This is achieved through stringent quality control and testing of parts and
subsystems before they are used in the construction of the satellite.

Redundancy of key components is often built in so that if a particular part

or subassembly fails, another can perform its functions.

In addition, hardware and software on the satellite are often designed so

that ground controllers can reconfigure the satellite to work around a part that
has failed.

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2.14.2. Design lifetime:

The Milstar constellation has demonstrated exceptional reliability and

capability, providing vital protected communications to the warfighter,” said
Kevin Bilger, vice president and general manager, Global Communications
Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale.

“Milstar’s robust system offers our nation worldwide connectivity with

flexible, dependable and highly secure satellite communications.”

The five-satellite Milstar constellation has surpassed 63 years of combined

successful operations, and provides a protected, global communication network for
the joint forces of the U.S. military. In addition, it can transmit voice, data, and
imagery, and offers video teleconferencing capabilities.

The system is the principal survivable, endurable communications

structure that the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Commander, U.S.
Strategic Command use to maintain positive command and control of the nation's
strategic forces.

In addition to this 10-year milestone for Flight-5, each of the first two
Milstar satellites have been on orbit for over 16 years – far exceeding their 10-year
design life.

The next-generation Lockheed Martin-built Advanced EHF satellites,

joining the Milstar constellation, provide five times faster data rates and twice as
many connections, permitting transmission of strategic and tactical military
communications, such as real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting
data. Advanced EHF satellites are designed to be fully interoperable and
backward compatible with Milstar.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security

company that employs about 123,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged
in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment
of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net
sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

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UNIT III SATELLITE ACCESS

3.1 Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice, Data, Video :

Communications satellites are used to carry telephone, video, and data

signals, and can use both analog and digital modulation techniques.

Modulation:
Modification of a carrier’s parameters (amplitude, frequency, phase, or a
combination of them) in dependence on the symbol to be sent.
Multiplexing:
Task of multiplexing is to assign space, time, frequency, and code to each
communication channel with a minimum of interference and a maximum of
medium utilization Communication channel refers to an association of sender(s)
and receiver(s) that want to exchange data One of several constellations of a
carrier’s parameters defined by the used modulation scheme.

3.1.1 Voice, Data, Video :

The modulation and multiplexing techniques that were used at this time
were analog, adapted from the technology developed for The change to digital
voice signals made it easier for long-distance.

Figure 3.1 Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice/Data/Video

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Communication carriers to mix digital data and telephone Fiber-optic

Cable Transmission Standards System Bit rate (Mbps) 64- kbps Voice channel
capacity Stuffing bits and words are added to the satellite data stream as needed
to fill empty bit and word spaces.

Primarily for video provided that a satellite link's overall carrier-to-noise

but in to older receiving equipment at System and Satellite Specification Ku-
band satellite parameters.

3.1.2 Modulation And Multiplexing:

In analog television (TV) transmission by satellite, the baseband video

signal and one or two audio subcarriers constitute a composite video signal.

Digital modulation is obviously the modulation of choice for transmitting

digital data are digitized analog signals may conveniently share a channel with
digital data, allowing a link to carry a varying mix of voice and data traffic.

Digital signals from different channels are interleaved for transmission

through time division multiplexing TDM carry any type of traffic — the bent
pipe transponder that can carry voice, video, or data as the marketplace
demands.

Hybrid multiple access schemes can use time division multiplexing of

baseband channels which are then modulate.

3.2 Analog – digital transmission system :

3.2.1 Analog vs. Digital Transmission:

Compare at two levels:

1. Data—continuous (audio) vs. discrete (text)

2. Signaling—continuously varying electromagnetic wave vs. sequence of
voltage pulses.

Also Transmission—transmit without regard to signal content vs. being

concerned with signal content. Difference in how attenuation is handled, but not
focus on this.Seeing a shift towards digital transmission despite large analog
base. Why?

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Figure 3.2 basic communication systems

• Improving digital technology

• Data integrity. Repeaters take out cumulative problems in transmission.
Can thus transmit longer distances.
• Easier to multiplex large channel capacities with digital
• Easy to apply encryption to digital data
• Better integration if all signals are in one form. Can integrate voice, video
and digital data.

3.2.2 Digital Data/Analog Signals:

Must convert digital data to analog signal such device is a modem to

translate between bit-serial and modulated carrier signals?

To send digital data using analog technology, the sender generates a

carrier signal at some continuous tone (e.g. 1-2 kHz in phone circuits) that looks
like a sine wave. The following techniques are used to encode digital data into
analog signals.

Figure 3.3 Digital /Analog Transmitter & receiver

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Resulting bandwidth is centered on the carrier frequency.

• Amplitude-shift modulation (keying): vary the amplitude (e.g. voltage) of

the signal. Used to transmit digital data over optical fiber.
• Frequency-shift modulation: two (or more tones) are used, which are near
the carrier frequency. Used in a full-duplex modem (signals in both
directions).
• Phase-shift modulation: systematically shift the carrier wave at uniformly
spaced intervals.

For instance, the wave could be shifted by 45, 135, 225, 315 degree at each
timing mark. In this case, each timing interval carries 2 bits of information.

Why not shift by 0, 90, 180, 270? Shifting zero degrees means no shift, and
an extended set of no shifts leads to clock synchronization difficulties.

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM): Divide the frequency

spectrum into smaller subchannels, giving each user exclusive use of a
subchannel (e.g., radio and TV). One problem with FDM is that a user is given
all of the frequency to use, and if the user has no data to send, bandwidth is
wasted — it cannot be used by another user.

Time division multiplexing (TDM): Use time slicing to give each user
the full bandwidth, but for only a fraction of a second at a time (analogous to
time sharing in operating systems). Again, if the user doesn’t have data to sent
during his timeslice, the bandwidth is not used (e.g., wasted).

Statistical multiplexing: Allocate bandwidth to arriving packets on

demand. This leads to the most efficient use of channel bandwidth because it
only carries useful data.That is, channel bandwidth is allocated to packets that
are waiting for transmission, and a user generating no packets doesn’t use any of
the channel resources.

3.3. Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB):

 Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) has become the synonym for digital
television and for data broadcasting world-wide.

 DVB services have recently been introduced in Europe, in North- and

South America, in Asia, Africa and Australia.

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 This article aims at describing what DVB is all about and at introducing
some of the technical background of a technology that makes possible the
broadcasting.

Figure 3.4 Digital Video Broadcasting systems

3.4 Multiple Access Techniques:

 The transmission from the BS in the downlink can be heard by each and
every mobile user in the cell, and is referred as broadcasting.
Transmission from the mobile users in the uplink to the BS is many-to-
one, and is referred to as multiple access.

 Multiple access schemes to allow many users to share simultaneously a

finite amount of radio spectrum resources.

 Should not result in severe degradation in the performance of the

system as compared to a single user scenario.
 Approaches can be broadly grouped into two categories: narrowband
and wideband.

 Multiple Accessing Techniques : with possible conflict and conflict- free

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 Random access
 Frequency division multiple access (FDMA)
 Time division multiple access (TDMA)
 Spread spectrum multiple access (SSMA) : an example is Code
division multiple access (CDMA)
 Space division multiple access (SDMA)

Duplexing:

 For voice or data communications, must assure two way communication

(duplexing, it is possible to talk and listen simultaneously). Duplexing
may be done using frequency or time domain techniques.
 Forward (downlink) band provides traffic from the BS to the mobile
 Reverse (uplink) band provides traffic from the mobile to the BS.

3.4.1 Frequency division duplexing (FDD):

 Provides two distinct bands of frequencies for every user, one for downlink
and one for uplink.

 A large interval between these frequency bands must be allowed so that

interference is minimized.

Figure 3.5 Frequency Separation

3.4.2. Time division duplexing (TDD):

 In TDD communications, both directions of transmission use one

contiguous frequency allocation, but two separate time slots to provide
both a forward and reverse link.

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 Because transmission from mobile to BS and from BS to mobile alternates

in time, this scheme is also known as “ping pong”.
 As a consequence of the use of the same frequency band, the
communication quality in both directions is the same. This is different
from FDD.

Figure 3.6 Time Slot

3.4.3 FDMA:

 In FDMA, each user is allocated a unique frequency band or channel.

During the period of the call, no other user can share the same frequency
band.

Figure 3.7 FDMA Channels

 All channels in a cell are available to all the mobiles. Channel assignment
is carried out on a first-come first- served basis.

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 The number of channels, given a frequency spectrum BT , depends on the

modulation technique (hence Bw or Bc ) and the guard bands between the
channels 2Bguard .

 These guard bands allow for imperfect filters and oscillators and can be
used to minimize adjacent channel interference.
 FDMA is usually implemented in narrowband systems.

Figure 3.8 FDMA/FDD/TDD

Nonlinear effects in FDMA:

 In a FDMA system, many channels share the same antenna at the

BS. The power amplifiers or the power combiners, when operated
at or near saturation are nonlinear.

 The nonlinear ties generate inter-modulation frequencies.

 Undesirable harmonics generated outside the mobile radio band

cause interference to adjacent services.

 Undesirable harmonics present inside the band cause interference

to other users in the mobile system.

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3.4.4 TDMA:

 TDMA systems divide the channel time into frames. Each frame is further
partitioned into time slots. In each slot only one user is allowed to either
transmit or receive.

 Unlike FDMA, only digital data and digital modulation must be used.

 Each user occupies a cyclically repeating time slot, so a channel may be

thought of as a particular time slot of every frame, where N time slots
comprise a frame.

Figure 3.9 TDMA Channels

Features:

 Multiple channels per carrier or RF channels.

 Burst transmission since channels are used on a timesharing basis.

Transmitter can be turned off during idle periods.

 Narrow or wide bandwidth – depends on factors such as modulation

scheme, number of voice channels per carrier channel.

 High ISI – Higher transmission symbol rate, hence resulting in high ISI.
Adaptive equalizer required.

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Figure 3.10 TDMA Channels time slot

 A guard time between the two time slots must be allowed in order to avoid
interference, especially in the uplink direction. All mobiles should
synchronize with BS to minimize interference.

 Efficient power utilization : FDMA systems require a 3- to 6-dB power back

off in order to compensate for inter-modulation effects.

 Efficient handoff : TDMA systems can take advantage of the fact that the
transmitter is switched off during idle time slots to improve the handoff
procedure. An enhanced link control, such as that provided by mobile
assisted handoff (MAHO) can be carried out by a subscriber by listening to
neighboring base station during the idle slot of the TDMA frame.

 Efficiency of TDMA

 Efficiency of TDMA is a measure of the percentage of bits per frame which

contain transmitted data. The transmitted data include source and channel
coding bits.

 bOH includes all overhead bits such as preamble, guard bits, etc.

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3.4.5 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA):

 Spreading signal (code) consists of chips

 Has Chip period and and hence, chip rate

 Spreading signal use a pseudo-noise (PN) sequence (a pseudo-random

sequence)

 PN sequence is called a codeword

 Each user has its own cordword

 Codewords are orthogonal. (low autocorrelation)

 Chip rate is oder of magnitude larger than the symbol rate.

 The receiver correlator distinguishes the senders signal by examining the

wideband signal with the same time-synchronized spreading code

 The sent signal is recovered by despreading process at the receiver.

CDMA Advantages:

 Low power spectral density.

 Signal is spread over a larger frequency band

 Other systems suffer less from the transmitter

 Interference limited operation

 All frequency spectrum is used

 Privacy

 The codeword is known only between the sender and receiver. Hence
other users can not decode the messages that are in transit

 Reduction of multipath affects by using a larger spectrum

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CDMA data:

Figure 3.11 CDMA Channels transmission

DSSS Transmitter:

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Figure 3.12 CDMA Transmitter

DSSS Receiver

Figure 3.13 CDMA Receiver

 FDMA/CDMA

 Available wideband spectrum is frequency divided into number

narrowband radio channels. CDMA is employed inside each channel.

 DS/FHMA

 The signals are spread using spreading codes (direct sequence signals
are obtained), but these signal are not transmitted over a constant
carrier frequency; they are transmitted over a frequency hopping
carrier frequency.

 Time Division CDMA (TCDMA)

 Each cell is using a different spreading code (CDMA employed

between cells) that is conveyed to the mobiles in its range.

 Inside each cell (inside a CDMA channel), TDMA is employed to

multiplex multiple users.

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 Time Division Frequency Hopping

 At each time slot, the user is hopped to a new frequency according to

a pseudo-random hopping sequence.

 Employed in severe co-interference and multi-path environments.

Bluetooth and GSM are using this technique

 A large number of independently steered high-gain beams can be formed

without any resulting degradation in SNR ratio.

 Beams can be assigned to individual users, thereby assuring that all links
operate with maximum gain.

 Adaptive beam forming can be easily implemented to improve the system

capacity by suppressing co channel interference.

Advantage of CDMA

 It is recognized that CDMA’s capacity gains over TDMA

 FDMA are entirely due to Its tighter, dynamic control over the use of the power
domain.

 Choosing a new non-orthogonal PN sequence a CDMA system does not encounter

the difficulties of choosing a spare carrier frequency or time slot to carry a Traffic
Channel

 Ensure that interference will not be too great if it begins to transmit -that there is
still enough space left in the power domain.

Disadvantages of CDMA:

 Satellite transponders are channelized too narrowly for roadband CDMA, which is
the most attractive form of CDMA.

 Power control cannot be as tight as it is in a terrestrial system because of long

round-trip delay.

3.5. Channel allocation schemes:

In radio resource management for wireless and cellular network, channel

allocation schemes are required to allocate bandwidth and communication
channels to base stations, access points and terminal equipment.

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The objective is to achieve maximum system spectral efficiency in bit/s/Hz/site

by means of frequency reuse, but still assure a certain grade of service by avoiding
co-channel interference and adjacent channel interference among nearby cells or
networks that share the bandwidth. There are two types of strategies that are
followed:-

 Fixed: FCA, fixed channel allocation: Manually assigned by the network

operator
 Dynamic:

 DCA, dynamic channel allocation,

 DFS, dynamic frequency selection
 Spread spectrum

3.5.1 FCA:

In Fixed Channel Allocation or Fixed Channel Assignment (FCA)

each cell is given a predetermined set of frequency channels.

FCA requires manual frequency planning, which is an arduous task in

TDMA and FDMA based systems, since such systems are highly sensitive to co-
channel interference from nearby cells that are reusing the same channel.

This results in traffic congestion and some calls being lost when traffic gets
heavy in some cells, and idle capacity in other cells.

3.5.2. DCA and DFS:

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) may be applied in wireless

networks with several adjacent non-centrally controlled access points.

A more efficient way of channel allocation would be Dynamic Channel

Allocation or Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA) in which voice channel are
not allocated to cell permanently, instead for every call request base station
request channel from MSC.

3.6 Spread spectrum:

Spread spectrum can be considered as an alternative to complex DCA

algorithms. Spread spectrum avoids cochannel interference between adjacent

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cells, since the probability that users in nearby cells use the same spreading code
is insignificant.

Thus the frequency channel allocation problem is relaxed in cellular

networks based on a combination of Spread spectrum and FDMA, for example
IS95 and 3G systems.

In packet based data communication services, the communication is bursty

and the traffic load rapidly changing. For high system spectrum efficiency, DCA
should be performed on a packet-by-packet basis.

Examples of algorithms for packet-by-packet DCA are Dynamic Packet

Assignment (DPA), Dynamic Single Frequency Networks (DSFN) and Packet
and resource plan scheduling (PARPS).

3.6.1 Spread spectrum Techniques:

1 In telecommunication and radio communication, spread-spectrum

techniques are methods by which a signal (e.g. an electrical, electromagnetic,
or acoustic signal) generated with a particular bandwidth is deliberately
spread in the frequency domain, resulting in a signal with a wider bandwidth.
2 These techniques are used for a variety of reasons, including the
establishment of secure communications, increasing resistance to natural
interference, noise and jamming, to prevent detection, and to limit power flux
density (e.g. in satellite downlinks).
3 Spread-spectrum telecommunications this is a technique in which a
telecommunication signal is transmitted on a bandwidth considerably larger
than the frequency content of the original information.
4 Spread-spectrum telecommunications is a signal structuring
technique that employs direct sequence, frequency hopping, or a hybrid of
these, which can be used for multiple access and/or multiple functions.
5 Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), direct-sequence spread
spectrum (DSSS), time-hopping spread spectrum (THSS), chirp spread
spectrum (CSS).
6 Techniques known since the 1940s and used in military
communication systems since the 1950s "spread" a radio signal over a wide
frequency range several magnitudes higher than minimum requirement.
7 Resistance to jamming (interference). DS (direct sequence) is good at
resisting continuous-time narrowband jamming, while FH (frequency hopping)
is better at resisting pulse jamming.
8 Resistance to fading. The high bandwidth occupied by spread-
spectrum signals offer some frequency diversity, i.e. it is unlikely that the

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signal will encounter severe multipath fading over its whole bandwidth, and
in other cases the signal can be detected using e.g. a Rake receiver.
9 Multiple access capability, known as code-division multiple access
(CDMA) or code-division multiplexing (CDM). Multiple users can transmit
simultaneously in the same frequency band as long as they use different
spreading codes.

3.7 Compression – Encryption:

At the broadcast center, the high-quality digital stream of video goes

through an MPEG encoder, which converts the programming to MPEG-4 video of
the correct size and format for the satellite receiver in your house.

Encoding works in conjunction with compression to analyze each video

frame and eliminate redundant or irrelevant data and extrapolate information
from other frames. This process reduces the overall size of the file. Each frame can
be encoded in one of three ways:

 As an intraframe, which contains the complete image data for that frame.
This method provides the least compression.
 As a predicted frame, which contains just enough information to tell the
satellite receiver how to display the frame based on the most recently
displayed intraframe or predicted frame.
 As a bidirectional frame, which displays information from the
surrounding intraframe or predicted frames. Using data from the closest
surrounding frames, the receiver interpolates the position and color of
each pixel.

This process occasionally produces artifacts -- glitches in the video image.

One artifact is macroblocking, in which the fluid picture temporarily dissolves
into blocks. Macroblocking is often mistakenly called pixilating, a technically
incorrect term which has been accepted as slang for this annoying artifact.

There really are pixels on your TV screen, but they're too small for your
human eye to perceive them individually -- they're tiny squares of video data that
make up the image you see. (For more information about pixels and perception,
see How TV Works.)

The rate of compression depends on the nature of the programming. If the

encoder is converting a newscast, it can use a lot more predicted frames because
most of the scene stays the same from one frame to the next.

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In more fast-paced programming, things change very quickly from one

frame to the next, so the encoder has to create more intraframes. As a result, a
newscast generally compresses to a smaller size than something like a car race.

3.7.1 Encryption and Transmission:

After the video is compressed, the provider encrypts it to keep people from
accessing it for free. Encryption scrambles the digital data in such a way that it
can only be decrypted (converted back into usable data) if the receiver has the
correct decryption algorithm and security keys.

Once the signal is compressed and encrypted, the broadcast center beams it
directly to one of its satellites. The satellite picks up the signal with an onboard
dish, amplifies the signal and uses another dish to beam the signal back to Earth,
where viewers can pick it up.

In the next section, we'll see what happens when the signal reaches a viewer's
house.

3.7.2 Video and Audio Compression:

Video and Audio files are very large beasts. Unless we develop and
maintain very high bandwidth networks (Gigabytes per second or more) we have
to compress to data.

Relying on higher bandwidths is not a good option -- M25 Syndrome: Traffic

needs ever increases and will adapt to swamp current limit whatever this is.

As we will compression becomes part of the representation or coding

scheme which have become popular audio, image and video formats.

We will first study basic compression algorithms and then go on to study

some actual coding formats.

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Figure 3.14 coding scheme

What is Compression?

Compression basically employs redundancy in the data:

 Temporal -- in 1D data, 1D signals, Audio etc.

 Spatial -- correlation between neighbouring pixels or data items
 Spectral -- correlation between colour or luminescence components. This uses the
frequency domain to exploit relationships between frequency of change in data.
 psycho-visual -- exploit perceptual properties of the human visual system.

Compression can be categorised in two broad ways:

Lossless Compression :

-- where data is compressed and can be reconstituted (uncompressed) without loss

of detail or information. These are referred to as bit-preserving or reversible
compression systems also.

Lossy Compression :

-- where the aim is to obtain the best possible fidelity for a given bit-rate or
minimizing the bit-rate to achieve a given fidelity measure. Video and audio
compression techniques are most suited to this form of compression.

If an image is compressed it clearly needs to uncompressed (decoded) before

it can viewed/listened to. Some processing of data may be possible in encoded form
however. Lossless compression frequently involves some form of entropy encoding
and are based in information theoretic techniques.

Lossy compression use source encoding techniques that may involve

transform encoding, differential encoding or vector quantization.

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3.7.3 MPEG Standards :

All MPEG standards exist to promote system interoperability among your

computer, television and handheld video and audio devices. They are:

 MPEG-1: the original standard for encoding and decoding streaming video
and audio files.
 MPEG-2: the standard for digital television, this compresses files for
transmission of high-quality video.
 MPEG-4: the standard for compressing high-definition video into smaller-
scale files that stream to computers, cell phones and PDAs (personal digital
assistants).
 MPEG-21: also referred to as the Multimedia Framework. The standard
that interprets what digital content to provide to which individual user so
that media plays flawlessly under any language, machine or user
conditions.

Figure 3.15 MPEG scheme

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3.8 Encryption:

It is the most effective way to achieve data security. To read an encrypted

file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt
it. Unencrypted data is called plain text ; encrypted data is referred to as
cipher text.

Figure 3.16 Encryption methods

9.1.1 Symmetric key encryption:

In symmetric-key schemes, the encryption and decryption keys are the

same. Thus communicating parties must have the same key before they can
achieve secret communication.

In public-key encryption schemes, the encryption key is published for

anyone to use and encrypt messages. However, only the receiving party has access
to the decryption key that enables messages to be read.

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Figure 3.16 General block diagram Encryption methods

Decryption:

It is the process of taking encoded or encrypted text or other data and

converting it back into text that you or the computer are able to read and
understand.

This term could be used to describe a method of un-encrypting the data

manually or with un-encrypting the data using the proper codes or keys.

Data may be encrypted to make it difficult for someone to steal the

information. Some companies also encrypt data for general protection of company
data and trade secrets. If this data needs to be viewable, it may require decryption.

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UNIT IV EARTH SEGMENT

4.1 Earth Station Technology:

The earth segment of a satellite communications system consists of the

transmit and receive earth stations. The simplest of these are the home TV
receive-only (TVRO) systems, and the most complex are the terminal stations used
for international communications networks. Also included in the earth segment
are those stations which are on ships at sea, and commercial and military land
and aeronautical mobile stations.
As mentioned in earth stations that are used for logistic sup- port of satellites, such
as providing the telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) functions, are considered
as part of the space segment.

4.1.1 Terrestrial Interface:

Earth station is a vital element in any satellite communication network.

The function of an earth station is to receive information from or transmit
information to, the satellite network in the most cost-effective and reliable
manner while retaining the desired signal quality. The design of earth station
configuration depends upon many factors and its location. But it is
fundamentally governed by its

Location which are listed below,

• In land
• On a ship at sea
• Onboard aircraft
The factors are
• Type of services
• Frequency bands used
• Function of the transmitter
• Function of the receiver
• Antenna characteristics

4.1.2 Transmitter and Receiver

Any earth station consists of four major subsystems

• Transmitter
• Receiver
• Antenna • Tracking equipment

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Two other important subsystems are

• Terrestrial interface equipment
• Power supply

The earth station depends on the following parameters

• Transmitter power
• Choice of frequency
• Gain of antenna
• Antenna efficiency
• Antenna pointing accuracy
• Noise temperature

The functional elements of a basic digital earth station are shown in the below
figure

Figure 4.1 Transmitter- Receiver

Digital information in the form of binary digits from terrestrial networks

enters earth station and is then processed (filtered, multiplexed, formatted etc.)
by the base band equipment.

• The encoder performs error correction coding to reduce the error rate, by
introducing extra digits into digital stream generated by the base band

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equipment. The extra digits carry information.

• In satellite communication, I.F carrier frequency is chosen at 70 MHz for
communication using a 36 MHz transponder bandwidth and at 140 MHz for a
transponder bandwidth of 54 or 72 MHz.

• On the receive side, the earth station antenna receives the low-level
modulated R.F carrier in the downlink frequency spectrum.

• The low noise amplifier (LNA) is used to amplify the weak received
signals and improve the signal to Noise ratio (SNR). The error rate requirements
can be met more easily.
• R.F is to be reconverted to I.F at 70 or 140 MHz because it is easier
design a demodulation to work at these frequencies than 4 or 12 GHz.

• The demodulator estimate which of the possible symbols was

transmitted based on observation of the received if carrier.

• The decoder performs a function opposite that of the encoder. Because

the sequence of symbols recovered by the demodulator may contain errors, the
decoder must use the uniqueness of the redundant digits introduced by the
encoder to correct the errors and recover information-bearing digits.

• The information stream is fed to the base-band equipment for processing

for delivery to the terrestrial network.

• The tracking equipments track the satellite and align the beam towards
it to facilitate communication.

4.1.3. Earth Station Tracking System:

Tracking is essential when the satellite drift, as seen by an earth station

antenna is a significant fraction of an earth station’s antenna beam width.
An earth station’s tracking system is required to perform some of the
functions such as

i)Satellite acquisition
ii)Automatic tracking
iii)Manual tracking
iv)Program tracking.

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4.2 Antenna Systems :

The antenna system consist of

 Feed System
 Antenna Reflector
 Mount
 Antenna tracking System

4.2.1 FEED SYSTEM

The feed along with the reflector is the radiating/receiving element of

electromagnetic waves. The reciprocity property of the feed element makes the
earth station antenna system suitable for transmission and reception of
electromagnetic waves.

The way the waves coming in and going out is called feed configuration
Earth Station feed systems most commonly used in satellite communication are:
i)Axi-Symmetric Configuration
ii)Asymmetric Configuration
i)Axi-Symmetric Configuration

In an axi-symmetric configuration the antenna axes are symmetrical with

respect to the reflector ,which results in a relatively simple mechanical structure
and antenna mount.

 Primary Feed :

In primary, feed is located at the focal point of the parabolic reflector.

Many dishes use only a single bounce, with incoming waves reflecting off the
dish surface to the focus in front of the dish, where the antenna is located. when
the dish is used to transmit ,the transmitting antenna at the focus beams waves
toward the dish, bouncing them off to space. This is the simplest arrangement.

 Cassegrain :

Many dishes have the waves make more than one bounce .This is
generally called as folded systems. The advantage is that the whole dish and
feed system is more compact. There are several folded configurations, but all
have at least one secondary reflector also called a sub reflector, located out in
front of the dish to redirect the waves.

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A common dual reflector antenna called Cassegrain has a convex sub

reflector positioned in front of the main dish, closer to the dish than the focus.
This sub reflector bounces back the waves back toward a feed located on the
main dish’s center, sometimes behind a hole at the center of the main dish.
Sometimes there are even more sub reflectors behind the dish to direct the
waves to the fed for convenience or compactness.

 Gregorian

This system has a concave secondary reflector located just beyond the
primary focus. This also bounces the waves back toward the dish.

ii)Asymmetric Configuration

 Offset or Off-axis feed

The performance of tan axi-symmetric configuration is affected by the

blockage of the aperture by the feed and the sub reflector assembly. The result is
a reduction in the antenna efficiency and an increase in the side lobe levels. The
asymmetric configuration can remove this limitation..This is achieved by off-
setting the mounting arrangement of the feed so that it does not obstruct the
main beam.As a result ,the efficiency and side lobe level performance are
improved.

4.2.2 ANTENNA REFLECTOR :

Mostly parabolic reflectors are used as the main antenna for the earth
stations because of the high gain available from the reflector and the ability of
focusing a parallel beam into a point at the focus where the feed,i.e., the
receiving/radiating element is located .For large antenna system more than one
reflector surfaces may be used in as in the cassegrain antenna system.

Earth stations are also classified on the basis of services for example:
1.Two way TV ,Telephony and data
2. Two way TV
3.TV receive only and two way telephony and data
4.Two way data
From the classifications it is obvious that the technology of earth station
will vary considerably on the performance and the service requirements of earth
station

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For mechanical design of parabolic reflector the following parameters are

required to be considered:
 Size of the reflector
 Focal Length /diameter ratio
 RMS error of main and sub reflector
 Pointing and tracking accuracies
 Speed and acceleration
 Type of mount
 Coverage Requirement

 Wind Speeed

The size of the reflector depends on transmit and receive gain requirement
and beamwidth of the antenna.Gain is directly proportional to the antenna
diameter whereas the beamwidth is inversely proportional to the antenna
diameter .for high inclination angle of the satellite ,the tracking of the earth
station becomes necessary when the beamwidth is too narrow.

The gain of the antenna is given by

Gain= (η4ΠAeff)/ λ2
Where Aeff is the aperture
Λ is wave length
Η is efficiency of antenna system
For a parabolic antenna with circular aperture diameter D, the gain of the
antenna is :
Gain= (η4Π/ λ2)( ΠD2/4)
= η (ΠD/ λ)2
The overall efficiency of the antenna is the net product of various factors such as

1. Cross Polarization
2. Spill over
3. Diffraction
4. Blockage
5. Surface accuracy
6. Phase error
7. Illumination
In the design of feed ,the ratio of focal length F to the diameter of the

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reflector D of the antenna system control the maximum angle subtended by the
reflector surface on the focal point. Larger the F/D ratio larger is the aperture
illumination efficiency and lower the cross polarization.

Figure 4.2 Antenna sub systems

4.2.3 ANTENNA MOUNT:

Type of antenna mount is determined mainly by the coverage requirement

and tracking requirements of the antenna systems. Different types of mounts
used for earth station antenna are:

i) The Azimuth –elevation mount :

This mount consists of a primary vertical axis. Rotation around this axis
controls the azimuth angle. The horizontal axis is mounted over the primary
axis, providing the elevation angle control.

ii) The X-Y mount.

It consists of a horizontal primary axis (X-axis) and a secondary axis (Y-

axis) and at right angles to it. Movement around these axes provides necessary
steering.

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4.2.4 ANTENNA TRACKING SYSTEM :

Tracking is essential when the satellite drift, as seen by an earth station

antenna is a significant fraction of an earth station’s antenna beam width.

An earth station’s tracking system is required to perform some of the

functions such as

i)Satellite acquisition
ii)Automatic tracking
iii)Manual tracking
iv)Program tracking.

RecentTrackingTechniques:

There have been some interesting recent developments in auto-track

techniques which can potentially provide high accuracies at a low cost.

In one proposed technique the sequential lobing technique has been I

implemented by using rapid electronic switching of a s single beam which
effectively approximates simultaneous lobbing.

4.3 Receive-Only Home TV Systems:

Planned broadcasting directly to home TV receivers takes place in the Ku

(12-GHz) band. This service is known as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service.

There is some variation in the frequency bands assigned to different

geographic regions. In the Americas, for example, the down- link band is 12.2 to
12.7 GHz.

The comparatively large satellite receiving dishes [ranging in diame- ter

from about 1.83 m (6 ft) to about 3-m (10 ft) in some locations], which may be seen in
some “backyards” are used to receive downlink TV signals at C band (4 GHz).

Originally such downlink signals were never intended for home reception but
for network relay to commercial TV outlets (VHF and UHF TV broadcast stations
and cable TV “head-end” studios).

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4.3.1 The Indoor unit:

Equipment is now marketed for home reception of C-band signals, and some
manufacturers provide dual C-band/Ku-band equipment. A single mesh type
reflector may be used which focuses the signals into a dual feed- horn, which has two
separate outputs, one for the C-band signals and onefor the Ku-band signals.

Much of television programming originates as first generation signals, also

known as master broadcast quality signals.

These are transmitted via satellite in the C band to the network head- end
stations, where they are retransmitted as compressed digital signals to cable and
direct broadcast satellite providers.

 Another of the advantages, claimed for home C-band systems, is the

larger number of satellites available for reception compared to what is
available for direct broadcast satellite sys- terms.

 Although many of the C-band transmissions are scrambled, there are

free channels that can be received, and what are termed “wild feeds.”

 These are also free, but unannounced programs, of which details can
be found in advance from various publications and Internet sources.

 C-band users can also subscribe to pay TV channels, and another

advantage claimed is that subscription services are cheaper than
DBS or cable because of the multiple-source programming available.

 The most widely advertised receiving system for C-band system appears to
be 4DTV manufactured by Motorola.

This enables reception of:

 Free, analog signals and “wild feeds”

 VideoCipher ll plus subscription services
 Free DigiCipher 2 services
 Subscription DigiCipher 2 services

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Figure 4.3 TVRO System block diagrams

.
4.3.2 The outdoor unit:

This consists of a receiving antenna feeding directly into a low-noise

amplifier/converter combination. A parabolic reflector is generally used, with the
receiving horn mounted at the focus. A common design is to have the focus
directly in front of the reflector, but for better interference rejection, an offset
feed may be used as shown.

Comparing the gain of a 3-m dish at 4 GHz with a 1-m dish at 12 GHz,
the ratio D/l equals 40 in each case, so the gains will be about equal. Although
the free-space losses are much higher at 12 GHz compared with 4 GHz.

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The downlink frequency band of 12.2 to 12.7 GHz spans a range of 500
MHz, which accommodates 32 TV/FM channels, each of which is 24-MHz wide.
Obviously, some overlap occurs between channels, but these are alternately
polarized left-hand circular (LHC) and right-hand circular (RHC) or
vertical/horizontal, to reduce interference to accept- able levels. This is referred to
as polarization interleaving. A polarizer that may be switched to the desired
polarization from the indoor con- trol unit is required at the receiving horn.

The receiving horn feeds into a low-noise converter (LNC) or possibly a

combination unit consisting of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) followed by a
converter.

The combination is referred to as an LNB, for low-noise block. The LNB

provides gain for the broadband 12-GHz signal and then converts the signal to a
lower frequency range so that a low-cost coaxial cable can be used as feeder to the
indoor unit.
The signal fed to the indoor unit is normally a wideband signal cov- ering
the range 950 to 1450 MHz. This is amplified and passed to a tracking filter
which selects the desired channel, as shown in Fig.

As previously mentioned, polarization interleaving is used, and only half

the 32 channels will be present at the input of the indoor unit for any one
setting of the antenna polarizer. This eases the job of the tracking filter, since
alternate channels are well separated in frequency.

The selected channel is again down converted, this time from the 950- to
1450-MHz range to a fixed intermediate frequency, usually 70 MHz although
other values in the very high frequency (VHF) range are also used.

The 70-MHz amplifier amplifies the signal up to the levels required for
demodulation. A major difference between DBS TV and conventional TV is that
with DBS, frequency modulation is used, whereas with conventional TV,
amplitude modulation in the form of vestigial single side- band (VSSB) is used.

The 70-MHz, FM intermediate frequency (IF) carrier therefore must be

demodulated, and the baseband information used to generate a VSSB signal
which is fed into one of the VHF/UHF channels of a standard TV set.

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4.4 Master Antenna TV System:

A master antenna TV (MATV) system is used to provide reception of DBS

TV/FM channels to a small group of users, for example, to the tenants in an
apartment building. It consists of a single outdoor unit (antenna and LNA/C)
feeding a number of indoor units, as shown in Fig.
It is basically similar to the home system already described, but with
each user having access to all the channels independently of the other users.
The advantage is that only one outdoor unit is required, but as shown, separate
LNA/Cs and feeder cables are required for each sense of polarization.
Compared with the single- user system, a larger antenna is also required
(2- to 3-m diameter) in order to maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio at all the
indoor units.

Where more than a few subscribers are involved, the distribution system
used is similar to the community antenna (CATV) system described in the
following section.

Figure 4.4 CATV System block diagrams

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4.5 Community Antenna TV System:

The CATV system employs a single outdoor unit, with separate feeds
available for each sense of polarization, like the MATV system, so that all
channels are made available simultaneously at the indoor receiver.

Instead of having a separate receiver for each user, all the carriers are
demodulated in a common receiver-filter system, as shown in Fig. The channels
are then combined into a standard multiplexed signal for transmission over cable
to the subscribers.

In remote areas where a cable distribution system may not be installed,

the signal can be rebroadcast from a low-power VHF TV transmitter.

Figure shows a remote TV station which employs an 8-m (26.2-ft)

antenna for reception of the satellite TV signal in the C band.

Figure 4.5 One possible arrangement for the indoor unit of a community antenna TV
(CATV) system.

With the CATV system, local programming material also may be dis-
tributed to subscribers, an option which is not permitted in the MATV system.

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4.6 Test Equipment Measurements on G/T, C/No, EIRP:

Measurement of G/T of small antennas is easily and simply measured

using the spectrum analyser method. For antennas with a diameter of less than
4.5 meters it is not normally necessary to point off from the satellite.

A step in frequency would be required into one of the satellite transponder

guard bands.

However antennas with a G/T sufficiently large to enable the station to

see the transponder noise floor either a step in frequency into one of the satellite
transponder guard bands and/or in azimuth movement would be required.

The test signal can be provided from an SES WORLD SKIES beacon.

Procedure :

(a) Set up the test equipment as shown below. Allow half an hour to warm
up,
and then calibrate in accordance with the manufacturer’s procedures.

Figure 4.6 One possible arrangement for Measurement of G/T

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(b) Adjust the centre frequency of your spectrum analyzer to receive the
SES WORLD SKIES beacon (data to be provided on the satellite used for testing)

(c) Carefully peak the antenna pointing and adjust the polarizer by nulling
the
cross polarized signal. You cannot adjust polarization when using the circularly
polarized SES WORLD SKIES beacon.

(d) Configure the spectrum analyser as follows:

Centre Frequency: Adjust for beacon or test signal frequency (to be

advised).
Use marker to peak and marker to centre functions.

 Frequency Span: 100 KHz

 Resolution Bandwidth: 1 KHz
 Video Bandwidth: 10 Hz (or sufficiently small to limit noise
variance)
 Scale: 5 dB/div
 Sweep Time: Automatic
 Attenuator Adjust to ensure linear operation. Adjust to
provide the "Noise floor delta" described in steps 7 and 8.

(e) To insure the best measurement accuracy during the following steps,
adjust the spectrum analyser amplitude (reference level) so that the measured
signal, carrier or noise, is approximately one division below the top line of the
spectrum analyser display.

(f) Record the frequency and frequency offset of the test signal from the
nominal frequency:
For example, assume the nominal test frequency is 11750 MHz but the
spectrum analyser shows the peak at 11749 MHz. The frequency offset in this case
is -1 MHz.

(g) Change the spectrum analyser centre frequency as specified by SES

WORLD SKIES so that the measurement is performed in a transponder guard
band so that only system noise power of the earth station and no satellite signals
are received. Set the spectrum analyser frequency as follows:
Centre Frequency = Noise slot frequency provided by the PMOC

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(h) Disconnect the input cable to the spectrum analyser and confirm that
the noise floor drops by at least 15 dB but no more than 25dB. This confirms that
the spectrum analyser’s noise contribution has an insignificant effect on the
measurement. An input attenuation value allowing a "Noise floor Delta" in
excess of 25 dB may cause overloading of the spectrum analyser input. (i)
Reconnect the input cable to the spectrum analyser.

(j) Activate the display line on the spectrum analyser.

(k) Carefully adjust the display line to the noise level shown on the
spectrum analyser. Record the display line level.

(l) Adjust the spectrum analyser centre frequency to the test carrier
frequency
recorded in step (e).

(m) Carefully adjust the display line to the peak level of the test carrier on
the
spectrum analyser. Record the display line level.

(n) Determine the difference in reference levels between steps (l) and (j)
which is the (C+N)/N.

(o) Change the (C+N)/N to C/N by the following conversion:

This step is not necessary if the (C+N)/N ratio is more than 20 dB because
the resulting correction is less than 0.1 dB.

(p) Calculate the carrier to noise power density ratio (C/No) using:

The 2.5 dB figure corrects the noise power value measured by the log
converters in the spectrum analyser to a true RMS power level, and the SA corr

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factor takes into account the actual resolution filter bandwidth.

(q) Calculate the G/T using the following:

where,
EIRPSC – Downlink EIRP measured by the PMOC (dBW)
Acorr – Aspect correction supplied by the PMOC (dB)
FSL – Free Space Loss to the AUT supplied by the PMOC (dB)
La – Atmospheric attenuation supplied by the PMOC (dB)

(r) Repeat the measurement several times to check consistency of the result.

4.7 Antenna Gain:

Antenna gain is usually defined as the ratio of the power produced by

the antenna from a far-field source on the antenna's beam axis to the power
produced by a hypothetical lossless isotropic antenna, which is equally sensitive
to signals from all directions.

Figure 4.6 One possible arrangement for Measurement of Antenna Gain

Two direct methods of measuring the Rx gain can be used; integration of

the Rx sidelobe pattern or by determination of the 3dB and 10dB beamwidths.
The use of pattern integration will produce the more accurate results but

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would require the AUT to have a tracking system. In both cases the test
configurations for measuring Rx gain are identical, and are illustrated in Figure.

In order to measure the Rx gain using pattern integration the AUT

measures the elevation and azimuth narrowband (±5° corrected) sidelobe
patterns.

The AUT then calculates the directive gain of the antenna through
integration of the sidelobe patterns. The Rx gain is then determined by reducing
the directive gain by the antenna inefficiencies.

In order to measure the Rx gain using the beamwidth method, the AUT
measures the corrected azimuth and elevation 3dB/10dB beamwidths. From
these results the Rx gain of the antenna can be directly calculated using the
formula below.

where:
G is the effective antenna gain (dBi)
Az3 is the corrected azimuth 3dB beamwidth (°)
El3 is the elevation 3dB beamwidth (°)
Az10 is the corrected azimuth 10dB beamwidth (°)
El10 is the elevation 10dB beamwidth (°)
FLoss is the insertion loss of the feed (dB)

RLoss is the reduction in antenna gain due to reflector inaccuracies, and is given
by:

RLoss =4.922998677(Sdev f )2 dB

where: Sdev is the standard deviation of the actual reflector surface (inches)
f is the frequency (GHz)

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UNIT V SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

5.1 INTELSAT Series:

INTELSAT stands for International Telecommunications Satellite. The

organization was created in 1964 and currently has over 140 member countries and
more than 40 investing entities (see http://www.intelsat.com/ for more details).

In July 2001 INTELSAT became a private company and in May 2002 the
company began providing end-to-end solutions through a network of teleports,
leased fiber, and points of presence (PoPs) around the globe.

Starting with the Early Bird satellite in 1965, a succes- sion of satellites has
been launched at intervals of a few years. Figure 1.1 illustrates the evolution of
some of the INTELSAT satellites. As the figure shows, the capacity, in terms of
number of voice channels, increased dramatically with each succeeding launch,
as well as the design lifetime.

These satellites are in geostationary orbit, meaning that they appear to be

stationary in relation to the earth. At this point it may be noted that geosta-
tionary satellites orbit in the earth’s equatorial plane and their position is specified
by their longitude.

For international traffic, INTELSAT covers three main regions—the

Atlantic Ocean Region (AOR), the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), and the Pacific
Ocean Region (POR) and what is termed Intelsat America’s Region.

For the ocean regions the satellites are positioned in geostationary orbit
above the particular ocean, where they provide a transoceanic telecommunications
route. For example, INTELSAT satellite 905 is positioned at 335.5° east longitude.

The INTELSAT VII-VII/A series was launched over a period from October
1993 to June 1996. The construction is similar to that for the V and VA/VB series,
shown in Fig. in that the VII series has solar sails rather than a cylindrical body.

The VII series was planned for service in the POR and also for some of the
less demanding services in the AOR. The antenna beam coverage is appropriate
for that of the POR. Figure 1.3 shows the antenna beam footprints for the C-band
hemispheric cover- age and zone coverage, as well as the spot beam coverage
possible with the Ku-band antennas (Lilly, 1990; Sachdev et al., 1990). When used

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in the AOR, the VII series satellite is inverted north for south (Lilly, 1990), minor
adjustments then being needed only to optimize the antenna pat- terns for this
region. The lifetime of these satellites ranges from 10 to 15 years depending on
the launch vehicle.

Recent figures from the INTELSAT Web site give the capacity for the
INTELSAT VII as 18,000 two-way telephone circuits and three TV channels; up to
90,000 two-way telephone circuits can be achieved with the use of “digital circuit
mul- tiplication.”

The INTELSAT VII/A has a capacity of 22,500 two-way telephone circuits

and three TV channels; up to 112,500 two-way tele- phone circuits can be achieved
with the use of digital circuit multipli- cation. As of May 1999, four satellites were
in service over the AOR, one in the IOR, and two in the POR.

Figure 5.1 INTELSAT Series

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The INTELSAT VIII-VII/A series of satellites was launched over the

period February 1997 to June 1998. Satellites in this series have similar capacity
as the VII/A series, and the lifetime is 14 to 17 years.
It is standard practice to have a spare satellite in orbit on high-
reliability routes (which can carry preemptible traffic) and to have a ground spare
in case of launch failure.
Thus the cost for large international schemes can be high; for example,
series IX, described later, represents a total investment of approximately $1
billion.

Figure 5.2 Region of glob

5.2 INSAT:

INSAT or the Indian National Satellite System is a series of

multipurpose geo-stationary satellites launched by ISRO to satisfy the
telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue
operations.
Commissioned in 1983, INSAT is the largest domestic communication
system in the Asia Pacific Region. It is a joint venture of the Department of
Space, Department of Telecommunications, India Meteorological Department,

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All India Radio and Doordarshan. The overall coordination and management of
INSAT system rests with the Secretary-level INSAT Coordination Committee.
INSAT satellites provide transponders in various bands (C, S, Extended C
and Ku) to serve the television and communication needs of India. Some of the
satellites also have the Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR), CCD cameras
for metrological imaging.
The satellites also incorporate transponder(s) for receiving distress alert
signals for search and rescue missions in the South Asian and Indian Ocean
Region, as ISRO is a member of the Cospas-Sarsat programme.

5.2.1 INSAT System:.

The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) System Was Commissioned With

The Launch Of INSAT-1B In August 1983 (INSAT-1A, The First Satellite Was
Launched In April 1982 But Could Not Fulfil The Mission).

INSAT System Ushered In A Revolution In India’s Television And Radio

Broadcasting, Telecommunications And Meteorological Sectors. It Enabled The
Rapid Expansion Of TV And Modern Telecommunication Facilities To Even The
Remote Areas And Off-Shore Islands.

5.2.2 Satellites In Service:

Of The 24 Satellites Launched In The Course Of The INSAT Program, 10

Are Still In Operation.INSAT-2E
It Is The Last Of The Five Satellites In INSAT-2 Series{Prateek }. It
Carries Seventeen C-Band And Lower Extended C-Band Transponders Providing
Zonal And Global Coverage With An Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP)
Of 36 Dbw.

It Also Carries A Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) With Imaging

Capacity In The Visible (0.55-0.75 µm), Thermal Infrared (10.5-12.5 µm) And
Water Vapour (5.7-7.1 µm) Channels And Provides 2x2 Km, 8x8 Km And 8x8 Km
Ground Resolution Respectively.
INSAT-3A

The Multipurpose Satellite, INSAT-3A, Was Launched By Ariane In April

2003. It Is Located At 93.5 Degree East Longitude. The Payloads On INSAT-3A
Are As Follows:

12 Normal C-Band Transponders (9 Channels Provide Expanded Coverage

From Middle East To South East Asia With An EIRP Of 38 Dbw, 3 Channels
Provide India Coverage With An EIRP Of 36 Dbw And 6 Extended C-Band
Transponders Provide India Coverage With An EIRP Of 36 Dbw).

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A CCD Camera Provides 1x1 Km Ground Resolution, In The Visible (0.63-

0.69 µm), Near Infrared (0.77-0.86 µm) And Shortwave Infrared (1.55-1.70 µm)
Bands.

INSAT-3D
Launched In July 2013, INSAT-3D Is Positioned At 82 Degree East
Longitude. INSAT-3D Payloads Include Imager, Sounder, Data Relay
Transponder And Search & Rescue Transponder. All The Transponders Provide
Coverage Over Large Part Of The Indian Ocean Region Covering India,
Bangladesh, Bhutan,Maldives, Nepal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka And Tanzania For
Rendering Distress Alert Services

INSAT-3E
Launched In September 2003, INSAT-3E Is Positioned At 55 Degree East
Longitude And Carries 24 Normal C-Band Transponders Provide An Edge Of
Coverage EIRP Of 37 Dbw Over India And 12 Extended C-Band Transponders
Provide An Edge Of Coverage EIRP Of 38 Dbw Over India.

KALPANA-1
KALPANA-1 Is An Exclusive Meteorological Satellite Launched By PSLV
In September 2002. It Carries Very High Resolution Radiometer And DRT
Payloads To Provide Meteorological Services. It Is Located At 74 Degree East
Longitude. Its First Name Was METSAT. It Was Later Renamed As KALPANA-
1 To Commemorate Kalpana Chawla.

Edusat
Configured For Audio-Visual Medium Employing Digital Interactive
Classroom Lessons And Multimedia Content, EDUSAT Was Launched By GSLV
In September 2004. Its Transponders And Their Ground Coverage Are Specially
Configured To Cater To The Educational Requirements.

GSAT-2
Launched By The Second Flight Of GSLV In May 2003, GSAT-2 Is
Located At 48 Degree East Longitude And Carries Four Normal C-Band
Transponders To Provide 36 Dbw EIRP With India Coverage, Two K u Band
Transponders With 42 Dbw EIRP Over India And An MSS Payload Similar To
Those On INSAT-3B And INSAT-3C.
INSAT-4 Series:

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Figure 5.3 INSAT 4A

INSAT-4A is positioned at 83 degree East longitude along with INSAT-2E

and INSAT-3B. It carries 12 Ku band 36 MHz bandwidth transponders
employing 140 W TWTAs to provide an EIRP of 52 dBW at the edge of coverage
polygon with footprint covering Indian main land and 12 C-band 36 MHz
bandwidth transponders provide an EIRP of 39 dBW at the edge of coverage with
expanded radiation patterns encompassing Indian geographical boundary, area
beyond India in southeast and northwest regions. [8] Tata Sky, a joint venture
between the TATA Group and STAR uses INSAT-4A for distributing their DTH
service.

 INSAT-4A
 INSAT-4B
 Glitch In INSAT 4B
 China-Stuxnet Connection
 INSAT-4CR
 GSAT-8 / INSAT-4G
 GSAT-12 /GSAT-10

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5.3 VSAT:

VSAT stands for very small aperture terminal system. This is the dis-
tinguishing feature of a VSAT system, the earth-station antennas being typically
less than 2.4 m in diameter (Rana et al., 1990). The trend is toward even smaller
dishes, not more than 1.5 m in diameter (Hughes et al., 1993).

In this sense, the small TVRO terminals for direct broadcast satellites
could be labeled as VSATs, but the appellation is usually reserved for private
networks, mostly providing two-way communications facilities.
Typical user groups include bank- ing and financial institutions, airline
and hotel booking agencies, and large retail stores with geographically dispersed
outlets.

Figure 5.4 VSAT Block Diagrams

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5.3.1 VSAT network :

The basic structure of a VSAT network consists of a hub station which
provides a broadcast facility to all the VSATs in the network and the VSATs
themselves which access the satellite in some form of multiple- access mode.
The hub station is operated by the service provider, and it may be shared
among a number of users, but of course, each user organ- ization has exclusive
access to its own VSAT network.
Time division mul- tiplex is the normal downlink mode of transmission
from hub to the VSATs, and the transmission can be broadcast for reception by
all the VSATs in a network, or address coding can be used to direct messages to
selected VSATs.
A form of demand assigned multiple access (DAMA) is employed in some
systems in which channel capacity is assigned in response to the fluctuating
demands of the VSATs in the network.
Most VSAT systems operate in the Ku band, although there are some C-
band systems in existence (Rana et al., 1990).

5.3.2 Applications:

 Supermarket shops (tills, ATM machines, stock sale updates and stock
ordering).
 Chemist shops - Shoppers Drug Mart - Pharmaprix.
Broadband direct to the home. e.g. Downloading MP3 audio to
audio players.
 Broadband direct small business, office etc, sharing local use with
many PCs.
 Internet access from on board ship Cruise ships with internet cafes,
commercial shipping communications.

9.4 Mobile satellite services:

5.4.1 GSM:

5.4.1.1 Services and Architecture:

If your work involves (or is likely to involve) some form of wireless public
communications, you are likely to encounter the GSM standards. Initially
developed to support a standardized approach to digital cellular communications
in Europe, the "Global System for Mobile Communications" (GSM) protocols are
rapidly being adopted to the next generation of wireless telecommunications
systems.

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In the US, its main competition appears to be the cellular TDMA systems
based on the IS-54 standards. Since the GSM systems consist of a wide range of
components, standards, and protocols.

The GSM and its companion standard DCS1800 (for the UK, where the
900 MHz frequencies are not available for GSM) have been developed over the
last decade to allow cellular communications systems to move beyond the
limitations posed by the older analog systems.
Analog system capacities are being stressed with more users that can be
effectively supported by the available frequency allocations. Compatibility
between types of systems had been limited, if non-existent.
By using digital encoding techniques, more users can share the same
frequencies than had been available in the analog systems. As compared to the
digital cellular systems in the US (CDMA [IS-95] and TDMA [IS-54]), the GSM
market has had impressive success. Estimates of the numbers of telephones run
from 7.5 million GSM phones to .5 million IS54 phones to .3 million for IS95.

GSM has gained in acceptance from its initial beginnings in Europe to

other parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, countries in the
Middle East and the far east. Beyond its use in cellular frequencies (900 MHz for
GSM, 1800 MHz for DCS1800), portions of the GSM signaling protocols are
finding their way into the newly developing PCS and LEO Satellite
communications systems.
While the frequencies and link characteristics of these systems differ from
the standard GSM air interface, all of these systems must deal with users
roaming from one cell (or satellite beam) to another, and bridge services to public
communication networks including the Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN), and public data networks (PDN).
The GSM architecture includes several subsystems:
The Mobile Station (MS) -- These digital telephones include vehicle,
portable and hand-held terminals. A device called the Subscriber Identity
Module (SIM) that is basically a smart-card provides custom information about
users such as the services they've subscribed to and their identification in the
network
The Base Station Sub-System (BSS) -- The BSS is the collection of
devices that support the switching networks radio interface. Major components
of the BSS include the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that consists of the radio
modems and antenna equipment.

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In OSI terms, the BTS provides the physical interface to the MS where the
BSC is responsible for the link layer services to the MS. Logically the
transcoding equipment is in the BTS, however, an additional component.

The Network and Switching Sub-System (NSS) -- The NSS provides

the switching between the GSM subsystem and external networks along with the
databases used for additional subscriber and mobility management.

Major components in the NSS include the Mobile Services Switching

Center (MSC), Home and Visiting Location Registers (HLR, VLR). The HLR and
VLR databases are interconnected through the telecomm standard Signaling
System 7 (SS7) control network.

The Operation Sub-System (OSS) -- The OSS provides the support functions
responsible for the management of network maintenance and services.
Components of the OSS are responsible for network operation and maintenance,
mobile equipment management, and subscription management and charging.

Figure 5.5 GSM Block Diagrams

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Several channels are used in the air interface:

 FCCH - the frequency correction channel - provides frequency

synchronization information in a burst
 SCH - Synchronization Channel - shortly following the FCCH burst (8 bits
later), provides a reference to all slots on a given frequency
 PAGCH - Paging and Access Grant Channel used for the transmission of
paging information requesting the setup of a call to a MS.
 RACH - Random Access Channel - an inbound channel used by the MS to
request connections from the ground network. Since this is used for the
first access attempt by users of the network, a random access scheme is
used to aid in avoiding collisions.
 CBCH - Cell Broadcast Channel - used for infrequent transmission of
broadcasts by the ground network.
 BCCH - Broadcast Control Channel - provides access status information
to the MS. The information provided on this channel is used by the MS to
determine whether or not to request a transition to a new cell

 FACCH - Fast Associated Control Channel for the control of handovers

 TCH/F - Traffic Channel, Full Rate for speech at 13 kbps or data at 12, 6,
or 3.6 kbps
 TCH/H - Traffic Channel, Half Rate for speech at 7 kbps, or data at 6 or
3.6 kbps

9.5 Mobility Management:

One of the major features used in all classes of GSM networks (cellular,
PCS and Satellite) is the ability to support roaming users. Through the control
signaling network, the MSCs interact to locate and connect to users throughout
the network.
"Location Registers" are included in the MSC databases to assist in the
role of determining how, and whether connections are to be made to roaming
users. Each user of a GSM MS is assigned a Home Location Register (HLR) that
is used to contain the user's location and subscribed services.

Difficulties facing the operators can include;

a. Remote/Rural Areas. To service remote areas, it is often economically

unfeasible to provide backhaul facilities (BTS to BSC) via terrestrial lines
(fiber/microwave).

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b. Time to deploy. Terrestrial build-outs can take years to plan and

implement.
c. Areas of ‘minor’ interest. These can include small isolated centers such as
tourist resorts, islands, mines, oil exploration sites, hydro-electric facilities.
d. Temporary Coverage. Special events, even in urban areas, can overload the
existing infrastructure.

9.5.1 GSM service security:

GSM was designed with a moderate level of service security. GSM uses
several cryptographic algorithms for security. The A5/1, A5/2, and A5/3 stream
ciphers are used for ensuring over-the-air voice privacy.

GSM uses General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for data transmissions like
browsing the web. The most commonly deployed GPRS ciphers were publicly
broken in 2011The researchers revealed flaws in the commonly used GEA/1.

5.4.2 Global Positioning System (GPS) :

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite based navigation

system that can be used to locate positions anywhere on earth. Designed and
operated by the U.S. Department of Defense, it consists of satellites, control and
monitor stations, and receivers. GPS receivers take information transmitted
from the satellites and uses triangulation to calculate a user’s exact location.
GPS is used on incidents in a variety of ways, such as:

 To determine position locations; for example, you need to radio a

helicopter pilot the coordinates of your position location so the pilot can
pick you up.
 To navigate from one location to another; for example, you need to travel
from a lookout to the fire perimeter.
 To create digitized maps; for example, you are assigned to plot the fire
perimeter and hot spots.
 To determine distance between two points or how far you are from another
location.

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F
i
g
u
r
e

5
.
6

Figure 5.6 GPS Block Diagrams

The purpose of this chapter is to give a general overview of the Global

Positioning System, not to teach proficiency in the use of a GPS receiver. To
become proficient with a specific GPS receiver, study the owner’s manual and
practice using the receiver.

The chapter starts with a general introduction on how the global

positioning system works. Then it discusses some basics on using a GPS receiver.

Three Segments of GPS:

Space Segment — Satellites orbiting the earth

The space segment consists of 29 satellites circling the earth every 12

hours at 12,000 miles in altitude. This high altitude allows the signals to cover a
greater area. The satellites are arranged in their orbits so a GPS receiver on
earth can receive a signal from at least four satellites at any given time. Each
satellite contains several atomic clocks.

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Control Segment — The control and monitoring stations

The control segment tracks the satellites and then provides them with
corrected orbital and time information. The control segment consists of five
unmanned monitor stations and one Master Control Station. The five unmanned
stations monitor GPS satellite signals and then send that information to the
Master Control Station where anomalies are corrected and sent back to the GPS
satellites through ground antennas.

User Segment — The GPS receivers owned by civilians and military

The user segment consists of the users and their GPS receivers. The
number of simultaneous users is limitless.

How GPS Determines a Position:

The GPS receiver uses the following information to determine a position.

 Precise location of satellites


When a GPS receiver is first turned on, it downloads orbit information from
all the satellites called an almanac. This process, the first time, can take as long
as 12 minutes; but once this information is downloaded, it is stored in the
receiver’s memory for future use.

 Distance from each satellite

The GPS receiver calculates the distance from each satellite to the receiver by
using the distance formula: distance = velocity x time. The receiver already
knows the velocity, which is the speed of a radio wave or 186,000 miles per
second (the speed of light).

 Triangulation to determine position

The receiver determines position by using triangulation. When it receives

signals from at least three satellites the receiver should be able to calculate its
approximate position (a 2D position). The receiver needs at least four or more
satellites to calculate a more accurate 3D position.

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Using a GPS Receiver :

There are several different models and types of GPS receivers. Refer to the
owner’s manual for your GPS receiver and practice using it to become proficient.

 When working on an incident with a GPS receiver it is important to:

 Always have a compass and a map.

 Have a GPS download cable.

 Have extra batteries.

 Know memory capacity of the GPS receiver to prevent loss of data,

decrease in accuracy of data,or other problems.

 Use an external antennae whenever possible, especially under tree

canopy, in canyons, or while flying or driving.

 Set up GPS receiver according to incident or agency standard regulation;

coordinate system.

 Take notes that describe what you are saving in the receiver.

5.5. INMARSAT:

Inmarsat-Indian Maritime SATellite is still the sole IMO-mandated

provider of satellite communications for the GMDSS.

 Availability for GMDSS is a minimum of 99.9%

Inmarsat has constantly and consistently exceeded this figure &

Independently audited by IMSO and reported on to IMO.

Now Inmarsat commercial services use the same satellites and network
&Inmarsat A closes at midnight on 31 December 2007 Agreed by IMO –
MSC/Circ.1076. Successful closure programme almost concluded Overseen
throughout by IMSO.

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Figure 5.7 INMARSAT Satellite Service

GMDSS services continue to be provided by:

 Inmarsat B, Inmarsat C/mini-C and Inmarsat Fleet F77

 Potential for GMDSS on FleetBroadband being assessed

The IMO Criteria for the Provision of Mobile Satellite Communications

Systems in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)

Amendments were proposed; potentially to make it simpler for other

satellite systems to be approved

The original requirements remain and were approved by MSC 83

• No dilution of standards

Minor amendments only; replacement Resolution expected to be approved

by the IMO 25th Assembly

Inmarsat remains the sole, approved satcom provider for the GMDSS

5.6 LEO: Low Earth Orbit satellites have a small area of coverage. They are
positioned in an orbit approximately 3000km from the surface of the earth

 They complete one orbit every 90 minutes

 The large majority of satellites are in low earth orbit
 The Iridium system utilizes LEO satellites (780km high)
 The satellite in LEO orbit is visible to a point on the earth for a very
short time

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Figure 5.8 LEO, MEO & GEO range

5.7 MEO: Medium Earth Orbit satellites have orbital altitudes between 3,000 and
30,000 km.

 They are commonly used used in navigation systems such as GPS

5.8 GEO: Geosynchronous (Geostationary) Earth Orbit satellites are positioned

over the equator. The orbital altitude is around 30,000-40,000 km

 There is only one geostationary orbit possible around the earth

 Lying on the earth’s equatorial plane.
 The satellite orbiting at the same speed as the rotational speed of the
earth on its axis.
 They complete one orbit every 24 hours. This causes the satellite to
appear stationary with respect to a point on the earth, allowing one
satellite to provide continual coverage to a given area on the earth's
surface
 One GEO satellite can cover approximately 1/3 of the world’s surface

They are commonly used in communication systems

 Advantages:
 Simple ground station tracking.
 Nearly constant range
 Very small frequency shift
 Disadvantages:

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 Transmission delay of the order of 250 msec.

 Large free space loss.
 No polar coverage

 Satellite orbits in terms of the orbital height:

 According to distance from earth:
 Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) ,
 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO),
 Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Figure 5.9 LEO, MEO & GEO Orbits

Figure 5.10 Diff b/w LEO, MEO & GEO Orbits

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GEO: 35,786 km above the earth, MEO: 8,000-20,000 km above the earth & LEO: 500-
2,000 km above the earth.

5.9 Satellite Navigational System:

Benefits:

 Enhanced Safety
 Increased Capacity
 Reduced Delays

Advantage:

 Increased Flight Efficiencies

 Increased Schedule Predictability
 Environmentally Beneficial Procedures

Figure 5.11 LEO, MEO & GEO Orbits

 Using ICAO GNSS Implementation Strategy and ICAO Standards and

Recommended Practices
 GPS Aviation Use Approved for Over a Decade
– Aircraft Based Augmentation Systems (ABAS) – (e.g. RAIM)
 Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) since 2003
– Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) augmenting GPS

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 Development of GNSS Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) Continues

– Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS)
 GNSS is Cornerstone for National Airspace System

5.10 Direct Broadcast satellites (DBS):

Satellites provide broadcast transmissions in the fullest sense of the word,

because antenna footprints can be made to cover large areas of the earth.
The idea of using satellites to provide direct transmissions into the home
has been around for many years, and the services pro- vided are known generally
as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services.
Broadcast services include audio, television, and Internet services.

5.10.1 Power Rating and Number of Transponders:

From Table 1.4 it will be seen that satellites primarily intended for DBS
have a higher [EIRP] than for the other categories, being in the range 51 to 60
dBW. At a Regional Administrative Radio Council (RARC) meeting in 1983, the
value established for DBS was 57 dBW (Mead,2000). Transponders are rated by
the power output of their high-power amplifiers.

Typically, a satellite may carry 32 transponders. If all 32 are in use, each will
operate at the lower power rating of 120 W.

The available bandwidth (uplink and downlink) is seen to be 500 MHz. A

total number of 32 transponder channels, each of bandwidth 24 MHz, can be
accommodated.

The bandwidth is sometimes specified as 27 MHz, but this includes a 3-

MHz guardband allowance. Therefore, when calculating bit-rate capacity, the 24
MHz value is used.

The total of 32 transponders requires the use of both right- hand circular
polarization (RHCP) and left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) in order to permit
frequency reuse, and guard bands are inserted between channels of a given
polarization.

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Figure 5.12 DBS Service

5.10.2 Bit Rates for Digital Television:

The bit rate for digital television depends very much on the picture format.
One way of estimating the uncompressed bit rate is to multiply the number of
pixels in a frame by the number of frames per second, and multiply this by the
number of bits used to encode each pixel.

5.10.3 MPEG Compression Standards:

MPEG is a group within the International Standards Organization and the

International Electrochemical Commission (ISO/IEC) that undertook the job of
defining standards for the transmission and storage of moving pictures and sound.

The MPEG standards currently available are MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4,

and MPEG-7.

5.11 Direct to home Broadcast (DTH):

DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the

reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home.

 DTH Broadcasting to home TV receivers take place in the ku band(12

GHz). This service is known as Direct To Home service.
 DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996.
 Finally in 2000, DTH was allowed.
 The new policy requires all operators to set up earth stations in India

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within 12 months of getting a license. DTH licenses in India will cost

$2.14 million and will be valid for 10 years.
Working principal of DTH is the satellite communication. Broadcaster
modulates the received signal and transmit it to the satellite in KU Band and
from satellite one can receive signal by dish and set top box.

5.11.1 DTH Block Diagram:

 A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites, encoders,

multiplexers, modulators and DTH receivers

 The encoder converts the audio, video and data signals into the digital
format and the multiplexer mixes these signals.

It is used to provide the DTH service in high populated area A Multi

Switch is basically a box that contains signal splitters and A/B switches. A
outputs of group of DTH LNBs are connected to the A and B inputs of the Multi
Switch.

Figure 5.13 DTH Service

5.11.2 Advantage:

 DTH also offers digital quality signals which do not degrade the picture or
sound quality.
 It also offers interactive channels and program guides with customers
having the choice to block out programming which they consider
undesirable
 One of the great advantages of the cable industry has been the ability to
provide local channels, but this handicap has been overcome by many

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DTH providers using other local channels or local feeds.

 The other advantage of DTH is the availability of satellite broadcast in
rural and semi-urban areas where cable is difficult to install.
5.12 Digital audio broadcast (DAB):

DAB Project is an industry-led consortium of over 300 companies

 The DAB Project was launched on 10 th September, 1993

 In 1995 it was basically finished and became operational

 There are several sub-standards of the DAB standard

o DAB-S (Satellite) – using QPSK – 40 Mb/s

o DAB-T (Terrestrial) – using QAM – 50 Mb/s

o DAB-C (Cable) – using OFDM – 24 Mb/s

 These three sub-standards basically differ only in the specifications to the

physical representation, modulation, transmission and reception of the
signal.

 The DAB stream consists of a series of fixed length packets which make
up a Transport Stream (TS). The packets support ‘streams’ or ‘data
sections’.

 Streams carry higher layer packets derived from an MPEG stream & Data
sections are blocks of data carrying signaling and control data.

 DAB is actually a support mechanism for MPEG.& One MPEG stream

needing higher instantaneous data can ‘steal’ capacity from another with
spare capacity.

5.13 Worldspace services:

WorldSpace (Nasdaq: WRSP) is the world's only global media and

entertainment company positioned to offer a satellite radio experience to
consumers in more than 130 countries with five billion people, driving 300
million cars. WorldSpace delivers the latest tunes, trends and information
from around the world and around the corner.

WorldSpace subscribers benefit from a unique combination of local

programming, original WorldSpace content and content from leading brands

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around the globe, including the BBC, CNN, Virgin Radio, NDTV and RFI.
WorldSpace's satellites cover two-thirds of the globe with six beams.

Each beam is capable of delivering up to 80 channels of high quality

digital audio and multimedia programming directly to WorldSpace Satellite
Radios anytime and virtually anywhere in its coverage area. WorldSpace is a
pioneer of satellite-based digital radio services (DARS) and was instrumental
in the development of the technology infrastructure used today by XM
Satellite Radio. For more information, visit http://www.worldspace.com.

5.14 Business Television (BTV) - Adaptations for Education:

Business television (BTV) is the production and distribution, via satellite,

of video programs for closed user group audiences. It often has two-way audio
interaction component made through a simple telephone line. It is being used by
many industries including brokerage firms, pizza houses, car dealers and
delivery services.

BTV is an increasingly popular method of information delivery for

corporations and institutions. Private networks, account for about 70 percent of
all BTV networks. It is estimated that by the mid-1990s BTV has the potential to
grow to a $1.6 billion market in North America with more and more Fortune
1,000 companies getting involved. The increase in use of BTV has been dramatic.

Institution updates, news, training, meetings and other events can be

broadcast live to multiple locations. The expertise of the best instructors can be
delivered to thousands of people without requiring trainers to go to the site.
Information can be disseminated to all employees at once, not just a few at a
time. Delivery to the workplace at low cost provides the access to training that
has been denied lower level employees. It may be the key to re-training
America's work force.

Television has been used to deliver training and information within

businesses for more than 40 years. Its recent growth began with the introduction
of the video cassette in the early 1970s. Even though most programming is
produced for video cassette distribution, business is using BTV to provide
efficient delivery of specialized programs via satellite.

The advent of smaller receiving stations - called very small aperture

terminals (VSATs) has made private communication networks much more
economical to operate. BTV has a number of tangible benefits, such as reducing
travel, immediate delivery of time-critical messages, and eliminating cassette
duplication and distribution hassles.

The programming on BTV networks is extremely cost-effective compared

to seminar fees and downtime for travel. It is an excellent way to get solid and
current information very fast. Some people prefer to attend seminars and

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conferences where they can read, see, hear and ask questions in person. BTV
provides yet another piece of the education menu and is another way to provide
professional development.

A key advantage is that its format allows viewers to interact with

presenters by telephone, enabling viewers to become a part of the program. The
satellite effectively places people in the same room, so that sales personnel in the
field can learn about new products at the same time.

Speed of transmission may well be the competitive edge which some firms
need as they introduce new products and services. BTV enables employees in
many locations to focus on common problems or issues that might develop into
crises without quick communication and resolution.

BTV networks transmit information every business day on a broad range

of topics, and provide instructional courses on various products, market trends,
selling and motivation. Networks give subscribers the tools to apply the
information they have to real world situations.

5.15 GRAMSAT:

ISRO has come up with the concept of dedicated GRAMSAT satellites,

keeping in mind the urgent need to eradicate illiteracy in the rural belt which is
necessary for the all round development of the nation.

This Gramsat satellite is carrying six to eight high powered C-band

transponders, which together with video compression techniques can
disseminate regional and cultural specific audio-visual programmes of relevance
in each of the regional languages through rebroadcast mode on an ordinary TV
set.

The high power in C-band has enabled even remote area viewers outside
the reach of the TV transmitters to receive programmers of their choice in a
direct reception mode with a simple .dish antenna.

The salient features of GRAMSAT projects are:

i. Its communications networks are at the state level connecting the state
capital to districts, blocks and enabling a reach to villages.

ii. It is also providing computer connectivity data broadcasting, TV-

broadcasting facilities having applications like e- governance, development
information, teleconferencing, helping disaster management.

iii. Providing rural-education broadcasting.

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However, the Gramsat projects have an appropriate combination of

following activities.

(i) Interactive training at district and block levels employing suitable

configuration

(ii) Broadcasting services for rural development

(iii) Computer interconnectivity and data exchange services

(iv) Tele-health and tele-medicine services.

5.16 Specialized services:

5.16.1Satellite-email services:

The addition of Internet Access enables Astrium to act as an Internet

Service Provider (ISP) capable of offering Inmarsat users a tailor-made Internet
connection.

With Internet services added to our range of terrestrial networks, you will
no longer need to subscribe to a third party for Internet access (available for
Inmarsat A, B, M, mini-M, Fleet, GAN, Regional BGAN & SWIFT networks).

We treat Internet in the same way as the other terrestrial networks we

provide, and thus offer unrestricted access to this service. There is no time-
consuming log-on procedure, as users are not required to submit a user-ID or
password.

Description of E-mail Service:

Astrium's E-Mail service allows Inmarsat users to send and receive e-mail
directly through the Internet without accessing a public telephone network.

Features and Benefits

 No need to configure an e-mail client to access a Astrium e-mail account

 Service optimized for use with low bandwidth Inmarsat terminals

 Filter e-mail by previewing the Inbox and deleting any unwanted e-mails
prior to downloading

 No surcharge or monthly subscription fees

 Service billed according to standard airtime prices for Inmarsat service

used

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5.16.2 Video Conferencing (medium resolution):

Video conferencing technology can be used to provide the same full, two-
way interactivity of satellite broadcast at much lower cost. For Multi-Site
meetings, video conferencing uses bridging systems to connect each site to the
others.

It is possible to configure a video conference bridge to show all sites at the

same time on a projection screen or monitor. Or, as is more typical, a bridge can
show just the site from which a person is speaking or making a presentation.

The technology that makes interactive video conferencing possible,

compresses video and audio signals, thus creating an image quality lower than
that of satellite broadcasts.

5.16.3. Satellite Internet access:

Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through

communications satellites. Modern satellite Internet service is typically provided
to users through geostationary satellites that can offer high data speeds, with
newer satellites using Ka band to achieve downstream data speeds up to 50
Mbps.

Satellite Internet generally relies on three primary components: a satellite

in geostationary orbit (sometimes referred to as a geosynchronous Earth orbit, or
GEO), a number of ground stations known as gateways that relay Internet data
to and from the satellite via radio waves (microwave), and a VSAT (very-small-
aperture terminal) dish antenna with a transceiver, located at the subscriber's
premises.

Other components of a satellite Internet system include a modem at the

user end which links the user's network with the transceiver, and a centralized
network operations center (NOC) for monitoring the entire system.

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Satellite Communication Two Marks (Q&A)

UNIT – I

SATELLITE ORBITS
1. What is Satellite?

An artificial body that is projected from earth to orbit either earth (or)
another body of solar systems.
Types: Information satellites and Communication Satellites

2. Define Satellite Communication.

It is defined as the use of orbiting satellites to receive, amplify and
retransmit data to earth stations.

3. State Kepler’s first law.

It states that the path followed by the satellite around the primary will be
an ellipse.
An ellipse has two focal points F1 and F2. The center of mass of the two body
system,
termed the barycenter is always centered on one of the foci.
e = [square root of (a2– b2) ] / a

4. State Kepler’s second law.

It states that for equal time intervals, the satellite will sweep out equal
areas in its orbital plane, focused at the barycenter
.
5. State Kepler’s third law.
It states that the square of the periodic time of orbit is perpendicular to the
cube of the mean distance between the two bodies.

Where, n = Mean motion of the satellite in rad/sec.

µ= Earth’s geocentric gravitational constant. With the n in radians per sec.
the orbital period in second is given by,

6. Define apogee.
The point farthest from the earth.

7. Define Perigee.
The point closest from the earth.

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8. What is line of apsides?

The line joining the perigee and apogee through the center of the earth.

9. Define ascending node.

The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to
north.

10. Define descending node.

The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from north to
south.

11. Define Inclination.

The angle between the orbital plane and the earth’s equatorial plane. It is
measured at the ascending node from the equator to the orbit going from east to
north.

12. Define mean anomaly.

It gives an average bvalue of the angular position of the satellite with
reference to the perigee.

13. Define true anomaly.

It is the angle from perigee to the satellite position, measured at the earth’s
center.

15. What is meant by azimuth angle?

It is defined as the angle produced by intersection of local horizontal plane
and the plane passing through the earth station, the satellite and center of earth.

16. Give the 3 different types of applications with respect to satellite systems.
• The largest international system (Intelsat)
• The domestic satellite system (Dom sat) in U.S.
• U.S. National oceanographic and atmospheric administrations
(NOAA)

17. Mention the 3 regions to allocate the frequency for satellite services.
• Region1: It covers Europe, Africa and Mangolia
• Region2: It covers North & South Ameriaca and Greenland.
• Region3: It covers Asia, Australia and South West Pacific.

18. Give the types of satellite services.

• Fixed satellite service
• Broadcasting satellite service
• Mobile satellite service
• Navigational satellite services
• Meteorological satellite services
19. What is mean by Dom sat?

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Domestic Satellites. These are used for voice, data and video
transmissions within the country.

20. What is mean by INTELSAT & SARSAT ?

 International Telecommunication Satellite.

 Search and rescue satellite.

21. Define polar-orbiting satellites.

Polar orbiting satellites orbit the earth in such a way as to cover the north
and south polar regions.

22. Give the advantage of geostationary orbit.

There is no necessity for tracking antennas to find the satellite positions.

23. Define look angles.

The azimuth and elevation angles of the ground station antenna are termed
as look angles.

24. Write short notes on station keeping.

It is the process of maintenance of satellite’s attitude against different

factors that can cause drift with time. Satellites need to have their orbits adjusted
from time to time, because the satellite is initially placed in the correct orbit,
natural forces induce a progressive drift.

25. What are the geostationary satellites?

The satellites present in the geostationary orbit are called geostationary

satellite. The geostationary orbit is one in which the satellite appears stationary
relative to the earth. It lies in equatorial plane and inclination is ‘0’. The satellite
must orbit the earth in the same direction as the earth spin. The orbit is circular.

26. What is sun transit outage.

The sun transit is nothing but the sun comes within the beam width of the
earth station antenna. During this period the sun behaves like an extremely noisy
source and it blanks out all the signal from the satellite. This effect is termed as
sun transit outage.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT – II
SPACE SEGMENT AND LINK DESIGN

1. Give the two segments of basic satellite communication.

a. Earth segment (or) ground segment

b. Space segment

2. Write short notes on attitude control system.

It is the system that achieves and maintains the required attitudes. The
main functions of attitude control system include maintaining accurate satellite
position throughout the life span of the system.

3. What is declination?
The angle of tilt is often referred to as the declination which must not be
confused with the magnetic declination used in correcting compass readings.

4. What is meant by payload?

It refers to the equipment used to provide the service for which the satellite
has been launched.

5. What is meant by transponder?

In a communication satellite, the equipment which provides the connecting
link between the satellite’s transmit and receive antennas is referred to as the
transponder.

6. Write short notes on station keeping.

It is the process of maintenance of satellite’s attitude against different

factors that can cause drift with time. Satellites need to have their orbits adjusted
from time to time, because the satellite is initially placed in the correct orbit,
natural forces induce a progressive drift.

7. What is meant by Pitch angle?

Movement of a spacecraft about an axis which is perpendicular to its

longitudinal axis. It is the degree of elevation or depression.

8. What is an propellant?
A solid or liquid substance burnt in a rocket for the purpose of producing
thrust.

9. What is an Yaw?
Yaw is the rotation of a vehicle about its vertical axis.

10. What is an zero ‘g’?

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

Zero ‘g’ is a state when the gravitational attraction is opposed by equal and
opposite inertial forces and the body experiences no mechanical stress.

11. Describe the spin stabilized satellites.

In a spin stabilized satellites, the body of the satellite spins at about 30 to

100 rpm about the axis perpendicular to the orbital plane. The satellites arem
normally dual spin satellites with a spinning section and a despun section on
which antennas are mounted. These are kept stationary with respect to earth by
counter rotating the despun section.

12. What is meant by frequency reuse?

The carrier with opposite senses of polarization may overlap in frequency.

This technique is known as frequency reuse.

13. What is meant by spot beam antenna?

A beam generated by a communication satellite antenna of sufficient size
that the angular spread of sufficient size that the angular spread of the energy in
the beam is very small with the result that a region that is only a few hundred km
in diameter is illuminated on earth.

14. What is meant by momentum wheel stabilization?

During the spin stabilization, flywheels may be used rather than spinning
the satellite. These flywheels are termed as momentum wheels.

15. What is polarization interleaving?

Overlap occurs between channels, but these are alternatively polarized left
hand circular and right hand circular to reduce interference to acceptable levels.
This is referred to as polarization interleaving.

16. Define S/N ratio.

The S/N introduced in the preceding section is used to refer to the ratio of
signal power to noise power at the receiver output. This is known as S/N ratio.

17. What is an intermodulation noise?

Intermodulation distortion in high power amplifier can result in signal

product which appear as noise and it is referred to as intermodulation noise.

18. What is an antenna loss?

It is added to noise received as radiation and the total antenna noise
temperature is the sum of the equivalent noise temperature of all these sources.

19. Define sky noise.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

It is a term used to describe the microwave radiation which is present

throughout universe and which appears to originate from matter in any form, at
finite temperature.

20. Define noise factor.

An alternative way of representing amplifier noise is by means of its noise
factor. In
defining the noise factor of an amplifiers, usually taken as 290 k.

21. What is TWTA?

TWTA means Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier. The TWTA is widely used in
transponder to provide the final output power required to the transtube and its
power supplies.

22.What is meant by thermal control and why this is necessary in a satellite?

Equipment in the satellite generates heat which has to be removed. The

element used in the satellite to control thermal heat is called thermal conrol. The
most important consideration is that the satellite’s equipment should operate as
nearly as possible in a stable temperature environment

23.What are the functions carried out in TT&C?

Telemetry- Gathering or measure information about satellite.

Tracking- track the satellite’s movement and send correction signals as Required
Comment- send information about the satellite to earth station.

24.What is meant by redundant receiver?

A duplicate receiver is provided so that if one fails, the other is

automatically switched in. The combination is referred to as a redundant receiver,
meaning that although two are provided, only one is in use at a given time.

25.List out the advantages of TWT.

The advantage of the TWT over other types of tube amplifiers is that it can
provide amplification over a very wide bandwidth. Input levels to the TWT must
be carefully controlled, however, to minimize the effects of certain forms of
distortion

26.Define input back off.

In a TWTA, the operating point must be backed off to a linear portion of the
transfer characteristic to reduce the effects of intermodulation distortion.The
point from the saturation point to linear region at the input is called input backoff.

27.Define diplexer & orthocoupler.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

The same feed horn may be used to transmit and receive carriers with the
same polarization. The transmit and receive signals are separated in a device
known as a diplexer,

The polarization separation takes place in a device known as an

orthocoupler, or orthogonal mode transducer (OMT). Separate horns also may be
used for the transmit and receive functions, with both horns using the same
reflector.
UNIT – III

SATELLITE ACCESS

1. What is a single mode of operation?

A transponder channel abroad a satellite may be fully loaded by a single

transmission from an earth station. This is referred to as a single access mode of
operation.

2. What are the methods of multiple access techniques?

FDMA – Frequency Division Multiple Access Techniques
TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access Techniques

2. What is an CDMA?

CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access Techniques

In this method, each signal is associated with a particular code that is used to
spread the signal in frequency and time.

4. Give the types of CDMA.

• Spread spectrum multiple access
• Pulse address multiple access

5. What is SCPC?
SCPC means Single Channel Per Carrier. In a thin route circuit, a
transponder channel (36 MHz) may be occupied by a number of single carriers,
each associated with its own voice circuit.

6. What is a thin route service?

SCPC systems are widely used on lightly loaded routes, this type of service
being referred to as a thin route service.

7. What is an important feature of Intelsat SCPC system?

The system is that each channel is voice activated. This means that on a
two way telephone conversation only one carriers is operative at any one time.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

8. What is an TDMA? What are the advantages?

TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access Techniques
Only one carrier uses the transponder at any one time, and therefore Inter
modulation products, which results from the non-linear amplification of multiple
carriers are absent. Advantages : The transponder traveling wave tube can be
operated at maximum power output.

9. What is preamble?
Certain time slots at the beginning of each burst are used to carry timing
and synchronizing information. These time slots collectively are referred to as
preamble.

10. Define guard time.

It is necessary to prevent the bursts from overlapping. The guard time will
vary from burst to burst depending on the accuracy with which the various bursts
can be positioned within each frame.

11. What is meant by decoding quenching?

In certain phase detection systems, the phase detector must be allowed for
some time to recover from one burst before the next burst is received by it. This is
known as decoding quenching.

12. What is meant by direct closed loop feedback?

The timing positions are reckoned from the last bit of the unique word in
the preamble. The loop method is also known as direct closed loop feedback.

13. What is meant by feedback closed loop control?

The synchronization information is transmitted back to an earth station

from a distant, that is termed feedback closed loop control.

14. Define frame efficiency.

It is measure of the fraction of frame time used for the transmission of
traffic.

15. What is meant by digital speech interpolation?

The point is that for a significant fraction of the time, the channel is
available for other transmission and advantages are taken of this in a form of
demand assignment known as digital speech interpolation.

16. What is meant by telephone load activity factor?

The fraction of time a transmission channel is active is known as the
telephone load activity factor.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

17. What are the types of digital speech interpolation?

• Digital time assignment speech interpolation
• Speech predictive encoded communications

18. What is meant by freeze out?

It has assumed that a free satellite channel will be found for any incoming
speed spurt, but there is a finite probability that all channels will be occupied and
the speech spurt lost. Losing a speech spurt in this manner is referred to as freeze
out.

19. What are the advantages of SPEC method over DSI method?
Freeze out does not occur during overload conditions.

20. Define satellite switched TDMA?

Space Division Multiplexing can be realized by switching the antenna
interconnections in synchronism with the TDMA frame rate, this being known as
satellite switched TDMA.

21. What is SS / TDMA?

A repetitive sequence of satellite switch modes, also referred to as SS
/TDMA.

22. What is processing gain?

The jamming or interference signal energy is reduced by a factor known as
the processing gain.
23. What is burst code word?
It is a binary word, a copy of which is stored at each earth station.

24. What is meant by burst position acquisition?

A station just entering, or reentering after a long delay to acquire its correct
slot position is known as burst position acquisition.

25. What is an single access?

A transponder channel aboard a satellite may be fully loaded by a single
transmission from earth station.

26. What is an multiple access technique?

A transponder to be loaded by a number of carriers. These may originate
from a number of earth station may transmit one or more of the carriers. This
mode of operation known as multiple access technique.

27. What is meant by space division multiple access?

The satellite as a whole to be accessed by earth stations widely separated
geographically but transmitting on the same frequency that is known as frequency
reuse. This method of access known as space division multiple access..

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

28. What are the limitations of FDMA-satellite access?

a. If the traffic in the downlink is much heavier than that in the uplink,
then FDMA is relatively inefficient.
b. Compared with TDMA, FDMA has less flexibility in reassigning
channels.
c. Carrier frequency assignments are hardware controlled..

29. Write about pre-assigned TDMA satellite access.

Example for pre-assigned TDMA is CSC for the SPADE network. CSC can
accommodate upto 49 earth stations in the network and 1 reference station. All
bursts are of equal length. Each burst contains 128 bits. The bit rate is 128 Kb / s.

30. Write about demand assigned TDMA satellite access.

The burst length may be kept constant and the number of bursts per frame
used by the given station is varied when the demand is varied.

UNIT – IV
EARTH SEGMENT

1. Define earth segment.

Earth segment of a satellite communication system consists of transmit
earth station and receive earth station.
Example : TV Receive Only systems (TVRO systems)

2. Give the difference between KU-band and the C-band receive only systems.
Operating frequency of outdoor unit.

3. What is mean by ODU and IDU.

ODU – The Home Receiver Outdoor Unit
IDU – The Home Receiver Indoor Unit

4. Explain about MATV system.

MATV – Master Antenna TV system.

It is used to provide reception of DBS TV channels to the user group.

Example : Apartment users It consists of one outdoor unit and various indoor
units. Each user can independently access all the channels.

5. Write about CATV system.

CATV – Community Antenna TV system.

As in MATV system, it consists of oneoutdoor unit and separate feeds for each
sense of polarization.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

6. Define S/N ratio.

The S/N introduced in the preceding section is used to refer to the ratio of
signal power to noise power at the receiver output. This is known as S/N ratio.

7. What is noise weighting?

The method used to improve the post detection signal to noise ratio is
referred to as noise weighting.
8. What is an EIRP?
EIRP means Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power. It is a measure of
radiated or
transmitted power of an antenna.

9. What is noise power spectral density?

Noise power per unit Bandwidth is termed as the noise power spectral
density.

10. What is an inter modulation noise?

Inter modulation distortion in high power amplifier can result in signal
product which appear as noise and it is referred to as inter modulation noise.

11. What is an antenna loss?

It is added to noise received as radiation and the total antenna noise
temperature is the sum of the equivalent noise temperature of all these sources.

12. Define noise factor.

An alternative way of representing amplifier noise is by means of its noise
factor. In
defining the noise factor of an amplifiers, usually taken as 290 k.

13. 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.
EIRP = 10 log 6 + 48.2 = 56 dBW

14. The range between a ground station and a satellite is 42000 km. Calculate the
free space loss a frequency of 6 GHz.

[Free space loss] = 32.4 + 20 log 42000 + 20 log 6000 = 200.4 dB

15. Define Saturation flux density.

The flux density required at the receiving antenna to produce saturation of

TWTA is termed the saturation flux density.

SCE 128 Dept of ECE

EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT – V
SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

1. Give the 3 different types of applications with respect to satellite systems.

• The largest international system (Intelsat)
• The domestic satellite system (Dom sat) in U.S.
• U.S. National oceanographic and atmospheric administrations (NOAA)

2. Mention the 3 regions to allocate the frequency for satellite services.

a. Region1: It covers Europe, Africa and Mangolia

b. Region2: It covers North & South Ameriaca and Greenland.
c. Region3: It covers Asia, Australia and South West Pacific.

3. Give the types of satellite services.

a. Fixed satellite service

b. Broadcasting satellite service
c. Mobile satellite service
d. Navigational satellite services
e. Meteorological satellite services

4. What is mean by Dom sat?

Domestic Satellites. These are used for voice, data and video transmissions
within the country.

5. What is mean by INTELSAT?

International Telecommunication Satellite.

6. What is mean by SARSAT?

Search and rescue satellite.
7. What are the applications of Radarsat?
a. Shipping and fisheries.
b. Ocean feature mapping
d. Iceberg detection
e. Crop monitoring

8. What is ECEF?
The geocentric equatorial coordinate system is used with the GPS system.It
is called as earth centered, earth fixed coordinate system.

9. What is dilution of precision?

Position calculations involve range differences and where the ranges are
nearly equal, any error is greatly magnified in the difference. This effect, brought
a result of the satellite geometry is known as dilution of precision.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

10. What is PDOP?

With the GPS system, dilution of position is taken into account through a
factor known as the position dilution of precision.

11. What is DBS?

Satellites are used to provide the broadcast transmissions. It is used to
provide direct transmissions into the home. The service provided is known as
Direct Broadcast Satellite services.
Example : Audio, TV and internet services.

12. Give the frequency range of US DBS systems with high power satellites.
a. Uplink frequency range is 17.3 GHz to 17.8 GHz
b. Downlink frequency range is 12.2 GHz to 12.7 GHz

13. Give the frequency range of US DBS systems with medium power satellites.
a. Uplink frequency range is 14 GHz to 14.5 GHz
b. Downlink frequency range is 11.7 GHz to 12.2 GHz

14. What is DTH?

DBS television is also known as Direct To Home ( DTH ).

 DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the reception

of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home.
 DTH Broadcasting to home TV receivers take place in the ku band(12 GHz).
This service is known as Direct To Home service.

15. Write about bit rates for digital television.

It depends format of the picture.
Uncompressed Bit rate = (Number of pixels in a frame) * (Number of pixels
per second) * (Number of bits used to encode each pixel)

16. Give the satellite mobile services.

a. DBS – Direct Broadcast satellite
b. VSATS – Very Small Aperture Terminals
c. MSATS – Mobile Satellite Service
d. GPS – Global Positioning Systems
e. Micro Sats
f. Orb Comm – Orbital Communications Corporation
g. Iridium
17. What is GCC and GEC?
GCC - Gateway Control Centers
GEC – Gateway Earth Stations
18. What is INMARSAT?
It is the first global mobile satellite communication system operated at
Lband and internationally used by 67 countries for communication between ships

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

and coast so that emergency life saving may be provided. Also it provides modern
communication services to maritime, land mobile, aeronautical and other users.

19. List out the regions covered by INMARSAT.

• Atlantic ocean region, east (AOR-E)
• Atlantic ocean region, west (AOR-W)
• Indian ocean region (IOR)\• Pacific ocean region (POR)

20.What is INSAT?
INSAT – Indian National Satellite System.
INSAT is a Indian National Satellite System for telecommunications,
broadcasting, meteorology and search and rescue services. It was commissioned in
1983. INSAT was the largest domestic communication system in the Asia-Pacific
region.

20. List out the INSAT series.

• INSAT-1 • INSAT-2 • INSAt-2A
• INSAT-2E • INSAT-3

21.What is GSM?
GSM (Global System for Mobile communications: originally from Groupe
Spécial Mobile) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. GSM
differs from its predecessors in that both signaling and speech channels are
digital, and thus is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system. This
has also meant that data communication was easy to build into the system.

22.What is GPRS?
General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data
service available to users of the 2G cellular communication systems global system
for mobile communications (GSM), as well as in the 3G systems. In the 2G
systems, GPRS provides data rates of 56-114 kbit/s.

23. What is GPS?

In the GPS system, a constellation of 24 satellites circles the earth in near-

circular inclined orbits. By receiving signals from at least four of these satellites,
the receiver position (latitude, longitude, and altitude) can be determined
accurately. In effect, the satellites substitute for the geodetic position markers
used in terrestrial surveying. In terrestrial the GPS system uses one-way
transmissions, from satellites to users, so that the user does not require a
transmitter, only a GPS receiver.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

QUESTION BANK
UNIT-I

PART-A (2 Marks)

1. What are the major regions are classified the world for frequency planning?
2. How many broadcasting services provided in satellite?
3. What is meant by distance insensitive?
4. List out the coverage area for INTELSAT?
5. What are the classify the Domsats in terms of power?
6. State Kepler’s first law.
7. State Kepler’s second law.
8. State Kepler’s third law.
9. Define apogee and perigee.
10. Define prograde orbit and retrograde orbit.
11. Define ascending node and descending node.
12. Explain right ascension of ascending node.
13. Define true anomaly and mean anomaly.
14. What is meant by argument of perigee?
15. List out the keplerian elements.
16. What are the quantities involved for determination of look angles?
17. Define sidereal time.

PART-B

1. (a) Explain about frequency allocations for satellite services. (10)

(b) Explain about U.S Domsats. (6)
2. Discuss briefly the development of INTELSAT starting from the 1960s through
the Present. (16 )
3. What is meant by polar orbiting and explain in details. (16)
4. State Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion. Illustrate in each case their
relevance to artificial satellites orbiting the earth. (16)
5. Explain in detail about geocentric-equatorial coordinate system which is based
on the earth’s equatorial plane. (16)
6. Explain in detail about topocentric-horizon coordinate system which is based on
the observer’s horizon plane. (16)
7. Explain in detail about various measure of time. (16)

SCE 132 Dept of ECE

EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT-II

PART-A (2 Marks)
1. What are the three conditions are required for an orbit to be geostationary?
2. Find height of geostationary orbit based on aE and aGSO.
3. What is meant by look angles how to classify it.
4. Define elevation angle.
5. Define azimuth angle.
6. What are the three pieces of information needed to determine the look angles
for the geostationary orbit?
7. What is meant by polar mount antenna?
8. Define geosynchronous.
9. What is meant by the geostationary orbit? How do the geostationary orbit and a
Geosynchronous orbit differ?
10. Why satellites to carry batteries in addition to solar-cell arrays?
11. What is meant by satellite attitude?
12. Define the terms roll, pitch and yaw.
13. What is meant by the term despun antenna?
14. Define nutation dampers.
15. Define momentum bias and reaction wheel.
16. Describe the east-west and north-south station keeping maneuvers required in
Satellite station keeping.
17. What is meant by thermal control and why this is necessary in a satellite?
18. What are the functions carried out in TT&C?
19. What is meant by transponder?
20. What is meant by frequency reuse?
21. What is meant by redundant receiver?
22. Define attenuators and explain its classification.
23. Describe the function of the input demultiplexer used aboard a communication
satellite.
24. Why TWTAs widely used?
25. What is meant by slow wave structure?
26. List out the advantages of TWT.
27. Define saturation and compression point.
28. What is meant by intermodulation distortion?
29. Define input back off.
30. Define diplexer and orthocoupler.

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

PART-B

1. Explain in detail about antenna look angles and the polar mount antenna. (16)
1. Explain about Earth eclipse of satellite and sun transit outage. (16)
2. Explain about launching orbits. (16)
3. Explain what is meant by satellite attitude, and briefly describe two forms of
attitude control. (16)
4. Draw the block diagram of TT&C and explain each and individual blocks. (16)
5. Describe briefly the most common type of high-power amplifying device(TWTA)
used aboard a communication satellite. (16)
6. Explain about wideband receiver and advanced Tiros-N spacecraft. (16)
7. Describe briefly the antenna subsystem and Anik-E. (16)
8. Explain in detail about thermal control and Morelos. (16)

UNIT-III
PART-A (2 Marks)

1. What is meant by DBS service? How does differ from the home reception of
satellite TV signals in the C band?
2. What is meant by polarization interleaving?
3. What is meant by master broadcast quality signals?
4. What are the difference between DBS TV and conventional TV?
5. Why the LNA in a satellite receiving system is placed at the antenna end of the
feeder cable.
6. What is meant by single carrier per channel?
7. In most satellite TV receivers the first IF band is converted to a second, fixed
IF. Why is this second frequency conversion required?
8. What is meant by the term redundant earth station?
9. List out the comparison between MATV and CATV.
10. Define EIRP.
11. Define receiver feeder losses.
12. What is meant by antenna pointing loss?
13. Write the equation for clear-sky losses and explain each term.
14. What is meant by noise power spectral density?
15. What is meant by intermodulation noise?
16. How to broadly classify the antenna noise and explain.
17. What is meant by antenna noise temperature?
18. What is meant by amplifier noise temperature?
19. What is meant by system noise temperature?

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

20. What is meant by noise factor?

21. Write the equation for system noise temperature.
22. Define saturation flux density.
23. Define apparent absorber temperature.
24. Define quantum efficiency and responsivity.
25. What is meant by excess noise factor?

PART-B
1. Describe and compare the MATV and CATV systems. (16)
2. Write the relevant expression & explain in detail about transmission losses.(16)
3. How to classify the system noise temperature & explain in detail about all. (16)
4. Explain about uplink satellite circuit. (16)
5. Explain about downlink satellite circuit. (16)
6. Describe briefly about the rains effects. (16)
7. Explain about inter-satellite link. (16)
8. With the aid of a block schematic, briefly describe the functioning of the receive
only home TV systems (16)

UNIT-IV

PART-A (2Marks)
1. What is meant by single access?
2. Distinguish between preassigned and demand assigned traffic in relation to a
satellite communications network.
3. What is meant by thin route service?
4. What is meant by centrally controlled random access and distributed control
random access?
5. Explain the word spade.
6. Define the term power-limited and bandwidth limited operation.
7. What is meant by demand assignment signaling and switching?
8. What are the advantages of TDMA over FDMA?
9. Define the term burst and frame.
10. Define burst rate and average bit rate.
11. What do you meant by guard time?
12. Explain carrier and bit-timing recovery.
13. Explain burst code word.
14. Define the term preamble and postamble.
15. What is meant by burst position acquisition and burst position
synchronization?
16. What is meant by adaptive open loop timing?

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EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

17. Explain the term look back.

18. Define the terms miss probability and probability of false alarm.
19. Define satellite channel and satellite channels.
20. What is meant by digital speech interpolation and digital Noninterpolated?
21. What is meant by telephone load activity factor and digital speech
interpolation?
22. What is meant by spread spectrum multiple access?
23. What is meant by direct sequence spread spectrum?
24. Define maximal sequence?
25. List out the advantages of CDMA over FDMA and TDMA.
26. List out the advantages of CDMA in terms of VSAT.
27. Define throughput efficiency.

PART-B

1. Explain what is meant by single access in relation to a satellite communications

Network. (16)
2. Explain in detail about FDMA, and show how this differs from FDM. (16)
3. Explain what the abbreviation SCPC stands for. Explain in detail the operation
of a Preassigned SCPC network. (16)
4. Explain in detail the operation of the spade system of demand assignment.
What is the function of the function of the common signaling channel? (16)
5. Describe the general operating principles of a TDMA network. Show how the
Transmission bit rate is related to the input bit rate. (16)
6. Explain the need for reference burst and preamble and postamble in a TDMA
System. (16)
7. Explain in detail about network synchronization with neat sketch. (16)
8. Define and explain the terms carrier recovery, traffic data, frame efficiency and
Channel capacity. (16)
9. Describe in your own words how signal acquisition and tracking are achieved in
a DS/SS system. And also derive the expression for maximal sequence. (16)
10. Explain in the principle behind spectrum spreading and dispreading and how
this is used to minimize interference in a CDMA system. And also determine the
throughput efficiency of the system. (16)

SCE 136 Dept of ECE

EC 2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT-V
PART-A (2Marks)
1. What do you mean by direct broadcasting satellite services?
2. Define DTH.
3. Expand the term RARC and ISO/IEC.
4. How many MPEG standards available now.
5. What is meant by chroma sub sampling?
6. Draw the diagram of MPEG-2 sub sampling.
7. What is meant by spatial frequency?
8. What is meant by masking in the context of audio compression?
9. Define temporal masking and frequency masking?
10. Expand the terms MPEG, ITU, AVC and CCIR?
11. What is meant by fidelity range extension?
12. Define ideal parabolic surface in terms of rms.
13. What is meant by microsat?
14. List out the modes of operation in Radarsat-2.
15. What is meant by earth-centered, earth-fixed coordinate system?
16. What does the term dilution of precision refer to?
17. What does the term position dilution of precision factor of refer to?
18. Define GPS time.
19. Expand the terms GSM, GPS, orbcomm, GCC, NCC, GES, and OSC.

PART-B

1. Describe briefly the video compression process used in MPEG-2. (16)

2. Explain about indoor and outdoor unit of home receiver. (16)
3. Explain about frequencies and polarization, transponder capacity and bit rates
for Digital television. (16)
4. Explain in detail about satellite mobile services. (16)
5. Describe the operation of typical VSAT system. State briefly where VSAT
systems find widest application. (16)
6. Describe the main features of Radarsat. Explain what is meant by dawn to dusk
orbit and why the Radarsat follows such on orbit. (16)
7. Explain why a minimum of four satellites must be visible at an earth location
utilizing the GPS system for position determination. What does the term dilution
of precision refer to? (16)
8. Describe the main features and services offered by the orbcomm satellite
system. (16)

SCE 137 Dept of ECE

WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM

WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM
WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM

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 Reg. No. :

v 4L49
B.E./B.Tech.DEGREEEXAMINATION.APRIIIMAY 2008.

Eighth Semester

Electronics and Communication Engineering

EC 1015- SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

(Regulation 2004)

m
fime : Three hours Maximum : 100 marks

co
Answer ALL questions.
N.
PARTA-(10 x2=20 marks)
va
1. List out the frequency bands used for satellite services.
na

2. State Kepler's secondlaw of planetary motion.

aa

3. What is meant bv momentum wheel stabilisation?

M

4. What are geostationary satellites?

w.
ww

5. What is meant by input back off of a transponder?

6. Give the formulae to compute the uplink carrier to noise ratio.

7. What are the limitations of FDMA-satellite access?

8. Distinguish between pre-assigned and demand-assigned TDMA satellite

access.

9. Give the applications of satellites.

10. What are the various compressionstandards used in satellite applications?

 PARTB-(5x16=80marks)

11. (a) What are orbital elements? Derive the six orbital elements of satellite
from Newton's law of motion. (16)

Or

(b) How are the satellites positions estimated using the sub-satellite points?
(16)

12. (a) What are look angles and derive the expressions for azimuth and
elevation? (16)

Or

(b) With a neat block diagram, explain the attitude and orbit control system
present in the spacesegment. (16)

m
13. (a) With a neat sketch, expiain the power budget for a satellite link

co
considering back off and rain fade margin. (16)

Or N.
(b) How does the system noise temperature affect the performance?Derive
va
the expression for overall system noise temperature at the receiving
earth station. (16)
na

L4. (a) With a neat block diagram, explain the functioning of a SPADE system.
aa

(1 6 )
M

Or
w.

(b) Explain the TDMA burst and frame structure of satellite system. Draw
the necessary diagrams. (16)
ww

15. (a) In detaii, give an account of various compression standards used in the
sateliite context. (16)

Or

(b) What is meant by DTH? What are the design issues to be consideredfor
Iaunching DTH systems? (16)

v 4149
WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM

WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM
WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM

WWW.VIDYARTHIPLUS.COM
 Reg. No. :

v 4L49
B.E./B.Tech.DEGREEEXAMINATION.APRIIIMAY 2008.

Eighth Semester

Electronics and Communication Engineering

EC 1015- SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

(Regulation 2004)

m
fime : Three hours Maximum : 100 marks

co
Answer ALL questions.
N.
PARTA-(10 x2=20 marks)
va
1. List out the frequency bands used for satellite services.
na

2. State Kepler's secondlaw of planetary motion.

aa

3. What is meant bv momentum wheel stabilisation?

M

4. What are geostationary satellites?

w.
ww

5. What is meant by input back off of a transponder?

6. Give the formulae to compute the uplink carrier to noise ratio.

7. What are the limitations of FDMA-satellite access?

8. Distinguish between pre-assigned and demand-assigned TDMA satellite

access.

9. Give the applications of satellites.

10. What are the various compressionstandards used in satellite applications?

 PARTB-(5x16=80marks)

11. (a) What are orbital elements? Derive the six orbital elements of satellite
from Newton's law of motion. (16)

Or

(b) How are the satellites positions estimated using the sub-satellite points?
(16)

12. (a) What are look angles and derive the expressions for azimuth and
elevation? (16)

Or

(b) With a neat block diagram, explain the attitude and orbit control system
present in the spacesegment. (16)

m
13. (a) With a neat sketch, expiain the power budget for a satellite link

co
considering back off and rain fade margin. (16)

Or N.
(b) How does the system noise temperature affect the performance?Derive
va
the expression for overall system noise temperature at the receiving
earth station. (16)
na

L4. (a) With a neat block diagram, explain the functioning of a SPADE system.
aa

(1 6 )
M

Or
w.

(b) Explain the TDMA burst and frame structure of satellite system. Draw
the necessary diagrams. (16)
ww

15. (a) In detaii, give an account of various compression standards used in the
sateliite context. (16)

Or

(b) What is meant by DTH? What are the design issues to be consideredfor
Iaunching DTH systems? (16)

v 4149
CELLULAR MOBILE
COMMUNICATION

1
 UNIT I

INTRODUCTION TO WIRELESS MOBILE

COMMUNICATION

2
Introduction:
 In 1897, Guglielmo Marconi first demonstrated radio’s ability to provide
continuous contact with ships sailing the English channel.

 During the past 10 years, fueled by

 Digital and RF circuit fabrication improvements
 New VLSI technologies
 Other miniaturization technologies
(e.g., passive components)
 The mobile communications industry has grown by orders of magnitude.

 The trends will continue at an even greater pace during the next decade.

3
Evolution of Mobile Radio Communications

4
 In 1934, AM mobile communication systems for municipal police radio systems.
 Vehicle ignition noise was a major problem.
 In 1946, FM mobile communications for the first public mobile telephone service
 Each system used a single, high-powered transmitter and large tower to cover
distances of over 50 km.
 Used 120 kHz of RF bandwidth in a half-duplex mode. (push-to-talk release-to-
listen systems.)
 Large RF bandwidth was largely due to the technology difficulty (in mass-
producing tight RF filter and low-noise, front-end receiver amplifiers.)
 In 1950, the channel bandwidth was cut in half to 60kHZ due to improved
technology.
 By the mid 1960s, the channel bandwidth again was cut to 30 kHZ.
 Thus, from WWII to the mid 1960s, the spectrum efficiency was improved only a
factor of 4 due to the technology advancements.

5
 Also in 1950s and 1960s, automatic channel truncking was introduced
in IMTS(Improved Mobile Telephone Service.)
 offering full duplex, auto-dial, auto-trunking
 became saturated quickly
 By 1976, has only twelve channels and could only serve 543
customers in New York City of 10 millions populations.
 Cellular radiotelephone
 Developed in 1960s by Bell Lab and others
 The basic idea is to reuse the channel frequency at a sufficient distance to
increase the spectrum efficiency.
 But the technology was not available to implement until the late 1970s.
(mainly the microprocessor and DSP technologies.)

6
 In 1983, AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System, IS-41) deployed by
Ameritech in Chicago.
 40 MHz spectrum in 800 MHz band
 666 channels (+ 166 channels), per Fig 1.2.
 Each duplex channel occupies > 60 kHz (30+30) FDMA to maximize
capacity.
 Two cellular providers in each market.

7
8
 In late 1991, U.S. Digital Cellular (USDC, IS-54) was introduced.

 to replace AMPS analog channels

 3 times of capacity due to the use of digital modulation ( DQPSK),

speech coding, and TDMA technologies. 
4
 could further increase up to 6 times of capacity given the advancements of
DSP and speech coding technologies.

 In mid 1990s, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA, IS-95) was introduced
by Qualcomm.

 based on spread spectrum technology.

 supports 6-20 times of users in 1.25 MHz shared by all the channels.

 each associated with a unique code sequence.

 operate at much smaller SNR.(FdB)

9
10
11
Examples of Mobile Radio Systems

12
 In FDD,

 A device, called a duplexer, is used inside the subscriber unit to enable the

same antenna to be used for simultaneous transmission and reception.

 To facilitate FDD, it is necessary to separate the XMIT and RCVD

frequencies by about 5% of the nominal RF frequency, so that the

duplexer can provide sufficient isolation while being inexpensively

manufactured.

 In TDD,

 Only possible with digital transmission format and digital modulation.

 Very sensitive to timing. Consequently, only used for indoor or small area

wireless applications.

13
Paging Systems

City 1

Land Line Link Paging Terminal

PSTN
City 2

Land Line Link

PAGING CONTROL
Paging Terminal
CENTRE

City N

Paging Terminal

14
 Paging receivers are simple and inexpensive, but the transmission system

required is quite sophisticated. (simulcasting)

 designed to provide ultra-reliable coverage, even inside buildings

 Buildings can attenuate radio signals by 20 or 30 dB, making the choice of

base station locations difficult for the paging companies.

 Small RF bandwidths are used to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio at

each paging receiver, so low data rates (6400 bps or less) are used.

15
Wireless Local Loop

 In the telephone networks, the circuit between the subscriber's equipment (e.g.
telephone set) and the local exchange is called the subscriber loop or local loop.
 Copper wire has been used as the medium for local loop to provide voice and
voice-band data services.
 Since 1980s, the demand for communications services has increased
explosively. There has been a great need for the basic telephone service, i.e. the
plain old telephone service (POTS) in developing countries.
 Wireless local loop provides two-ways a telephone system…………..
 Wireless local loop includes cordless access system, proprietary fixed radio
access system and fixed cellular system. It is also known as fixed radio
wireless. This can be in an office or home.
 Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), Radio In The Loop (RITL), Fixed-Radio
Access (FRA) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).

16
Cordless Telephone System

 To Connect a Fixed Base Station to a Portable Cordless Handset

 Early Systems (1980s) have very limited range of few tens of meters [within a
House Premises]
 Modern Systems [PACS, DECT, PHS, PCS] can provide a limited range &
mobility within Urban Centers

Cordless Handset

Fixed Base
PSTN
Station

17
 Limitations of Simple Mobile Radio Systems
 The Cellular Approach
 Divides the Entire Service Area into Several Small Cells
 Reuse the Frequency
 Basic Components of a Cellular Telephone System
 Cellular Mobile Phone: A light-weight hand-held set which is an outcome of
the marriage of Graham Bell’s Plain Old Telephone Technology [1876] and
Marconi’s Radio Technology [1894] [although a very late delivery but very
cute]
 Base Station: A Low Power Transmitter, other Radio Equipment
[Transceivers] plus a small Tower
 Mobile Switching Center [MSC] /Mobile Telephone Switching
Office[MTSO]
 An Interface between Base Stations and the PSTN
 Controls all the Base Stations in the Region and Processes User ID and
other Call Parameters
 A typical MSC can handle up to 100,000 Mobiles, and 5000 Simultaneous
Calls
 Handles Handoff Requests, Call Initiation Requests, and all Billing &
System Maintenance Functions

18
19
 The Cellular Concept

 RF spectrum is a valuable and scarce commodity

 RF signals attenuate over distance
 Cellular network divides coverage area into cells, each served by its own base
station transceiver and antenna
 Low (er) power transmitters used by BSs; transmission range determines cell
boundary
 RF spectrum divided into distinct groups of channels
 Adjacent cells are (usually) assigned different channel groups to avoid
interference
 Cells separated by a sufficiently large distance to avoid mutual interference can
be assigned the same channel group  frequency reuse among co-channel
cells

20
Cellular Systems: Reuse channels to maximize capacity
• Geographic region divided into cells
• Frequencies/timeslots/codes reused at spatially-separated
locations.
• Co-channel interference between same color cells.
• Base stations/MTSOs coordinate handoff and control functions
• Shrinking cell size increases capacity, as well as networking burden

BASE
STATION

MTSO

21
Trends in Cellular radio and
Personal Communications
 PCS/PCN: PCS calls for more personalized services whereas PCN refers to
Wireless Networking Concept-any person, anywhere, anytime can make a call
using PC. PCS and PCN terms are sometime used interchangeably
 IEEE 802.11: A standard for computer communications using wireless
links[inside building].
 ETSI’s 20 Mbps HIPER LAN: Standard for indoor Wireless Networks
 IMT-2000 [International Mobile Telephone-2000 Standard]: A 3G universal,
multi-function, globally compatible Digital Mobile Radio Standard is in
making
 Satellite-based Cellular Phone Systems
 A very good Chance for Developing Nations to Improve their Communication
Networks

22
 UNIT II

CELLULAR CONCEPT AND SYSTEM

DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS

23
 2.1 Introduction to Cellular Systems
• Solves the problem of spectral congestion and user capacity.
• Offer very high capacity in a limited spectrum without major
technological changes.
• Reuse of radio channel in different cells.
• Enable a fix number of channels to serve an arbitrarily large number
of users by reusing the channel throughout the coverage region.

24
 Frequency Reuse
• Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels within
a small geographic area called a cell.
• Neighboring cells are assigned different channel groups.
• By limiting the coverage area to within the boundary of the cell, the
channel groups may be reused to cover different cells.
• Keep interference levels within tolerable limits.
• Frequency reuse or frequency planning

•seven groups of channel from A to G

•footprint of a cell - actual radio
coverage
•omni-directional antenna v.s.
directional antenna

25
• Hexagonal geometry has
– exactly six equidistance neighbors
– the lines joining the centers of any cell and each of its neighbors are
separated by multiples of 60 degrees.
• Only certain cluster sizes and cell layout are possible.
• The number of cells per cluster, N, can only have values which satisfy
N  i 2  ij  j 2

• Co-channel neighbors of a particular cell, ex, i=3 and j=2.

26
 Channel Assignment Strategies
• Frequency reuse scheme
– increases capacity
– minimize interference
• Channel assignment strategy
– fixed channel assignment
– dynamic channel assignment
• Fixed channel assignment
– each cell is allocated a predetermined set of voice channel
– any new call attempt can only be served by the unused channels
– the call will be blocked if all channels in that cell are occupied
• Dynamic channel assignment
– channels are not allocated to cells permanently.
– allocate channels based on request.
– reduce the likelihood of blocking, increase capacity.
27
 2.4 Handoff Strategies
• When a mobile moves into a different cell while a conversation is in
progress, the MSC automatically transfers the call to a new channel
belonging to the new base station.
• Handoff operation
– identifying a new base station
– re-allocating the voice and control channels with the new base station.
• Handoff Threshold
– Minimum usable signal for acceptable voice quality (-90dBm to -100dBm)
– Handoff margin   Pr ,handoff  Pr ,minimum usable
cannot be too large or too
small.
– If  is too large, unnecessary handoffs burden the MSC
– If  is too small, there may be insufficient time to complete handoff
before a call is lost.

28
29
• Handoff must ensure that the drop in the measured signal is not due
to momentary fading and that the mobile is actually moving away
from the serving base station.
• Running average measurement of signal strength should be optimized
so that unnecessary handoffs are avoided.
– Depends on the speed at which the vehicle is moving.
– Steep short term average -> the hand off should be made quickly
– The speed can be estimated from the statistics of the received short-term
fading signal at the base station
• Dwell time: the time over which a call may be maintained within a cell
without handoff.
• Dwell time depends on
– propagation
– interference
– distance
– speed

30
• Handoff measurement
– In first generation analog cellular systems, signal strength measurements
are made by the base station and supervised by the MSC.
– In second generation systems (TDMA), handoff decisions are mobile
assisted, called mobile assisted handoff (MAHO)
• Intersystem handoff: If a mobile moves from one cellular system to a
different cellular system controlled by a different MSC.
• Handoff requests is much important than handling a new call.

31
 Practical Handoff Consideration

• Different type of users

– High speed users need frequent handoff during a call.
– Low speed users may never need a handoff during a call.
• Microcells to provide capacity, the MSC can become burdened if high
speed users are constantly being passed between very small cells.
• Minimize handoff intervention
– handle the simultaneous traffic of high speed and low speed users.
• Large and small cells can be located at a single location (umbrella cell)
– different antenna height
– different power level
• Cell dragging problem: pedestrian users provide a very strong signal
to the base station
– The user may travel deep within a neighboring cell

32
33
• Handoff for first generation analog cellular systems
– 10 secs handoff time
–  is in the order of 6 dB to 12 dB
• Handoff for second generation cellular systems, e.g., GSM
– 1 to 2 seconds handoff time
– mobile assists handoff
–  is in the order of 0 dB to 6 dB
– Handoff decisions based on signal strength, co-channel interference, and
adjacent channel interference.
• IS-95 CDMA spread spectrum cellular system
– Mobiles share the channel in every cell.
– No physical change of channel during handoff
– MSC decides the base station with the best receiving signal as the service
station

• 34
Types of Handoffs:
 Hard handoff: “break before make” connection
 Intra and inter-cell handoffs

Hard Handoff between the MS and BSs

35
Cont.
 Soft handoff: “make-before-break” connection.
 Mobile directed handoff.
 Multiways and softer handoffs

Soft Handoff between MS and BSTs

36
Handoff Prioritization:

Two basic methods of handoff prioritization are :

 Guard Channels
 Queuing of Handoff

37
 2.5 Interference and System Capacity
• Sources of interference
– another mobile in the same cell
– a call in progress in the neighboring cell
– other base stations operating in the same frequency band
– noncellular system leaks energy into the cellular frequency band
• Two major cellular interference
– co-channel interference
– adjacent channel interference

38
 2.5.1 Co-channel Interference and System
Capacity
• Frequency reuse - there are several cells that use the same set of
frequencies
– co-channel cells
– co-channel interference
• To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cell must be separated
by a minimum distance.
• When the size of the cell is approximately the same
– co-channel interference is independent of the transmitted power
– co-channel interference is a function of
• R: Radius of the cell
• D: distance to the center of the nearest co-channel cell
• Increasing the ratio Q=D/R, the interference is reduced.
• Q is called the co-channel reuse ratio

39
• For a hexagonal geometry
D
Q  3N
R

• A small value of Q provides large capacity

• A large value of Q improves the transmission quality - smaller level of
co-channel interference
• A tradeoff must be made between these two objectives

40
• Let i0 be the number of co-channel interfering cells. The signal-to-
interference ratio (SIR) for a mobile receiver can be expressed as
S S
 i0
I
I
i 1
i

S: the desired signal power

I i: interference power caused by the ith interfering co-channel cell
base station
• The average received power at a distance d from the transmitting
antenna is approximated by
n
d  close-in reference point
Pr  P0  
 d0  d0
or
d  P0 :measued power

Pr (dBm)  P0 (dBm)  10n log   TX

 d0 
n is the path loss exponent which ranges between 2 and 4.
41
 • When the transmission power of each base station is equal, SIR for a
mobile can be approximated as
S Rn
 i0
I n

 iD 
i 1
• Consider only the first layer of interfering cells
S ( D / R)n
 
 3N n

i0  6
I i0 i0

• Example: AMPS requires that SIR be

greater than 18dB
– N should be at least 6.49 for n=4.
– Minimum cluster size is 7

42
• For hexagonal geometry with 7-cell cluster, with the mobile unit being
at the cell boundary, the signal-to-interference ratio for the worst
case can be approximated as

S R 4

I 2( D  R )  4  ( D  R / 2)  4  ( D  R / 2)  4  ( D  R )  4  D 4

43
 2.5.2 Adjacent Channel Interference
• Adjacent channel interference: interference from adjacent in
frequency to the desired signal.
– Imperfect receiver filters allow nearby frequencies to leak into the
passband
– Performance degrade seriously due to near-far effect.
receiving filter
response

signal on adjacent channel signal on adjacent channel

desired signal

FILTER
interference
interference desired signal

44
• Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through careful
filtering and channel assignment.
• Keep the frequency separation between each channel in a given cell
as large as possible
• A channel separation greater than six is needed to bring the adjacent
channel interference to an acceptable level.
• Ensure each mobile transmits the smallest power necessary to
maintain a good quality link on the reverse channel
– long battery life
– increase SIR
– solve the near-far problem

45
Trunking and Grade of Service

A means for providing access to users on demand from available pool of channels.
With trunking, a small number of channels can accommodate large number of
random users.
Telephone companies use trunking theory to determine number of circuits required.
Trunking theory is about how a population can be handled by a limited number of
servers.

46
Terminology:

Traffic intensity is measured in Erlangs:

One Erlang: traffic in a channel completely occupied. 0.5 Erlang: channel occupied
30 minutes in an hour.
Grade of Service (GOS): probability that a call is blocked (or delayed).
Set-Up Time: time to allocate a channel.
Blocked Call: Call that cannot be completed at time of request due to congestion.
Also referred to as Lost Call.
Holding Time: (H) average duration of typical call.
Load: Traffic intensity across the whole system.
Request Rate: (λ) average number of call requests per unit time.

47
Traffic Measurement (Erlangs)

48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
 Erlang C Model –Blocked calls cleared
 A different type of trunked system queues blocked calls –Blocked Calls
Delayed. This is known as an Erlang C model.

 Procedure:

 Determine Pr[delay> 0] = probability of a delay from the chart.

 Pr[delay > t | delay > 0 ] = probability that the delay is longer than t, given
that there is a delay
 Pr[delay > t | delay > 0 ] =exp[-(C-A)t /H ]
 Unconditional Probability of delay > t :
 Pr[delay > t ] = Pr[delay > 0] Pr[delay > t | delay > 0 ]
 Average delay time D = Pr[delay > 0] H/ (C-A)

56
Erlang C Formula

 The likelihood of a call not having immediate access to a channel is determined

by Erlang C formula:

57
58
59
60
 2.7 Improving Capacity in Cellular Systems
• Methods for improving capacity in cellular systems
– Cell Splitting: subdividing a congested cell into smaller cells.
– Sectoring: directional antennas to control the interference and frequency
reuse.
– Coverage zone : Distributing the coverage of a cell and extends the cell
boundary to hard-to-reach place.

61
Cell Splitting

 Cell Splitting is the process of subdividing the congested cell into smaller
cells (microcells),Each with its own base station and a corresponding
reduction in antenna height and transmitter power.

 Cell Splitting increases the capacity since it increases the number of times
the channels are reused.

62
 2.7.1 Cell Splitting
• Split congested cell into smaller cells.
– Preserve frequency reuse plan.
– Reduce transmission power.

Reduce R to R/2

microcell

63
Illustration of cell splitting within a 3 km by 3 km square

64
• Transmission power reduction from Pt1 to Pt 2
• Examining the receiving power at the new and old cell boundary
Pr [at old cell boundary ]  Pt1 R  n
Pr [at new cell boundary ]  Pt 2 ( R / 2)  n

• If we take n = 4 and set the received power equal to each other

Pt1
Pt 2 
16
• The transmit power must be reduced by 12 dB in order to fill in the
original coverage area.
• Problem: if only part of the cells are splited
– Different cell sizes will exist simultaneously
• Handoff issues - high speed and low speed traffic can be
simultaneously accommodated

65
 2.7.2 Sectoring
• Decrease the co-channel interference and keep the cell radius R
unchanged
– Replacing single omni-directional antenna by several directional antennas
– Radiating within a specified sector

66
 • Interference Reduction

position of the
mobile

interference cells

67
 2.7.3 Microcell Zone Concept
• Antennas are placed at the outer edges of the cell
• Any channel may be assigned to any zone by the base station
• Mobile is served by the zone with the strongest signal.

• Handoff within a cell

– No channel re-
assignment
– Switch the channel to a
different zone site
• Reduce interference
– Low power transmitters
are employed

68
Multiple Access Techniques for Wireless
Communication:
Many users can access the at same time, share a finite amount of radio spectrum with
high performance duplexing generally required frequency domain time domain. They
accessing techniques are,

 FDMA
 TDMA
 SDMA
 PDMA

69
Frequency division multiple access FDMA

 One phone circuit per channel

 Idle time causes wasting of resources
 Simultaneously and continuously transmitting
 Usually implemented in narrowband systems
 For example: in AMPS is a FDMA bandwidth of 30 kHz implemented

70
Time Division Multiple Access
 Time slots
 One user per slot
 Buffer and burst method
 Noncontinuous transmission
 Digital data
 Digital modulation

71
Features of TDMA
 A single carrier frequency for several users
 Transmission in bursts
 Low battery consumption
 Handoff process much simpler
 FDD : switch instead of duplexer
 Very high transmission rate
 High synchronization overhead
 Guard slots necessary

72
Space Division Multiple Access

 Controls radiated energy for each user in space

 using spot beam antennas
 base station tracks user when moving
 cover areas with same frequency:
 TDMA or CDMA systems
 cover areas with same frequency:
 FDMA systems

73
Space Division Multiple Access

 primitive applications are “Sectorized

antennas”

 In future adaptive antennas simultaneously

steer energy in the direction of many users at
once

74
 UNIT III

MOBILE RADIO PROPAGATION

75
 . Mobile Radio Propagation
• RF channels are random – do not offer easy analysis
• difficult to model – typically done statistically for a specific system

Introduction to Radio Wave Propagation: diverse mechanisms

of electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation generally attributed to
(i) diffraction
(ii) reflection
(iii) scattering

• non-line of sight (NLOS – obstructed) paths rely on reflections

• obstacles cause diffraction
• multi-path: EM waves travel on different paths to a destination –
interaction of paths causes fades at specific locations

76
traditional Propagation Models focus on
(i) transmit model - average received signal strength at given distance
(ii) receive model - variability in signal strength near a given location

(1) Large Scale Propagation Models: predict mean signal strength

for TX-RX pair with arbitrary separation
• useful for estimating coverage area of a transmitter
• characterizes signal strength over large distances (102-103 m)
• predict local average signal strength that decreases with
distance

77
(2) Small Scale or Fading Models: characterize rapid fluctuations of
received signal over
• short distances (few ) or
• short durations (few seconds)

with mobility over short distances

• instantaneous signal strength fluctuates
• received signal = sum of many components from different directions
• phases are random  sum of contributions varies widely
• received signal may fluctuate 30-40 dB by moving a fraction of 

78
Large-scale small-scale propagation

79
 Reflection
• Perfect conductors reflect with no attenuation
– Like light to the mirror
• Dielectrics reflect a fraction of incident energy
– “Grazing angles” reflect max*
– Steep angles transmit max*
– Like light to the water q qr
• Reflection induces 180 phase shift qt
– Why? See yourself in the mirror

80
 Classical 2-ray ground bounce model
• One line of sight and one ground bound

81
Method of image

82
Vector addition of 2 rays

83
 Simplified model
ht2 hr2
Pr  Pt Gt Gr 4
d
• Far field simplified model
• Example 2.2

84
 Diffraction
• Diffraction occurs when waves hit the edge of an obstacle
– “Secondary” waves propagated into the shadowed region
– Water wave example
– Diffraction is caused by the propagation of secondary wavelets
into a shadowed region.
– Excess path length results in a phase shift
– The field strength of a diffracted wave in the shadowed region is
the vector sum of the electric field components of all the
secondary wavelets in the space around the obstacle.
– Huygen’s principle: all points on a wavefront can be considered
as point sources for the production of secondary wavelets, and
that these wavelets combine to produce a new wavefront in the
direction of propagation.

85
 Diffraction geometry
• Fresnel-Kirchoff distraction parameters,

86
 Fresnel Screens
• Fresnel zones relate phase shifts to the
positions of obstacles
• A rule of thumb used for line-of-sight
microwave links 55% of the first Fresnel zone is
kept clear.

87
 Knife-edge diffraction loss
• Gain

88
 Scattering
• Rough surfaces
– Lamp posts and trees, scatter all directions
– Critical height for bumps is f(,incident angle),
– Smooth if its minimum to maximum protuberance h is less
than critical height.
– Scattering loss factor modeled with Gaussian distribution,
• Nearby metal objects (street signs, etc.)
– Usually modeled statistically
• Large distant objects
– Analytical model: Radar Cross Section (RCS)
– Bistatic radar equation,
89
Impulse Response Model of a Time Variant Multipath
Channel

90
3.2 Free Space Propagation Model
used to predict signal strength for LOS path
• satellites
• LOS uwave
• power decay  d –n (d = separation)

Subsections
(1) Friis Equation
(2) Radiated Power
(3) Path Loss
(4) Far Field Region

91
(1) Friis free space equation: receive power at antenna separated by
distance d from transmitter

 Gt Gr 2  Pt (3.1)
Pr(d) =  
2  2
 ( 4 ) L  d

Pr & Pt = received & transmitted power

Gt & Gr = gain of transmit & receive antenna
 = wavelength
d = separation
L = system losses (line attenuation, filters, antenna)
- not from propagation
- practically, L  1, if L = 1  ideal system with no losses

• power decays by d 2  decay rate = 20dB/decade

92
Antenna Gain

4
G= 2
Ae (3.2)


• Ae = effective area of absorption– related to antenna size

Antenna Efficiency η = Ae/A

A = antenna’s physical area (cross sectional)
• for parabolic antenna η  45% - 50%
• for horn antenna η  50% - 80%

93
(2) Radiated Power

Isotropic Radiator: ideal antenna (used as a reference antenna)

• radiates power with unit gain uniformly in all directions
• surface area of a sphere = 4πd 2

2
Effective Area of isotropic antennae given by Aiso =
4

  2  1  2
Isotropic Received Power PR =    P 
2  T
PT
 4   4 d  4 d 2

• d = transmitter-receiver separation

PT 4d 
2

Isotropic free space path loss Lp = 

PR 2
• f 2 relationship with antenna size results from dependence of Aiso on 

94
Directional Radiation
practical antennas have gain or directivity that is a function of
• θ = azimuth: look angle of the antenna in the horizontal plane
• = elevation: look angle of the antenna above the horizontal plane


Let Φ = power flux desnity
θ
transmit antenna gain is given by:
Φ in the direction of (θ, )
GT(θ, ) =
Φ of isotropic antenna

receive antenna gain is given by:

Ae in the direction of (θ, )
GR(θ, ) =
Ae of isotropic antenna

95
Principal Of Reciprocity:
• signal transmission over a radio path is reciprocal
• the locations of TX & RX can be interchanged without changing
transmission characteristics

signals suffers exact same effects over a path in either direction in a

consistent order  implies that GT(θ, ) = GR(θ, )

thus maximum antenna gain in either direction is given by

Ae 4
G=  Ae
Aiso  2

96
EIRP: effective isotropic radiated power
• represents maximum radiated power available from a transmitter
• measured in the direction of maximum antenna gain as compared to
isotropic radiator
EIRP = PtGiso (3.4)

ERP: effective radiated power - often used in practice

• denotes maximum radiated power compared to ½ wave dipole
antenna
• dipole antenna gain = 1.64 (2.15dB) > isotropic antenna
• thus EIRP will be 2.15dB smaller than ERP for same system

ERP = PtGdipole

97
• 1. Outdoor Propagation Models
– 1.1 Longley-Rice Model
– 1.2 Okumura Model
– 1.3. Hata Model
– 1.4. PCS Extension to Hata Model
– 1.5. Walfisch and Bertoni Model

98
 Outdoor Propagation Models
• Propagation over irregular terrain.
• The propagation models available for
predicting signal strength vary very widely in
their capacity, approach, and accuracy.

99
 Longley-Rice Model
• also referred to as the ITS irregular terrain
model
• frequency range from 40 MHz to 100 GHz
• Two version:
• point-to-point using terrain profile.
• area mode estimate the path-specific
parameters

100
 Okumura Model
• Frequency range from150 MHz to 1920 MHz
• BS-MS distance of 1 km to 100 km.
• BS antenna heights ranging from 30 m 1000 m.
L 50 ( dB )  L f  Amu ( f , d )  G ( hte )  G ( hre )  G AREA
• Lf is the free space propagation loss,
• Amu is the median attenuation relative to free space,
• G(tte ) is the base station antenna height gain factor, G(tre ) is
the mobile antenna height gain factor,
• GAREA is the gain due to the type of environment.

101
 Hata Model
• Frequency range from150 MHz to 1500 MHz
• BS-MS distance of 1 km to 100 km.
• BS antenna heights ranging from 30 m 200 m.

L 50 (urban)dB   69.55  26.16 log f c  13.82 log hte  ahre   44.9  6.55 log hte  log d

• fc is the frequency (in MHz) from 150 MHz to 1500 MHz,

• hte is the effective transmitter antenna height (in meters)
• hre is the effective receiver (mobile) antenna height (1..10 m)
• d is the T-R separation distance (in km),
• a(hre ) is the correction factor for effective mobile antenna
height (large city, small to medium size city, suburban, open
rural)
102
 PCS Extension to Hata Model
• Frequency range from1500 MHz to 2000 MHz
• BS-MS distance of 1 km to 20 km.
• BS antenna heights ranging from 30 m 200 m.
L50 urban   46.3  33.9 log f c  13.82 log hte  ahre   44.9  6.55 log hte  log d  C M
• fc is the frequency (in MHz) from 1500 MHz to 2000 MHz,
• hte is the effective transmitter antenna height (in meters)
• hre is the effective receiver (mobile) antenna height (1..10 m)
• d is the T-R separation distance (in km),
• a(hre ) is the correction factor for effective mobile antenna height
(large city, small to medium size city, suburban, open rural)
• CM 0 dB for medium sized city and suburban areas,
• 3 dB for metropolitan centers
103
 Walfisch and Bertoni Model
• considered the impact of the rooftops and building
height by using diffraction to predict average signal
strength at street level


H

hb

hm

d w
b

104
 Indoor Propagation Models
• The distances covered are much smaller
• The variability of the environment is much greater
• Key variables: layout of the building, construction
materials, building type, where the antenna
mounted, …etc.
• In general, indoor channels may be classified either as
LOS or OBS with varying degree of clutter
• The losses between floors of a building are determined
by the external dimensions and materials of the
building, as well as the type of construction used to
create the floors and the external surroundings.
• Floor attenuation factor (FAF)
105
Partition losses between floors

106
Partition losses between floors

107
 Log-distance Path Loss Model
• The exponent
n depends on
the
surroundings
and building
type
– X is the
variable in dB
having a
standard
deviation .
PL ( d )  PL ( d 0 )  10n log( d / d 0 )  X 
108
Ericsson Multiple Breakpoint Model

109
 Attenuation Factor Model

• FAF represents a floor attenuation factor for a

specified number of building floors.
• PAF represents the partition attenuation
factor for a specific obstruction encountered
by a ray drawn between the transmitter and
PL (d )  in
receiver (d0 ) 10nSF log(d / d0 )  FAF   PAF
PL3-D
•  is the attenuation constant for the channel
PL ( d )  PL ( d 0 )  10n MF log( d / d 0 )   PAF
with units of dB per meter.
PL ( d )  PL ( d 0 )  10 log( d / d 0 )  d  FAF   PAF
110
Measured indoor path loss

111
Measured indoor path loss

112
Measured indoor path loss

113
 Parameters of Mobile Multipath Channels

• Time Dispersion Parameters

– Grossly quantifies the multipath channel
– Determined from Power Delay Profile
– Parameters include
– Mean Access Delay
– RMS Delay Spread
– Excess Delay Spread (X dB)

• Coherence Bandwidth
• Doppler Spread and Coherence Time
114
 Measuring PDPs
• Power Delay Profiles
– Are measured by channel sounding techniques
– Plots of relative received power as a function of
excess delay
– They are found by averaging intantenous power
delay measurements over a local area
– Local area: no greater than 6m outdoor
– Local area: no greater than 2m indoor
» Samples taken at /4 meters approximately
» For 450MHz – 6 GHz frequency range.

115
 Timer Dispersion Parameters
Determined from a power delay profile.

Mean excess delay( ):

 k k
a
k
 P( )( )
k
k k
 2

 k
a
k
 P( )
k
k

Rms delay spread (st):

     2
 2

2 2 2
 k k
a  k k)
P ( )(
2  k
2
 k

 k
a
k
 P(
k
k )

116
RMS Delay Spread

117
 Coherence Bandwidth (BC)
– Range of frequencies over which the channel can be
considered flat (i.e. channel passes all spectral components
with equal gain and linear phase).
– It is a definition that depends on RMS Delay Spread.
– Two sinusoids with frequency separation greater than Bc are
affected quite differently by the channel.
f1

Receiver
f2

Multipath Channel Frequency Separation: |f1-f2|

118
 Coherence Bandwidth
Frequency correlation between two sinusoids: 0 <= Cr1, r2 <= 1.

If we define Coherence Bandwidth (BC) as the range of frequencies over which

the frequency correlation is above 0.9, then
1  is rms delay spread.
BC 
50

If we define Coherence Bandwidth as the range of frequencies over which

the frequency correlation is above 0.5, then
1
BC 
5
This is called 50% coherence bandwidth.

119
 Coherence Time
• Delay spread and Coherence bandwidth
describe the time dispersive nature of the
channel in a local area.
• They don’t offer information about the time varying
nature of the channel caused by relative motion of
transmitter and receiver.
• Doppler Spread and Coherence time are
parameters which describe the time varying
nature of the channel in a small-scale region.

120
 Doppler Spread
• Measure of spectral broadening caused by
motion
• We know how to compute Doppler shift: fd
• Doppler spread, BD, is defined as the
maximum Doppler shift: fm = v/
• If the baseband signal bandwidth is much
greater than BD then effect of Doppler spread
is negligible at the receiver.

121
 Coherence Time
Coherence time is the time duration over which the channel impulse response
is essentially invariant.

If the symbol period of the baseband signal (reciprocal of the baseband signal
bandwidth) is greater the coherence time, than the signal will distort, since
channel will change during the transmission of the signal .

TS 1 Coherence time (TC) is defined as:

TC  fm

TC

f2
f1

t1 t=t2 - t1 t2

122
 Coherence Time
Coherence time is also defined as: 9 0.423
TC  16f m2

fm

Coherence time definition implies that two signals arriving with a time
separation greater than TC are affected differently by the channel.

123
 Types ofSmall-scale
Small-scale
Fading Fading
(Based on Multipath Tİme Delay Spread)

Flat Fading Frequency Selective Fading

1. BW Signal < BW of Channel 1. BW Signal > Bw of Channel

2. Delay Spread < Symbol Period 2. Delay Spread > Symbol Period
Small-scale Fading
(Based on Doppler Spread)

Fast Fading Slow Fading

1. Low Doppler Spread

1. High Doppler Spread
2. Coherence Time > Symbol Period
2. Coherence Time < Symbol Period
3. Channel variations smaller than b
3. Channel variations faster than baseband
signal variations
signal variations
124
 Flat Fading
• Occurs when the amplitude of the received
signal changes with time
• For example according to Rayleigh Distribution
• Occurs when symbol period of the transmitted
signal is much larger than the Delay Spread of
the channel
– Bandwidth of the applied signal is narrow.

• May cause deep fades.

– Increase the transmit power to combat this situation.

125
 Flat Fading
s(t) r(t)
h(t,t

t << TS

0 TS 0 t 0 TS+t

Occurs when: BC: Coherence bandwidth

BS << BC BS: Signal bandwidth
and TS: Symbol period
TS >> t t: Delay Spread

126
 Frequency Selective Fading
• Occurs when channel multipath delay spread
is greater than the symbol period.
– Symbols face time dispersion
– Channel induces Intersymbol Interference (ISI)
• Bandwidth of the signal s(t) is wider than the
channel impulse response.

127
 Frequency Selective Fading
s(t) r(t)
h(t,t

t >> TS

0 TS 0 t 0 TS TS+t

Causes distortion of the received baseband signal

Causes Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI)

Occurs when:
BS > BC As a rule of thumb: TS < t
and
TS < t

128
 Fast Fading
• Due to Doppler Spread
• Rate of change of the channel characteristics
is larger than the
Rate of change of the transmitted signal
• The channel changes during a symbol period.
• The channel changes because of receiver motion.
• Coherence time of the channel is smaller than the symbol period
of the transmitter signal

Occurs when: BS: Bandwidth of the signal

BS < BD BD: Doppler Spread
and TS: Symbol Period
TS > TC TC: Coherence Bandwidth

129
 Slow Fading
• Due to Doppler Spread
• Rate of change of the channel characteristics
is much smaller than the
Rate of change of the transmitted signal

Occurs when: BS: Bandwidth of the signal

BS >> BD BD: Doppler Spread
and TS: Symbol Period
TS << TC TC: Coherence Bandwidth

130
 Different
T
Types of Fading
S

Flat Fast
Flat Slow
Fading
Fading

Symbol Period of
Transmitting Signal

t Frequency Selective Frequency Selective

Slow Fading Fast Fading

TC
TS
Transmitted Symbol Period

With Respect To SYMBOL PERIOD

131
Antennas: simple dipoles
 Real antennas are not isotropic radiators but, e.g., dipoles with lengths /4 on car
roofs or /2 as Hertzian dipole
 shape of antenna proportional to wavelength

/4 /2

 Example: Radiation pattern of a simple Hertzian dipole

y y z

simple
x z x dipole
side view (xy-plane) side view (yz-plane) top view (xz-plane)

 Gain: maximum power in the direction of the main lobe compared to the power of
an isotropic radiator (with the same average power)

132
Antennas: Directed and Sectorized
 Often used for microwave connections or base stations for mobile phones (e.g.,
radio coverage of a valley)

y y z
directed
x z x antenna

side view (xy-plane) side view (yz-plane) top view (xz-plane)

z
z

x
sectorized
x antenna

top view, 3 sector top view, 6 sector

133
 UNIT IV

MODULATION AND SIGNAL PROCESSING

134
Modulation Techniques

 Modulation can be done by varying the

 Amplitude
 Phase, or
 Frequency of a high frequency carrier in accordance with the amplitude of the
message signal.
 Demodulation is the inverse operation: extracting the baseband message from the
carrier so that it may be processed at the receiver.

135
Analog/Digital Modulation

 Analog Modulation
 The input is continues signal
 Used in first generation mobile radio systems such as AMPS in USA.
 Digital Modulation
 The input is time sequence of symbols or pulses.
 Are used in current and future mobile radio systems

136
Goal of Modulation Techniques

 Modulation is difficult task given the hostile mobile radio channels

 Small-scale fading and multipath conditions.
 The goal of a modulation scheme is:
 Transport the message signal through the radio channel with best possible
quality
 Occupy least amount of radio (RF) spectrum.

137
Amplitude Modulation

138
Double Sideband Spectrum

139
SSB Modulators

140
Wideband FM generation

141
Slope Detector for FM

142
Digital Modulation

 The input is discrete signals

 Time sequence of pulses or symbols
 Offers many advantages
 Robustness to channel impairments
 Easier multiplexing of variuous sources of information: voice, data, video.
 Can accommodate digital error-control codes
 Enables encryption of the transferred signals
 More secure link

143
 Factors that Influence Choice of
Digital Modulation Techniques
 A desired modulation scheme
 Provides low bit-error rates at low SNRs
o Power efficiency
 Performs well in multipath and fading conditions
 Occupies minimum RF channel bandwidth
o Bandwidth efficiency
 Is easy and cost-effective to implement
 Depending on the demands of a particular system or application, tradeoffs are
made when selecting a digital modulation scheme.

144
 Power Efficiency of Modulation

 Power efficiency is the ability of the modulation technique to preserve fidelity

of the message at low power levels.
 Usually in order to obtain good fidelity, the signal power needs to be increased.
 Tradeoff between fidelity and signal power
 Power efficiency describes how efficient this tradeoff is made

 Eb 
Power Efficiency : p   required at the receiver input for certain PER 
 N0 

 Eb: signal energy per bit

 N0: noise power spectral density
 PER: probability of error 145
 Bandwidth Efficiency of Modulation

 Ability of a modulation scheme to accommodate data within a limited bandwidth.

 Bandwidth efficiency reflect how efficiently the allocated bandwidth is utilized

R
Bandwidth Efficiency :  B  bps/Hz
B

R: the data rate (bps)

B: bandwidth occupied by the modulated RF signal

146
 Linear Modulation Techniques

 Classify digital modulation techniques as:

Linear
o The amplitude of the transmitted signal varies linearly with
the modulating digital signal, m(t).
o They usually do not have constant envelope.
o More spectral efficient.
o Poor power efficiency
o Example: QPSK.
Non-linear

147
 Binary Phase Shift Keying
 Use alternative sine wave phase to encode bits
 Phases are separated by 180 degrees.
 Simple to implement, inefficient use of bandwidth.
 Very robust, used extensively in satellite communication.

s1 (t )  Ac cos(2f c   c ) binary 1
s2 (t )  Ac cos(2f c   c   ) binary 0
Q

0 1
State State
148
 BPSK Example
1 1 0 1 0 1
Data

Carrier

Carrier+ p

BPSK waveform

149
 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
 Multilevel Modulation Technique: 2 bits per symbol
 More spectrally efficient, more complex receiver.
 Two times more bandwidth efficient than BPSK

11 State
01 State

00 State 10 State

Phase of Carrier: p/4, 2p/4, 5p/4, 7p/4

150
 4 different waveforms
cos+sin -cos+sin
1.5 1.5
11 01
1 1
0.5 0.5
0 0
-0.5 -0.5
-1 -1
-1.50 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 -1.50 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

1.5
10 1.5 00
1
0.5 cos-sin 1 -cos-sin
0 0.5
-0.5 0
-1 -0.5
-1.50 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 -1
-1.50 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
151
Constant Envelope Modulation

 Amplitude of the carrier is constant, regardless of the variation in the modulating

signal
 Better immunity to fluctuations due to fading.
 Better random noise immunity
 Power efficient
 They occupy larger bandwidth

152
Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)

 The frequency of the carrier is changed according to the message state (high
(1) or low (0)).

s1 (t )  A cos(2f c  2f )t 0  t  Tb (bit  1)

s2 (t )  A cos(2f c  2f )t 0  t  Tb (bit  0)

Continues FSK
s (t )  A cos(2f c   (t ))
t
s (t )  A cos(2f c t  2k f  m( x)dx)

Integral of m(x) is continues.

153
 FSK Example

Data

1 1 0 1

FSK
Signal

154
BPSK constellation

155
Virtue of pulse shaping

156
BPSK Coherent demodulator

157
 Equalization,Diversity and Channel coding

• Three techniques are used to improve Rx

signal quality and lower BER:

1) Equalization
2) Diversity
3) Channel Coding

– Used independently or together

– We will consider Diversity and Channel Coding

158
 III. Diversity Techniques
• Diversity : Primary goal is to reduce depth &
duration of small-scale fades

– Spa al or antenna diversity → most common

• Use multiple Rx antennas in mobile or base station
• Why would this be helpful?

• Even small antenna separation (∝ λ ) changes phase

of signal → construc ve /destruc ve nature is
changed
– Other diversity types → polariza on, frequency,
& time
159
• Exploits random behavior of MRC
– Goal is to make use of several independent
(uncorrelated) received signal paths
– Why is this necessary?

• Select path with best SNR or combine

mul ple paths → improve overall SNR
performance

160
• Microscopic diversity → combat small-scale
fading

– Most widely used

– Use multiple antennas separated in space

• At a mobile, signals are independent if separation > λ / 2

• But it is not practical to have a mobile with multiple
antennas separated by λ / 2 (7.5 cm apart at 2 GHz)
• Can have multiple receiving antennas at base stations, but
must be separated on the order of ten wavelengths (1 to 5
meters).
161
– Since reflections occur near receiver, independent
signals spread out a lot before they reach the base
station.
– a typical antenna configuration for 120 degree
sectoring.
– For each sector, a transmit antenna is in the center,
with two diversity receiving antennas on each side.
– If one radio path undergoes a deep fade, another
independent path may have a strong signal.
– By having more than one path one select from, both
the instantaneous and average SNRs at the receiver
may be improved

162
• Spatial or Antenna Diversity → 4 basic types
– M independent branches
– Variable gain & phase at each branch → G∠ θ
– Each branch has same average SNR:

Eb
SNR   
N0
– Instantaneous SNR   i, the pdf of i
 i
1
p ( i )  e 
 i  0 (6.155)

   i 
1
Pr  i      p ( i )d  i   e 
d i  1  e 

0 0

163
– The probability that all M independent diversity branches Rx
signal which are simultaneously less than some specific SNR
threshold γ
Pr  1 ,... M     (1  e /  ) M  PM ( )
Pr  i >    1  PM ( )  1  (1  e  /  ) M

– The pdf of : d M  M 1
pM ( )  PM ( )  1  e   e  

d 

– Average SNR improvement offered by selection diversity

 
M 1
    pM ( )d     Mx 1  e  x  e  x dx, x   
0 0
M
 1

 k 1 k
164
1) Selec on Diversity → simple & cheap
– Rx selects branch with highest instantaneous SNR
• new selection made at a time that is the reciprocal of the
fading rate
• this will cause the system to stay with the current signal
until it is likely the signal has faded
– SNR improvement :
•  is new avg. SNR
• Γ : avg. SNR in each branch

165
166
2) Scanning Diversity
– scan each antenna until a signal is found that is above
predetermined threshold
– if signal drops below threshold → rescan
– only one Rx is required (since only receiving one signal at a
me), so less costly → s ll need mul ple antennas

167
3) Maximal Ratio Diversity
– signal amplitudes are weighted according to each
SNR
– summed in-phase
– most complex of all types
– a complicated mechanism, but modern DSP makes
this more prac cal → especially in the base
station Rx where battery power to perform
computations is not an issue

168
• The resulting signal envelop applied to detector:
M
rM   Gi ri
i 1

• Total noise power:

M
NT  N  Gi2
i 1

• SNR applied to detector:

rM2
M 
2 NT
169
– The voltage signals  i from each of the M diversity
branches are co-phased to provide coherent voltage
addition and are individually weighted to provide optimal
SNR

( rMis maximized when Gi  ri /)N

– The SNR out of the diversity combiner is the sum of the

SNRs in each branch.

170
– The probability that  Mless than some specific
SNR threshold γ

171
– gives optimal SNR improvement :
• Γi: avg. SNR of each individual branch
• Γi = Γ if the avg. SNR is the same for each branch

M M
 M    i  i M 
i 1 i 1

172
173
4) Equal Gain Diversity
– combine multiple signals into one
– G = 1, but the phase is adjusted for each received
signal so that
• The signal from each branch are co-phased
• vectors add in-phase
– better performance than selection diversity

174
 IV. Time Diversity

• Time Diversity → transmit repeatedly the

information at different time spacings

– Time spacing > coherence time (coherence time is the

time over which a fading signal can be considered to
have similar characteristics)
– So signals can be considered independent
– Main disadvantage is that BW efficiency is significantly
worsened – signal is transmitted more than once
• BW must ↑ to obtain the same Rd (data rate)

175
RAKE Receiver
 Powerful form of time diversity available in spread spectrum (DS) systems →
CDMA
 Signal is only transmitted once
 Propagation delays in the MRC provide multiple copies of Tx signals delayed in
time
 Attempts to collect the time-shifted versions of the original signal by providing a
separate correlation receiver for each of the multipath signals.
 Each correlation receiver may be adjusted in time delay, so that a microprocessor
controller can cause different correlation receivers to search in different time
windows for significant multipath.
 The range of time delays that a particular correlator can search is called a search
window.

176
 If time delay between multiple signals > chip period of spreading sequence (Tc) →
multipath signals can be considered uncorrelated (independent)
 In a basic system, these delayed signals only appear as noise, since they are
delayed by more than a chip duration. And ignored.
 Multiplying by the chip code results in noise because of the time shift.
 But this can also be used to our advantage, by shifting the chip sequence to
receive that delayed signal separately from the other signals.

177
 The RAKE Rx is a time diversity Rx that collects time-shifted versions of the
original Tx signal

178
Cont.

 M branches or “fingers” = # of correlation Rx’s

 Separately detect the M strongest signals
 Weighted sum computed from M branches

 Faded signal → low weight

 Strong signal → high weight
 Overcomes fading of a signal in a single branch

179
In indoor environments:

 The delay between multipath components is usually large, the low

autocorrelation properties of a CDMA spreading sequence can assure that
multipath components will appear nearly uncorrelated with each other.

 RAKE receiver in IS-95 CDMA has been found to perform poorly

 Since the multipath delay spreads in indoor channels (≈100 ns) are
much smaller than an IS-95 chip duration (≈ 800 ns).
 In such cases, a rake will not work since multipath is unresolveable
 Rayleigh flat-fading typically occurs within a single chip period.

180
 Channel Coding :
 Error control coding ,detect, and often correct, symbols which are
received in error
 The channel encoder separates or segments the incoming bit stream
into equal length blocks of L binary digits and maps each L-bit
message block into an N-bit code word where N > L
There are M=2L messages and 2L code words of length N bits

The channel decoder has the task of detecting that there has been a bit error and •
(if possible) correcting the bit error
181
ARQ (Automatic-Repeat-Request ) If the channel decoder performs error detection
then errors can be detected and a feedback channel from the channel decoder to the
channel encoder can be used to control the retransmission of the code word until the
code word is received without detectable errors.

There are two major ARQ techniques stop and wait continuous ARQ

FEC (Forward Error Correction) If the channel decoder performs error correction then
errors are not only detected but the bits in error can be identified and corrected (by bit
inversion)

182
There are two major ARQ techniques.

 Stop and wait, in which each block of data is positively, or negatively,

acknowledged by the receiving terminal as being error free before the next data
block is transmitted,
 Continuous ARQ, in which blocks of data continue to be transmitted without
waiting for each previous block to be acknowledged

183
Companding for ‘narrow-band’ speech
 ‘Narrow-band’ speech is what we hear over telephones.
 Normally band-limited from 300 Hz to about 3500 Hz.
 May be sampled at 8 kHz.
 8-bits per sample not sufficient for good ‘narrow-band’ speech encoding with
uniform quantisation.
 Problem lies with setting a suitable quantisation step-size .
 One solution is to use instantaneous companding.
 Step-size adjusted according to amplitude of sample.
 For larger amplitudes, larger step-sizes used as illustrated next.
 ‘Instantaneous’ because step-size changes from sample to sample.

184
 UNIT V

SYSTEM EXAMPLES AND DESIGN

ISSUES

185
Multiple Access Techniques for Wireless
Communication:
Many users can access the at same time, share a finite amount of radio spectrum with
high performance duplexing generally required frequency domain time domain. They
accessing techniques are,

 FDMA
 TDMA
 SDMA
 PDMA

186
Introduction
 many users at same time
 share a finite amount of radio spectrum
 high performance
 duplexing generally required
 frequency domain
 time domain

187
Frequency division duplexing (FDD)
 two bands of frequencies for every user
 forward band
 reverse band
 duplexer needed
 frequency seperation between forward band and reverse band is constant

reverse channel forward channel

frequency seperation f
188
Time division duplexing (TDD)

 uses time for forward and reverse link

 multiple users share a single radio channel
 forward time slot
 reverse time slot
 no duplexer is required

reverse channel forward channel

t
time seperation
189
Multiple Access Techniques

 Frequency division multiple access (FDMA)

 Time division multiple access (TDMA)
 Code division multiple access (CDMA)
 Space division multiple access (SDMA)
 grouped as:
 narrowband systems
 wideband systems

190
Narrowband systems
 large number of narrowband channels
 usually FDD
 Narrowband FDMA
 Narrowband TDMA
 FDMA/FDD
 FDMA/TDD
 TDMA/FDD
 TDMA/TDD

191
Logical separation FDMA/FDD

forward channel
user 1
reverse channel

...
f

forward channel
user n
reverse channel

t
192
Logical separation FDMA/TDD

user 1

forward channel reverse channel

...
f

user n

forward channel reverse channel

t
193
Logical separation TDMA/FDD

forward forward
channel channel

user 1 ... user n f

reverse reverse

channel channel

t
194
Logical separation TDMA/TDD

user 1 user n

...
forward reverse forward reverse f
channel channel channel channel

t
195
Wideband systems
 large number of transmitters on one channel
 TDMA techniques
 CDMA techniques
 FDD or TDD multiplexing techniques
 TDMA/FDD
 TDMA/TDD
 CDMA/FDD
 CDMA/TDD

196
Logical separation CDMA/FDD

user 1

forward channel reverse channel

...
code

user n

forward channel reverse channel

f
197
Logical separation CDMA/TDD

user 1

forward channel reverse channel

...
code

user n

forward channel reverse channel

t
198
Multiple Access Techniques in use

Multiple Access
Cellular System
Technique
Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) FDMA/FDD
Global System for Mobile (GSM) TDMA/FDD
US Digital Cellular (USDC) TDMA/FDD
Digital European Cordless Telephone (DECT) FDMA/TDD
US Narrowband Spread Spectrum (IS-95) CDMA/FDD

199
Frequency division multiple access FDMA

 One phone circuit per channel

 Idle time causes wasting of resources
 Simultaneously and continuously transmitting
 Usually implemented in narrowband systems
 For example: in AMPS is a FDMA bandwidth of 30 kHz implemented

200
FDMA compared to TDMA
 Fewer bits for synchronization
 Fewer bits for framing
 Higher cell site system costs
 Higher costs for duplexer used in base station and subscriber units
 FDMA requires RF filtering to minimize adjacent channel
interference

201
Nonlinear Effects in FDMA

 Many channels - same antenna

 For maximum power efficiency operate near saturation
 Near saturation power amplifiers are nonlinear
 Nonlinearities causes signal spreading
 Intermodulation frequencies

202
Nonlinear Effects in FDMA

 IM are undesired harmonics

 Interference with other channels in the FDMA system
 Decreases user C/I - decreases performance
 Interference outside the mobile radio band: adjacent-channel interference
 RF filters needed - higher costs

203
Number of channels in a FDMA system

Bt - Bguard
N=
Bc
 N … number of channels
 Bt … total spectrum allocation
 Bguard … guard band
 Bc … channel bandwidth

204
Time Division Multiple Access
 Time slots
 One user per slot
 Buffer and burst method
 Noncontinuous transmission
 Digital data
 Digital modulation

205
Repeating Frame Structure
One TDMA Frame

Preamble Information Message Trail Bits

Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 … Slot N

Trail Bits Sync. Bits Information Data Guard Bits

The frame is cyclically repeated over time.

206
Features of TDMA
 A single carrier frequency for several users
 Transmission in bursts
 Low battery consumption
 Handoff process much simpler
 FDD : switch instead of duplexer
 Very high transmission rate
 High synchronization overhead
 Guard slots necessary

207
Number of channels in a TDMA system

m*(Btot - 2*Bguard)
N=
Bc
 N … number of channels
 m … number of TDMA users per radio channel
 Btot … total spectrum allocation
 Bguard … Guard Band
 Bc … channel bandwidth

208
Example: Global System for Mobile (GSM)

 TDMA/FDD
 forward link at Btot = 25 MHz
 radio channels of Bc = 200 kHz
 if m = 8 speech channels supported, and
 if no guard band is assumed :

N= 8*25E6 = 1000 simultaneous users

200E3
209
Efficiency of TDMA
 Percentage of transmitted data that contain information
 Frame efficiency f
 Usually end user efficiency < f ,
 Because of source and channel coding

210
Repeating Frame Structure
One TDMA Frame

Preamble Information Message Trail Bits

Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 … Slot N

Trail Bits Sync. Bits Information Data Guard Bits

The frame is cyclically repeated over time.

211
Efficiency of TDMA

bOH = Nr*br + Nt*bp + Nt*bg + Nr*bg

 bOH … number of overhead bits

 Nr … number of reference bursts per frame
 br … reference bits per reference burst
 Nt … number of traffic bursts per frame
 bp … overhead bits per preamble in each slot
 bg … equivalent bits in each guard time intervall

212
Efficiency of TDMA

bT = Tf * R

 bT … total number of bits per frame

 Tf … frame duration
 R … channel bit rate

213
Efficiency of TDMA

f = (1-bOH/bT)*100%

 f … frame efficiency
 bOH … number of overhead bits per frame
 bT … total number of bits per frame

214
Space Division Multiple Access

 Controls radiated energy for each user in space

 using spot beam antennas
 base station tracks user when moving
 cover areas with same frequency:
 TDMA or CDMA systems
 cover areas with same frequency:
 FDMA systems

215
Space Division Multiple Access

 primitive applications are “Sectorized

antennas”

 In future adaptive antennas simultaneously

steer energy in the direction of many users at
once

216
 Reverse link problems

 General problem
 Different propagation path from user to base
 Dynamic control of transmitting power from each user to the base station required
 Limits by battery consumption of subscriber units
 Possible solution is a filter for each user

217
 Solution by SDMA systems

 Adaptive antennas promise to mitigate reverse link problems

 Limiting case of infinitesimal beamwidth
 Limiting case of infinitely fast track ability
 Thereby unique channel that is free from interference
 All user communicate at same time using the same channel

218
 Disadvantage of SDMA

 Perfect adaptive antenna system: infinitely large antenna needed

 Compromise needed

219
SDMA and PDMA in satellites

 INTELSAT IVA

 SDMA dual-beam receive antenna

 Simultaneously access from two different

regions of the earth

220
SDMA and PDMA in satellites

• COMSTAR 1
• PDMA
• separate antennas
• simultaneously
access from same
region

221
SDMA and PDMA in satellites

 INTELSAT V

 PDMA and SDMA

 Two hemispheric coverage by SDMA

 Two smaller beam zones by PDMA

 Orthogonal polarization

222
 Capacity of Cellular Systems

 Channel capacity: maximum number of users in a fixed frequency band

 Radio capacity : value for spectrum efficiency

 Reverse channel interference

 Forward channel interference

 How determine the radio capacity?

223
Co-Channel Reuse Ratio Q

Q=D/R

 Q … co-channel reuse ratio

 D … distance between two co-channel cells

 R … cell radius

224
Forward channel interference

 cluster size of 4

 D0 … distance serving station

to user

 DK … distance co-channel
base station to user

225
 Cellular Wireless Network Evolution
• First Generation: Analog
– AMPS: Advance Mobile Phone Systems
– Residential cordless phones
• Second Generation: Digital
– IS-54: North American Standard - TDMA
– IS-95: CDMA (Qualcomm)
– GSM: Pan-European Digital Cellular
– DECT: Digital European Cordless Telephone

226
 Cellular Evolution (cont)
• Third Generation: T/CDMA
– combines the functions of: cellular, cordless, wireless LANs,
paging etc.
– supports multimedia services (data, voice, video, image)
– a progression of integrated, high performance systems:
(a) GPRS (for GSM)
(b) EDGE (for GSM)
(c) 1xRTT (for CDMA)
(d) UMTS

227
228
Invented by Bell Labs; installed
In US in 1982; in Europe as TACS

229
 AMPS (Advance Mobile Phone System):

B FDMA (Frequency Div

B G C Multiple Access): one frequency
G C A per user channel
A F D
F D E
E B
G C Frequency Reuse: Frequencies are not
A
F D reused in a group of 7 adjacent cells
E

In each cell, 57 channels each for A-side and B -side carrier

respectively; about 800 channels total (across the entire
AMPS system)

230
Advanced Mobile Phone System

(a) Frequencies are not reused in adjacent cells.

(b) To add more users, smaller cells can be used.
231
 Channel Categories
The channels are divided into four categories:

• Control (base to mobile) to manage the system

• Paging (base to mobile) to alert users to calls for

them

• Access (bidirectional) for call setup and channel

assignment

• Data (bidirectional) for voice, fax, or data

232
 Handoff
• Handoff: Transfer of a mobile from one cell to another
• Each base station constantly monitors the received power
from each mobile.
• When power drops below given threshold, base station
asks neighbor station (with stronger received power) to
pick up the mobile, on a new channel.
• In APMS the handoff process takes about 300 msec.
• Hard handoff: user must switch from one frequency to
another (noticeable disruption)
• Soft Handoff (available only with CDMA): no change in
frequency.

233
 To register and make a phone call
• When phone is switched on , it scans a preprogrammed list of
21 control channels, to find the most powerful signal.
• It transmits its ID number on it to the MSC – which informs
the home MSC (registration is done every 15 min)
• To make a call, user transmits dest Ph # on random access
channel; MSC will assign a data channel
• At the same time MSC pages the destination cell for the other
party (idle phone listens on all page channels)

234
(Freq Division
Duplex)

235
236
 Digital Cellular: IS-54 TDMA System
• Second generation: digital (as opposed to analog as in
AMPS)
• Same frequency as AMPS
• Each 30 kHz RF channel is used at a rate of 48.6 kbps
– 6 TDM slots/RF band (2 slots per user)
– 8 kbps voice coding
– 16.2 kbps TDM digital channel (3 channels fit in 30kHz)

• 4 cell frequency reuse (instead of 7 as in AMPS)

• Capacity increase per cell per carrier
– 3 x 416 / 4 = 312 (instead of 57 in AMPS)
– Additional factor of two with speech activity detection.

237
238
239
 GSM (Group Speciale Mobile)
Pan European Cellular Standard
Second Generation: Digital
Frequency Division Duplex (890-915 MHz Upstream; 935-960 MHz Downstream)
125 frequency carriers

Carrier spacing: 200 Khz

8 channels per carrier (Narrowband Time Division)
Speech coder: linear predictive coding (Source rate = 13 Kbps)

Modulation: phase shift keying (Gaussian minimum shift keying)

Slow frequency hopping to overcome multipath fading

240
241
242
243
244