ECE 5233 Satellite Communications Prepared by: Dr. Ivica Kostanic Lecture 8: Satellite link design (Section 4.1, 4.2) Spring 2014

Outline Objectives of link design Elements of satellite link Free space path loss equation Signal to noise ratio and link capacity Examples Important note: Slides present summary of the results. Detailed derivations are given in notes.

Objective of a link analysis Link analysis determines properties of satellite equipment (antennas, amplifiers, data rate, etc.) Two links need to be planned Uplink – from ground to satellite Downlink – from satellite to ground Two way communication – 4 links (two way maritime communications) One way communication – 2 links (example – TV broadcast) Two links are not at the same frequency Two links may or may not be in the same band Fixed / broadcast satellite services – usually same band Mobile satellite services may use different bands In some systems satellite links may be combined with terrestrial returns One way communication Two way communication

Elements of a satellite link Transmit power TX antenna gain Path losses Free space TX/RX antenna losses Environmental losses RX antenna gain RX properties Noise temperature Sensitivity (S/N and ROC) Design margins required to guarantee certain reliability Note: satellite signals are usually very weak – requires careful link budget planning

Free space path loss – transmit side Free Space Path Losses (FSPL) due to dispersion of EM wave energy Antenna used to focus the energy of the wave in the direction of the receiver Note: antenna gain is usually quoted in the direction of radiation maximum. For other direction need to use the actual radiation pattern Power flux in the direction of maximum radiation

Free space path loss – receive side Received power Using One obtains Effective antenna gain (effective aperture) FSPL equation hA – aperture efficiency of the antenna (50-90%)

Free Space Path Loss (FSPL) Equation for FSPL (linear) R = distance between TX and RX l = wavelength of the RF wave Equation for FSPL (logarithmic) – Friis’ equations Notes: FSPL grow 20dB/dec as a function of distance FSPL grows 20dB/dec as a function of frequency FSPL curves are straight lines in log-log coordinate system For Geo-Stationary satellites – loss may be above 200dB! FSPL curves 1-32GHz range

Additional losses Link equation AL – additional losses Misalignment of the antennas Atmospheric losses Radome losses Component mismatch losses The additional losses are taken into account through appropriate design margins Typical design margin 5-10dB Component accuracy Operating frequency Required reliability Link equation AL – additional losses

Shannon capacity formula Shannon capacity formula – establishes fundamental limits on communication In the case of AWGN satellite channel Minimum energy per bit normalized to noise power density that is required for a given spectrum utilization C – capacity of the channel in bits/sec B – bandwidth of the channel in Hz S/N – signal to noise ratio (linear) Note: g is the fundamental measure of spectrum utilization. Ultimate goal of every wireless communication system is to provide largest g for a given set of constraints. Define g = R/B - bandwidth utilization in bps/Hz, where R is the information rate in bps.

Bandwidth utilization vs. power trade-off Bandwidth utilization increases with an increase of available power In power limited regions small increase of power produce significant increase in bandwidth utilization In bandwidth limited region large power increase is required for increase in bandwidth utilization For systems that are in bandwidth limited region – capacity is increased through frequency reuse By combining power and reuse methods, contemporary systems reach spectrum utilization of 3-7bps/Hz Note: most of contemporary satellite systems are bandwidth limited – lot of efforts invested in means for spectrum reuse

Examples Example 4.2.1. A satellite at a distance of 40000km from a point on Earth surface radiates power of 10W into antenna gain of 17dB. Find the flux density on the Earth surface and the power received using antenna with effective aperture of 10 square meters. Answers: Flux density: 2.49e-14 W/m2 Received power: -126dBW (-96dBm) Example 4.2.2. The satellite in Example 4.2.1 operates at a frequency of 11GHz (Ku band). The gain of the receiving antenna is 52.3dB. Find the received power. Answer: Received power: -126dBW