MOBILE SATELLITE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS

SAI NAGA SWAROOP SISTLA

B.Sc. II YEAR ( IV SEMESTER),
SCSVMV DEEMED UNIVERSITY,
ENATHUR,
KANCHIPURAM.
TAMIL NADU.
INDIA.
PH: 9894531987
E-MAIL: swaroopsistla@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

In 500 years when humankind looks back at the dawn of space travel, Apollo’s landing on the moon
in 1969 may be the only event remembered. At the same time however, Lyndon B. Johnson, himself an
avid promoter of the space program, felt that reconnaissance alone justified every penny spent on space.

An communication satellite is basically a microwave station placed in outer space for the purpose of
telecommunications. A telecommunications or broadcasting transmission signal is received by the satellite
and then transmitted at a different frequency. Modern communications satellite uses geo synchronous orbits,
LEO (Low Earth Orbit), MEO(Medium Earth Orbit), HEO(Highly Elliptical Orbits) Satellites.

For Fixed services, communications satellite provides a technology complementary to that of fiber
optic submarine communications cable. For mobile applications, such as communications to ships and
Planes, for which application of other technologies, such as cable, are impartial or impossible.

HISTORY

Early Missions
The first satellite to relay communications was Project SCORE in 1958, which used a tape recorder to store
and forward voice messages. It was used to send a Christmas greeting to the world from President
Eisenhower. NASA launched an Echo Satellite in 1960. This 100-foot aluminized Mylar balloon served as
a passive reflector for radio communications. Courier 1B, (built by Philico) also was launched in 1960, was
the worlds first active repeater satellite.

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Telstar was the first active, direct relay communications satellite. Belonging to AT&T as part of a
multi-national agreement between AT&T, Bell Telephone Laboratories, NASA, the British General Post
Office, and the French National PTT (Post Office) to develop satellite communications, it was launched by
NASA from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962, the first private sponsored space launch. Telstar was placed
in an elliptical orbit (completed once every 2 hours and 37 minutes), rotating at a 45 angle above the
equator.

An immediate antecedent of the geo stationary satellites was Hughes’ Syncom 2, launched on July 26,
1963.Syncom 2 revolved around the earth once per day at constant speed, but because it still had north-
south motion special equipment was needed to track it.

Geostationary, LEO, MEO, HEO satellites revolving around the earth at different orbits, satellites perform
sunch diverse tasks as meteorology, navigation, remote sensing and communications. They can be launched
into different orbits to perform different tasks:

Geostationary orbits
Geostationary orbit, also known as the Clarke Orbit is at 36,000 km above the equator.
A satellite in a geostationary orbit appears to be in a fixed position to an earth-based observer.
A geostationary satellite revolves around the earth at a constant speed once per day over the
equator.

The geostationary orbit is useful for communications applications because ground based
antennae, which must be directed towards the satellite, can operate effectively without
the need for expensive equipment to track the satellite’s motion. Especially for applications that require a
large number of ground antenna (such as direct TV distribution), the savings in ground equipment can more
than justify the extra cost and onboard complexity of lifting a satellite into the relatively high geostationary
orbit.

The first geostationary communications satellite was Anik 1, a Canadian Satellite launched in 1972. The
United States launched their own geostationary communications satellite afterward,
With Western Union launching their Westar 1 satellite in 1974, and RCA Americom (later GE
Americon, now SES Americon) launching Satcom in 1975.

It was Satcom 1 that was instrumental in helping early cable TV channels such as WTBS ( now TBS super
station ), HBO, CBN ( now ABC family), and the weather channel become successful, because these
channel distributed their programming to all of the local cable TV headents using the satellite. Additionally,
it was the first satellite used by broadcast TV networks in the united state, like ABC, NBC, and CBS to
distribute their programming to all of their local affiliate stations. The reason that Satcom that 1 was so
widely used is that it had twice the communications capacity of westar 1 (24 transponders as opposed to
Westar 1’s 12), which resulted in lower transponder usage costs.

By 2000 huges space and communications( now Boeing satellite systems) had built nearly 40% of
the satellites in service worldwide. Other major satellite manufacturers include space system/ loral,
Lockheed martin (owns former RCA Astro Electronics/ GE Astro space business), Alcatel space and EADS
Astrium.

Low-Earth-Orbits
Lower earth orbit (LEO) satellites orbit around 500 km from the earth and are used for
reconnaissance, localized weather and imaging of natural resources. The NASA shuttle can
launch and retrieve satellites in this orbit. They are now coming into use for personal voice and
data communications.
Low earth orbiting satellites are less expensive to position in space than geostationary satellites

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and, because of their closure proximity to the ground, require lower signal strength. So there is a
trade off between the number of satellite and their cost. In additions, there are important
differences in the onboard and ground equipment needed to support the two types
of missions.

A group of satellites working in the concert thus is known as satellite constellations Two such
Constellations, which were intended for provision for hand held telephony, primarily to remote
Areas, where the iridium and global star. The iridium system has 66 satellites. Another LEO
Satellite constellation, with backing from Microsoft entrepreneur Paul Allen, was to have as
Many as 720 satellites.

It is also possible to offer discontinuous coverage using low earth satellite capable of storing
data received while passing over one part of earth and transmitting it later while passing over
another part. This will be the case with the CASCADE system of Canada’s CASSIOPE
communication satellites.

Molniya satellites
As mentioned, geostationary satellites are constrained to operate above the equator. As a
Consequence, they are not always suitable for providing services at a high latitudes: for at a high
latitudes a geostationary satellite may appear low on (or even below) the horizon, affecting
Connectivity and causing multipathing (interference caused by signals) reflecting off the ground
into the ground antenna. The first satellite molniya series was launched on April 23, 1965 and was
used for experimental transmission of TV signal from Moscow uplink station to downlink stations,
located in Russian far east, in khabarovsk, magadan and vladivostok. In November of 1967 soviet
engineers created an unique system of national TV network of satellite television called orbit,
that was based on molniya satellites.

Molniya orbits can be an appealing alternatives in such cases. The Molniya orbit is highly
inclined, guaranteeing good elevation over selected positions during the north portion of orbit.
(Elevation is the extent of the satellite’s position above the horizon has zero elevation and a
Satellite directly overhead has elevation of 90 degrees).

Furthermore, the Molniya orbit is so designed that the satellite spends the great majority of it’s
Time over the far northern latitudes, during which it’s ground footprint moves only slightly. Its
Period is one half day, so that the satellite is available for operation over the targeted region for
Eight hours every second revolution. In this way a constellation of three Molniya satellites (plus
In-orbit spares) can provide uninterrupted coverage.

Molniya satellites are typically used for telephony and TV services over Russia. Another application is to
use them for mobile radio system ( even at lower latitudes ) since cars travelling through urban areas
needed across to satellites at high elevation in order to secure good connectivity, e.g. in the presence of tall
buildings.

APPLICATIONS

Telephony
Television and Radio
Mobile satellite technologies
Amateur radio
Satellite Broadband

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MOBILE SATELLITE TECHNOLOGIES

A communication satellite is basically a microwave station placed in outer space. A telecommunications or

Broadcasting transmission signal is received by the satellite and then transmitted at a different frequency.
The advantages of satellite communications are that it can transmit data quickly over long distances. It also
overcomes the problems of the curvature of the earth, mountains and other structures that block the line-of-
Sight of microwave transmission.

Initially available for broadcasting to stationary TV receivers, by 2004 popular mobile direct broadcast
applications made their appearance with that arrival of two satellite radio system in the United States:
Sirius and XM Satellite Radio Holdings. Some manufacturers have also introduced special antennas for
mobile reception of DBS television. Using GPS technology as a reference, these antennas automatically re-
aim to the satellite no matter where or how the vehicle (that the antenna is mounted on) is situated. These
mobile satellite antennas are popular with some recreational vehicle owners. Such mobile DBS antennas
are also used by Jet Blue Airways for Direct TV (supplied by Live TV, a subsidiary of Jet Blue), which
passengers can view on-board on LCD screens mounted in the seats.

There are two elements of a satellite system – the space segment and the ground segment. The space
segment comprises the orbiting satellite and equipment on board. Transponders on the satellite are capable
of receiving signals, amplifying them and re-transmitting the amplified signals back to any point in the
coverage area. Antennas on the satellite receive signal from the earth called ‘uplink’ and transmit signal
down to earth, known as ‘downlink’. The area covered by the satellite’s downlink is called the footprint.
A series of earth stations track the satellite. They accurately locate the satellite, receive its telemetry signals
and send remote control commands.

They overriding issue in satellite communication is what role(s) they are likely to play in the light of
market demand and the changing regulatory scene. Satellite communications has the unique characteristics
That costs, while high, are independent of distance. In particular, the intercontinental network relies on
satellite links to supplement submarine cables installed on the heaviest and most consistent traffic routes.

Mobile Satellite Services

Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) has not yet succeeded in establishing itself as a competitive market
segment in the telecommunications industry despite much optimism since its introduction 10 years ago.
Although huge amounts of cash have been injected into research & development in mobile satellite
technology and infrastructure development, there has not been enough subscribers to enable the industry to
reach economies of scale. The big issue for all current MSS is simply one of survival; that is, can they serve
customers who have been accustomed to high data rates, premium voice quality and low access fees all
bundled into a small, attractive handset. Terrestrial networks (both fixed and mobile) continue to expand
their reach with fiber and digital wireless systems, making it difficult for MSS to compete except in the
most remote areas of the planet.

Many MSS satellites simply are mirrors that bounce signal from point A to point B in a design known as
bent pipe. In this configuration, the primary communications intelligence is housed on the ground at
gateways.

Dedicated Mobile Data:

Introduction
Mobile data is still yet to make a ‘serious’ impact on the telecommunications industry, but is forecast to do
so in the near future based only the evolution of cellular technology. Data-only mobile networks have been
around for over a decade in countries like Sweden and the UK, but all have struggled to achieve
profitability because of their lack of economies of scale.

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High-end mobile data can be viable if they serve organizations with a large network of mobile workers
such as service teams, travelling agents and large sales forces. However, such organizations must already
have a sophisticated electronic information network in order to adopt the offered services. Unfortunately,
many organizations still do not have internal systems in place.

Mobile Data Over digital Cellular Networks

General Packet Radio Services
General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) represents the first implementation of packet switching within
GSM. Rather than sending a continuous stream of data over a permanent connection, packet switching only
uses the network when data is being sent. Using GPRS will eventually enable users to send and receive data
at speeds of up to 115kb/s.

The time implementation of GPRS will bring a number of benefits to GSM network operators, including
Internet Protocol (IP) capability. This will enable connection to a wide range of public and private data
networks using industry standard protocols such as TCP/IP and X.25. A number of mobile operations have
already commenced GPRS services.

High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)

HSCSD enables transmission of data over current circuit-switched GSM links at speeds of up to 57.6kb/s.
This speed is achieved by concentrating, consecutive GSM timelosts, each of which is capable of
supporting 14.4kb/s. Up to four GSM timeslots are needed for the transmission of HSCSD. A permanent
connection is established between the called and called parties for the exchange of data.

Corporate users will also use the technology to download many graphic pages from the Internet in seconds.
The higher speeds will also enhance access to in-house LANs via corporate intranets. A number of
operators offer HSCSD including Singapore Telecom however it is not favored due to its heavy usage of
network radio resources.

EDGE
Evolved Data-rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE): is a new technology being applied to both GSM and D-
AMPS IS-136 networks for packet-switched data. It is considered as a progression from GPRS to 3G
mobile networks. It claims to provide data rates as high as 384 kb/s. EDGE has been designed to meet a
prime requirement of UMTS.

Some people suggest that once GPRS, EDGE and their equivalents are available, operators will be
unwilling to spend money to upgrade their systems further to 3G.

Wireless Access Protocol (WAP)

The primary focus of WAP is to provide access to Internet services over hand-held devices, which are not
computers and typically have a very limited user interface.

Wireless Markup Language (WML) is used to browse information on portable devices such as
smartphones and Personal Digital Assistants. It relies on the use of WML instead of HTML, and so to use
it, the site requires two discrete downloading ‘trees’.

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Conclusions

In coming years, mobile technology is going to be the most important ingredient for the people community
in India and also for the complete world. Using this satellite communications now every thing became
small. The future for communication purpose will be well developed and makes each and every
communications very easy. In this way I conclude that mobile satellite communications becomes the
important tool in each and every day life for all the purposes.

References

[1] Theodore S. Rappaport, “ Wireless Communications “, ISBN 81-7808-648-4

[2] K. M. Palane Swaamy, “ Optical Communications “, charulatha publications,
Designed as per Anna University Syllabus.
Web Sites
[3] http:// www22.verizon.com/about/community/learningcenter
[4] http:// www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/history/satcomhistory.html