Sat Com Unit 2 - VVC-Link Design - 1

8th Semester Electronics E-II Sat. Com.
Satellite Link Design
UNIT II
Satellite link design: System noise temperature and T / T ratio, down
link design, domestic satellite system, uplink design, design of satellite
link for specified (C / N).
Prof. Vijay V. Chakole Department of Electronics Engineering, K. D. K. College of Engineering, Nagpur. Page 1
8th Semester Electronics E-II Sat. Com. Satellite Link Design
BASIC TRANSMISSION THEORY:
The RF (or free space) segment of the satellite communications link is a critical element that
impacts the design and performance of communications over the satellite. The basic
communications link, shown in Figure 4.1, identifies the basic parameters of the link.
The parameters of the link are defined as:

pt = transmitted power (watts);
pr = received power (watts);
gt = transmit antenna gain;
gr = receive antenna gain;
and r = path distance (meters).
An electromagnetic wave, referred to as a radiowave at radio frequencies, is nominally

defined in the range of ∼100MHz to 100+GHz. The radiowave is characterized by variations
of its electric and magnetic fields. The oscillating motion of the field intensities vibrating at a
particular point in space at a frequency f excites similar vibrations at neighbouring points, and
the radiowave is said to travel or to propagate. The wavelength, λ, of the radiowave is the
spatial separation of two successive oscillations, which is the distance the wave travels during
one cycle of oscillation (Figure 4.2).
The frequency and wavelength in free space are related by
Where c is the phase velocity of light in a vacuum. With c = 3×10 8 m/s, the free space wavelength
for the frequency in GHz can be expressed as
Consider a radio wave propagating in free space from a point source P of power pt watts. The wave
is isotropic in space, i.e., spherically radiating from the point source P, as shown in Figure 4.3
Where (pfd)B < (pfd)A. This relationship demonstrates the well-known inverse square law of
radiation: the power density of a radiowave propagating from a source is inversely proportional to
the square of the distance from the source.
Effective Isotropic Radiated Power An important parameter in the evaluation of the RF link is
the effective isotropic radiatedpower, eirp. The eirp, using the parameters introduced in Figure 4.1, is
defined as
eirp ≡ pt.gt or,

in db, EIRP = Pt + Gt
The eirp serves as a single parameter ‘figure of merit’ for the transmit portion of the communications
link.
Power Flux Density:

The power density, usually expressed in watts/m2, at the distance r from the transmit antenna with a
gain gt, is defined as the power flux density (pfd)r (see Figure 4.4).
Where Pt, Gt , and EIRP are the transmit power, transmit antenna gain, and effective radiatedpower,
all expressed in dB.
The (pfd) is an important parameter in the evaluation of power requirements and interferencelevels
for satellite communications networks.
Antenna Gain
Isotropic power radiation is usually not effective for satellite communications links, because the
power density levels will be low for most applications (there are some exceptions, such as for mobile
satellite networks, some directivity (gain) is desirable for both the transmit and receive antennas.
Also, physical antennas are not perfect receptors/emitters, and this must be taken into account in
defining the antenna gain.
Consider first a lossless (ideal) antenna with a physical aperture area of A(m2). The gain of
the ideal antenna with a physical aperture area A is defined as
where λ is the wavelength of the radiowave.
Physical antennas are not ideal – some energy is reflected away by the structure, some energy is
absorbed by lossy components (feeds, struts, subreflectors). To account for this, an effective
aperture, Ae, is defined in terms of an aperture efficiency, ȘA, such that
The aperture efficiency for a circular parabolic antenna typically runs about 0.55 (55 %), while
values of 70% and higher are available for high performance antenna systems.
Circular Parabolic Reflector Antenna

The circular parabolic reflector is the most common type of antenna used for satellite earth station
and spacecraft antennas. It is easy to construct, and has good gain and beamwidth characteristics for
a large range of applications. The physical area of the aperture of a circular parabolic aperture is
given by
Free-Space Path Loss

Consider now a receiver with an antenna of gain gr located a distance r from a transmitter of pt watts
and antenna gain gt, as shown in Figure 4.4. The power pr intercepted by the receiving antenna will
be
Where (pfd)r is the power flux density at the receiver and Ae is the effective area of the receiver
antenna, in square meters. Replacing Ae with the representation
A rearranging of terms describes the interrelationship of several parameters used in link analysis:
Basic Link Equation for Received Power :

We now have all the elements necessary to define the basic link equation for determining the
received power at the receiver antenna terminals for a satellite communications link. We refer
again to the basic communications link (Figure 4.1, repeated here as Figure 4.6).
The parameters of the link are defined as:

pt = transmitted power (watts);
pr = received power(watts);
gt = transmit antenna gain;
gr = receive antenna gain;
and r = path distance (meters or km).
The receiver power at the receive antenna terminals, pr , is given as
Or, expressed in dB,
This result gives the basic link equation, sometimes referred to as the Link Power Budget Equation,
for a satellite communications link, and is the design equation from which satellite design and
performance evaluations proceed.
The link equation expressed in equation.

Power received = EIRP x Receive antenna gain / Path loss [Watts]
Using decibel notations
The path loss component of equation is the algebraic sum of various loss components such as: losses
in the atmosphere due to attenuation by air, water vapor and rain, losses at the antenna at each side of
the link and possible reduction in antenna gain due to antenna is alignment (due to poor operation of
the AOC satellite subsystem). This needs to be incorporated into the link equation to ensure that the
system margin allowed is adequate.
SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE AND G/T RATIO

Noise temperature:
Noise temperature is useful concept in communication receivers, since it provides a way of
determining how much thermal noise is generated by active and passive devices in the receiving
system. At microwave frequencies, a black body with a physical temperature, Tp degrees kelvin,
generates electrical noise over a wide bandwidth. The noise power is given by
Pn=k.Tn.Bn
Where
k=Boltzmann’s constant=1.39x10-23J/K=-228.6dBW/K/Hz
Tn=Physical temperature of source in kelvin degrees
Bn=noise bandwidth in which the noise power is measured, in hertz
Pn is the available noise power (in watts) and will be delivered only to a load that is impedance
matched to the noise source.
The term kTn is a noise power spectral density, in watts per hertz.
We need a way to describe the noise produced by the components of a low noise receiver.
This can conveniently be done by equating the components to a black body radiator with an
equivalent noise temperature, Tn kelvins.
To determine the performance of a receiving system we need to be able to find the total
thermal noise power against which the signal must be demodulated.
We do this by determining the system noise temperature, Ts.
Ts is the noise temperature of a noise source, located at the input of a noiseless receiver,
which gives the same noise power as the original receiver, measured at the output of the receiver and
usually includes noise from the antenna.
If the overall end-to-end gain of the receiver is Grx and its narrowest bandwidth is Bn Hz, the
noise power at the demodulator input is
Pno=k.Ts.Bn.Grx watts
Where Grx is the gain of the receiver from RF input to demodulator input.
The noise power referred to the input of the receiver is Pn where Pno = kTsBn watts
Let the antenna deliver a signal power Pr watts to the receiver RF input. The signal power at the
demodulator input is PrGrx watts, representing the power contained in the carrier and sidebands after
amplification and frequency conversion within the receiver. Hence, the carrier-to-noise ratio at the
demodulator is given by
C/N = PrGrx / KTnBnGrx

= Pr / KTnBn
Carrier to Noise Ratio (C/N or CNR)

Determining the performance of a satellite communication system is not the signal (or carrier) power
but the carrier power to the noise power ratio (C/N) of the received signal, because this ratio is what
determines the quality of the transmitted information and whether it can be retrieved properly or not.
There is a difference between the term Carrier to Noise Ratio (C/N) and the Signal to Noise
Ratio (S/N).
Let us determine the relation between the carrier to noise ratio of the different satellite links
(uplink and downlink) and the carrier to noise ratio of the whole communication system
C/N Before and After a Block

What happens to the carrier to noise ratio before and after a specific block?
To get the answer, let us use consider a noisy transponder block shown below, where the
noise has been transferred to its input. Let us compute the C/N ratio at different points in this system
indicated by (1), (2), and (3) as indicated in the figure:
The conclusion, the C/N ratio before and after a noiseless device are the same. So, once the noise of
a system is moved to its input, it is enough to compute the C/N ratio before the remaining noiseless
device or after because they are basically the same.
C/N for a Complete Satellite System
Let us try to find the C/N ratio for the complete satellite system shown below that involves an uplink
and a downlink. We will assume at first that the Uplink Earth station that transmits to the satellite is
transmitting a noise-free signal towards the satellite.
We will consider the complete system’s C/N ratio and try to relate it to the C/N ratios of the
uplink and downlink separately. This will allow us to study the uplink and downlink of a satellite
separately and then combine them to get the overall C/N ratio. Note that since we are bringing the
noise of the satellite and the Downlink Earth Station (ES) to their inputs, we see that the C/N ratio
before and after each of these blocks is the same.
Uplink C/N Ratio

Considering first that the uplink Earth Station is transmitting noise-free signal, the received signal at
the Satellite is
The uplink noise at the input of the Satellite (resulting from the satellite receiving antenna and
satellite transponder noise) is given as below. Note that the bandwidth of all carrier signals and
noise signals are equal to Bn.
So, the Uplink C/N ratio is:
Downlink C/N Ratio

Considering now that the satellite transmits in the downlink a noise-free signal, the received
signal at the downlink Earth station is
The downlink noise at the input of the Earth Station (ES) (resulting from the ES receiving
antenna and ES receiver blocks noise) is given as below. Again, the bandwidth of all carrier
signals and noise signals are equal to Bn.
So, the Downlink C/N ratio is:
Overall C/N Ratio

Now, let us try to evaluate the C/N ratio of the overall system and try to relate it to the C/N ratio
of the uplink and C/N of the downlink. Let us again assume that transmitted signal by the uplink
ES is noise-free. The received signal at the Satellite is
This signal gets amplified by the satellite that has a gain of GSat such that the transmitted signal by
the satellite becomes
For the noise, the signal transmitted from the uplink earth station is assumed to be noise free, so the
noise at the satellite is noise that is generated by the satellite and is equal to what we found
previously:
This noise passes through the satellite, and therefore gets amplified by the gain of the satellite to
produce an amount equal to
This noise is transmitted to the downlink ES and experiences the same behavior that the information
signal experiences. So, the noise power at the ES becomes two components:
(1) the component that was generated by the satellite and got amplified and transmitted to the
ES, and
(2) the noise generated by the ES itself. So, the total noise at the receiver because of the two
components becomes:
Dividing the denominator into two parts and cancelling some quantities produces:
The above is an important conclusion that states that knowing the uplink C/N ratio and the downlink
(C/N) ratio (as it is the case when the two links are designed separately) allows us to compute the
overall C/N of the system from them.
This relationship is similar to the equivalent resistance that is obtained when connecting two
resistors in parallel. Recall that the equivalent resistance of two resistors connected in parallel is
smaller than any of the two resistors. The same thing holds here.
The overall C/N ratio is smaller than the either of the C/N ratios of the uplink or downlink. If
any of these C/N ratios is much smaller than the other, then it is the one that dominates the overall
C/N ratio resulting in an overall C/N ratio is slightly smaller than small C/N ratio.
The above relation can be extended for cases where multiple uplinks and multiple downlinks
are used. A general formula for the case where a signal is transmitted over m uplinks and m
downlinks would be:
In many cases, in addition to the noise that a link suffers from, the link would suffer from
interference from other transmitting earth stations or satellites at the same frequency.
For an uplink-downlink case where there is interference in the uplink and interference in the
downlink, the above formula can be modified to be become
which is given by:

Sat Com Unit 2 - VVC-Link Design - 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sat Com Unit 2 - VVC-Link Design - 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sat Com Unit 2 - VVC-Link Design - 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

8th Semester Electronics E-II Sat. Com.

Satellite Link Design

BASIC TRANSMISSION THEORY:

The parameters of the link are defined as:

An electromagnetic wave, referred to as a radiowave at radio frequencies, is nominally

The frequency and wavelength in free space are related by

eirp ≡ pt.gt or,

Power Flux Density:

where λ is the wavelength of the radiowave.

Circular Parabolic Reflector Antenna

Free-Space Path Loss

Basic Link Equation for Received Power :

The parameters of the link are defined as:

The receiver power at the receive antenna terminals, pr , is given as

Or, expressed in dB,

The link equation expressed in equation.

SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE AND G/T RATIO

C/N = PrGrx / KTnBnGrx

Carrier to Noise Ratio (C/N or CNR)

C/N Before and After a Block

Uplink C/N Ratio

So, the Uplink C/N ratio is:

Downlink C/N Ratio

So, the Downlink C/N ratio is:

Overall C/N Ratio

which is given by:

You might also like