Introduction to Satellite

Communications
Satellites
 The basic component of a communications satellite is a
receiver-transmitter combination called a transponder.

 A satellite stays in orbit because the gravitational pull of

the earth is balanced by the centripetal force of the
revolving satellite.

 Satellite orbits about the earth are either circular or

elliptical.
History of satellite
communication
 1945 Arthur C. Clarke publishes an essay about „Extra
Terrestrial Relays“
 1957 first satellite SPUTNIK
 1960 first reflecting communication satellite ECHO
 1963 first geostationary satellite SYNCOM
 1965 first commercial geostationary satellite Satellit
„Early Bird“ (INTELSAT I): 240 duplex telephone
channels or 1 TV channel, 1.5 years lifetime
 1976 three MARISAT satellites for maritime
communication
 1982 first mobile satellite telephone system INMARSAT-A
 1988 first satellite system for mobile phones and data
communication INMARSAT-C
 1993 first digital satellite telephone system
 1998 global satellite systems for small mobile phones
Applications

 Traditionally
 weather satellites
 radio and TV broadcast satellites
 military satellites
 satellites for navigation and localization (e.g., GPS)
 Telecommunication
 global telephone connections
 backbone for global networks
 connections for communication in remote places or
underdeveloped areas
 global mobile communication

  satellite systems to extend cellular phone systems (e.g.,

GSM or AMPS)
 Inter Satellite Link
(ISL)
Mobile User
Link (MUL) MUL
Gateway Link
(GWL) GWL

small cells
(spotbeams)

base station
or gateway
footprint

ISDN PSTN GSM

PSTN: Public Switched User data

Telephone Network
Basics

 Satellites in circular orbits

 attractive force F = m g (R/r)²
g
 centrifugal force F = m r ω²
c
 m: mass of the satellite
 R: radius of the earth (R = 6370 km)
 r: distance to the center of the earth
 g: acceleration of gravity (g = 9.81 m/s²)
 ω: angular velocity (ω = 2 π f, f: rotation frequency)
 Stable orbit
 F = F
2
gR
g c

r=3
(2π f ) 2
Satellite
24 period and orbits
satellite
velocity [ x1000 km/h] period [h]
20

16

12

4
synchronous distance
35,786 km

10 20 30 40 x106 m
radius
Basics

 elliptical or circular orbits

 complete rotation time depends on distance satellite-earth
 inclination: angle between orbit and equator
 elevation: angle between satellite and horizon
 LOS (Line of Sight) to the satellite necessary for connection
 high elevation needed, less absorption due to e.g. buildings
 Uplink: connection base station - satellite
 Downlink: connection satellite - base station
 typically separated frequencies for uplink and downlink
 transponder used for sending/receiving and shifting of
frequencies
 transparent transponder: only shift of frequencies
 regenerative transponder: additionally signal regeneration
Inclination plane of satellite orbit

satellite orbit

perigee

inclination δ

equatorial plane
 Elevation

Elevation:
angle ε between center of satellite beam
and surface

minimal elevation:
elevation needed at least ε
to communicate with the satellite int
t pr
foo
Link budget of satellites
 Parameters like attenuation or received power determined by
four parameters:
 sending power
 gain of sending antenna L: Loss 2
 distance between sender f: carrier frequency  4π r f 
and receiver r: distance L= 
 gain of receiving antenna c: speed of light  c 
 Problems
 varying strength of received signal due to multipath propagation
 interruptions due to shadowing of signal (no LOS)
 Possible solutions
 Link Margin to eliminate variations in signal strength
 satellite diversity (usage of several visible satellites at the same
time) helps to use less sending power
Orbits I
 Four different types of satellite orbits can be
identified depending on the shape and diameter of
the orbit:
 GEO: geostationary orbit, ca. 36000 km above earth
surface
 LEO (Low Earth Orbit): ca. 500 - 1500 km
 MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) or ICO (Intermediate
Circular Orbit): ca. 6000 - 20000 km
 HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) elliptical orbits
 Orbits II HEO
GEO (Inmarsat)

MEO (ICO)

LEO inner and outer Van

(Globalstar, Allen belts
Irdium)

earth

1000
10000

Van-Allen-Belts: 35768
km
ionized particles
2000 - 6000 km and
15000 - 30000 km
above earth surface
Geostationary satellites
 Orbit 35,786 km distance to earth surface, orbit in
equatorial plane (inclination 0°)
  complete rotation exactly one day, satellite is
synchronous to earth rotation
 fix antenna positions, no adjusting necessary
 satellites typically have a large footprint (up to 34% of
earth surface!), therefore difficult to reuse frequencies
 bad elevations in areas with latitude above 60° due to
fixed position above the equator
 high transmit power needed
 high latency due to long distance (ca. 275 ms)

  not useful for global coverage for small mobile phones

and data transmission, typically used for radio and TV
transmission
 LEO systems

 Orbit ca. 500 - 1500 km above earth surface

 visibility of a satellite ca. 10 - 40 minutes
 global radio coverage possible
 latency comparable with terrestrial long distance
connections, ca. 5 - 10 ms
 smaller footprints, better frequency reuse
 but now handover necessary from one satellite to another
 many satellites necessary for global coverage
 more complex systems due to moving satellites

 Examples:
 Iridium (start 1998, 66 satellites)
 Bankruptcy in 2000, deal with US DoD (free use,
saving from “deorbiting”)
 Globalstar (start 1999, 48 satellites)
 Not many customers (2001: 44000), low stand-by times for
mobiles
MEO systems
 Orbit ca. 5000 - 12000 km above earth surface
 comparison with LEO systems:
 slower moving satellites
 less satellites needed
 simpler system design
 for many connections no hand-over needed
 higher latency, ca. 70 - 80 ms
 higher sending power needed
 special antennas for small footprints needed

 Example:
 ICO (Intermediate Circular Orbit, Inmarsat) start ca. 2000
 Bankruptcy, planned joint ventures with Teledesic, Ellipso –
cancelled again, start planned for 2003
Routing
 One solution: inter satellite links (ISL)
 reduced number of gateways needed
 forward connections or data packets within the satellite network
as long as possible
 only one uplink and one downlink per direction needed for the
connection of two mobile phones
 Problems:
 more complex focusing of antennas between satellites
 high system complexity due to moving routers
 higher fuel consumption
 thus shorter lifetime
 Iridium and Teledesic planned with ISL
 Other systems use gateways and additionally terrestrial networks
System Design Considerations
Basic Principles
Satellite

Uplink Downlink
Earth
Station Earth
Station

Source Output
Tx Information Rx
Information
 Signals

Signals:
Carried by wires as voltage or current
Transmitted through space as electromagnetic waves.
Analog:
Voltage or Current proportional to signal; e.g., Telephone.
Digital: Generated by computers.
Ex. Binary = 1 or 0 corresponding to +1V or –1V.
Separating Signals
Up and Down:
FDD: Frequency Division Duplexing.
f1 = Uplink
f2 = Downlink
TDD: Time Division Duplexing.
t1=Up, t2=Down, t3=Up, t4=Down,….
Polarization
V & H linear polarization
RH & LH circular polarizations
 Separating Signals
(so that many transmitters can use the same transponder
simultaneously)

Between Users or “Channels” (Multiple Access):

FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access; assigns each transmitter its
own carrier frequency
f1 = User 1; f2 = User 2; f3 = User 3, …

TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access; each transmitter is given its own
time slot
t1=User_1, t2=User_2, t3=User_3, t4 = User_1, ...

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access; each transmitter transmits

simultaneously and at the same frequency and each transmission is
modulated by its own pseudo randomly coded bit stream
Code 1 = User 1; Code 2 = User 2; Code 3 = User 3
Digital Communication
System

TRANSMITTER

Source Source Channel Modulator

Data Coding Coding

RF
Channel

Output Source Channel Demodulator

Data Decoding Decoder

RECEIVER
Satellite Orbits (Cont’d)
 Satellites orbit the earth from heights of 100 to 22,300 mi and
travel at speeds of 6800 to 17,500 mi/h.

 A satellite that orbits directly over the equator 22,300 mi from

earth is said to be in a geostationary orbit.

 Geostationary (GEO) satellite: revolves in synchronism with the

earth’s rotation, so it appears to be stationary when seen from
points on the earth.
3D Orbit
 Satellite orbits are not just determined by
radius. There is also an inclination of the
orbit relative to the equatorial plane
(plane formed by the earth’s equator).
Orbit of
Satellite
Inclination
Equatorial
Plane

ne
l Pla Earth
ta
Orbi
Stabilizing Satellite Orbits
 A satellite is stabilized in orbit by spinning it on its axis or
building in spinning flywheels for each major axis (roll, pitch,
yaw).

 Attitude adjustments on a satellite are made by firing small jet

thrusters to change the satellite’s position or speed.
 Satellites are launched into orbit by rockets that give them
vertical as well as forward motion.
Initial Boost offered by
Earth

 The strength of this boost given by earth’s

rotation depends on the rotational velocity
of Earth at the launch location.

 The boost is greatest at the equator, where

the distance around Earth is greatest and
so rotation is fastest.
Initial Boost (Cont’d)
 How big is the boost from an equatorial launch?
 To make a rough estimate, we can determine Earth's
circumference by multiplying its diameter by pi (3.1416).
 The diameter of Earth is approximately 7,926 miles.
Multiplying by pi yields a circumference of something like
24,900 miles.
 To travel around that circumference in 24 hours, a point
on Earth's surface has to move at 1,038 mph.
Orbit Velocity
 Orbital velocity is the velocity needed to
achieve balance between

 gravity's pull on the satellite and

 the inertia of the satellite's motion --
the satellite's tendency to keep going.

 Without gravity, the satellite's inertia

would carry it off into space.
Orbit Velocity (Cont’d)

 Even with gravity, if the intended satellite goes too fast, it

will eventually fly away. On the other hand, if the satellite
goes too slowly, gravity will pull it back to Earth.

 At the correct orbital velocity, gravity exactly balances

satellite's inertia.

 The orbital velocity of the satellite depends on its altitude

above Earth. The nearer Earth, the faster the required
orbital velocity.
Drag
 In general, the higher the orbit, the longer the satellite can stay
in orbit.
 At lower altitudes, a satellite runs into traces of Earth's
atmosphere, which creates drag.
 Drag causes orbit to decay until the satellite falls back into the
atmosphere and burns up.
 At higher altitudes,
altitudes where the vacuum of space is nearly
complete, there is almost no drag and a satellite can stay in orbit
for centuries (take the moon as an example).
Different Roles for Satellites
 Weather satellites help meteorologists predict the weather or
see what's happening at the moment. The satellites generally
contain cameras that can return photos of Earth's weather.
 Communications satellites allow telephone and data
conversations to be relayed through the satellite. The most
important feature of a communications satellite is the
transponder -- a radio that receives a conversation at one
frequency and then amplifies it and retransmits it back to Earth
on another frequency.
Different Satellites (Cont’d)
 Broadcast satellites broadcast television signals from one point
to another (similar to communications satellites).

 Scientific satellites perform a variety of scientific missions. The

Hubble Space Telescope is the most famous scientific satellite,
but there are many others looking at everything from sun spots
to gamma rays.

 Navigational satellites help ships and planes navigate, e.g.,

GPS.
Different Satellites (Cont’d)

 Rescue satellites respond to radio distress signals.

 Earth observation satellites observe the planet for

changes in everything from temperature to forestation to
ice-sheet coverage.

 Military satellites are up there, but much of the actual

application information remains secret.
Some Possible Military
Applicaitons

 Relaying encrypted communications

 Nuclear monitoring
 Observing enemy movements
 Early warning of missile launches
 Eavesdropping on terrestrial radio links
 Radar imaging
 Photography (using what are essentially
large telescopes that take pictures of
militarily interesting areas)
Similarities between
Satellites
 All satellites have a metal or composite
frame and body, usually known as the
bus. The bus holds everything together in
space and provides enough strength to
survive the launch.

 They have a source of power (usually

solar cells) and batteries for storage.
Satellites Similarities
 They have an onboard computer to
control and monitor the different systems.

 They have a radio system and antenna.

 All satellites have an attitude control

system. The ACS keeps the satellite
pointed in the right direction.
Transponder
 Some satellites have (hundreds of)
transponders for communication purposes.

 A transponder
1) receives transmissions from earth (uplink);

2) changes signal frequency;

3) amplifies the signal; and

4) transmits the signal to earth (downlink).

Satellite Subsystems

 The main subsystems in a satellite are

 communications;
 power;
 telemetry; tracking, and control (TTC);
 propulsion;
 attitude stabilization; and
 antenna subsystems.

 Power subsystem consists of solar panels, batteries, dc-to-dc

converters, and regulators. Solar panels convert sunlight into
power to operate all satellite electronics and to charge batteries
(used when sunlight is blocked).
Satellite Subsystems
(Cont’d)

 The TTC subsystem contains a receiver that

picks up commands from a ground station
and translates them into control signals
that initiate some action on board.

 The telemetry system monitors physical

conditions within the satellites and converts
them into electrical signals that are
transmitted back to earth.
Ground Stations: The Other
End
 Satellites in space communicate
(transmit/receive radio waves) with
ground stations.

 Ground stations consist of subsystems:

 transmit/receive;
 Power;
 Antenna;
 TTC; and
 ground control equipment (GCE).
Satellite Dish
 Ground stations feature large
parabolic dish antennas with high
gain and directivity for receiving the
weak satellite signal. Satellite signals

The larger the dish is

the higher the received
signal power.
Important Satellite
Classifications
 GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) satellites orbit about 36,000 km
above Earth’s surface.

 LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites are about 500-1500 km above

earth’s surface.

 MEO (Medium EO) satellites are about 6000-20,000 km above

earth’s surface.

 There are also HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) satellites.

Orbits of Different Satellites
LEO (Iridium) GEO (Inmarsat)

Earth

1000 km
MEO (ICO)
10,000 km
HEO
35,768 km
Not drawn to scale
GEO Satellites

 The majority of communications satellites

are GEOs. These support voice, data, and
video services, most often providing fixed
services to a particular region.

 For example, GEO satellites provide back-up

voice capacity for majority of U.S. long
distance telephone companies and carry
bulk of nation-wide television broadcasts,
which commonly are distributed via from a
central point to affiliate stations throughout
country.
GEO’s (Cont’d)
 GEO systems are less complicated to
maintain because fixed location requires
relatively little tracking capability at
ground.

 High orbital altitude allows GEOs to

remain in orbit longer than systems
operating closer to earth.
GEOs (Cont’d)
 These characteristics, along with their
high bandwidth capacity, may provide a
cost advantage over other system types.

 However, their more distant orbit also

requires relatively large terrestrial
antennae and high-powered equipment
and are subject to delays.
Satellite Delay
 An important artifact of satellite communications is delay.
 The radio signal has to travel a large distance to reach satellite
from ground station (or to reach ground station from satellite).

Variation of Delay as a Function of Elevation Angle

Delay

0 90
Elevation Angle, θ, in degrees
LEOs
 Typical LEO satellite takes less than 2
hours to orbit the Earth, which means
that a single satellite is "in view" of
ground equipment for a only a few
minutes.

 If transmission takes more than few

minutes that any one satellite is in view, a
LEO system must "hand off" between
satellites to complete the transmission.
LEOs (Cont’d)

 Handoffs can be accomplished by relaying

signals between satellite and various
ground stations, or by communicating
between satellites themselves using "inter-
satellite links."

 LEO systems designed to have more than

1 satellite in view from any spot on earth at
any given time.
LEOs (Cont’d)
 LEO systems must incorporate sophisticated tracking and
switching equipment to maintain consistent service coverage.

 Advantages: very little delay, operate using smaller equipment

(because signals travel shorter distance), etc.
 Disadvantages: highly complex and sophisticated control and
switching systems, shorter life span (subject to greater
gravitational pull and higher transmission rates lead to shorter
battery life).
MEOs
 MEOs are “in between” a GEO and a LEO.
 Advantages/Disadvantages are also in between:
 PRO: MEO systems will require far fewer
satellites than LEOs, reducing overall system
complexity and cost, while still requiring fewer
technological fixes to eliminate signal delay
than GEOs.
 CON: MEO satellites, like LEOs, have a much
shorter life expectancy than GEOs, requiring
more frequent launches to maintain system
over time.
Satellite Costs
 Satellite launches don't always go well;
there is a great deal at stake. The cost of
satellites and launches to name one.

 For example, a recent hurricane-watch

satellite mission cost $290 million. A
missile-warning satellite cost $682
million.
Satellite Costs (Cont’d)
 A satellite launch can cost anywhere
between $50 million and $400 million.
Russian launches are generally the
cheapest and the French launches are the
most expensive.

 A shuttle mission pushes toward half a

billion dollars (a shuttle mission could
easily carry several satellites into orbit).
Major U.S. Satellite Firms
 Hughes
 Ball Aerospace &Technologies Corp.
 Boeing
 Lockheed Martin
GPS: The Basics
What is it?
 GPS: Global Positioning System is a
worldwide radio-navigation system
formed from a constellation of 24
satellites and their ground stations.

 A simplistic explanation:
GPS uses these “man-made
stars” as reference points to
calculate positions accurate
to a matter of meters.
What is it? (Cont’d)
 Advanced forms of GPS make measurements to better than a
centimeter.

 Devised by the U.S. Department of Defense for fleet

management, navigation, etc.

 Although the U.S. military developed and implemented this

satellite network as a military navigation system, it soon opened
it up to everybody else.
More Background
 Each satellite is expected to last
approximately 7.5 years and
replacements are constantly being built
and launched into orbit.

 Each satellite transmits on three

frequencies.

 Civilian GPS uses the L1 frequency of

1575.42 MHz.
More Background (Cont’d)

 Day-to-day running of GPS program and

operation of system rests with the
Department of Defense (DoD).

 Management is performed by US Air Force

with guidance from DoD
Positioning/Navigation executive
Committee.

 This committee receives input from a

similar committee within Department of
Transportation (DoT) who act as civilian
voice for GPS policy matters.
Background (Cont’d)

 Each of these 3,000- to 4,000-pound solar-

powered satellites circles the globe at about
12,000 miles (19,300 km), making two
complete rotations every day.

 The orbits are arranged so that at

any time, anywhere on Earth,
there are at least four satellites
"visible" in the sky.
Triangulation
 A GPS receiver's job is to locate four or more of
these satellites, figure out the distance to each,
and use this information to deduce its own
location.

 This operation is based on a simple

mathematical principle called triangulation or
trilateration.

 Triangulation in three-dimensional space can be

a little tricky, so we'll start with an explanation
of simple two-dimensional trilateration.
An Example of 2D
Triangulation
 Imagine you are somewhere in the United States and you are
TOTALLY lost -- for whatever reason, you have absolutely no clue
where you are.

 You find a friendly local and ask, "Where am I?" He says, "You
are 625 miles from Boise, Idaho."

 This is a nice, hard fact, but it is not particularly useful by itself.

You could be anywhere on a circle around Boise that has a radius
of 625 miles
Where in the U.S. am I?

 To pinpoint your location better, you ask somebody else

where you are.

 She says, "You are 690 miles from Minneapolis,

Minnesota.“ If you combine this information with the
Boise information, you have two circles that intersect.
Where in the U.S. am I?
(Cont’d)

 If a third person tells you that you are 615 miles from
Tucson, Arizona, you can eliminate one of the possibilities,
because the third circle will only intersect with one of
these points. You now know exactly where you are…
Where in the U.S. am I?
(Cont’d)

 You are in Denver, CO!

 This same concept works in three-dimensional space, as

well, but you're dealing with spheres instead of circles.
Another 2D Example

 Consider the case of a mariner at sea (receiver)

determining his/her position using a foghorn (transmitter).

 Assume the ship keeps an accurate clock and mariner has

approximate knowledge of ship’s location.

Fog
Foghorn Example
 Foghorn whistle is sounded precisely on
the minute mark and ship clock is
synchronized to foghorn clock.

 Mariner notes elapsed time from minute

mark until foghorn whistle is heard.

 This propagation time multiplied by speed

of sound is distance from foghorn to
mariner’s ear.
Foghorn Example (Cont’d)
 Based on measurement from one such
foghorn, we know mariner’s distance (D)
to foghorn.
 With measurement from one foghorn,
mariner can be located anywhere on the
circle denoted below:
D

Foghorn 1
Foghorn Example (Cont’d)
 If mariner simultaneously measured time
range from 2nd foghorn in same way.

 Assuming, transmissions synchronized to

a common time base and mariner knows
the transmission times. Then:
A
D 2
D

Foghorn 1 Foghorn 2

B
Possible Location of Mariner
Foghorn Example (Cont’d)
 Since mariner has approximate
knowledge of ship’s location, he/she can
resolve the ambiguity between location A
and B.
 If not, then measurementD
from a third
foghorn is needed.
2
D

Foghorn 1 Foghorn 2

D3
Foghorn 3
How Foghorn Relates to
GPS
 The foghorn examples operates in 2D space.
GPS performs similar location but in 3D.

 The foghorn examples shows how time-of-arrival

of signal (whistle) can be used to locate a ship in
a fog. In this time-of-arrival of signal, we
assumed we knew when the signal was
transmitted.

 We measured the arrival time of the signal to

determine distance. Multiple distance
measurements from other signals were used to
locate the ship exactly.
Foghorn Example:
Consider Effect of Errors

 Foghorn/mariner
discussion assumed ship’s
clock was precisely D2+e2
synchronized to foghorn’s D+e1
time base.
Foghorn 1 Foghorn 2

 This may not be the case

→ errors in TOA
measurements.
D3+e3
Foghorn 3
 If we make a fourth
measurement, we can Estimated
remove this uncertainty. Location Area
of Ship
3D Triangulation
 Fundamentally, three-dimensional
trilateration is not much different from
two-dimensional trilateration, but it's a
little trickier to visualize.

 Imagine the radii from the examples in

the last section going off in all directions.
So instead of a series of circles, you get a
series of spheres.
GPS Triangulation
 If you know you are 10 miles from satellite A in the sky,
you could be anywhere on the surface of a huge, imaginary
sphere with a 10-mile radius.

10 miles

Earth
GPS Triangulation (Cont’d)
 If you also know you are 15 miles from satellite B, you can
overlap the first sphere with another, larger sphere. The
spheres intersect in a perfect circle.

15 miles
10 miles
GPS Triangulation (Cont’d)
 The circle intersection implies that the GPS receiver lies
somewhere in a partial ring on the earth.

Perfect circle formed from

locating two satellites

Possible
Locations of
GPS Receiver
GPS Triangulation (Cont’d)
 If you know the distance to a third satellite, you get a
third sphere, which intersects with this circle at two points.
GPS Triangulation (Cont’d)
 The Earth itself can act as a fourth
sphere -- only one of the two
possible points will actually be on the
surface of the planet, so you can
eliminate the one in space.

 Receivers generally look to four or

more satellites, however, to improve
accuracy and provide precise altitude
information.
GPS Receivers
 In order to make this simple calculation,
then, the GPS receiver has to know two
things:
 The location of at least three satellites
above you
 The distance between you and each of
those satellites
 The GPS receiver figures both of these
things out by analyzing high-frequency,
low-power radio signals from the GPS
satellites.
GPS Receivers (Cont’d)
 Better units have multiple receivers, so
they can pick up signals from several
satellites simultaneously.

 Radio waves travel at the speed of light

(about 186,000 miles per second,
300,000 km per second in a vacuum).

 The receiver can figure out how far the

signal has traveled by timing how long it
took the signal to arrive. (Similar to
foghorn example.)