INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

Manpreet kaur Asst. Professor, LPU

SATELLITES

A satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon. The basic component of a communications satellite is a receiver-transmitter, combination called a transponder. Satellite orbits about the earth are either circular or elliptical. Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include military and civilian earth observation satellites, communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather satellites, and research satellites.

HISTORY OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

1957 first satellite SPUTNIK I by USSR (did not have communication capability) 1958 first satellite by US EXPLORER I (first voice heard from space) 1960 first passive reflecting communication satellite ECHO I and II 1962 and 63 TELSTAR I and II, launched by Bell Telephone Laboratories 1963 first geostationary satellite SYNCOM

Cont

1965 first commercial geostationary satellite Early Bird (INTELSAT I): 240 duplex telephone channels and 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

APPLICATIONS
weather

satellites radio and TV broadcast satellites military satellites (replaced by fiber optics) satellites for navigation and localization (e.g., GPS) global telephone connections backbone for global networks connections for communication in remote places or underdeveloped areas global mobile communication

BASIC PRINCIPLE

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)

The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Telecommunication

When the telegraph was first used in the United States and other nations, the systems were completely independent of one another. All of the systems carried pulses of electricity which are encoded to represent the alphabets. Cost to send the message is different from system to system. When these systems begun to be interconnected, the issues of technical compatibility and of accounting arose, prompting lawmakers and international organizations to set standards and procedures

The Legal and Regulatory Problems

On the technical side, issues such as coding of letters and voltage levels that must be allowed to independent national system to be connected to one another. On the business side, companies and nations were forced to decide how to account and charge for a telegram that oriented in one country for delivery in another.

Telecommunication Issues

Telecommunication regulations deals with three major kinds of Issues:

Technical issues such as codes, voltages, address, and shape of connectors; these issues go under standards and protocols. Resource issues such as the limited spectrum, orbital space, and interference; these issues fall under allocation and coordination and Money issues such as availability of capital, risk management, insurance and who gets paid how much and in what manner; these issues are comes under business strategy and tariffs.

Dealing with legal and regulatory issues among more than 200 nations is much more difficult, timeconsuming and money consuming than dealing with technical details. Thus, many telecommunication services that are

Satellite Telephone Call B/N Two Countries

Telecommunication task go through many steps involving different companies, technologies and nations

Cont

The calling telephone is connected via a local loop to a local central office in country A. The central office is connected by a long-distance carrier to a international gateway established in country A. The call is carried through the satellite called space segment. The call is passed through a long distance company in country Z to a central office near the called number. The local loop is connected to the called telephone.

Cont.

Each of the above steps may involve a different company and thus may be subjected to a different tariff. Bill received be the calling party for a call will be composed of telephone companys charges for local services, long-distance charges, uplink and downlink charges, space segment charges and termination charges from country Z passed along the calling party.

Standards and Protocols

Standards are the agreements that allow connections to be made, called protocols. Standards can be simple or complex. Standards specifies that how many bits make up a computer word, how many words make up a frame, which bit represent the identity of the sender and receiver for a digital transmission, the shape of the connectors, the voltage and currents to be used, how to compress video signal, and many other details.

The International Telecommunication Union

In 1865, International Telegraph Union has been established to coordinate the telegraph system in 20 European nations. It is the world oldest technical organization. For the telephone systems that was invented only a decade after telegraph system International Telegraph Union set up a standard committee called the Consultative Committee For International Telegraphy and Telephony (CCITT). In the year 1932, a separately formed body, the International Radiotelegraph Union, merged with the Telegraph Union and the overall body became International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The radiotelegraph functions became a committee called Consultative Committee For International Radio (CCIR).

ITU Regions

The ITU considers the world divided into three large geographic regions, referred to ITU regions or WRC (World Radio Conference). Regulations and standards may be set differently in deferent regions. The three regions are
ITU region 1 consists of all the Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Soviet Union. ITU region 2 includes the America, Greenland (but not Iceland), and the ocean region adjacent to North and South America. ITU region 3 encompasses everything else, including most of Asia, the East Indies, India, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Korea.

Other Standards and Regulatory Organization

Each nation has some standard-setting organizations and telecommunication regulations.

ISO International Standard Organization- covers the area of telecommunication. Its technical committee 97 set standards for data processing and data communication.

OSI Open System Interconnection model is its best known standard which defines seven layers of data handling during transmission.

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering- many of its standards have gone on to become global standards. IEC International Electrotechnical Commissions which

Satellite Services

The satellite delivered telecommunication applications fall into 12 service categories with some subcategories designed by ITU. Of these only five are of major interest of commercial end users:

fixed satellite service (FSS) Broadcast satellite service (BSS) Mobile satellite service (MSS) Radio Determination satellite service (RDSS) Radio Navigation satellite service (RNSS)

One service is primarily important to the operators of satellite system

Inter-satellite service (ISS)

Cont

Six designated services are which are primarily important to specialized users such as scientific researchers, space exploration agencies and satellite operators: Amateur Satellite Services Earth-exploration Satellite Services Meteorological Satellite Services Space operation Services Space research Services Standard Frequency and Time Signal Satellite Services

Fixed Satellite Service (FSS)

This is the oldest and most used of all the satellite services. It is intended for communication through a satellite between earth stations and are fixed (not usually moving when are in use), or which are with in a specific area. E.g. point-to-point communication. The FSS frequency allocations also specify the direction of the signal travel, assigning one frequency band for uplink, and another complimentary band to the downlinks FSS services are intended for television, telephony and data signals. FSS frequency allocation are in the C, Ku, Ka band.

Broadcast satellite service (BSS)

BSS is designed to provide audio and video services directly to end users: BSS-TV, BSSHDTV, BSS-sound. Theses services specify orbital slot, frequencies and channels. Also specifies interference ratio, minimum power sent to user. Also called Direct Broadcast Services or Direct to home Services (DTH).

Mobile satellite service (MSS)

Satellite delivers the services to the users on the go and are divided into three major categories, depending upon the location of user.

MMSS- Maritime Mobile satellite service (MSS) AMSS- Aeronautical Mobile satellite service (MSS) LMSS- Land Mobile satellite service (MSS)

All these services are primarily to carry telephone calls, while sometimes carrying low speed digital services such as: facsimile. Highly compressed data can be transmitted through these services.

Radio Determination satellite service (RDSS)

RDSS is designed to provide the ability to the users to determine and if desired report there location to some one else. In some cases mobile unit uses radio navigation services such as LORAN, to find its position. The unit relays the information via RDSS satellite service back to the office. The links from the mobile user to and from the satellite operate in L-band for uplink and S-band for the downlink. While the link from the satellite to the control facility uses C-band frequencies.

Radio Navigation satellite service (RNSS)

These services are designed specifically for the navigation, in contrast to radiolocation and position reporting. These services are little used at present.

Inter-satellite service (ISS)

Radio communication between satellites. This service is not for end users but one way for satellite operators to route traffic. It is authorized in the Ka- band. Until the late 1990s, ISS also called satellite to satellite links (SSL)