Satellite Link Design
Content
Design of the Satellite Links
Link Budget and their Interpretation
Introduction
A satellite link is defined as an Earth
station - satellite - Earth station
connection.
The Earth station - satellite segment
is called the uplink
The satellite - Earth station segment
is called the downlink
Introduction
The Earth station design consists of,
The Transmission Link Design or the
Link Budget,
the Transmission System Design.
The Link Budget establishes the
resources needed for a given service
to achieve the performance objectives
Design of the Satellite Link
The satellite link is probably the most
basic in microwave communications
since a line-of-sight path typically
exists between the Earth and space.
This means that an imaginary line
extending between the transmitting
or receiving Earth station and the
satellite antenna passes only through
the atmosphere and not ground
obstacles.
Design of the Satellite Link
Free-space attenuation is determined by the
inverse square law, which states that the power
received is inversely proportional to the square of
the distance.
There are, however, a number of additional
effects that produce a significant amount of
degradation and time variation.
These include rain, terrain effects such as
absorption by trees and walls, and some lessobvious impairment produced by unstable
conditions of the air and ionosphere.
Design of the Satellite Link
It is the job of the communication engineer
to identify all of the significant contributions
to performance and make sure that they are
properly taken into account.
The
required
factors
include
the
performance of the satellite itself,
The configuration and performance of the
uplink and downlink Earth stations, and
The impact of the propagation medium in
the frequency band of interest.
Design of the Satellite Link
The RF carrier in any microwave communications
link begins at the transmitting electronics and
propagates from the transmitting antenna through
the medium of free space and absorptive
atmosphere to the receiving antenna, where it is
recovered by the receiving electronics.
The carrier is modulated by a baseband signal that
transfers information for the particular application.
The first step in designing the microwave link is to
identify the overall requirements and the critical
components that determine performance.
For this purpose, we use the basic arrangement of
the link shown in Figure.
Design of the Satellite Link
Design of the Satellite Link
Bidirectional (duplex) communication
occurs with a separate transmission
from each Earth station.
Due to the analog nature of the radio
frequency link, each element
contributes a gain or loss to the link
and may add noise and interference
as well.
Design of the Satellite Link
The result in the overall performance is
presented in terms of the ratio of carrier
power to noise and, ultimately,
information quality
Any uncertainty can be covered by
providing an appropriate amount of link
margin, which is over and above the C/N
needed to deal with propagation effects
and nonlinearity in the Earth stations and
satellite repeater.
Link Parameters Impact on Service Quality
Satellite Link Design
The four factors related to satellite system design:
1.The weight of satellite
2.The choice frequency band
3.Atmospheric propagation effects
4.Multiple access technique
The major frequency bands are 6/4 GHz, 14/11
GHz and 30/20 GHz (Uplink/Downlink)
At geostationary orbit there is already satellites
using both 6/4 and 14/11 GHz every 2(minimum
space to avoid interference from uplink earth
stations)
LINK BUDGET
The link budget determines the antenna size to deploy,
Power requirements,
link availability,
bit error rate,
overall customer satisfaction with the satellite service.
A link budget is a tabular method for evaluating the
power received and the noise ratio in a radio link .
It simplifies C/N ratio calculations
The link budget must be calculated for an individual
transponder, and must be recalculated for each of the
individual links
LINK BUDGET
The satellite link is composed primarily of
three segments:
(i) the transmitting Earth station and the
uplink media;
(ii) the satellite; and
(iii) the downlink media and the receiving
Earth station.
The carrier level received at the end of
the link is a straightforward addition of
the losses and gains in the path between
transmitting and receiving Earth stations .
LINK BUDGETS
C/N ratio calculation is simplified by the
use of link budgets
Evaluation of the received power and
noise power in radio link
the link budget must be calculated for
individual transponder and for each link
When a bent pipe transponder is used
the uplink and down link C/N ratios must
be combined to give an overall C/N
Link Budget Example
Satellite application engineers need to assess and allocate performance for
each source of gain and loss.
The link budget is the most effective means since it can address and display
all of the components of the power balance equation, expressed in decibels.
In the past, each engineer was free to create a personalized methodology and
format for their own link budgets.
This worked adequately as long as the same person continued to do the work.
Problems arose, however, when link budgets were exchanged between
engineers, as formats and assumptions can vary.
A standardized link budget software tool should be used that performs all of
the relevant calculations and presents the results in a clear and complete
manner.
Link Budget Example
We will now evaluate a specific example using a
simplified link budget containing the primary
contributors.
This will provide a typical format and some
guidelines for a practical approach.
Separate uplink and downlink budgets are provided;
our evaluation of the total end-to-end link presumes
the use of a bent-pipe repeater.
This is one that transfers both carrier and noise from
the uplink to the downlink, with only a frequency
translation and amplification.
The three constituents are often shown in a single
table, but dividing them should make the
development of the process clearer for readers.
The detailed engineering comes into play with the
development of each entry of the table.
Several of the entries are calculated using
straightforward mathematical equations; others
Link Budget Example
This particular example is for a Cband digital video link at 40 Mbps,
which is capable of transmitting 8 to
12 TV channels using the Motion
Picture Experts Group 2 (MPEG 2)
standard.
Link Budget Example:
Downlink Budget
The following Table 2.3 presents the downlink budget in a
manner that identifies
the characteristics of the satellite transmitter
and antenna,
the path,
the receiving antenna,
and the expected performance of the Earth station receiver.
It contains the elements that select the desired radio signal
(i.e., the carrier) and demodulates the useful information (i.e.,
the digital baseband containing the MPEG 2 transport bit
stream).
Once converted back to baseband, the transmission can be
applied to other processes, such as de-multiplexing,
decryption, and digital-to-analog conversion (D/A conversion).
Link Budget Example:
Downlink Budget
Link Budget Example:
Downlink Budget
Each of the link parameters relates to a specific
piece of hardware or some property of the
microwave path between space and ground.
A good way to develop the link budget is to
prepare it with a spreadsheet program.
This permits the designer to include the various
formulas directly in the budget, thus avoiding
the problem of external calculation or the
potential for arithmetic error
Commercial link budget software, such as
SatMaster Pro from Arrowe Technical Services,
does the same job but in a standardized
fashion.
Satellite link design -Uplink
Uplink design
is easier than the down link in many
cases
earth station could use higher power
transmitters
Earth station transmitter power is set by the
power level required at the input to the
transporter, either
a specific flux density is required at the satellite
a specific power level is required at the input to
the transporter
analysis of the uplink requires calculation of the
power level at the input to the transponder so
that uplink C/N ratio can be found
With small-diameter earth stations, a higher
power earth station transmitter is required to
achieve a similar satellite EIRP.
interference to other satellites rises due to
Link Budget Example:
Uplink Budget
C/N
[C/N0]D = [EIRP]D + [G/T]D - [LOSSES]D
[k] [C/N0]U = [EIRP]U + [G/T]U [LOSSES]U [k]
Link Budget Example:
Overall Link Budget
The last step in link budgeting for a bent-pipe repeater is to combine the
two link performances and compare the result against a minimum
requirementalso called the threshold.
Table 2.5 presents a detailed evaluation of the overall link under the
conditions of line-of-sight propagation in clear sky.
We have included an allocation for interference coming from sources such
as a cross-polarized transponder and adjacent satellites.
This type of entry is necessary because all operating satellite networks are
exposed to one or more sources of interference.
The bottom line represents the margin that is available to counter rain
attenuation and any other losses that were not included in the link budgets.
Alternatively, rain margin can be allocated separately to the uplink and
downlink, with the combined availability value being the arithmetic product
of the two as a decimal value (e.g., if the uplink and downlink were each
99.9%, then the combined availability is 0.999 0.999 = 0.998 or 99.8%).
Link Budget Example:
Overall Link Budget
SATELLITE LINK DESIGN
METHODOLOGY
The design methodology for a one-way satellite
communication link can be summarized into the
following steps.
The return link follows the same procedure.
Step 1. Frequency band determination.
Step 2. Satellite communication parameters
determination. Make informed guesses for
unknown values.
Step 3. Earth station parameter determination;
both uplink and downlink.
Step 4. Establish uplink budget and a transponder
noise power budget to find (C/N)up in the
transponder
Step 5. Determine transponder output power from
SATELLITE LINK DESIGN
METHODOLOGY
Step 6. Establish a downlink power and noise
budget for the receiving earth station
Step 7. Calculate (C/N)down and (C/N)u for a
station at the outermost contour of the
satellite footprint.
Step 8. Calculate SNR/BER in the baseband
channel.
Step 9. Determine the link margin.
Step 10. Do a comparative analysis of the
result vis--vis the specification requirements.
SATELLITE LINK DESIGN
METHODOLOGY
Step 11. Tweak system parameters to obtain acceptable
(C/N)0 /SNR/BER values.
Step 12. Propagation condition determination.
Step 13. Uplink and downlink unavailability estimation.
Step 14. Redesign system by changing some parameters if
the link margins are inadequate.
Step 15. Are gotten parameters reasonable? Is design
financially feasible?
Step 16. If YES on both counts in step 15, then satellite link
design is successful Stop.
Step 17. If NO on either (or both) counts in step 15, then
satellite link design is unsuccessful Go to step 1.
