Satellite & Cellular Radio

Project of

Satellite Communication for the Martian Colonies

Sanaz Roshanmanaesh Mohammad shabash Mohammad Abbas
Zein Jaber Mahyar Alzobaidy Caglar Sekman

Supervisors:
Dr. Peter Gardner
Dr. Costas Constantinou

March 2011
Satellite constellation

2 orbits each consist of 6 satellites MMO

Astra 2C taken as a model for the spacecraft
Orbit altitude of 5000 Kilometres
 Satellite constellation

A combination of 20 beams in each satellite

3dB beamwidth of 5 degrees per beam
One complete orbit in 6.49 hours
Each satellite covers area of approximately
15.2 Million square Km
 4

Outline
Introduction
Satellite Transponder
* HTS BPF
* Antenna
* LNA & HPA
Ground station outline design
* BPF
* Antenna
* LNA & HPA
* Duplexer

Satellite & RF Radio

 5

Introduction
Frequencies:
Uplink Ground Station-Satellite
5500 ~ 6000 MHz
Downlink Satellite- Ground
Station 4000 ~ 4500 MHz

* Beacon Frequency:
5000MHz

Satellite & RF Radio

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Satellite Transponder
A receiver-transmitter that will generate a reply signal
upon proper electronic interrogation
Total block diagram of designed satellite transponder

6 GHz 4 GHz
Equaliser D/C Amp2 HPA BPF
DMUX
Frequency DMUX

MUX
Frequency MUX
6 GHz LNA Amp1 4GHz

Frequency
Frequency

HTS
BPF

Satellite & RF Radio

 7

Antenna of Transponder
Reflector Antenna
Two separated
antenna
Circular polarization

Satellite & RF Radio

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Antenna of Transponder
Rx Antenna (6GHz)
* Diameter 0.8m. Aperture Efficiency 0.7, radiation
efficiency 0.9. Physical temperature 50 K.
* Gain 33dBi, Beam Width : 3.5 degree
Tx Antenna (4GHz)
* Diameter 0.9m. Aperture Efficiency 0.7, radiation
efficiency 0.9. Physical temperature 50 K.
* Gain 30dBi, Beam Width : 5 degree

Satellite & RF Radio

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HTS filter
Expensive but economical
because of Two important
properties:
* Low Insertion Loss
* Small size and weight
Low temperature in out of
Mars atmospher
Lead to small noise figure
in receiver
Insertion Loss=0.5 dB
Satellite & RF Radio
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LNA & HPA of Transponder

LNA
* Noise figure=1.5dB
* Gain=20dB
* Amp1 (NF=3dB, Gain=40 dB)
* Total NF of receiver=2.0135
HPA
* 10 Watt, SSPA (Solid State Power Amplifier)
* Saturated output power 13dBW=43dBm
3dB back-off
* Gain 30 dB & Efficiency: 38%
* GaN HFETs Technology
Satellite & RF Radio
 11

Outline of Ground Stations

Transceiver Configuration (Using one antenna)
* Utilizing Waveguide Duplexer
Insertion Loss @ 4GHz: 1dB
Insertion Loss @ 6GHz: 1.2dB
BPF 4 GHz
Ant.
* Waveguide filters BPF LNA Amp1 D/C

Processing
IF Processing
Insertion loss=1dB

Duplexer
Duplexer
Amp1: Gain: 40dB
Amp1: Gain: 30dB

IF
BPF HPA Amp2 U/C
6 GHz

Satellite & RF Radio

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Antenna of Ground Station

Using a common antenna for transmitting & receiving
* since the ratio of the U/L to the D/L frequencies is no more
than 1.5
* Reflector Antenna, Helical feed, Circular polarization
* Diameter 2m. Aperture Efficiency 0.7, radiation efficiency
0.9. Physical temperature 50 K
Rx Mode (4GHz)
* Gain 37dBi, Beam Width : 2.5 degree
Tx Mode (6GHz)
* Gain 40dBi, Beam Width : 1.8 degree

Satellite & RF Radio

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LNA & HPA of Ground Station

LNA
* Noise figure=1.5dB
* Gain=20dB
* Amp1 (NF=3dB, Gain=40 dB)
* Total NF of receiver=2.5135
HPA
* 100 Watt, TWTA (Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier)
* Saturated output power 23dBW=53dBm
3dB back-off
* Gain 40 dB

Satellite & RF Radio

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Down/Up Converter
* Conversion Loss of Mixer: 4dB
* Insertion Loss of filter: 2dB
* Total Loss of Converter: 6dB
* Noise temperature: 3000K
* A synthesizer with suitable frequency steps should be used as
a local oscillator
* DMUX and Equaliser loss: 12 dB (Physical temp. 50 K)
BPF BPF
4000~4500 5500~6000 5500~6000 4000~4500
MHz MHz MHz MHz

Local Local
Oscillator Oscillator
Satellite & RF Radio
Link Budget Calculation

Receiver

Power
Noise at receiver
EIRP calculation
Gain and losses calculation
Antenna noise (Tant)
Active device noise
Receiver figure of merit
M = Gr/Ts (dB/K) Thermal noise

2/7/17 15
Link budget
Losses
Atmospheric attenuation will be neglected because Mars is dominated by
CO2 and N2. It is found that the attenuation values due to oxygen at Mars
are reduced by a factor of 14,000 relative to Earth, Such a small
attenuation is negligible for telecommunications.
This table provide to us the Attenuation around mars for various frequency
Link budget
Since we know that the power at the receiver is defined by the following equation

S (dBW) = Pt (dBW) +Gt(dB) +Gr (dB) Lp (dB) Lat (dB)

We need first to determine the transmitter power
Carrier to noise spectral density ratio is defined by these equations
C/N0 (dBHz) = Eb/N0+ 10log10(B) (2)
= Pt +Gt Lt + 10log10(Gr/Ts) 10log10(k) (3)
Where
Pt transmited power , Gt antenna transmited gain
Lt is the total losses
K is boltzman losses
(Gr/Ts) is the figure of merit
Eb/N0 is the energy per noise density for modulation
B is the bit rate.
Since we know the modulation sachem and the bit rate, we can calcuate C/N0
For a QPSK modulation and BER 10-3 of , Eb/N0 = 21dB , where B =45Gb/s.
Substituting these values in Eq (2)

C/N0 = 21 + 101og10 45G = 127.53 (dBHz)

 Link budget

In order to calculate (Gr/Ts) , we need to evaluate the noise system temperature Ts.
we simplified the receiver architecture as shown below
TA

+ + GL
1/L + GA
A

TF TLA TAmp

Where
L= 0.5 dB , l= 1.122. FGLA=1.5 dB, fgla= 1.413. GLA= 20 dB FGA= 3dB, fGA= 2. GA= 30 dB
TF = 210 (1.122-1)=25.62K. TLA=210(1.413-1)=86.73. TAmp=210(2-1)=210.
TA= 50 K.
Ts= TA + TF + TLA/ (1/L) + TAmp/ (GLA * (1/L)) + ...........
Ts = 50 + 25.2 + 96.432 + 2.36 = 173.992 K
The results confirms that the major contributors to the system noise temperature are the first two
devices comparing the front end area of the satellite receiver.
Link budget

10log10(Gr/Ts) = 10log10 (3162.278/173.992 ) = 12.6 dB/K

Pt = C/N0 - Gt + Lt - 10log10(Gr/Ts) 10log10(k)

Where
Lt = Lp + Lat
Lp = 20 log (4d/) = 176 dB , Lat = 0.45 dB
Pt= 127.53 45 + 176.5 12.6 228.6
Pt = 17.83dB , 61 watt

N (dBW) = 10log10k (dBW/Hz/K) + 10 log10 (Tant + Te) (dBK) + 10log10B (dBHz)

N = -228.6 + 22.4 + 87
N = - 119.2 dBw
 Link budget

4/6 GHz link; satellite antenna = 1m earth antenna = 3m

up link down link Unit

Pt tx power 17.83 27 dBW

Gt tx ant gain 45 37 dB
Lp free space -176 -178.5 dB
loss
La atmosph loss -0.45 -0.45 dB
Gr rx ant gain 35 40 dB
Pr rx power -78.62 -74.96 dBW
T noise temp 173.992 460.7 K
B bandwidth 500 500 MHz
N noise power - 119.2 dBw -114.9 dBW
S/N at rx 40.58 39.9 dB
note up and down link values different due to different
frequencies 20
 Multiple Access Techniques

SDMA High spectral

Inflexible, antennas fixed efficiency & Low
PAPR
- Able to provide fixed Inflexibility
traffic patterns
CDM FDM
- Unable to perform
A
very well for the future A OFD
broadband satellite
communication services.
M
Complex
receivers, TDM
Need power A
Useful in Broadband Robust against inter
& Mobile Satellite symbol interference
Guard space needed (multipath Comm. (ISI) and fading
propagation), synchronization difficult
Power Efficiency or Spectral Efficiency ?

No Bandwidth Spectral/Bandwidth Efficiency

restrictions is not important

Importance:
High power QPSK (modulation technique)
No need for 16-QAM ( less power
efficiency & efficient )
Low PAPR
Block diagram of OFDM system

The main drawback of OFDMA scheme: High PAPR Low Power Efficiency.
Block diagram of SC-FDMA/DFT-S OFDM
System
DFT- spreading block between the S/P & IFFT blocks
Low PAPR High power efficiency
BER & BLER for QPSK
 Challenges

Same scheme by both downlink and uplink Complexity & Cost of terminals
equipment will be Reduced.

Uplink: Increasing Pt compensate for the fading

Downlink: Difficult to compensate for the fading by high power.

Solution: Employing the efficient coding scheme

The link scheme based on the OFDM/TDM technique

frequency & power more efficient

 Satellite Electrical Power System
A Satellite has to produce its own power!!

Power Requirements of subsystem on board.

PDCU

Energy
Sola Storag
r e Payloa
Arra d
y
Syste
m
 Primary Source
Solar Panels
* Gallium Arsenide 3-junction solar cells .

* 2 Solar panels.

* Efficiency up to 26 % of the sun energy.

* Each panel measures 5.35 2.53m

* 3744 individual photovoltaic cells.

* Power produced at 32 v.

* Power produced is 7000watts

Primary Source
 Secondary Source
Lithium Ion Cells (Batteries)
Higher energy density than the Nickel-based batteries.
Operating voltage is 3.6 to 3.9 v which reduces the
number of cells.
65% volume advantage and 50% mass advantage.
150 Kg should be considered.
A regulator system that bleeds off the excess power
as heat will be used.

Used for the night hours (12 per martian day)

 Performance and Future

Factors with adverse impact:

variation in Mars-Sun distance

Atmos. Scattering and accumulation of mars dust on arrays.

dust accumulation will decrease solar cell performance by 77% after only 2 years.

Approaches:

Array vibrating technique for dust removal.

Use RTG or fuel cells as secondary power sources during eclipses.

RTG provide more power for less mass but they are much more expensive.
Communications Gateway

Building a publicly accessible gateway on Mars.

Gateways should be positioned in deep space so
that information can be passed back and forth.
Robust redundancy is required for gateways to
ensure reliable, long term operations.
Orbital dynamics could be a problem in the name
of position of gateways at solar LaGrange points
Communications Gateway
A proposed system called Interplanetary Internet
(IPN) can be used for deep space communication
and linked to Earth by satellites.
There will be a network between two internets with
a local gateway.
Data rate of minimum 1 Mbps would be enough for
real time data transfer.
Parcel Transfer Protocol (PTP) can be also used if
necessary.
TCP/IP protocol can be used on both planet.
 Technical Challenges

Interactive protocols do not work as the distance is

long.
Latency or delay may occur.
Antennas weight should be small.
Low bandwidth.