Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679

Intro
Appl.
Types

Satellites
Handoff

Routing

How it
Works

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

A satellite is an object that orbits another large object

like planet.

A communication satellite is a station in space that is

used for telecommunication, radio and television signals.

In simplest form , a satellite communication can be

thought of as a big microwave repeater in the sky.

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

They are used for mobile applications such as communication to ships,

vehicles, planes, hand-held terminals and for TV and radio
broadcasting.

A satellite works most efficiently when the transmissions are focused

with a desired area.

The earth station should be in a position to control the satellite if it drifts

from its orbit it is subjected to any kind of drag from the external forces.

Transmission cost is independent of distance.

The power and bandwidth of these satellites depend upon the preferred
size of the footprint, complexity of the traffic control protocol schemes
and the cost of ground stations.

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

Satellites orbit around the earth

Important parameters

Orbits can be circular or elliptical.

inclination and elevation angles

Inclination angle (): Between the equatorial plane and

the plane described by the satellite orbit.
Elevation angle (): Between the centre of the satellite
beam and the plane tangential to the earths surface.
Footprint can be defined as the area on earth where the
signals of the satellite can be received.

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Three regions
Region1: Europe, Africa and Mongolia
Region 2: North and South America and Greenland
Region 3: Asia (excluding region 1 areas), Australia and
south-west Pacific.

Three common bands (in GHz):

C-band: 4-8 - Fixed Satellite Service
Ku-band: 12-18 - Direct Broadcast Satellite Services
Ka-band: 25-40 Military & Scientific Research

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

Geostationary or geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO)

Quasi - Zenith satellite
LEO

GEO

HEO

Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO)

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

MEO

Earth

10/11/2012

Synchronous with respect to earth

Footprint is covering almost 1/3rd of the Earth
3-4 Satellites are enough to cover the earth

Circular Orbit, Satellite visibility 24 hour

Altitude : 36,000 km
Inclination Angle : 0
Applications:

Issues

TV and radio broadcast

Weather forecast
Backbones for the telephone networks

Shading of the signals

High latency (270 ms)
Transferring a Satellite into GEO is very expensive
Cannot be used for small mobile phones (High transmit power
needed )

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

Circular orbit at 45 degree to equator

Altitude 36000 km
One satellite fixed near zenith in Japan
3-4 satellites are required
Applications:
mobile applications
Communications-based services
Video
audio,
data

Quasi-Zenith satellite orbit

Positioning information.

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

Altitude 500-2000km
Satellite visibility 10-20m, Orbital period 5-8 hour
Delay : relatively low (approx 10 ms)
Smaller footprints of LEOs allow for better frequency reuse, similar to
the concepts used for cellular networks
Applications:

Issues

Remote sensing
Mobile communication services (due to lower latency).
48 and above satellites required to cover whole earth
Short life: 4-10 years

Larger Handoffs

LEO

Earth

Examples:

Iridium (start 1998, 66 satellites)

Bankruptcy in 2000, deal with US DoD for free use

Globalstar (start 1999, 48 satellites)

Not many customers (2001: 44000)

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Altitude 10000km-20000km
Orbital period 6-12 hour
10-15 satellites required
Earth
Satellite visibility 2-4 hrs
Propagation delay less
Set-up cost is medium
MEO can cover larger populations, so requiring fewer
handovers than LEO
Issues

Example:

MEO

Larger Delay: 7080 ms

Need higher transmit power
Special antennas for smaller footprints

ICO (Intermediate Circular Orbit, Inmarsat) start ca. 2000

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Altitude 40000km
Orbital period 8-24 hour
2-3 satellites required
Large propagation delay
Satellite lifetime 20-25 yrs
HEO orbits offering visibility over Earth's polar regions,
which most geosynchronous satellites lack
Example
Molniya
Tundra

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Satellite
Segment
Inter Satellite Link
(ISL)

Mobile User
Link (MUL)

Gateway Link
(GWL)

MUL

Ground
Segment

GWL

small cells
(spotbeams)

base station
or gateway

footprint

ISDN
PSTN: Public Switched
Telephone Network

PSTN
User data

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

GSM

End User

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Modulation: Three major classes of digital modulations

Amplitude Shift Keying
Frequency Shift Keying
Phase Shift Keying

Multiple access techniques

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
WCDMA (3G )

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Benefits

Less complex
Switching circuits are on the ground and the satellites are just reflectors

Easier to operate

Most of the call is transferred over the public telephone network,

Reduces the cost of the system.

Technical problems to be fixed on the ground

Issues

Gateway must be in the line of sight of the satellite

Significant number of ground gateways to provide direct satellite links

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Benefits

Issues

Minimizes the cost of the ground segment & long distance and interconnect
fees
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
More complex focusing of antennas between satellites
High system complexity due to moving routers
Higher fuel consumption, thus shorter lifetime

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Mechanisms similar to GSM

Gateways maintain registers with user data

HLR (Home Location Register): static user data

VLR (Visitor Location Register): (last known) location of the mobile
station
SUMR (Satellite User Mapping Register):
Satellite assigned to a mobile station
Positions of all satellites

Registration of mobile stations

Calling a mobile station

Localization of the mobile station via the satellites position

Requesting user data from HLR
Updating VLR and SUMR
Localization using HLR/VLR similar to GSM
Connection setup using the appropriate satellite

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Intra satellite handover

Inter satellite handover

Handover from one satellite to another satellite

Mobile station leaves the footprint of one satellite

Gateway handover

Handover from one spot beam to another

Mobile station still in the footprint of the satellite, but in another cell

Handover from one gateway to another

Mobile station still in the footprint of a satellite, but gateway leaves the
footprint

Inter system handover

Handover from the satellite network to a terrestrial cellular network

Mobile station can reach a terrestrial network again which might be
cheaper, has a lower latency etc.

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Due to high mobility, handoff are extremely

frequent in LEO, causing high failure rate

How to Deal ??
Prioritised handover call over new call
Allocating guard channel
Queuing the handover request
Channel reservation in advance

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Current Status

Evaluation of 3G
Satellite System from
GMR Standard

S-CDMA to S-WCDMA
CDMA based evolution of
3G satellite system

Technical evolution of
Satellite system from 3G to
B3G

GMR1, GMR2
Thuraya, AceS and
Inmarsat systems

Followed 3G and
developed the standard
of S-UMTS
Adaptive modifications
for wireless transmission
conditions.
MOUS of USA for
military application

Referring to the LTE Trends

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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Weather Forecasting
Radio and TV Broadcast
Military App
Navigation App
Global Telephone
Connecting Remote Areas
Global Mobile Communication

And Much More

Himanshu Singh, 2011EET3679, IIT Delhi

10/11/2012

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