CNS-ST 2.

2: SATELLITES AND FIBER OPTICS

SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
1.

What are the two types of communications satellite

Passive and active

2.

A typical satellite communications operational link consists of a satellite

and what other two components?
Earth terminals

3.

What areas of the earth are not normally covered by satellites?

Extreme polar regions

4.

Satellite orientation in space is important for what two reasons?

To allow maximum solar exposure to the sun and satellite antenna exposure to
earth terminals

5.

What types of antennas are generally used at earth terminals?

Large, high-gain parabolic antennas

6.

Why do earth terminals require highly sensitive receivers?

To overcome satellite transmitter low power and permit extraction of the
desired information from the received signal

7.

Why is satellite acquisition and tracking important?

To ensure earth terminal antennas are always pointed towards the satellite

8.

What are the two limitations to an active satellite communications system?

Satellite down-link transmitter and up-link receiver sensitivity

9.

If the line-of-sight distance for an optical beam is 12 km, what would is

be, approximately, for a microwave beam?
16 km

10.

The power in the downlink signal from a typical communications satellite is

in the range of _____ per transponder.
10 to 250 watts

11.

The power level for an earth station to transmit to a satellite is in the

order of:
10^3 watts

12.

Ku-band antennas can be _____ than C-band antennas.

Smaller

13.

A geosynchronous orbit is about _____ km above the earth.

35,780

14.

A Global Positioning System (GPS) or NAVSTAR is

MEO

15.

GPS or NAVSTAR height is

9500 miles

16.

An antennas angular direction between east and west?

Azimuth

17.

An antennas vertical angle with respect to the earths surface.

Elevation

18.

An antennas angle by which it is offset from the earths axis

Declination

19.

In geostationary satellites, station-keeping means:

Adjusting the orbits

20.

A reduction of TWT power for linearity is called:

Backoff
21.

The frequency bands used by Ku-band satellites are:

12 GHz and 14 GHz

22.

Satellite operating at 27 30 GHz

Ka-band

23.

The law that states that a satellite will orbit a primary body following an
elliptical path.
1st Law of Kepler

24.

Keplers 2nd law is known as

Law of areas

25.

Keplers 3rd law is also known as

Harmonic law

26.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite orbits around the earth at a height of
370 miles

27.

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite orbits around the earth at a height
approximately _____.
6000 miles to 12,000 miles

28.

Geosynchronous satellites are high-altitude earth-orbit satellites with

heights about _____.
22,300 miles or 36,000 km

29.

Iridium is a LEOSAT that has a height

480 miles

30.

MEO frequency band is

1.2 -1.66 GHz

31.

All satellites rotate around the earth in an orbit that forms a plane that
passes through the center of gravity of earth called
Geocenter

32.

The point on the surface of the earth directly below the satellite
Subsatellite point (SSP)

33.

The minimum acceptance angle of elevation

5 degrees

34.

The spatial separation of a satellite is between _____.

3 degrees to 6 degrees

35.

Antenna used with a rotating satellite whose main beam is continuously

adjusted so that it will illuminate a given area on the earths surface
Despun

36.

Satellites radiation pattern that typically target up to 20% of the Earths

surface
Hemispherical beams

37.

The radiation pattern that has a satellites antenna beamwidth of 17 degrees

and are capable of covering approximately 42% of the earths surface
Earth or global beams

38.

Geostats has an earth coverage of approximately

42.5%

39.

LNA stands for:

Low-noise amplifier

40.

LNA in satellite transponder

Tunnel

of approximately

system commonly used

SATELLITE
41.

Find the velocity of a satellite in a circular orbit (a) 500 km above the
earths surface (b) 36,000 km above the earths surface (approximately the
height of geosynchronous satellite).
(a) 7.6 km/s (b) 3.07 km/s

4 1011
v (m/ s) =
d (km) +6400
42.

Calculate the angle of declination for an antenna using a polar mount at

latitude of 45 degrees.
6.81 degrees

L
1cos

R sin L
H + R()

=arctan

43.

Calculate the length of the path to a geosynchronous satellite from an earth

station where the angle of elevation is 30 degrees.
39 x 10^3 km

r cos

(r +h)2
d =

44.

A satellite transmitter operates at a 4 GHz with a transmitter power of 7W

and an antenna gain of 40 dBi. The receiver has antenna gain of 30 dBi and
the path length is 40,000 km. Calculate the signal strength at the receiver.
-88 dBm

PR
( dB )=GT (dBi)+ GR ( dBi )(32.44 +20 log d (km ) +20 log f ( MHz ))
PT

45.

A receiving antenna with a gain of 40 dBi looks at at a sky with a noise

temperature of 15K. The loss between the antenna and the LNA input, due to
the feedhorn, is 0.4 dB, and the LNA has a noise temperature of 40K.
Calculate G/T.
20.6 dB

G/T ( dB)=GR (dBi )10 log(T a +T eq )

T a=
46.

( L1 ) 290+T sky
L

A receiver has a noise figure of 1.5 dB. Find its equivalent noise
temperature.
119K

T eq=290( NF (ratio )1)

47.

The receiving installation whose G/T was found to be 20.6 dB is used as a

ground terminal to receive a signal from a satellite at a distance of 38,000
km. the satellite has transmitter power of 50 watts and an antenna gain of
30 dBi. Assume losses between the satellite transmitter and its antenna is
negligible. The frequency is 12 GHz. Calculate the carrier-to-noise ratio at
the receiver, for a bandwidth of 1 MHz. 30.6 dB

C
G
( dB )=EIRP(dB)FSL(dB )Lmisc + k ( dBW )10 log BW
N
T
k (dBW )=228.6 dBW
48.

If a satellite has a total transmitter power (Pt) of 1000 W, determine the

energy per bit (Eb) for a transmission rate of 50 Mbps.
-47 dBW/bps or -47 dbJ

Eb =10 log

Pt
fb

49.

For an equivalent noise bandwidth of 10 MHz and a total noise power of

0.00276 pW, determine the noise density and equivalent noise temperature.
276 x 10^-23 W/Hz or -205.6 dBW/Hz

50.

A typical TVRO installation for use with C-band satellite (downlink at

approximately 4 GHz) has a diameter of about 3 m and an efficiency of about
55%. Calculate its gain and beamwidth.
G = 39 dB, beamwidth = 1.75 degrees

D
G=

( )

51.

70
D

For an earth station transmitter with an antenna output power of 40dB (10000
W), a back-off loss of 3dB, a total branching and feeder loss of 3dB, and a
transmitter antenna gain of 40dB, determine the EIRP
74 dBW

EIRP=Pt LboLbf + At

FIBER OPTIC CONCEPTS

52.

Fiber optics is coined by

NS Kapany

53.

What are three means of producing light?

Mechanical, electrical and chemical

54.

What is the smallest unit of radiant energy?

A photon

55.

What unit is used to measure the different wavelengths of light?

Angstrom unit
What are the three primary colors of light?
Red, green and blue

56.
57.

What are the three secondary colors of light?

Magenta, yellow and cyan

58.

A substance that transmits light but through which an object cannot be seen
clearly is known as what kind of substance?
Translucent

59.

What type of wave motion is represented by motion of water?

Transverse-wave motion

60.

A substance that transmits almost all of the light waves falling upon it is
known as what type of substance?
Transparent

61.

A substance that is unable to transmit any light waves is known as what type
of substance?
Opaque

62.

What is the law of reflection

The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection
63.

When a wave is reflected from a surface, energy is reflected. When is the

reflection of energy greatest?
When the wave is nearly parallel to the reflecting surface

64.

When is the reflection energy the least?

When the wave is perpendicular to the reflecting surface

65.

Light waves obey what law?

The law of reflection

66.

A light wave enters a sheet of glass at a perfect right angle to the

surface. Is the majority of the wave reflected, refracted, transmitted or
absorbed?
Transmitted

67.

When light strikes a white piece of paper, the light is reflected in all
directions. What do you call this scattering of light
Diffusion

68.

What is the basic optical-material property relevant to optical fiber light

transmission?
The index of refraction

69.

What name is given to the angle where total internal reflection occurs?
Critical angle of incidence

70.

List the three parts of optical fiber

Core, cladding and coating or buffer

71.

Light transmission along an optical fiber is described by two theories.

Which theory is used to approximate light acceptance and guiding properties
of an optical fiber?
The ray theory

72.

Light rays that passes thru the longitudinal axis at the fiber core are
called
meridional rays

73.

Meridional rays are classified as either bound or unbound rays. Bound rays
propagate through the fiber according to what property?
Total internal reflection

74.

What mechanisms in fiber waveguides weaken and distort the optical signals?
Scattering, absorption and dispersion

75.

How can loss be reduced during construction (or fabrication) of optical

fibers?
By removing the impurities from the optical fiber

76.

What fiber property does numerical aperture (NA) measure?

NA measures the light-gathering ability of the optical fiber

77.

Skew rays and meridional rays define different acceptance angles. Which
acceptance angle is larger, the skew ray angle or the meridional ray angle?
Skew ray angle

78.

The mode theory uses electromagnetic wave behavior to describe the

propagation of light along the fiber. What is the set of guided
electromagnetic waves called?
Modes of fiber

79.

Modes that are bound at one wavelength may not exist at longer wavelengths.
What is the wavelength at which a mode ceases to be bound is called?
Cutoff wavelength

80.

What type of optical fiber operates below cutoff wavelength?

Multimode fiber
81.

The fibers normalized frequency (V) determines how many modes a fiber can
support. As the value of V increases, will the number of modes supported by
the fiber increase or decrease?
Increase

82.

The number of modes propagated in a multimode fiber depends on the core size
and numerical aperture (NA). If the core size and the NA decrease, will the
number of modes propagated increase of decrease?
Decrease

83.

What is the main loss mechanism between ultraviolet and infrared absorption
regions?
Rayleigh scattering

84.

Name the two types of intramodal, or chromatic, dispersion. Material

dispersion and waveguide dispersion

85.

Which dispersion mechanism (material or waveguide) is a function of the sine

of the fibers core relative to the waveguide operation?
Waveguide dispersion

86.

Modes of light pulse that enter the fiber at one time exit the fiber at
different times. This condition causes the light pulse to spread. What is
this condition called?
Modal dispersion

87.

The reflective index of a fiber core is uniform and undergoes an abrupt

change at the core-cladding boundary. Is this fiber a step-index or gradedindex fiber?
Step-index

88.

What happens to the fundamental mode as the operating wavelength becomes

longer than the single mode cutoff wavelength?
The fundamental mode becomes increasingly lossy

89.

Give two reasons why optical fiber manufacturers depart from the traditional
circular core cladding, low-loss glass fiber design?
To increase performance and reduce cost

90.

Why do cable manufactures introduce a controlled twist to the stacked

ribbons during the cabling process?
To minimize fiber stress when the cable is bent

91.

Which fiber optic component (splice, connector, or coupler) makes a

permanent connection in a distributed system?
Splice

92.

What are the main causes of coupling loss?

Poor fiber end preparation and poor fiber alignment

93.

When the axes of two connected fibers are no longer in parallel, the two
connected fibers are in what kind of misalignment?
Angular misalignment

94.

Which are more sensitive to alignment errors, single mode or multimode

fibers?
Single mode

95.

Quality fiber-end preparation is essential for proper system operation. What

property must an optical fiber-end face have to ensure proper fiber
connection?
Be flat, smooth, and perpendicular to the fiber axis

96.

What is the basic fiber cleaving technique for preparing optical fibers for
coupling?
Score-and-break

97.

Fiber splicing is divided into two broad categories that describe the
techniques used for fiber splicing. What are they?
Mechanical and fusion splicing

98.

What fiber property directly affects splice-loss in fusion splicing?

The angles and quality of the two fiber-end faces

99.

What is a short discharge of electric current that prepares the fiber ends
for fusion is called?
Prefusion

100. Do small core distortions formed by arc fusions self-alignment mechanism

have more of an affect on light propagating through multimode or single mode
fibers?
Single mode fibers
101. Which is the more critical parameter in maintaining total insertion loss
below the required level, fiber alignment of fiber mismatch?
Fiber alignment
102. Fiber optic connectors can reduce system performance by increasing what two
types of noise?
Modal and reflection
103. Which type of fiber optic connector (butt-jointed or expanded beam) brings
the prepared ends of two optical fibers into contact?
Butt-jointed connectors
104. Is coupling loss from fiber separation and lateral misalignment more
critical in expanded beam or butt-jointed connectors?
Butt-jointed connectors
105. Is coupling loss from angular misalignment more critical in expanded beam or
butt-jointed connectors?
Expanded beam connectors
106. Which type of optical splitter (Y-coupler or T-coupler) splits only a small
amount of power from the input fiber to one of the output fibers?
T-coupler
107. What two properties of the launch condition may affect multimode fiber
attenuation measurements?
Launch spot size and angular distribution
108. Does underfilling a multimode optical fiber excite mainly high-order of loworder modes?
Low-order modes
109. A mode filter is a device that attenuates specific modes propagating in the
core of an optical fiber. What mode propagating along single mode fibers do
mode filters eliminate?
Second-order mode
110. What are the two most common types of mode filters?
Free-form loop and mandrel wrap
111. The cutoff wavelength of matched-clad and depressed-clad single mode fibers
varies according to the fibers radius of curvature and length. The cutoff
wavelength of which single mode fiber type is more sensitive to length?
Depressed-clad
112. What determines the range of wavelengths over which meaningful data is
obtained for calculating the chromatic dispersion?
The wavelength range of the optical source(s) used
113. Near-filed power distributions describe the emitted power per unit are in
the near-field region. Describe the near-field region.
The near-field region is the region close to the fiber0end face

114. How is the core diameter defined?

The core diameter is define as the diameter at which the near-filed
intensity is 2.5 percent of the maximum intensity
115. Far-field power distributions describe the emitted power per unit area as a
function of angle theta in the far-field region. Describe the far-field
region.
The far-field region is the region far from the fiber-end face
116. Will fiber coupling loss generally increase of decrease if the mode field
diameter of a single mode fiber is decreased?
Increase
117. In multimode fibers, how do fiber joints increase fiber attenuation
following the joint?
By disturbing the fibers mode power distribution (MPD)
118. Reflectance is given as what ration?
The ratio of reflected optical power to incident optical power
119. When is an OTDR recommended for conducting field measurements on installed
optical fibers or links?
When installed optical fiber cables or links are 50 meters or more in length
120. An OTDR measure the fraction of light that is reflected back from the fiber
or link under test. What causes light to be reflected back into the OTDR?
Rayleigh scattering and Fresnel reflection
121. What is a temporary or permanent local deviation of the OTDR signal in the
upward of downward direction called?
A point defect
122. Why is dead-zone fiber placed between the test fiber and OTDR when
conducting attenuation measurements?
To reduce the effect of the initial reflection at the OTDR
123. The amount of backscattered optical power at each point depends on what two
properties?
Forward optical power and backscatter capture coefficient
OPTICAL SOURCES AND FIBER OPTIC TRANSMITTERS
124. Semiconductor LEDs emit incoherent light. Define incoherent light.
Light waves that lack a fixed-phase relationship
125. What are the two most common semiconductor materials used in electronic and
electro-optic devices?
Silicon and gallium arsenide
126. Describe the stimulated emission.
A photon initially produced by a spontaneous emission in the active region
interacts with the laser material to produce additional photons
127. What are the three basic LED types?
Surface-emitting LEDs (SLEDs) edge-emitting LEDs (ELEDs) and super
luminescent diodes (SLDs)
128. Which types of LEDs are the preferred optical sources for short-distance,
low-data-rate fiber optic systems?
SLEDs and ELEDs
129. What are facets?
Cut or polished surfaces at each end of the narrow active region of an ELED
130. What is the lowest current at which stimulated emission exceeds spontaneous
emission in a semiconductor laser called?
Threshold current
131. Which type of optical source usually lacks reflective facets and in some
cases is designed to suppress reflections back into the active region?

LED
132. How does the source drive circuit intensity modulate the source?
By varying the current through the source
133. What is a prebias?
A current applied in the laser off state just less than the threshold
current
134. What are the two types of output interfaces for fiber optic transmitters?
Optical connectors and optical fiber pigtails
135. What type of source is typically used in low-data-rate digital applications?
LED
136. Why would a laser diode be used in a low-data-rate digital application?
When extremely high transmitter output powers are required
137. What type of source is generally used in high-data-rate digital
applications?
Laser diode
OPTICAL DETECTORS AND FIBE OPTIC RECEIVERS
138. Which performance parameter is the minimum amount of optical power required
to achieve a specific bit-error rate (BER) in digital systems or a given
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in analog systems?
Receiver sensitivity
139. List the two principal optical detectors used in fiber optic systems.
The semiconductor positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodiode and avalanche
photodiode (APD)
140. What are the four most common materials used in semiconductor detector
fabrication?
Silicon, gallium arsenide, germanium and indium phosphide
141. What is a photocurrent?
The current produced when photons are incident on the detector active area
142. Define responsivity.
The ratio of the optical detectors output photocurrent in amperes to the
incident optical power in watts
143. How are PIN photodiodes usually biased?
Reverse-biased
144. What is the dark current?
The leakage current that continues to flow through a photodetector when
there is no incident light
145. Will dark current increase or decrease as the temperature of the photodiode
increases?
Increase
146. Should the capacitance of the photodetector be kept small or large to
prevent the RC time constant from limiting the response time?
Small
147. Trade-offs between competing effects are necessary for high speed response.
Which competing effect (fast transit time, low capacitance, or high quantum
efficiency) requires a thin active area?
Fast Transit time
148. Why is detector saturation not generally a problem in fiber optic
communications systems?
Because fiber optic communications systems operate at low optical power
levels

149. How can the gain of an APD be increased?

By increasing the reverse-bias voltage
150. List the key operational parameters used to define receiver performance.
Receiver sensitivity, bandwidth, and dynamic range
151. List the main types of receiver noise.
Thermal noise, dark current noise, and quantum noise
152. What is the main factor that determines receiver sensitivity?
Noise
153. For a reduction in thermal noise, should the value of the detectors load
resistor be increased or decreased?
Increased
154. What are two types of noise that manifest themselves as shot noise?
Dark current and quantum noise
155. What are the two basic types of preamplifiers used in fiber optic receivers?
The high-impedance amplifier and the transimpedance amplifier
156. Which preamplifier design (high-impedance or transimpedance) provides
improvements in bandwidth and greater dynamic range with some degradation in
sensitivity from an increase in noise?
Transimpedance
157. For what types of applications are APDs generally used?
For high-data-rate applications and for low- or moderate-data-rate
applications where receivers with extremely low sensitivities are required
158. What type of modulation do most analog fiber optic communications systems
use?
Intensity modulation
159. What two analyses are performed to determine if a link design is viable?
Power budget and risetime budget
160. Optical fibers or cables should never be bent at a radius of curvature
smaller than a certain value. Identify this radius of curvature.
Minimum bend radius
161. In fiber optics, the main disadvantage of plastic over glass fiber is
high attenuation
162. The wavelength of visible spectrum is within the range of
0.4 to 0.8 microns
163. Range of frequency used for fiber optic (FO) system is
100 1000 THz
164. The bending of light rays due to change in velocity as a result of traveling
from one medium to the other.
Refraction
165. What is the infrared range used for fiber optics in Angstrom?
7,000 to 12,000
166. In fiber optic system, the core of PCs fiber is
Glass
167. What is the primary specification of a fiber cable usually expressed as the
loss in dB/km?
Attenuation
168. What is the most widely used light generator in fiber optic system?
Injection laser diode
169. A more widely used and most sensitive photosensor is _____.

Avalanche photodiode
170. Attenuation null is fiber optic occurs at what wavelength?
1.3 microns
171. 1 angstrom is equal to how many microns?
0.0001 microns
172. 1 angstrom is equal to how many nanometers?
10 ns
173. A measure of quality of a fiber optic system.
Maximum distance between repeaters
174. The average maximum distance between repeaters in a fiber optic system.
10 - 30 km
175. Fiber optics performance is usually indicated by
product of bit rate and distance
176. The external incident angle for which light will propagate in the fiber is
known as _____.
Acceptance angle
177. In fiber optics, the dominant loss mechanisms in silica fiber are _____.
Absorption and Rayleigh Scattering Loss
178. Rayleigh Scattering Loss at 8020 nm has a typical value of _____.
2.5 dB
179. Loss due to valence electron:
UV absorption
180. Laser used in fiber optic communications.
Semiconductor laser
181. What is the maximum data rate for fiber optics?
10 Gbps
182. What is the typical bandwidth of the single-mode step-index fiber?
50 to 100 GHz/km
183. What is the achievable rate of single-mode step-index fiber as used in
digital communication?
2 Gigabytes
184. What is the typical margin of safety in dB used in preparing the power
budget for fiber-optic system?
5 10 dB
FIBER OPTIC PROBLEMS
185. A fiber has an index of refraction of 1.6 for the core and 1.4 for the
cladding. Calculate: (a) critical angle (b) angle of refraction for angle of
incidence of 30 degrees (c) angle of refraction for angle of incidence of 70
degrees.
(a) 61 degrees (b) 34.8 degrees (c) 70 degrees

=arcsin

n2
n1

n2 sin 2=n1 sin 1

186. Calculae the numerical aperture and the maximum angle of acceptance for the
fiber that has an index of refraction of 1.6 for the core and 1.4 for the
cladding.
N.A. = 0.775 / 50.8 degrees

NA= n 2n1

acceptance =sin1 NA

187. A single-mode fiber has a numerical aperture of 0.15. what is the maximum
core diameter it could have for use with infrared light with a wavelength of
820 nm?
4.2 um

r max =

0.383
NA

188. An optical fiber has a bandwidth-distance product of 500 MHz-km. if a

bandwidth of 85 MHz is required for a particular mode of transmission, what
is the maximum distance that can be used between repeaters?
5.88 km

BW x distance

189. The fiber has zero dispersion at a wavelength of 1310 nm and has a zerodispersion slope of 0.05 ps(nm2-km). calculate the total dispersion of 50 km
of this fiber when it is used with a source having a linewidth of 2 nm at a
wavelength of 1550 nm.
949 ps

D C ( )=

[ ]

SO
4
O3 ps /(nmkm)
4

190. Find the bandwidth and bandwidth distance product for the fiber with total
dispersion of 949 ps and a total length of 50km.
B = 526.8 MHz, Bandwidth-Distance product = 26.3 GHz-km

B=

l
2 t

191. Find the energy in electronvolts, in one photon at a wavelength of 1 um.

E = 1.24 eV

E=hf

192. A typical photodiode has an input optical power of 500 nW. Calculate the
diode current.
150 nA

I =P R ; Rtypical =0.33 A /W

193. A fiber optic link extends for 40 km. The laser diode emitter has an output
power of 1.5 mW, and the receiver requires a signal strength of -25 dBm for
a satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio. The fiber is available in lengths of
2.5 km and can be spliced with a loss of 0.25 dB per slice. The fiber has a
loss of 0.3 dB/km. The total of all the connector losses at the two ends is
4 dB. Calculate the available system margin.
7.01 dB
194. A 45 km length of fiber must not lengthen pulses by more than 100 ns. Find
the maximum permissible value for the pulse spreading contrast.
2.22 ns/km
195. A fiber is rated as having a bandwidth-distance product of 500 MHz-km. Find
its dispersion in ns/km, and the rise time of a pulse in a 5 km length of
this cable.
5 ns