SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

Master of Management and Economics of

Telecommunication Networks
University of Athens - 2006

The Link Budget

by E. Rammos
ESA Senior Advisor

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 1

The Link Budget

Forward Link Return link

HUB Client

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 2

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 The Link Budget

The Link Budget Relates the Signal-to-Noise Ratio to the

principal Characteristics of the Equipment on the Satellite
and in the Ground Station

The Telecommunications Equation allows the calculation of

the received power as a function of the transmitted power
and the antenna characteristics

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 3

The Link Budget

Transmission side

Pe = Transmit Power

Ge = Transmit Antenna Gain

Se = Transmit Antenna Equivalent Surface

Reception side

Pr = Received Power

Gr = Receive Antenna Gain

Sr = Receive Antenna Equivalent Surface

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 The Link Budget

Isotropic antenna power flux per unit surface at distance D:

Pe
PFD =
4D 2

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 5

The Link Budget

Taking into account the Transmit Antenna Gain Ge
the PFD becomes:

GePe
PFD =
4D 2
The product GePe is called the EIRP

(Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power)

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 The Link Budget

At the receiver side the receive antenna intercepts from

the incoming wave a power:

SrGePe
Pr =
4D 2

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 7

The Link Budget

The antenna Gain is related to the effective area by:

4Sr
Gr =
2
is the wave wavelength

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 Satellite Telecommunications
The received power is therefore:

2
Pr = PeGeGr
(4D )2
And the transmission attenuation is:

Pe (4D )
2
=
Pr GeGr2
Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 9

Satellite Telecommunications
In db the attenuation is given by:
Pe
db = 10 log
Pr
And therefore the overall expression becomes:

D
db = 22 + 20 log( ) Ge Gr

For fixed antenna gain the attenuation varies as:

D
db = 22 + 20 log( )

This is the so called Free Space Attenuation
(about 206db in Ku-Band for GEO orbit)
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 Satellite Telecommunications

Free Space Loss as a function of Frequency

225
220
215
Attenuation (db)

210
205
200
195
190
185
180
1 10 100
Frequency (GHz)

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 11

Satellite Telecommunications
The Antenna gain with respect to an isotropic antenna is given by:

n 4A
G=
2
n is the antenna efficiency, typically 0.6 or 60%

A is the Area of the Antenna

If the antenna is circular with diameter D the gain is given by:

D 2
G = n( )

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 Satellite Telecommunications

Gain as a function of the Diameter

70
60
50
Ku-Band
Gain (db)

40
C-Band
30
L-Band
20
10
0
10 100 1000
Diameter (cm)

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 13

Satellite Telecommunications

The 3db beamwidth of the antenna is given by:

3db = 70
D
For a good antenna of 65 % efficiency the gain is approximately:

32000
G=
3db

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 Satellite Telecommunications

3db Beamwidth

20
18
16
14
3db BW (deg)

12 Ku-Band
10 C-Band
8 L-Band
6
4
2
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Diameter (cm)

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 15

Satellite Telecommunications

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 Satellite Telecommunications
In real cases the various losses need to be taken into
account and a loss coefficient A is added to the equation

Pe
=
(4D ) 2

Pr AGeGr2
and in db

D
db = 22 + 20 log( ) Ge Gr + A

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 17

Satellite Telecommunications

A = Atr Aprop Apol Apoint Arec

Atr = losses between transmitter output and antenna

(transmission lines, duplexers, filters )

Aprop=propagation losses in the atmosphere and

ionosphere

Apol = polarisation losses (pol. mismatch )

Apoin= antenna pointing losses

Arec = losses between receive antenna and receiver

(lines, duplexer, filters)

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 Satellite Telecommunications

Respecting the order of the various phenomena the overall

equation is written as:

D
Pe = Pr + Arec Gr + Apol + Aprop + 22 + 20 log + Apoin Ge + Ae

Example:
For the following assumptions:
GEO satellite transmitting at a frequency of 12 GHz
Receiver sensitivity -108dBW
Transmit antenna 1.3m diameter (55% efficiency)
Receive antenna 1m diameter (55% efficiency)
Polarisation loss 1dB
Pointing loss 3 dB
Transmission loss 1 db
Reception loss 1db
Find the required Transmit power (in W)

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 19

Fre que nc y (GHz) 12

Wave le ng th (m) 0,025

Re c e ive Trans mit

Ante nna Ante nna
Diame te r (m) 1 1,3
Effic ie nc y 0,55 0,55
Gain (db) 39,38 41,66

No tatio ns Ne g ative te rms Po s itive te rms

Re quire d Po we r at re c e ive r Pr -108
Re c e ptio n lo s s e s Are c 1
Re c e ive Ante nna Gain Gr -39,38
Po laris atio n lo s s e s Apol 1
Fre e S pac e Lo s s 22+20logD/ 205,17
Po inting Lo s s Apoin 3
Trans mit ante nna Gain Ge -41,66
Trans mit lo s s Atr 1

To tal -189,05 211,17

Trans mit Po we r (db) 22,12

Trans mit Po we r (W) 162,99

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 Satellite Telecommunications
Receiver Noise Figure F

It is the ratio of the noise power Ns at the receiver output to the

receiver output when only a noise source at temperature
To=300K is connected at the input.

Ns
F=
GkToB
G is the receiver gain
B is the receiver frequency bandwidth
K = 1.379.10-23 W/HzK is the Boltzman constant
(and in dB it is equal to -228.6 dBW/HzK)

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 21

Satellite Telecommunications
Receiver Equivalent Noise Temperature Te

It is the temperature of a noise source at the input of an ideal

receiver that would generate at the ideal receiver output the
same noise power generated by the real receiver.

If at the input of the real receiver is connected a noise source at

temperature To then the noise power at the output is:

Ns = GkToB + GkTeB

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 Satellite Telecommunications

The Noise Figure and the equivalent noise Temperature are related by:

Te
F = 1+
To
Typical values of Te are:

For ground stations 10 to 100K

For satellite receivers can be much higher

Te (K) 7 35 75 300 900 3000

F (dB) 0,1 0,5 1 3 6 10

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 23

Satellite Telecommunications

The total Equivalent Noise Temperature of a series of receivers, each of

gain Gi (i=1,2,3..) and of equivalent noise temperature of Tei is given by:

Te 2 Te3
Te = Te1 + + + .....
G1 G1G2

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 Satellite Telecommunications
Antenna Noise Temperature TA

All bodies radiate energy. Received by the antenna this is an

external noise source.

If No is the received spectral density (W/Hz) then:

N0 = k TA

It depends on the bodies generating the noise and the antenna

characteristics.

For antennas pointed to the satellites it is mainly due to:

the sky noise

the earth radiation temperature

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 25

Satellite Telecommunications

The sky noise is more important for frequencies above 2Ghz

Generated by the non ionised regions of the atmosphere.

The clouds, rain etc also generate noise.
For frequencies between 1 to 15 GHz it typically below 40K.
If the sun is within the antenna beam then the noise may
increase by thousands degrees!

The earth radiation noise temperature

It has about the value of the physical temperature (around 290K)

It depends on the antenna radiation pattern and the antenna
orientation

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 Satellite Telecommunications
Global Noise Temperature

For a receiver with Equivalent Noise Temperature Te, connected

to an antenna with antenna Temperature TA via a line with line
losses L at a physical temperature TL the global noise
temperature at the receiver input is:

TA 1
T= + TL (1 ) + Te
L L
The line loss adds about 7K noise temperature for each tenth of
db of losses
Satellite antenna looking at the earth have TA equal to about 300K

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 27

Satellite Telecommunications
Signal to Noise Ratio at the output of the receiver in the band
B is given by:

Pr PeGeGr
= ( )2
N AkTB 4 D
If the signal is a carrier C=Pr and if No=N/B (W/Hz) is the spectral
noise density then:

C 2 Gr 1 1
= ( PeGe)( ) ( )
N0 4D T k A

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 Satellite Telecommunications

The Signal to Noise Ratio in dB is given by:

C 4D Gr
( )dBHz = 10log(PeGe) 20log( ) +10log 10log A + 228.6
N0 T

EIRP Free Space Quality Losses

Losses Factor

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 29

Satellite Telecommunications

According the Shannon theorem, for a transmission

without error, of a rate R (bits/sec) in a bandwidth B:

C
R B log 2 (1 + )
N
For digital transmission at a rate R bit/sec the energy
per bit E is related to the C/N by:

C E R
=
N No B

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 Satellite Telecommunications

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 31

The total link from a transmit station via the satellite to an

other receive station includes two links:

The Uplink from the transmit station to the satellite,

characterised by a signal to noise ration of (C/No)U

The Downlink from the satellite to the receive station,

characterised by a signal to noise ratio (C/No)D

The total link signal to noise ration is given by

(C )T1 = (C )U1 + (C ) D1
N N N

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Propagation losses in the atmosphere
Absorption from the gases in the atmosphere
- Oxygen around 60 GHz
- Water vapor around 22.5 GHZ

Diffusion by rain etc creates interferences

Increase of the Noise contribution by the sky

Degradation of polarisation isolation

Absorption due to rain: complex phenomenon depending

on rain drops diameter and distribution, and increasing with the
frequency (up to about 10GHz).

Rain statistics very important for dimensioning of link.

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 33

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 Choice of Frequency Band
Operational Constraints

- Coverage zone on the earth

- Small earth station requirement (e.g. TVRO, SIT)
- Volume limitation on the launcher

Propagation Conditions

- Rain attenuation statistics (e.g. SE Asia, Africa)

Frequency regulations

- As defined by International regulations

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 35

Satellite Telecommunications
Frequency Bands
The radio-frequency spectrum, as defined by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU), is said to extend from 3 kHz to 3,000 GHz

The spectrum is divided into nine bands as listed below

(ITU Radio Regulations 1998, V.1, Article RRS2,Nomenclature, Section I -
Frequency and Wavelength Bands

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 Satellite Telecommunications
Band letters
Unofficial, non-standard and consequently imprecise designations of frequency bands
Often divided into subbands, designated by suffix subscript letters.
For instance, the K band usually is divided into at least two subbands, designed Ku for
frequencies in the range 10 14 GHz and Ka for frequencies in the range 24 36

Satcom Courses University of Athens ER 2006 - Slide nr 37

Radio Spectrum Regulations

The repartition of the radio frequencies between the various

services is defined in the frame of the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU)

The Comite Consultatif International des Radiocommunications

(CCIR) prepares the recommendations for the technical
characteristics

The CCIR recommendations are made for limiting the

interferences between the various systems.

Several bands are shared between space and terrestrial systems

For Space Systems the World Administrative radio Conference (WARC)

allocates frequency bands to be used by various services and
administrations

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 Satellite Telecommunications
Radio Regulations -systems may operate at designated frequency bands (depending
in part on regional availability and on the regulatory allocation of the country in which
the system operates)
Satellite Services include
- Fixed Satellite Services (FSS)
- Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS)
- Mobile Satellite Services (MSS)

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