Characterization and Channel Modeling For Satellite - MEDJAHED & SICHONA

‫اﻟﺠﻤﮭـــــﻮرﯾــــــﺔ اﻟﺠـــﺰاﺋـــﺮﯾـــــــﺔ اﻟـــﺪﯾﻤﻘـــــﺮاطﯿـــــــﺔ اﻟﺸـﻌﺒﯿـــــﺔ‬
Ministère de l’enseignement Ministère de la poste et des

supérieur et de la recherche technologies de l’information et de la
scientifique communication
Institut National des

‫اﻟﻤﻌﮭــــﺪ اﻟﻮطﻨـــﻲ ﻟﻼﺗﺼﺎﻻت‬
Télécommunications et des
Technologies de l’Information et de
‫وﺗﻜﻨــــﻮﻟﻮﺟﯿــﺎت اﻹﻋﻼم و اﻻﺗﺼﺎل‬
la Communication
Projet de fin d’études Pour l’obtention du Diplôme d’Ingénieur

D’Etat en Télécommunications.
Theme:
CHARACTERIZATION AND CHANNEL
MODELING FOR
SATELLITECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
Presented by:
MEDJAHED InasAmina
SICHONA ChizoLimpo
Supervised by:
Pr. Seddik BOUTIOUTA
President: Mr. D. ZIANI KERARTI
Examinateurs:
Mr. A. ROUMANE
Mr. L. BENSAADA
Promotion: IGE 36
Année Universitaire : 2015- 2016
Résumé
Ce travail, présente notre projet de fin d’études de thème « caractérisation et
modélisation du canal de transmission d’un système de communication par satellite ». Il est
présenté comme suit :
Premier chapitre : Parle essentiellement de la communication dans son ensemble et

son importance, de l’historique de développement des technologies spatiales. Il donne un
compte rendu détaillé de la façon dont le domaine de communication par satellite a évolué
depuis ca naissance. Il aborde également les avantages et les inconvénients de ce type de
technologie.
Deuxième chapitre : Donne un compte rendu détaillé sur l’organisation d’une

transmission par satellite, la gamme des fréquences du spectre utilisé, le canal satellite, ses
caractéristiques et les deux segments principaux qui le composant.
Nous avons également réussi à modéliser le canal de transmission par satellite et le représenter
sous forme d’équations mathématiques.
Troisième chapitre : Traite une application.
Comme application, nous avons pris un intérêt pour l’étude du canal de transmission par
satellite entre la constellation GPS et un satellite LEO. Nous avons étudié le lien entre eux et
modéliser le canal à l’aide des équations mathématiques que nous avons représenté à l’aide du
logiciel MATLAB.
Enfin une conclusion générale.
Mots clés: [Satellite, modélisation, liaison, GPS, communication]
ii
Abstract
This is a summary of our end of studies project by the theme "Characterization and
Channel modeling for satellite communication systems". It is presented as follows:
First chapter: talks mainly about communication as a whole and its importance, it also
talks about the history and development of satellite technology. It gives a detailed account of
the way in which the satellite communication domain has evolved from the first time that the
idea came to life; it also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this type of
technology.
Second chapter: gives a detailed account of how a satellite communication is

established, we have studied the Frequency spectrum range, the satellite channel, all its
characteristicsand the two main segments composing a satellite channel which are the earth
segment and the space segment including all the equipment used in both segments. We have
also managed to model the satellite communication channel and represented it in form of
mathematical equations.
Third chapter: as an application, we have taken an interest in the study of the satellite
communication channel between the GPS constellation and a LEO satellite. We studied the
link between them and modeled the channel by using mathematical equations that we
represented using the MATLABsoftware.
Finally a general conclusion.
Keywords : [Satellite, modeling,link, GPS, communication]

Content
Résumé............................................................................................. Erreur ! Signet non défini.
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ i
Content........................................................................................................................................ ii
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. iii
List of figures............................................................................................................................. iv
List of accronyms........................................................................................................................ v
List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................. vi
General introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM .................................................... 2
1.1. Introduction................................................................................................................. 2
1.1.1. Early communications ........................................................................................ 3
1.1.2. What are the different types of communication.................................................. 5
1.1.3. Why do we use different types of communication systems................................ 8
1.2. What is a satellite communication system ....................................................................... 9
1.2.1. Definition of satellite communication system .......................................................... 9
1.2.2. History and developement of a satellite communications ...................................... 12
1.2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of satellite communications .................................. 13
1.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO ESTABLISH A SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM ...... 17
2.1. Introduction.................................................................................................................... 17
2.2. Study of the frequency radio spectrum .......................................................................... 18
2.2.1. Frequencies used in satellite communications ........................................................ 18
2.2.2. Satellite frequency bands and their uses: ................................................................ 22
2.3. Modeling of the satellite communication channel ......................................................... 24
2.3.1. Equipment of satellite: ............................................................................................ 24
2.3.2. Ground station and its operational chain: ............................................................... 29
2.3.3. Characteristics of satellite communication channel:............................................... 31
2.3.4. The basic satellite link ............................................................................................ 33
2.4. Link budget calculations ................................................................................................ 40
2.4.1. What is a link budget?............................................................................................. 40
2.4.2. Transparent transponder.......................................................................................... 43
2.5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 44
CHAPTER 3: GPS LINK BUDGET ANALYSIS ................................................................... 45
3.1. Introduction:.............................................................................................................. 45
3.2. GPS navigation definition:........................................................................................ 46
3.3. How GPS works:....................................................................................................... 48
3.4. Factors affecting gps accuracy:................................................................................. 51
3.5. GPS satellite constellations:...................................................................................... 51
3.6. GPS receiver: ............................................................................................................ 52
3.7. GPS link budget ........................................................................................................ 54
3.8. Application................................................................................................................ 56
3.8.1. Introduction:...................................................................................................... 56
3.9. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 64
General conclusion.................................................................................................................... 65
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 66
List of Tables
Table1: Difference between analog and digital communications .............................................. 8
Table2: ITU Radio bands and their frequency ranges and wavelengths.................................. 21
Table 3: Frequency bands for intersatellite Radio Frequency Links ....................................... 46
Table 4: Common factors that affect GPS accuracy ................................................................ 51
List of figures
Figure 1:Example of Paleolithic Painting [2] .............................................................................. 3
Figure 2: Transmission system .................................................................................................. 4
Figure 3: Different technologies of communication systems [5] ................................................ 7
Figure 4: Satellite (Space segment) [7] ..................................................................................... 10
Figure 5 : Earth station [8]......................................................................................................... 11
Figure 6: Communication Link between two Earth stations and a satellite [9] ........................ 11
Figure 7 : Sputnik [11] ............................................................................................................... 12
Figure 8 : Services provided by satellite communication systems [13] ..................................... 16
Figure 9: Atmospheric attenuation effects for space-to-Earth paths as a function of frequency
[14]
.............................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 10: ITU Regions [15] ...................................................................................................... 20
Figure 11: Showing the radio frequency spectrum [16]............................................................. 21
Figure 12 : Satellite Operational Chain [19] ............................................................................. 26
Figure 13: Communications Subsystem [21] ............................................................................. 29
Figure 14: Earth Station [22]...................................................................................................... 30
Figure 15: Earth station operational chain [23].......................................................................... 30
Figure 16: Signal attenuation due to precipitation [24].............................................................. 33
Figure 17: Simple Satellite Link [25]......................................................................................... 34
Figure 18: Geometry of Link ................................................................................................... 39
Figure 19: GPS Navigation [26]................................................................................................. 46
Figure 20: Different User segments [28].................................................................................... 47
Figure 21: Basic Trigonometry-two satellites [30] .................................................................... 49
Figure 22 : Time Difference of Arrival [31] .............................................................................. 50
Figure 23: GPS receiver [32] ..................................................................................................... 50
Figure 24: Satellite Constellation [34] ....................................................................................... 52
Figure 25: GPS receivers [35] .................................................................................................... 53
Figure 26: GPS signal structure [36] .......................................................................................... 53
Figure 27: Antenna azimuth angle [37] ..................................................................................... 66
Figure 28: Antenna elevation angle [37].................................................................................... 67
List of accronyms
DTE :Data Terminal Equipment
ITU :Internation Telecommunication Union
U.S. :United States
SCORE : Signal Communication by Orbital Relay
GEO : Geostationary Earth Orbit
MEO : Medium Earth Orbit
LEO : Low Earth Orbit
BER : Bit Error Rate
RF : Radio Frequency
U.N : United Nations
GPS : Global Positioning System
BUC : Block Up Convertors
LNB : Low-Noise Block
IF : Intermediate Frequency
TTC : Telemetry, Tracking and Command
LOS : Line Of Sight
U/P : Uplink
D/L : Downlink
SSPA : Solid State Power Amplifiers
RSU : Redundancy Switching Units
AOCS : Attitude and Orbit Control Subsystem
IP : Internet Protocol
TDOA : Time Difference Of Arrival
S.V : Space Vehicle
NASA :National Aeronautics and Space admission Administration
ISS :Internation Space Station
FSK : Frequency Shift Keying
BPSK : Binary Phase Shift Keying
QPSK : Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
EIRP : Effective Isotropic Radiated Power
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access
FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access
List of abbreviations
dB : Decibels
Hz : Hertz
Etc. : Et cætera
e.g. :Exempli gratia
DEDICATIONS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Don’t forget a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated”

H.Jackson Brown
First of all, AL HAMDOULILLAH.
I would like to dedicate this work to everyone who has helped, supported, and
believed in me during all my life.
It is a genuine pleasure to express my deep sense of thanks and gratitude to my
mentors, philosophers and guides “MOM AND DAD”. I can’t thank you enough
for everything you have offered and given me and all the help that you have
accommodated me throughout my education.
And to my amazing two angels “AMIR AND RAMI”, my brothers and my
bestfriends, thank you for all the funny comments and encouragements. And I
would also like to dedicate this work to my closest childhood friend for being by
my side all this time and supporting me and inspiring me. A special dedication
as well to my project partner and my friend “Sichona” for all the funny and
upsetting days we have had together, they will remain as the happiest memories.
I would like to thank my committee members and my helpful supervisor who has
been there for us and whom without his guidance and persistent help, this work
would not have been possible. Thank you Pr. Seddik BOUTIOUTA.
Last but not least, a special thank you to all my professors and the school’s
administrators who have helped me and dedicated their time to teach me all the
knowledge I carry today.
Medjahed Amina Inas
DEDICATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I thank God almighty who made it possible for me to reach this far
in my studies. To him I give all the Glory and dedicate this work to.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank the Government of Algeria for
allowing me the opportunity to study under the best conditions and the
Government of Zambia that accorded me this scholarship.
Most especially I would like to express my gratitude to my Mother who has
always been there for me and has been my pillar of strength throughout my
life and to my entire family for all their encouragements, motivation and
prayers.
Thankyou to a very special person Sunday Danhalbi and to all my friends
that encouraged and believed in me,most especially my collegue Rayane for
her genuine help and equal dedication to this project.
A very special thank you to my supervisor Pr. Seddik BOUTIOUTA who
like a father dedicated his time and energy and helped me to achieve the best
work possible.
A sincere thankyou to all my teachers from whom I aquired much
knowledge from.
Last but not the least thankyou to CDS(Centre de developpement des
satellite) for their immense contribution towards the realization of this
project.
SICHONA Chizo Limpo

General introduction 1
General introduction
Our work is based on the study of the characterization and modeling of a satellite channel. The
satellite communication channel is not as simple as it may seem from the human conception. It
is a complex link that has several aspects to be taken into consideration before it is set up.
When a signal is transmitted from an antenna into space or from a satellite to the earth, it is
affected by so many parameters and factors of the propagation medium and our work is to
study these parameters and know their effects and how to minimize them by all means. As we
know it is very important to establish a link that will be reliable and will provide quality
services.
This work discusses the parameters that impact the link performance and provides the means
to evaluate the performance of an individual linkin order to achieve a given link performance.
In the second part of our work which is the application, we studied the inter-satellite link
between a LEO satellite on the low earth orbit and the GPS constellation on the MEO. The
objective was to study this link and determine the main factors affecting it with the intention
of minimizing the effects of the propagation path and to be finally able to estimate the position
of the LEO satellite and to maintain the satellite at a stable position and specific orbital speed.
The evaluation of the satellite link is called the Link Budget and in our work we have used
Matlab. The objective of the Matlab simulation is to represent the factors affecting our link
performance in form of mathematical equations and calculations. These parameters can be
modified so as to reduce their negative effects in order to achieve the best link possible
between the points.
Chapter 1: What is a communication system 2
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
1.1. Introduction
Over the past few decades, the use of communication has grown to cover a large amount of
applications in all sorts of fields. Communication has been there since the very beginning of
human kind, it has made our life comprehensible and easy to live through different means and
types of communication, using different particles to maintain this process. And
communication service industry has grown rapidly more than expected.And in this project, we
will be focused on only one type of communication system which is the satellite (purely man
made) which is a wireless communication system; because we have noticed that the use of
satellites in communications systems is very much a fact of everyday life and is used in a large
number of fields almost all.The high quality of service, low cost and high spectral efficiency
are of particular interest for wireless communication systems.The growth of satellites has been
a global phenomenon as the economies of the world have increased. These satellites
complement the terrestrial communication network, enabling people across the globe to
communicate. And in order to communicate through satellites, we need to design the most
proper channel for signals to travel through with the minimum of loss. And here comes our
job, to explain and determine the whole characterization of this channel. The diverse nature of
propagation environments has great impact on the design, real-time operation and performance
assessment of highly reconfigurable hybrid (satellite-terrestrial) radio systems providing voice,
text and multimedia services operating at radio frequencies ranging from 100 MHz to 100
GHz and optical frequencies. Therefore, a perfect knowledge and modeling of the propagation
channel is necessary for the performance assessment of these systems. And as we all know,
satellite communication is designed to meet the needs of working professionals and students.
Satellite communications, no longer a marvel of human space activity, have evolved into an
everyday commonplace thing, because they serve the basic telecommunication needs of a
majority of countries around the world. To provide an overview of the field, the following
chapters describe the features of satellite communication networks as well as the principle
elements of an overall system.
Communication is defined as a process by which information is exchanged between

individuals through a system of symbols, signs, or behavior or as the technology of
transmitting information. More precisely, communication is a way of sending or transferring
information to people or places from one place to another by using different forms of
technology. Communication can range from very subtle processes of exchange to full
conversations and mass communications.
1.1.1. Early communications

We cannot argue that the first means of communication was the human voice and body
languages, before human beings created languages and alphabets. The history of
communication evolved from speech to symbols to writing. The history of communicating via
the use of symbols dates back to prehistoric times about 500 000 years ago. The oldest known
symbols created with the purpose of communication through time are the cave paintings, a
form of Rock art, dating to the upper Paleolithic.[1]
Figure 1:Example of Paleolithic Painting[2]
Communication today includes cell phones, emails, internet etc.

In this chapter however, we are going to be talking about communicating over long distances,
telecommunications, which can also be defined as the transmission of information over a
distance for the purpose of communication. The Transmission of information over long
distances began thousands of years ago with the use of smoke signals and drums particularly
in Africa, America and Asia. But over the years this invention has improved. A
communication system involves a receiver, an emitter and a channel of communication as

illustrated in the following diagram.
A communication system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission
systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and of course data terminal equipment (DTE)
usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. Simply put,
a communication system must contain emitting equipment, a channel of any type according to
the nature of signals being transmitted and receiving equipment.[3]As described in figure 2
below:
Figure 2: Transmission system
As shown in the figure above, in order to transmit information, we need to code the signals
transmitted to prevent them from getting lost or being disturbed during their journey, and at
the arrival, the inverse process is applied to the codes received, which is decoding to get the
content of the information. And communication channel is the term given to the way in which
we communicate, and of course choosing the appropriate communication channel is vital for
effective communication as each communication channel has different strengths and
weaknesses.
Being able to communicate effectively is the most important of all life skills.
So why communicate? The desired outcome or goal of any communication process is
understanding.Communication theory states that communication involves a sender and a
receiver (or receivers) conveying information through a communication channel. And
communication channel is the term given to the way in which we communicate, and of course
choosing the appropriate communication channel is vital for effective communication as each
communication channel has different strengths and weaknesses. Being able to communicate
effectively is the most important of all life skills.
1.1.2. What are the different types of communication

There are a great many different types of communication systems, due to the fact that each one
has the potential to contain a vast array of components. There are, however, several categories
that each type of system can usually be placed into.Each type of communication system uses a
medium or group of media to achieve its goals. Communication systemsmay be categorized
based on their physical infrastructure and the specifications of the signals they transmit. The
physical infrastructure actually refers to the type of channel and the hardware modeling of the
transmitting and receiving equipment.Communication systems may also be classified as one-
way, two-way, or multiple-way systems, depending on how many parties can exchange
information through its various components. So let us study the various types of
communication system for the smooth flow of information between two parties.
So the different types of communication systems follow under two types according to the
physical infrastructure:
 Line (optical) communication system
 Radio communication system
 Duplex communication system
 Half Duplex communication system
 Tactical communication system
There is a main difference between these types, which is characterized by the link used in both
systems.
In line (optical) communication systems, the word “optical” stands for light. We use a
touchable physical link or in other words, a hardwire between the transmitter and the receiver.
Optical communication system depends on light as the medium for communication. In an
optical communication system the transmitter converts the information into an optical signal
(signal in the form of light)and finally the signal then reaches the recipient. The recipient then
decodes the signal and responds accordingly. In optical communication system, light helps in
the transmission of information. [4]
Whereas in radio communication systems, there is no such thing as this physical touchable
link between the transmitter and the receiver because we are using radio frequencies to
transmit information through space and water which are used as soft wire. More specifically,
the medium through which the information is transmitted is by electromagnetic waves, and
more specifically those with frequencies that are lower than the frequency of visible light.
Radio communication system works with the aid of a transmitter and a receiver both equipped
with an antenna. On one end of these radio systems is a transmitter that will take the
information and electronically convert it into radio waves, and then the antenna sends the
signals which are carried through radio carrier wave. These radio waves travel to the other end
of the radio communication system, which is designed to detect and decode the waves and
convert them to recognizable information.We can use different examples for the use of radio
communication systems such as: radio broadcast which is purely radio communication and
cannot be used by line communication systems;the sender creates a message through the use
of light signals, after which the recipient decodes its meaning and responds accordingly.
And on the other side, telephony landline is actually an example of line (optical)
communication systems as shown in, which uses as mentioned above, a physical hardwire in
order to transmit the signals.
We need to know also that one way transmission is called simplex while two way
transmissions is called duplex.In duplex communication systems, two pieces of equipment are
used to pass messages simultaneously. A good example in this category is communication
through telephone,both the caller and receiver are able to pass messages repeatedly. When you
interact with your friend over the telephone, both of you can listen to each otherat the same
time.
In half duplex systems, both the two parties can’t communicate simultaneously. The sender
has to stop sending the signals to the recipient and then only the recipient can respond which
means in other words, only one person can passa message and afterwards, the recipient can
respond. The use of walkie-talkies is one good example of half-duplex communication system.
The military personnel while interacting has to say “over” for the other person to respond. He
needs to speak the security code correctly for the other person to speak. The other party will
never communicate unless and until the code is correct and complete.
For example, a TV communication system is a combination of the radio and simplex

communication systems, whereas landline telephony is a combination of the line and duplex
communication systems. But there are different cases in which communication systems can be
implemented as both line and radio communication system at the same time.
And in this figure below is a proper explanation of the technologies:
Figure 3: Different technologies of communication systems[5]
And in the type of tactical type of communication system, in this mode of communication,
communication varies according to the changes in the environmental conditions and other
situations.
And so as we have mentioned earlier, the communication system could be also characterized
based on signal specifications such as:
 Nature of the baseband or information signal
 Nature of the transmitted signal
And based on the nature of the baseband signal, there are two types of communication
systems:
 Analog communication systems
 Digital communication systems
The primary difference between analog and digital communication is the difference in the
concept behind “continuous time” and “discrete time”. And they also differentiate in the signal
unique features like center frequency, bandwidth, and spectra due to modulation scheme. But
they are both electromagnetic waves. So because digital modulation is discrete and analog
modulation is continuous, you can usually tell from the spectra whether you are looking at a
[6]
digital signal or analog signal. And in the table below is some differences mentioned
between digital and analog communication:
Analog Digital
Less bandwidth Large bandwidth
More accurate Less accurate due to the Quantization error that

cannot be avoided or corrected
Low noise immunity High noise immunity as the amplitude of the digital
has two levels only and channel coding (error
correcting codes) can be used
Low level of security High level of security as you can use Encryption
(Ciphering) and Authentication
No signal conditioning and processing Support complex signal conditioning and processing
are used techniques such as source coding, encryption, and
equalization
Low QOS High QOS
You can use FDM only You can use FDM, TDM, CDM, OFDM
multiplexing techniques
In mobile communications, analog In mobile communications, digital supports Voice,

supports voice service only SMS, data (you can access the internet), images and
video call
More difficult to design than digital Easily designed using software
Table1: Difference between analog and digital communications
Now all the above modes of communication work for a common objective is to transfer the
information from one party to the other party. The various models of communication system
help us to understand the route of flow of information from the sender to the recipient through
some medium.
And the most important element that differentiates between all of them is the type of
modulation used in each one of communication system.
1.1.3. Why do we use different types of communication systems

We have come to understand that there are different ways of communicating and different
equipment being used in each type of communication. Because there are some constraints that
have made us invent different types of communication systems in order to suit each type of
communication and its technologies. I will mention below the different constraints that have
made such a big variety of types of communication systems:
a) Each type of communication has its own technique, and so we use each technique or
each type of communication based on its technique.
b) There is also the matter of prices and budgetthat has also limits for each use of type
of communication system. For example, if we use a simple type of communication
system to assure the communication, it would cost us less than a complicated and
sophisticated type of communication system.
c) And also because of the geometrical form of each site or country or state, we make
types of communication system that can manage or suit the geometrical shape of the
“covered area”.
d) The coverage area also is characterized by the type of communication system used in,
for example if we want to cover large distances and transfer big information to very far
away distances, we must use radio communication systems by the radio frequencies to
assure the right deliverance of information.
And in this project we will be talking about the radio communication system type which will
describe the whole architecture of a satellite communication link and applications especially in
Telecommunications. Because satellite systems have been able to provide data
communications links over large distances. They were often used in place of intercontinental
submarine cables which were expensive and unreliable in their early days.
1.2. What is a satellite communication system
1.2.1. Definition of satellite communication system

In 500 years, when human kind looks back at the dawn of space travel, Apollo’s landing on
the moon in 1969 was the most well-known event and mostly remembered. The term spatial
radio communication was defined by ITU in 1971. Due to this new technology many aspects
of life have gone through a revolution. Satellite communication has probably had more effect
than. Any other technology invented by man. We can also say satellite communications is also
a truly commercial space technology from which billions of dollars are generated from the
annual sales of products and services.
What is a satellite communication?
A satellite communication is a communication by which a link is established between two end
points to exchange information via the use of a satellite in space and one earth station or more
on the earth. It is comprised of two main parts namely; the ground segment which consists of
fixed or mobile equipment and the space segment which is primarily the satellite itself.
A. Space segment:
This part of the link consists of the satellite itself. What is a satellite?
A satellite can be best described as a moon, planet or machine that orbits a planet or star. The
earth can be referred to as a satellite because it orbits the sun and the moon can be referred to
as a satellite because it orbits around the earth. These are examples of natural satellites.
Communication satellite is an artificial or man-made satellite however may be referred to as a
machine that is launched into space and orbits around the earth.A satellite is composed of two
main parts namely, the antennas and the power source. The antennas send and receive
information often to and from the earth and the power source consists of solar panels and
batteries.
Figure 4: Satellite (Space segment)[7]

B. Ground segment:
The ground segment consists of an earth station and any equipment used in the earth station.
What is an earth station? An earth station can be best described as an on-ground terminal that
is linked to a spacecraft or satellite via an antenna and other associated electronic equipment.
It serves the purpose of transmission, reception and tracking or control.
Figure 5 : Earth station[8]
For example when two earth stations want to communicate through radio broadcast but are too
far away to use conventional repeaters. The two stations can instead use a satellite as a relay
station for their communication, one on earth transmits the signals to the satellite using a
frequency called uplink frequency, the satellite has a transponder which in turn converts the
signal and sends it down to the second earth station using a frequency called downlink.
Figure 6: Communication Link between two Earth stations and a satellite[9]

1.2.2. History and developement of a satellite communications

The idea of satellites first came about in 1952 when the international council of scientific
unions came to a decision of establishing July 1st 1957 to December 31st 1958 as international
geophysical year. It was decided so because scientists knew that solar activity cycle would be
at high points around this time. In order to map earth’s surface, council took up a resolution
calling launch of the artificial satellite during this geophysical year journey. White house
declared plans of launching earth orbiting satellite and requested proposals from different
governmental agencies. Vanguard proposal by naval research lab was picked for representing
U.S. during the International Geophysical year. This project made the world’s first ever
satellite called sputnik1 which was launched into space on the 4 th of October 1957 by Soviet
Union. It weighed 183 pounds and it took 98 minutes to rotate the earth. This new invention
steered the beginning of space age. [10]
Figure 7 : Sputnik[11]
After the launch of sputnik 1, the Soviet Union released sputnik 2 on 3rd November 1957.
On 31st January 1958 the United States launched Explorer 1.
On 17th march 1958 vanguard 1 was launched by the United States it was the first solar
powered satellite.
In 1958 on the 18th of December another satellite was launched by the United States called
SCORE (Signal communication by orbital relay).SCORE broadcasted a Christmas message by
President Eisenhower “Peace on Earth, Good will toward men”. This satellite orbited the
world for 12 days up until its batteries failed. The SCORE satellite proved that it was actually
possible to put an atlas missile into orbit.
The United Nations launched ECHO 1, a passive reflector satellite with no amplification
possibilities. ECHO 1 could only reflect the radiation back to earth. At that time that it was
launched it was believed that the reflector satellite could be used in communications but it
proved wrong and got abandoned.
After the knowledge that was acquired working on ECHO 1, TELSTAR an experimental
satellite was developed and launched in 1962 which relayed television signals; it was in a
medium earth orbit. Within six months following the launch about 400 transmissions in the
United States, Britain and France were conducted with multichannel telephone, telegraph,
facsimile and television signals.
In 1965, 1967 and 1969 satellites were launched into geosynchronous earth orbits over the
Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans respectively. Early bird was launched in 1965 also called
INTELSAT and was the first satellite to be used in telephone services. A combination of over
130 governments and international organizations are in control of the function INTELSAT, a
new development of satellite with which nearly complete earth coverage was achieved.
INTELSAT along with Inmarsat which is used in international shipping is open to use by all
nations.
1.2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of satellitecommunications

Satellite communication is one of the most impressive spin-offs from space programs, and
made a major contribution to the international communication. Satellite plays a very important
role in telephone ccommunication, TV and radio program distribution and other certain
communications. This major field of study and has intensive literature. These communication
systems are now become an integral part of major area telecommunication networks through
the world. The purpose of this title is to discuss various advantages and disadvantages of
Satellite Communication and services provided by the Satellite.
So what are the advantages of satellite communications? Why does the satellite industry
continue to grow? When is satellite the best solution? Because of its unique geometry and it’s
inherently a broadcast medium with an ability to transmit simultaneously from one point to an
arbitrary number of other points within its coverage area.
Thus satellite Communication possesses several advantages which are as follows:

A. Form of Communication: Point to multipoint communication is possible whereas
terrestrial relay are point to point, this is why satellite relay are wide area broadcast.
B. Easiness: Circuits for the satellite can be installed rapidly. Once the satellite is in
position, Earth Station can be installed and communication may be established within
some days or even hours.
C. Installation Constraint: During critical condition each Earth Station may be removed
relatively quickly from a location and reinstalled somewhere else.
D. Flexibility: Mobile communication can be easily achieved by satellite communication

because of its flexibility in interconnecting mobile vehicles.
E. Distance Range: As compared to fiber cable, the satellite communication has the
advantage of the quality of transmitted signals and the location of Earth Stations. The
sending and receiving information independent of distance.
F. Cost Effectiveness:Cost of satellite capacity does not increase with the number of
users/receive sites, or with the distance between communication points. Whether
crossing continents or staying local, satellite connection cost is distance insensitive.
G. Global Availability: Communications satellites cover all land masses and there is
growing capacity to serve maritime and even aeronautical markets. Customers in rural
and remote regions around the world who cannot obtain high speed Internet access
from a terrestrial provider are increasingly relying on satellite communications.
H. Superior Reliability: Satellite communications can operate independently from

terrestrial infrastructure. When terrestrial outages occur from man-made and natural
events, satellite connections remain operational.
I. Immediacy and Scalability: Additional receive sites, or nodes on a network; can

readily be added, sometimes within hours. All it takes is ground-based equipment.
Satellite has proven its value as a provider of "instant infrastructure" for commercial,
government and emergency relief communications.
J. Mobility: Satellite communications are able to reach all areas of the globe dependent
upon the type of satellite system in use, and the ground stations do not need to be in
any one given location. For this reason, many ships use satellite communications. [12]
When considering the use of a satellite, there are some disadvantages that also need to be
taken into consideration, such as:
I. Cost: Satellites are not cheap to build, place in orbit and then maintain. This means
that the operational costs are high, and therefore the cost of renting or buying space on
the satellite will also not be cheap.
II. Propagation Delay: As distances are very much greater than those involved with
terrestrial systems, propagation delay can be an issue, especially for satellites using
geostationary orbits (GEO). Here the round trip from the ground to the satellite and
back can be of the order of a quarter of a second.
III. Bandwidth Issue: Over-crowding of available bandwidth due to low antenna gains
occurrs.
Although the basics of satellite communications are fairly straightforward, there is a huge
investment required in building the satellite and launching it into orbit. Nevertheless many
communications satellites exist in orbit around the globe and they are widely used for a variety
of applications from providing satellite telecommunications links to direct broadcasting and
the use of satellite phone and individual satellite communication links.
So based on the advantages and disadvantages of satellite communications, satellite
communication has a wide range of services, for example:
 In communicationsuch as T.V telephony, data transfer such as mail and internet etc.
are mostly done through different communication satellites these days.
 Remote sensing and Earth observation can be done with the help of lower Earth Orbits
(LEO) Satellite.
 Metro logical applications such as weather survey to study different layers and amount
of ozone’s content in the atmosphere.
 Military applications like short distance local communication from any camp to
another, to study the location of the enemy, etc.
 There are also other services provided by satellite communication:Fixed satellite

service, Broadcast satellite service, Navigational satellite service, Meteorological
satellite service, Mobile satellite service.
Figure 8 : Services provided by satellite communication systems[13]
1.3Conclusion
This chapter provides an overview on satellite communications and their fundamental features.
The number of operational and planned satellite communication systems is growing rapidly
and looking at this growth and the way in which satellites have developed,we can conclude
that satellite communications is a complex and risky way of communication yet very reliable
and plays a vital role in the global telecommunications systems.
Chapter 2 : How to establish asatellite communication system 17
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO ESTABLISH A SATELLITE

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
2.1. Introduction
In this chapter we are going to talk about frequencies and their uses, we shall talk in detail
about the types of frequencies that are used in radio communications and specifically in
satellite communications and what each band is used for.
We also talked about the satellite communication and its different components which are
basically divided into two main parts. The space segment and its different components and the
earth segment including its different components.
We described in detail the study of a satellite link and its various characteristics and how to
model this link and represent it in form of equations.We talked in detail about a satellite link
budget and how the link budget calculations are made and the various factors that affect the
link budget calculations and how to account for them.All these calculations will be made in
decibels (dB) or in watts.
The link availability is an important subject that should be a priority when setting up a satellite
link.The main reason as to why the link should be designed is in order to provide reliable,
good quality communication. When the power is calculated it enables us to know how much
minimum power is needed on the receiving end in order to know how much power should be
emitted to get a signal on the side of the receiving antenna, this also helps avoid unwanted
signals causing noise and interference from various sources. The received power to noise ratio
calculated on the user terminal determines the quality of the communication and this ratio
leads us to know the signal to noise ratio (S/N) which helps us know the quality of an
analogue communication were frequency modulation is generally used and in the case of a
digital communication were the quality of a signal is measured by using the Bit error rate
(BER).
2.2. Study of the frequency radio spectrum
2.2.1. Frequencies used in satellite communications

A satellite communication is a radio communication meaning it is type of communication that
uses radio signals as the carrier of its information (data, voice,and video) between space and
ground;these radio signals are called electromagnetic waves. Because of satellites increased
use. A number of frequency bands are being used to carter for all the different types of
technologies being exploited in this field. Satellites were not the first to employ microwave
frequencies, which generally extend from about 1,000 MHz (1 GHz) to 30 GHz. That range
was first developed during World War II for radar defense, then applied to various terrestrial
communication systems between 1950 and 1980. The frequency of an electromagnetic wave is
the rate of reversal of its polarity (not polarization) in cycles per second, defined to be units of
hertz (Hz). Alternating current in a copper wire also has that frequency property; if the
frequency is sufficiently high, the wire becomes an antenna, radiating electromagnetic energy
at the same frequency. Recall that wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency, with the
proportionality constant being the speed of light (approximately 300 million meters per second
in a vacuum). A particular range of frequencies is called a frequency band, while the full
extent of all frequencies for zero to infinity is called the electromagnetic spectrum. In
particular, the radio frequency (RF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum permits the efficient
generation of signal power, its radiation into free space, and reception at a distant point. The
most useful RF frequencies lie in the 300-MHz and 300,000-MHz range, although lower
frequencies (longer wavelengths) are attractive for certain applications.
Frequencies are all measured in hertz but are all created different. Some segments of the band
can be transmitted with greater ease (e.g., can propagate through the atmosphere and physical
media with less loss and temporary fading) than others. Also, differing levels of natural and
man-made noise interfere with the transfer. Figure 9 indicates the absorption by air at various
frequencies. We see that above about 30 GHz, propagation grows in difficulty due to higher
levels of atmospheric attenuation effects.
Figure 9: Atmospheric attenuation effects for space-to-Earth paths as a function of

frequency[14]
In order to receive radio signals, an antenna must be involved .However, since the antenna will
pick up thousands of radio signals at a time, for this reason it is necessary to have a particular
range of frequencies that can be used for these particular antennas used in satellite
communications.
Allocating frequencies for satellite services is a complicated and complex process which
requires international coordination planning.This is carried out by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), a special agency of the United Nations (UN) that has its
headquarters based in Spain,Geneva.In order to facilitate this process the ITU divided the
world into three separate regions and it came up with a range of frequencies as shown in figure
10 below that were divided all according to their particular uses which is called the Radio
frequency spectrum this is the entire spectrum of electromagnetic frequencies used for radio
communications services this includes, radar, television and radio. The radio frequency
spectrum is divided into bands of frequencies. A band is a small section of the radio frequency
spectrum in which channels are usually used or set aside for the same purpose or uses. Every
government on the planet is a member of the ITU; these governments in turn are responsible
for assigning Radio frequencies in allocated bands to users.The ITU has allocated the same
parts of the spectrum for many countries and for various purposes around the Globe because
the Radio frequency spectrum is a limited resource. The spectrum of Radio Frequencies is
shown in the figure 11 which indicates on a logarithmic scale the abbreviations that are in
common usage. The bottom end of the spectrum from 0.1 to 100MHz has been applied to the
various radio broadcasting services and is not used for space communication. The frequency
bands of interest for satellite communication s lies above 100MHz were we find the VHF,
UHF, and SHF. The SHF bands have been further broken down into sub bands called L, S, C,
X, Ku, and Ka. Generally the Ku-band and those below it are the most popular because of the
relative low cost of available equipment and the more favorable propagation characteristics.
The Ka, V, and Q-bands employ millimeter wavelengths and are potentially useful for very
high bandwidth transmissions into small receiving antennas.
The 3 regions as divided by ITU as shown in figure 10 below are as follows:
Region 1: This includes Europe, Africa, what was formally the Soviet Union and Mongolia
Region 2: This includes North and South America and Greenland.
Region 3: This includes Asia (excluding region 1 areas), Australia and south west pacific.
Figure 10: ITU Regions[15]

Figure 11: Showing the radio frequency spectrum[16]
Symbols Frequency range Wavelength range

VLF 3-30KHz 10-100Km
LF 30 to 300 kHz 1-10Km
MF 300 to 3000 kHz 100-1000m
HF 3 to 30 MHz 10-100m
VHF 30 to 300 MHz 1-10m
UHF 300 to 3000 MHz 10-100cm
SHF 3 to 30 GHz 1-10cm
EHF 30 to 300 GHz 1-10mm
THF 300 to 3000 GHz 0.1-1mm
Table2: ITU Radio bands and their frequency ranges and wavelengths
2.2.2. Satellite frequency bands and their uses:
 L-Band (1-2GHz)
Global Positioning System (GPS) carriers and also satellite mobile phones, such as Iridium;
Inmarsat providing communications at sea, land and air; World Space satellite radio.This band
is recommended for communications between earth stations and satellites.These frequencies
have better band width and more stable propagation under the right conditions.
 S-Band (2-4GHz)
Weather radar, surface ship radar, and some communications satellites, especially those of
NASA for communication with ISS and Space Shuttle. In May 2009, Inmarsat and Solaris
mobile (a joint venture between Eutelsat and Astra) were awarded each a 2×15 MHz portion
of the S-band by the European Commission. This band is recommended for communications
between earth stations and satellites. Satellite digital audio radio services and mobile TV
employ the S-band.
 Microwave bands C, X and Ku-Bands
The bands C, Ka and Ku-bands are the bands that are microwave that are mostly exploited for
satellite communications,they offer more band width than L and S bands.
 C-Band (4–8 GHz)
C-band was the first part of the microwave spectrum to be used extensively for commercial
satellite communication. Primarily used for satellite communications, for full-time satellite TV
networks or raw satellite feeds. Commonly used in areas that are subject to tropical rainfall,
since it is less susceptible to rain fade than Ku band (the original Telstar satellite had a
transponder operating in this band, used to relay the first live transatlantic TV signal in
1962).Used for domestic and international telephone services.
 X-Band (8–12 GHz)
Primarily used by the military. Used in radar applications including continuous-wave, pulsed,
single-polarization, dual- polarization, synthetic aperture radar and phased arrays. X-band
radar frequency sub-bands are used in civil, military and government institutions for weather
monitoring, air traffic control, maritime vessel traffic control, defense tracking and vehicle
speed detection for law enforcement.
 Ku-Band (12–18 GHz)

Used for satellite communications. In Europe, Ku-band downlink is used from 10.7 GHz to
12.75 GHz for direct broadcast satellite services, such as Astra.
 Ka-Band (26–40 GHz)
This band is potentially very useful for very high band width transmissions into small
receiving antennas.
 UHF and VHF bands
These are defined to be in the range between 30 to 300 MHz and 300 to 3000 MHz. Major
Telecommunication’sproviders have provided voice and data cellular networks in the
UHF/VHF Range, this allows mobile phones and mobile computing devices to connect to the
public land telephone network and public internet.Many personal radios also use UHF bands
Land mobile radio systems.[17]
2.3. Modeling of the satellite communication channel
2.3.1. Equipment of satellite:

Satellite communications equipment is used for the transmission, conditioning, and reception
of satellite signals in worldwide telecommunications. General specifications include product
type, mounting style, and connector type or interface. Impedance is also an important
parameter to consider. In terms of performance, satellite communications equipment differs in
terms of frequency, operating voltage, output power, gain, return loss, operating temperature,
and operating humidity. Products with features such as remote control, an integrated heat sink,
and an embedded power supply are commonly available.
 Types of satellite communications equipments:
There are many different types of satellite communications equipments.

 Amplifiers are used to regenerate and amplify signals.
 Antennas are structures used to collect or radiate electromagnetic waves, and may be
categorized as receiving antennas or transmitting antennas.
 Block up convertors (BUC) is used to transmit (uplink) satellite signals. As their name
suggests, they convert a band or a block of frequencies from lower to high frequencies.
 Low-noise block converters (LNB) are down converters that are used to receive
(downlink) satellite signals.
 Equalizers are satellite communications equipment used to alter or adjust the frequency
responses of a device.
Frequency converters are integrated component assemblies that are required for converting
microwave signals into lower or intermediate or higher frequency ranges for further
processing. [18]This type of satellite communications equipment generally consists of:
 an input filter
 a local oscillator filter
 an intermediate frequency (IF) filter
 a mixer
 Frequently an LO frequency multiplier, plus one or more stages of IF
amplification.
Equalizers, another category of satellite communications equipment, are used to alter or adjust
the frequency response of a device. Power amplifiers and solid state power amplifiers (SSPA)
are also available.
 Categories:
Categories of satellite communications equipments include:

 RF receivers,
 satellite modems,
 splitters,
 switchover units,
 transceivers,
 translators,
 Transmitters.
RF receivers separate radio signals from one another and convert specific signals into audio,
video, or data formats. Satellite modems are used for satellite transmissions. Splitters are used
to divide a signal into two or more signals. Switches are used to route signals to different
paths. Switchover units or redundancy switching units (RSU) are used to monitor the status of
a device. Transceivers have both a transmitter and a receiver. Translators are designed to
translate transmitter bands to the receiver band. Transmitters are satellite communications
equipment that sends signals to a network or to the air (wireless).
The figure below shows the operational chain of a satellite:
Figure 12 : Satellite Operational Chain[19]
Each type of satellite has its own type of equipment used on board.There are different types of
satellites, and they differ according to their initial missions. As is each satellite disposes its
own mission according to what it was built for.
The most common space missions fall into four general areas:
 Communications
 Remote Sensing
 Navigation
 Science and Exploration
There are two main parts of a satellite that make up the whole subsystems which are as
follows:
 Payload: The payload is the part of the spacecraft that actually performs the mission.
Naturally, the type of payload a spacecraft has depends directly on the type of mission
it’s performing. In the case of an earth observation satellite, we use cameras, but on the
other hand we use transponders in telecommunication satellites and antennas, which
are electronic components that transform the electromagnetic energy into electrical
energy and vice versa. [20]
 The spacecraft bus: The spacecraft bus provides all the “housekeeping” functions
necessary to make the payload work. The bus includes various subsystems that
produce and distribute electrical power, maintain the correct temperature, process and
store data, communicate with other spacecraft and Earth-bound operators, control the
spacecraft’s orientation, and hold everything together. It’s the spacecraft’s job to carry
[4]
out the mission, but it can’t do that unless it’s in the right place at the right time.
Among the subsystems are as follows:AOCS subsystem, Power subsystem, Thermal
control subsystem, On board computer, Propulsion subsystem, Communication
subsystem, Telemetry and Command subsystem.[20]
There are other subsystems as well such as:

 Antennas:
The antenna is the most visible part of a satellite communication system. It transmits and
receives the modulated carrier signal of the uplink signal and transmits to the downlink
signal at the radio frequency (RF) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.An antenna can
also be described asa component that transforms the energy (guided energies and
electromagnetic energies) from electrical energy into electromagnetic energy and vice
versa. The electromagnetic waves have been created by the electric and magnetic fields
propagating perpendicularly to each other. So the electrical energy is transformed to
electromagnetic one.
 AOCS subsystem:
The AOCS (Attitude and orbit control subsystem): system that determines the altitude and
the orbit of the satellite.So why do we need to have a system of control of satellites and
what type of orbits exist? We need a control system in order to control the latitude
trajectory of the satellite and in order to avoid perturbations.
An orbit control system mainly involves two parts namely:
 Estimation part :
This part involves collecting information and estimating the orbital speed, attitude and
angular positions.
 The control part :

This part deals with how to control the systems and the also works with orbital
parameters.
 Power Subsystem:
The power subsystem is one of the most important subsystems of a satellite,it provides the
necessary energy to keep the satellite in function. It is mainly comprised of two parts:
 Solar panels
 Batteries
The energy we get from solar panels is transformed from solar energy into an electrical one
which is distributed to other equipments and the rest of it is saved in the batteries.
The subsystem board energy is contained in the spacecraft bus which generates, controls, and
distributes the energy through all the other subsystems or systems.
 On board computer (data handling) subsystem:
This is the brain of the satellite, it stores information in the memory and it also has a
processor. It is the subsystem which carries and stores data between the various electronics
units and the ground segment, via the telemetry, tracking and command (TTC) subsystem.
 Propulsion Subsystem:
Most satellites have an on board propulsion system which is used to achieve initial orbit and to
make major position changes. Shortly after reaching initial orbit the satellite is separated from
the final stage of the launcher. The final orbit is achieved by firing a kick motor to move the
satellite into the final desired orbit and position.
 Communication Subsystem:
The communications subsystem uses transmitters, receivers or transponders (transmitter and

receiver in one component). The communications subsystem handles all transmit and receive
communications functions. If it is a communications satellite, this will be a heavy portion of
the satellite’s construction.
Figure 13: Communications Subsystem[21]
 Telemetry and Command Subsystem:
The satellite must inform the satellite operations center what its current state is, and where it is
located in orbit. Often a simple ‘beacon’ system is used to allow the ground station to track the
satellite in orbit. Additional information is relayed to the ground, such as the craft’s operating
temperature, state of its programs and operating system, as well as a host of other internal
functions.
2.3.2. Ground station and its operational chain:

An earth station can be best described as an on-ground terminal that is linked to a spacecraft or
satellite via an antenna and other associated electronic equipment. It serves the purpose of
transmission, reception and tracking or control.
Figure 14: Earth Station[22]
The figure below shows the operational chain of an earth station:
Figure 15: Earth station operational chain[23]
There exists two parts of communications in an earth station as explained below:

A. Transmission(Uplink)
The up convertor is used to transpose the signal to band S for the uplink. The frequency is
converted from 145 MHZ to 2 GHZ and then amplified using the high power amplifier and
then passed on to the antenna for transmission via the coaxial cable. The intermediate
frequency for the downlink is 70 MHZ.
B. Reception(Downlink)
For reception from the satellite the data first comes to the down convertor, then using the
demodulator the frequency is demodulated from 8 Mb/s to 3400 bit/s. The router then routes
this data to the different computers using Internet protocol (IP). The intermediate frequency of
the uplink and downlink are not the same.
For the uplink we use 9600 bits/sec and modulation in FSK because there is not much data to
be sent to the satellite except for a few sequences of commands of about a maximum of 8ko
and for the downlink we use BPSK modulation which uses 3400bits/sec.Images are
downloaded using QPSK type of modulation at 8 Mb/s.
On the earth station we find what is called a control room. In the control of the Control room
we find computers each one with it’s in own task.
2.3.3. Characteristics of satellite communication channel:

The communication channel provides the connection between the transmitter and the receiver.
The physical channel in our study is a free space over which the information-bearing signal is
radiated by use of an antenna.
One common problem in signal transmission through any channel is additive noise. In general,
additive noise is generated internally by components such as resistors and solid-state devices
used to implement the communication system. This is sometimes called thermal noise. Other
sources of noise and interference may arise externally to the system, such as interference from
other users of the channel. When such noise and interference occupy the same frequency band
as the desired signal, its effect can be minimized by proper design of the transmitted signal
and its demodulator at the receiver. Other types of signal degradations that may be
encountered in transmission over the channel are signal attenuation, amplitude and phase
distortion, and multipath distortion.
The effects of noise may be minimized by increasing the power in the transmitted signal.
However, equipment and other practical constraints limit the power level in the transmitted
signal. Another basic limitation is the available channel bandwidth. A bandwidth constraint is
usually due to the physical limitations of the medium and the electronic components used to
implement the transmitter and the receiver. These two limitations result in constraining the
amount of data that can be transmitted reliably over any communications channel.
In radio communication systems, electromagnetic energy is coupled to the propagation

medium by an antenna which serves as the radiator. The physical size and the configuration of
the antenna depend primarily on the frequency of operation.
The mode of propagation of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere and in free space may
be subdivided into three categories, namely:
 ground-wave propagation
 sky-wave propagation
 And line-of-sight (LOS) propagation.
In the VLF and ELF frequency bands, where the wavelengths exceed 10 km, the earth and the
ionosphere act as a waveguide for electromagnetic wave propagation. In these frequency
ranges, communication signals practically propagate around the globe. For this reason, these
frequency bands are primarily used to provide navigational aids from shore to ships around the
world. The channel bandwidths available in these frequency bands are relatively small
(usually from 1–10% of the center frequency), and hence, the information that is transmitted
through these channels are relatively slow speed and, generally, confined to digital
transmission. A dominant type of noise at these frequencies is generated from thunderstorm
activity around the globe, especially in tropical regions. Interference results from the many
users of these frequency bands.[24]
Figure 16 illustrates the signal attenuation in dB/mile due to precipitation for frequencies in
the range of 10–100 GHz. We observe that heavy rain introduces extremely high propagation
losses that can result in service outages (total breakdown in the communication system).
Figure 16: Signal attenuation due to precipitation[24]
2.3.4. The basic satellite link

The Figure 1 below shows a satellite link in its simplest form. This is a link between two earth
stations and a satellite in space. The first station transmits to the satellite it’s called the uplink
(U/P) carrier wave (modulated by the baseband signal, i.e. by the signal from the message
source transmitted by the user terminal at a radio frequency (RF). The satellite antenna and
transponder system receives this carrier and after frequency conversion from FULtoFDL,
amplifies and re-radiates it as a downlink (D/L) wave which is received by the earth Station B.
To establish the return link,‘B’ transmits a U/L carrier at another RF which is received by ‘A’
at the converted D/L RF.
In this part of the chapter talks about the satellite link and the link-power budget calculations
are made. These calculations basically relate to two quantities, the transmit power and the
receive power, and clearly shows how the two powers are used and accounted for
The units that we are used are called either decibels or Watts.
One of the key calculations used in link budget analysis is the Equivalent isotropic radiated
power written as EIRP.
Figure 17: Simple Satellite Link[25]
We have to take into consideration that the satellite is equipped with many transponders and
the different satellite links can be transmitted through different transponders. In most cases the
signal doesn’t just need a change in frequency but is subject to more complex operations
including modulation/demodulation, baseband processing and more.
The fundamental design factor of a satellite link is calculation of a link budget meaning the
calculation of the (C/N), (C/NO),(EB/NO),(S/N) or BER as function of the characteristics of a
satellite, of the earth stations and of the environment and interference conditions.
Before looking at the link budget analysis and calculation it is very important for us to first
review some basic notions on the antenna, this is because the antennas constitute the
earthspace segment and it is via the antennas that the signals are received or transmitted. They
form the link between the transmitting and receiving equipment and the space propagation
path.
A. Basic caracteristics of an antenna

Antennas can be broadly defined according to their functions they can be classified as
transmitting antennas and receiving antennas. The requirements and the mode of operation for
each function whether transmitting or receiving are quite different. Usually a single antenna is
frequently used for both reception and transmission.
In satellite communication, antennas can be classified as earth station antennas and satellite or
spacecraft antennas. The general characteristics of antennas can also be applied in these types
of antennas but the constraints set by the physical environment lead to varying designs in each
of these cases.In this section however we are not going to talk about all the antennas
characteristics but we shall focus mainly only the antennas parameters needed for link budget
calculations.
1. Antenna Gain definition
The gain of an antenna is the ratio of the power radiated or received per unit solid angle by the
antenna in a given direction to the power radiated or received per unit solid angle by an
isotropic antenna fed with the same power.
In this case we are going to be talking about an isotropic antenna. An isotropic antenna is an
antenna that radiates the same amount of radio waves in equal directions, with uniform power
(PO/4π) in every direction (Ɵ/ϕ). PO is the power available at the input of the antenna.
The Gain of the antenna is described below:
g(Ɵ/ϕ) = p(Ɵ/ϕ)/ PO/4π (1)
Where:
P(Ɵ/ ϕ): is the power radiated in a specific direction
PO/4π: is the uniform power radiated in any direction (Ɵ/ ϕ). [W/steradian]
PO:is the total radiated power in all directions and is expressed as:
PO=∫ ∫ p(Ɵ/ϕ)sin Ɵ d Ɵ d ϕ (2)

The maximum of the gain function is:
gmax=Pmax/PO/4π(3)
The maximum gain which is also called the ‘antenna gain’ is expressed in decibels (dB) and
more precisely in decibels over the gain of an isotropic antenna (dBi).
G = 10 log g [dBi] (4)
An isotropic antenna is able to receive a power PO/4π in any given direction (Ɵ/ϕ) and a
directional antenna will receive a power P (Ɵ/ ϕ) from the same transmitter positioned in the
direction (Ɵ/ϕ).
2. Antenna effective aperture and gain
If a radio wave arriving from a distant source hits an antenna, the antenna collects the power
contains its effective aperture area Ae, if the antenna were perfect and lossless,this effective
aperture area would be equal to the actual projected area A.
Ae =ŋ. A (5)
Where :
ŋ = antenna efficiency (n<1)
A for a circular aperture = π D2 /4
The effective aperture area can also be expressed as a function of its receiving gain Gr
according to equation:
Ae= Gr /(4π/λ2) [m2]
The gain is maximum in the direction of maximum radiation and has a value given by:
Gmax=(4π/λ2)Ae(6)
Where:
λ=c/f
c = is the velocity of light =3*108 m/s
f = frequency of the electromagnetic waves
Ae:is the effective aperture area of the antenna
Gmax =ŋ(πD/ λ)2(7)
Hence for an antenna with a circular aperture:
Gmax =ŋ(πDfu /c)2(8)
3. Noise temperature of antenna NO
4. Received signal power
The power captured by the receiving antenna of effective power aperture area Ae
located at a distance R from the transmitting antenna receives power equal to:
Pr=(PO*Ge)*Ae/4πd2(9)
Hence an expression for the received power:
Pr = (PoGT)(λ/4πR) 2 Gr (10)
Equation (3) representing Pr can be written as a factor of the free space loss as shown below
Pr= (PoGT)(1/LFS) Gr (W) (11)
Where:
LFS=(4πR/λ)2 (12)
Called« free space loss »
Normally the frequency will be known and the speed of light is known which is 3*108m/s and
therefore the wavelength (λ) can be calculated.
The free space loss is the loss in signal strength as it passes through free space and it
represents the ratio of the received and the transmitted powers in a link between two isotropic
antennas.
5. Additional losses
In addition to the losses due to free-space propagation, received power calculations must also
take into account, both in the uplink and downlink, miscellaneous losses as follows:
 Attenuation of waves as they propagate through the atmosphere called atmospheric
losses LA, this may vary between a few tenths of a decibel at 4GHz to several tens of
decibels at 30 GHz. This attenuation is due to the presence of gaseous components in
the troposphere, water (rain, clouds, snow and ice) and the ionosphere and also
according to local precipitation conditions and the elevation angle of the
satellite.Radio waves transmitted from the satellite to the earth and vice versa must
pass through the ionosphere which is the region of the earth’s upper atmosphere and
consists of several ionized layers due to ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
L =LFSLA (Path losses) (13)
 Feeder losses representing the losses in the transmitting antenna feeder and between
the receiving antenna and the receiver input. These losses are generally included in the
E.I.R.P on emission and in the station sensitivity on reception.
The feeder losses between the transmitter and the antenna and the feeder losses
between the antenna and the receiver.
 Depointing error losses: These are the losses due to antenna offset with respect to the
nominal direction.The figure below shows the case of imperfect alignment of the
transmitting and receiving antennas.The result is fallout on antenna gain with respect
to the maximum gain on transmission and on reception called depointing loss.The
depointing losses are expressed as a function of misalignement of angles of
transmission (Ɵ T) and reception(Ɵ R) and their value is given in the diagram in dB:
Figure 18: Geometry of Link
 There exist losses also caused by polarization mismatch at the antenna interface and
cross polarization caused by propagation. Polarization mismatch losses Lpol are
observed when the receiving antenna is not oriented with the polarization of the
received wave.
The Received power can also be expressed as a factor of the EIRP and FSL:
PR (dBm) =EIRP +GR – FSL(14)
1. 1/L which characterizes the transmission medium;
1/L = 1/LFSLA (15)
The path loss L takes into account of the attenuation of free space LFS and the attenuation the
atmosphere LA.
2. The gain of the receiver, which characterizes the receiving equipment:

G=GRMAX/LRLFRXLPOL(16)
This expression takes account of the loss LFRX between the antenna and the receiver, the loss
of antenna gain LR due to the misalignment of the receiving antenna and the polarization
mismatch losses LPOL.
2.4. Link budget calculations
2.4.1. What is a link budget?

The link Budget is the overall accounting of all the gains and losses from the transmitter
through the medium to the receiver in a telecommunications system which in our case is a
satellite communication system having a medium of radio. It is the calculation of the
attenuation of the signal that is transmitted due to the propagation of the signal via different
and harsh conditions, the calculations of the antenna gains and the miscellaneous losses,
taking into consideration of the fading of the signal. The main point is to finally calculate and
know the link margin which is the difference between the actual received power minus the
minimum received signal level required in order that a communication link may be established
between two end points of a communication system. The received power in a link is
determined by three factors. The transmitting power, the receiving antenna gain and the
transmitting antenna gain. If that power minus the free space losses of the link path is greater
than the minimum received signal level then a link is possible.
The power received in an ordinary microwave link analyses is:
PR(dB)= Power Transmitted plus all Gains minus all Losses as illustrated in the link below:
Power received (dbm) = Power Transmitted (EIRP) +Gain Received (db) – Losses (db) (17)
This can also be expressed as:

PR (dB) = PT +GT +LTA +G SU –LU–LUA+GS+GSD–LDA–LD+GR–LRA(18)
GT: Gain of the transmit earth station antenna

LTA: Feeder loss, of the transmit earth station
PT: Transmitted power
GSU:Gain of satellite receiver antenna
LU: Uplink Propagation Losses(including free space loss, atmospheric absorption, rain
attenuation and rain)
LUA: Feeder Loss, of the receiving satellite antenna
GS: Amplification Gain of the satellite transponder
GSD:Gain of satellite transmit antenna
LDA: Feeder losses of the transmit satellite antenna
LD: Downlink propagation losses (including free space loss, atmospheric absorption, rain
attenuation and rain)
GR: Gain of receive earth station
LRA: Feeder losses of the receiving antenna on earth station
Link Margin =Received power –Minimum received signal level (sensibility) (19)
The link margin must be positive and should be maximized, for a reliable link. However
having a certain quality requirement and being limited in the availability of be it finances,
equipments etc. The link budget will help calculate the technical design parameters needed for
the signal transmission (types of modulation techniques, error correction encoding, etc) and
for the earth station and possibly for the space station. These technical parameters will in turn
determine type of equipment needed depending on how far we want to transmit the signal for
example: the antenna diversity that can be used, the power of the amplifiers, modems etc.
The link budget is a way of quantifying the link performance.The overall performance of a
satellite link depends on three elements, which are the Uplink, transponder and the downlink.
In this section we are going to show the overall calculation of the link budget. The purpose of
calculating this is to know the quality of the satellite communication. In the case of analogue,
frequency modulation transmissions, the quality of the satellite communication can be
evaluated by the signal to noise ratio (S/N) and in the case of digital, the evaluation is made by
the Information Bit Error Ratio (BER).
In this section however we are going to be limited to the calculation of the basic formulas such
as the factors Carrier Power to Noise power spectral density(C/N o) which is later converted
into (S/N) or into BER which will in turn determine the choice of modulation ,transmission
bandwidth and coding process to be used. The practical cases of link budget calculation will
be given in the annex.
1. Carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio(C/NO)
The power received at the receiver input, is that of the carrier hence:
C=PRX
(C/NO)dB = Pt +Gt –FSL –La +Gr –Lfeed – NO(20)
1.1. Uplink (C/NO)
C is the carrier power which is the power received at the receiver input:
C=Pr
The Noise No superimposed on the received carrier power has a power spectral
density given by:
No =kT (W/Hz)
Where:
k is the Boltzmann constant (k=1.379*10-23 J/K = -228.6dBJ/k)
T is the TA/LFRX +TF(1-1/LFRX) +TeRX
(C/NO)U=(EIRP)ES(1/L)U(G/T)SL(1/k) Hz (21)
Where:
-(EIRP)ES: characterizes the transmitting equipment on the earth station
- (1/L)U: characterizes the transmission medium

- (G/T)SL: The composite receiving gain/noise temperature, which characterizes the receiving
equipment, it is called the figure of merit of the receiving equipment(satellite in this case).
1.2.Downlink (C/NO).
(C/NO)U=(EIRP)SL(1/L)D(G/T)ES(1/k) [Hz](22)
Where:
- (EIRP)SL: characterizes the transmitting equipment on the satellite
- (1/L)D: characterizes the transmission medium
- (G/T)ES: The composite receiving gain/noise temperature, which characterizes the receiving
equipment, it is called the figure of merit of the receiving equipment (Earth station in this
case).
1.3.Total link budget (C/NO)total

1/(C/NO)T = 1/(C/NO)U + 1/(C/NO)DHz (23)
2.4.2. Transparent transponder.

The overall satellite link performance that is a link involving one uplink and one downlink via
a transparent transponderwhich does not have any on board demodulation or re-modulation, its
role is to simply amplify the uplink signal (with minimum distortion and noise) then transmitit
as a downlink to the earth station.
2.5. Conclusion
The rare availability of frequencies is due to the fact that they are natural resources and so the
standards that have been put into measure are required and are very necessary in order not to
diminish this rare and natural resource and also every government has to use strict measures to
safeguard their allocated frequencies by putting them into efficient use and having a close
watch over their usage.
To study a satellite link there are several factors that have to be taken into consideration.
These factors have to be accounted and calculated in order for us to know the exact values. It
is a complex yet very important step that is taken before the channel is established between the
earth station and the ground station. Caution must be taken as to how the frequency bands for
each link are used as it is a limited resource. A careful study of the equipments that are to be
used has to be taken into consideration according to the type of satellite and its mission.
Chapter 3: GPS link budget analysis 45
CHAPTER 3: GPS LINK BUDGET ANALYSIS
3.1. Introduction:
The term positioning refers to the act of estimating the position or location of an object and
knowing where it is found at a particular time.In this case a moving observer must track a
moving object. The observer in this case is the GPS constellation that will be used to track a
LEO satellite via the use of a GPS receiver that is integrated on a LEO satellite. The LEO
satellite is under constant supervision and there is a team on the ground station that is
constantly controlling its movement by sending it commands .These commands will not be
sent to the satellite by guessing so the exact position of where the LEO satellite is needs to be
known at all given times.
This process is carried out via the help of a GPS constellation that is placed in space, it helps
us to track the LEO satellite as it is moving and the ground station were the command and
tracking station is found can finally have easy access towards this controlling system thanks to
the GPS constellation.
In most satellite communication links we find two parts namely uplinks and downlinks. These
uplinks and downlinks consist of radio frequency modulated carriers but inter-satellite links
however can be radio frequency or optical. In this chapter we are going to be talking about
radio frequency inter-satellite links. There exist 3 different types of inter-satellite links which
are:
 GEO-LEO Links between geostationary satellites (GEO) and Low earth orbit (LEO)
satellites also called inter-orbital links (IOLs)
 GEO to GEO links between geostationary satellites
 LEO to LEO links between low earth orbit satellites
 MEO to LEO links
As shown in the table below the table indicates the frequency bands that have been allocated
to inter-satellite links by the Radio communication regulations.
Inter-satellite service Frequency bands

Radio Frequency 22.55-23.55Ghz
24.45-24.75Ghz
32-33Ghz
54.25-58.2Ghz
Table 3: Frequency bands for intersatellite Radio Frequency Links
3.2. GPS navigation definition:

The Global Positioning System (GPS) was conceived in 1960 under the auspices of the U.S.
Air Force, but in 1974 the other branches of the U.S. military joined the effort. The first
satellites were launched into space in 1978. The System was declared fully operational in
April 1995. The Global Positioning System consists of 24-32 satellites nowadays, that circle
the globe once every 12 hours, to provide worldwide position, time and velocity information.
GPS makes it possible to precisely identify locations on the earth by measuring distance from
the satellites. GPS allows you to record or create locations from places on the earth and help
you navigate to and from those places. Originally the System was designed only for military
applications and it wasn’t until the 1980’s that it was made available for civilian use also.
Figure 19: GPS Navigation[26]
There are 3 segments of GPS:

1. The Space segment: The space segment consists of 24 satellites circling the earth at
12,000 miles in altitude. This high altitude allows the signals to cover a greater area.
The satellites are arranged in their orbits so a GPS receiver on earth can always
receive a signal from at least four satellites at any given time. Each satellite transmits
low radio signals with a unique code on different frequencies, allowing the GPS
receiver to identify the signals. The main purpose of these coded signals is to allow
for calculating travel time from the satellite to the GPS receiver. The travel time
multiplied by the speed of light equals the distance from the satellite to the GPS
receiver. Since these are low power signals and won’t travel through solid objects, it
is important to have a clear view of the sky.
2. The Control segment: the control segment tracks the satellites and then provides
them with corrected orbital and time information. The control segment consists of
four unmanned control stations and one master control station. The four unmanned
stations receive data from the satellites and then send that information to the master
control station where it is corrected and sent back to the GPS satellites.
3. The User segment:The user segment consists of the users and their GPS receivers.
The number of simultaneous users is unlimited.[27]
Figure 20: Different User segments[28]

3.3. How GPS works:

GPS signals do not contain positional data. The position reported by the receiver on the
ground is a calculated position based on range-finding triangulation.GPS positioning is
achieved by measuring the time taken for a signal to reach a receiver. Almost one million
times a second the satellite transmits a one or a zero in a complex string of digits that appears
random. In actuality, this code is not random and repeats every 266 days. The receiver knows
that the portion of the signal received form the satellite matches exactly with a portion it
generated a set number of seconds ago. When the receiver has determined this time, the
distance to the satellite can be calculated using simple trigonometry where:[29]
Distance to the satellite = speed x (tr – tto) (where speed is c, the speed of light, in a vacuum
(299792.5 x 103ms-1). ttois the time at the origin and tris the time at the receiver).
1. GPS satellites broadcast radio signals providing their locations, status, and precise time
{tto} from on-board atomic clocks.
2. The GPS radio signals travel through space at the speed of light {c}, more than
299,792 km/second.
3. A GPS device receives the radio signals, noting their exact time of arrival {t r}, and
uses these to calculate its distance from each satellite in view.
4. Once a GPS device knows its distance from at least four satellites, it can use geometry
to determine its location on Earth in three dimensions.
This simple operation allows the distance to a satellite to be calculated accurately. When the
distance to three satellites is known then there is only one point at which the user can be
standing. This principle is demonstrated in the diagrams on the following pages.
-Geometric interpretation:
The GPS equations can be solved by numerical and analytical methods. Geometrical
interpretations can enhance the understanding of these solution methods.
-Spheres:
The measured ranges, called pseudo ranges, contain clock errors. In a simplified idealization
in which the ranges are synchronized, these true ranges represent the radii of spheres, each
centered on one of the transmitting satellites. The solution for the position of the receiver is
then at the intersection of the surfaces of three of these spheres. If more than the minimum
number of ranges is available, a near intersection of more than three sphere surfaces could be
found via, e.g. least squares.
 From one measurement we know the receiver can be anywhere at a uniform distance
from the satellite with a radius equal to r = c * (tr – tto). This defines the outer surface
of a sphere of radius r.
Where:
r = radius
c = speed of light
tto= time at the origin
tr= time at the receiver
 From two measurements we know the receiver must be anywhere on the line of the
outer edge of a circle of intersection between the two spheres shown as a shaded
ellipse below:
Figure 21: Basic Trigonometry-two satellites[30]
 A third measurement reduces this to the intersection of a plane with the circle. This
reduces the possible location to two points. Only one of these can be on the Earth’s
surface.
-Hyperboloids:
If the distance traveled between the receiver and satellite i and the distance traveled between
the receiver and satellite j are subtracted, the result is (tĩ − si) c − (tj̃ − sj) c, which only
involves known or measured quantities. As an example, there is a certain method called
TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival):
Figure 22 : Time Difference of Arrival[31]
Principle of GPS positioning:

- Satellite 1 sends a signal at time te1
- Ground receiver receives the signal at time tr
- The range measurement ρ1 to satellite 1 is:
ρ1 = (tr-te1) x speed of light
We are therefore located on a sphere with radius ρ1centered on satellite1
- 3 satellites ⇒ intersection of 3 spheres
In simple mathematical terms:

= ( − ) +( − ) +( − )
-GPS receivers:
Measure tr, decode te, and compute
Figure 23: GPS receiver[32]

3.4. Factors affecting gps accuracy:
The signal transmitted by the satellites has a potential accuracy of <1 m but several factors
influence this and reduce the actual resolution. The reason why the actual locational position is
significantly less accurate than the data transmitted by the satellite is due to various influences
on the signal. These can be collectively termed local and atmospheric effects. Local effects are
detrimental conditions on the ground near the receiver or in the receiver’s software while
atmospheric effects are problems with the medium through which the signal passes.[33]
Local Effects Atmospheric Effects

Receiver Clock Error Ionospheric Effects
Percentage Sky Visible Troposhperic Effects
Satellite Geometry
Multipath Error
Ellipsoid
Table4: Common factors that affect GPS accuracy
But in our case or in other words, in our application, we will not be interested in the
atmospheric effects as they will not affect the signal that travels from the GPS satellite
constellation in the MEO orbit to the GPS receiver on the LEO orbit.
3.5. GPS satellite constellations:
A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working in concert. Such a

constellation can be considered to be a number of satellites with coordinated ground coverage,
operating together under shared control, synchronized so that they overlap well in coverage,
the period in which a satellite or other spacecraft is visible above the local horizon.The GPS
design originally called for 24-32 SVs,six orbital planes with four satellites each,circling the
earth at 12,000 miles in altitude. This high altitude allows the signals to cover a greater area.
The six orbit planes have approximately 55° inclination (tilt relative to the Earth's equator) and
are separated by 60° right ascension of the ascending node(angle along the equator from a
reference point to the orbit's intersection).
Figure 24: Satellite Constellation[34]
The GPS satellites constellation being higher up means that more satellites are in line-of-sight
to any given point on the surface of the earth.
So why are GPS satellites in such high orbits?
The main reason they are in such a high orbit is to allow for more of the Earth to be visible at
any one time. In order to have a reasonable amount of the Earth visible, you have to be high
up. A lower altitude could in theory work as well, but the chosen altitude seems to be a far
enough distance to be useful, but not so far as to have communication link issues, etc.
The cost to get a GPS satellite to its orbit isn’t substantially different than if it were at a, say, 6
hour orbit. The link budget would improve somewhat, allowing for a slightly cheaper satellite
to be built. The big problem, however, is that you would need more satellites to ensure that the
complete coverage had been met. GPS is fundamentally a military system, and it is required
not to have gaps on the ground.
3.6. GPS receiver:

The GPS receiver determines your position based on your distance from GPS satellites and
knowledge of time. They are usually installed on cars, phones and planes. They are designed
for earth’s surface, but can be used in space as well. Many LEO satellites use GPS.
Figure 25: GPS receivers[35]
What must a GPS receiver do?
In order for a GPS receiver to work, it must perform 4 tasks:
 Find GPS signals (frequency, code phase)
 Track /Demodulate the message from each GPS satellite (at the same time)
 Calculate the position based on distances to the satellites
 Calculate the correction to your local clock
Figure 26: GPS signal structure [36]

What makes GPS tough in Space?

GPS in LEO satellites is common
 Under the GPS canopy
 Doppler shifts are much higher than on the ground
The propagation equations used in the previous chapter apply to the GPS inter-satellite link.
The propagation losses however reduce to free space losses since there is no passage through
the atmosphere. Antenna pointing error can be maintained around a tenth of the beam width
and this leads to a pointing error loss of the order of 0.5dB. Practical applications use antennas
with a width of between 1 to 2m. In this type of link, each satellite orientates its receiving
antenna in the direction of the transmitting antenna with a precision of 0.1˚ in order to acquire
a beacon signal which is subsequently used in tracking. Because of the small angular
separation between the constellations of satellites, narrow beam antennas are preferably used
with reduced size lobes in order to avoid interference between systems.
3.7. GPS link budget

The GPS link budget analysis is the same as that on any other satellite communicatrion link
budget only in the case of this intersatellite link we do not have the atmospheric losses.Listed
below are the elements that accounted for in the GPS link budget analysis and the values that
we used in our example in the application.
Component of Link Value Units

De-pointing angle 14.3 ˚
Elevation angle 50 ˚
Frequency 1575.42 Hz
Wavelength 0.190425? M
Emitted power (w) 11.7871? dBW
Distance between earth and Leo 900 Km
sat
Distance between GPS satellite 21373.2? Km
and LEO
Type of modulation used QPSK
Bit error rate 1e005
Threshold 11 dB
Free space losses 182.987? dB
Total power received -159? W
Gain on Leo sat 3 dB
Sensitivity -160 dB
Polarization losses 3.4 dB
UMRP -158.5 dBw
Reception Losses 0.5 Db
Table 5: GPS Link Budget componets and the values and units
3.8. Application
3.8.1. Introduction:
In order to obtain the following models and interfaces, we have used a powerful machine
(laptop), and a Matlab software (version 2010b) as a development tool, and Microsoft excel as
the database.
MATLAB (matrix laboratory) is a multi-paradigm numerical computing environment
and fourth-generation programming language. A proprietary programming
language developed by Math Works, MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of
functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing
with programs written in other languages.
We have used matlab to create our different interfaces in order to assure the link budget of a
GPS satellite constellation and a GPS receiver on a LEO satellite. There are several steps to
make up the whole link budget and their parameters, which will be explained in the following
steps:
1-MATLAB principle interface: this interface allows us to create functions and different
interfaces to be able to simulate the operations used.
2- Primary LINK BUDGET interface: this interface permits us to connect different interfaces
we use to calculate the principle result. So when we click on each of the boxes shown below,
we get different interfaces according to the box’s name.
So the first box is called “Link Budget GPS”, and when we click on it, it gives us the link
budget interface. And we also have “GPS Received Power”, which also leads us to the
received power interface and so on. The result determines the plotting of all the data we get in
the end in order to determine the signal’s strength and to establish the link.
3- Link Budget Interface:

The following model which is the principle interface shows the different parameters that need
to be taken into consideration when calculating the link budget of a link. We have certain
given parameters such as the emitted gain, the frequency which we used L1 band (1575,42
MHz),so from the frequency we could get the wavelength in (m). The distance also between
the LEO GPS and earth is also given which is between 800-1000 Km but in our case we have
taken 900 Km in order to calculate the distance between the GPS satellite and the GPS
receiver, we also have been given the type of modulation which is QPSK, and it’s BER as
well. We have also been given the receptive gain of the GPS receiver, which varies with the
elevation angle. We have also the minimum of power received by the GPS receiver which is
needed to calculate the total received power, and also the sensitivity has been given to us. Last
but not least, we have taken into consideration three types of losses which are (polarization
loss, reception loss, and free space path loss).
So with all of these parameters in hand, we can calculate the emitted power and then calculate
the free space path loss, and at last calculate the total power received and the link margin.
So when we click on “Options”, we get the input parameters that are saved in the excel
interface to get us the data needed in order to calculate the parameters we search for to
determine the signal’s strength:
So the filled up boxes belong to the known parameters that we can modify. And then we click
on apply so it gives us the calculations that are applied by the equations manipulated in our
program to define the total received power.
4- Received Power / Elevation Angle Interface / Depointing Angle:

This figure represents the variation of the free space path loss according to the changes of the
depointing angle and the elevation angle. So when the angles change, the distance changes as
well, and so we get a new value of FSL each time. But as we can notice, the received power of
the GPS never changes because it remains constant because each GPS uses a certain amount
of antennas that create a field of signals that maintains different emitting gains according to
the distance in which the receiver is located, which leads to compensating the loss in the
received power so it remains constant at every position.
So the total received power isn’t changing due to the compensation that the receiver applies in
order to maintain the same received power.
So when we click on apply, the operations are done to calculate the FSL and the received
power.
5- Link Margin / Elevation Angle:

This figure illustrates the variation of FSL due to the elevation angle just like the figure above,
and noticing as well that the link margin is still the same with each variation for the same
reason as the upper figure.
6- Plot1: the plots are the result of all the calculations and operations applied to determine the
signal’s strength.
This figureillustratesthe link margin, the sensitivityis of -160 dB and if the signalsare above
the limit, the link will be established.
3.9. Conclusion
To conclude the third chapter we have realized that the GPS constellation is a a vital part of
our daily lives as knowing the location of someone and something is a necessity and most
especially in business. We have acquired basic knowledge on the GPS constellation and the
receivers through this application which has also helped us to know the way any GPS system
works when locating a receiver on the earth. Due to its efficiency we can say that the GPS
system is among the best positioning systems.
Our work involved having to install Matlab software and learning how to represent our work
using it.
General conclusion 65
General conclusion
This project represents the work that we have done to mark the end of our studies.We would
like to say that our research was carried out to understand the satellite channel modeling and
we took a special interest in the GPS system and studied its path link to the LEO satellite
because of the growing use of GPS. We cannot go without saying that satellite communication
is still a growing domain and the future of satellites looks brighter than before as we can see
from many African companies that are beginning to do several researches on how to construct
their own satellites, for example Algeria, Nigeria etc.
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[20]UNDERSTANDING SPACE (An introduction to Astronautics)–Douglas H. Kirkpatrick–
2nd edition - Jerry Jon Sellers – 2000
[21]www.spacesafetymagazine.com
[22]http://www.arthur-yang.com.tw/application.asp
[23]http://www.google.com/patents/US5926745
[24]http://www.ni.com/white-paper/14919/en/
[25]https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&F
[26] The Global Positioning System – E.Calais – Purdue University – EAS Department – Civil
3273 GPS_Observables
[27] https://fs.ogm.utah.gov/pub/MINES/AMR_Related/NAAMLP/GIS1/Ingram.pdf
[28]http://www.nhdfl.org/library/pdf/Forest%20Protection/Introduction%20to%20Global%20
Positioning%20System.pdf
[29]http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=55
[30]http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/cms_upload/Thompson07734.pdf
[31]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_arrival
[32]The Global Positioning System – E.Calais – Purdue University – EAS Department
[33]http://www.spatial-ed.com/gps/gps-basics/130-gps-accuracy-factors.html
[34]http://what-when-how.com/space-science-and-technology/global-positioning-system-gps
[35]http://www.navipedia.net/index.php/GPS_Receivers
[36]https://sun.iwu.edu/~jhaefner/CS390/Lecture3/lec3.htm
[37] http://www.sattvengg.com/2013/10/azimuth-and-elevation-angle-antenna.html
[38]http://www.iitg.ernet.in/scifac/qip/public_html/cd_cell/chapters/a_mitra_mobile_commun
ication/chapter8.pdf
[39] Satellite communication 3rd edition McGraw-Hill TELECOM ENGINEERING Dennis
Roddy 1989
[40] Satellite Link Dr. Seddik BOUTOUITA INTTIC 2012-2013
[41] Satellite communications systems Gerald Maral/Michel Bousquet Systems 5th edition
edited by wiley 2009
[42] Satellite communication and introduction.PDF
[43] Link budget calculations,Training materials for wireless trainers.PDF
[44] INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATION 3rdedition Bruce R.Elbert
ANNEX
Azimuth and elevation angle for a communication satellite:
The earth station needs to know where the satellite is in the orbit. Then the earth station
engineer needs to calculate some angles to track the satellite correctly. These angles are called
antenna look angle. The look angles for the ground station antenna are the azimuth and
elevation angles required at the antenna so that it points directly at the satellite. With the
geostationary orbit, the situation is much simpler than any other orbit. As the antenna beam
width is very narrow and tracking mechanism is required to compensate for the movement of
the satellite about the nominal geostationary position. Three pieces of information that are
needed to determine the look angles for the geostationary orbit are:[37]
a) Earth station latitude
b) Earth station longitude
c) Satellite orbital position
Using these information, antenna look angle can be calculated using Napier’s rule (solving
spherical triangle). Azimuth angle denotes the horizontal angle measured at the earth station
antenna to North Pole. Elevation angle denotes the vertical angle measured at the earth station
antenna end from ground to satellite position.[37]
Figure 27: Antenna azimuth angle [37]
66
In the above picture, Az means azimuth angle required to track the satellite horizontally. In the
figure below the elevation angle has been shown.
Figure 28: Antenna elevation angle [37]
67
The program used in matlab:
1- GPS link budget:
function varargout = linkbudgetgps(varargin)
% LINKBUDGETGPS MATLAB code for linkbudgetgps.fig
% LINKBUDGETGPS, by itself, creates a new LINKBUDGETGPS or raises the
existing
% singleton*.
%
% H = LINKBUDGETGPS returns the handle to a new LINKBUDGETGPS or the
handle to
% the existing singleton*.
%
% LINKBUDGETGPS('CALLBACK',hObject,eventData,handles,...) calls the
local
% function named CALLBACK in LINKBUDGETGPS.M with the given input
arguments.
%
% LINKBUDGETGPS('Property','Value',...) creates a new LINKBUDGETGPS or
raises the
% existing singleton*. Starting from the left, property value pairs
are
% applied to the GUI before linkbudgetgps_OpeningFcn gets called. An
% unrecognized property name or invalid value makes property
application
% stop. All inputs are passed to linkbudgetgps_OpeningFcn via
varargin.
%
% *See GUI Options on GUIDE's Tools menu. Choose "GUI allows only one
% instance to run (singleton)".
%
% See also: GUIDE, GUIDATA, GUIHANDLES
% Edit the above text to modify the response to help linkbudgetgps
% Last Modified by GUIDE v2.5 25-Mar-2016 16:36:05
% Begin initialization code - DO NOT EDIT

gui_Singleton = 1;
gui_State = struct('gui_Name', mfilename, ...
'gui_Singleton', gui_Singleton, ...
'gui_OpeningFcn', @linkbudgetgps_OpeningFcn, ...
'gui_OutputFcn', @linkbudgetgps_OutputFcn, ....
'gui_LayoutFcn', [] , ...
'gui_Callback', []);
if nargin && ischar(varargin{1})
gui_State.gui_Callback = str2func(varargin{1});
end
if nargout
[varargout{1:nargout}] = gui_mainfcn(gui_State, varargin{:});
else
gui_mainfcn(gui_State, varargin{:});
end
68
% End initialization code - DO NOT EDIT
% --- Executes just before linkbudgetgps is made visible.

function linkbudgetgps_OpeningFcn(hObject, eventdata, handles, varargin)
% This function has no output args, see OutputFcn.
% hObject handle to figure
% eventdata reserved - to be defined in a future version of MATLAB
% handles structure with handles and user data (see GUIDATA)
% varargin command line arguments to linkbudgetgps (see VARARGIN)
% Choose default command line output for linkbudgetgps

handles.output = hObject;
% Update handles structure

guidata(hObject, handles);
% UIWAIT makes linkbudgetgps wait for user response (see UIRESUME)

% uiwait(handles.figure1);
% --- Outputs from this function are returned to the command line.
function varargout = linkbudgetgps_OutputFcn(hObject, eventdata, handles)
% varargout cell array for returning output args (see VARARGOUT);
% hObject handle to figure
% Get default command line output from handles structure

varargout{1} = handles.output;
function edit1_Callback(hObject, eventdata, handles)

% hObject handle to edit1 (see GCBO)
% Hints: get(hObject,'String') returns contents of edit1 as text

% str2double(get(hObject,'String')) returns contents of edit1 as a
double
% --- Executes during object creation, after setting all properties.

function edit1_CreateFcn(hObject, eventdata, handles)
% handles empty - handles not created until after all CreateFcns called
% Hint: edit controls usually have a white background on Windows.

% See ISPC and COMPUTER.
if ispc && isequal(get(hObject,'BackgroundColor'),
get(0,'defaultUicontrolBackgroundColor'))
69
set(hObject,'BackgroundColor','white');
end


double


end


double


end
70

double


end


double


end
71

double


end


double


end

72

double


end


double


end

73
double


end


double


end


double
74

end


double


end


double

75

end


double


end
% --- Executes on button press in pushbutton1.

function pushbutton1_Callback(hObject, eventdata, handles)
% hObject handle to pushbutton1 (see GCBO)
fig(linkmargingps)

fig(ReceivedPowergps)
% --- Executes on button press in checkbox1.

function checkbox1_Callback(hObject, eventdata, handles)
76
% hObject handle to checkbox1 (see GCBO)
% Hint: get(hObject,'Value') returns toggle state of checkbox1
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
function Untitled_1_Callback(hObject, eventdata, handles)
% hObject handle to Untitled_1 (see GCBO)
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
fig(statistics)
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
set(handles.edit1,'string','');
77
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
clc
close all
clear all

% ----------------------------------------------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
% ------------------GPS_SATELLITE PARAMETERS-----------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
c=3*10^8;
%Depointing angle
theta=str2num(get(handles.edit1,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',theta,1,'B3')
%Gain
G_gps=str2num(get(handles.edit2,'string'))
%%xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',G_gps,'B4');
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',G_gps,1,'B4')
%Frequency
F=str2num(get(handles.edit3,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',F,1,'B5')
%----------------------------------------------------------------
%----------------Calculations---------------------------------
%----------------------------------------------------------------
%Wave Length
F=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'B5');
lamda=(c*10^-6)/F %%lamda en cm
set(handles.edit4,'string',lamda);
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',lamda,1,'B6')
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
% ------------------LEO_Receiver-----------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
%Gain
G_leo=str2num(get(handles.edit11,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',G_leo,1,'H3');
%minimun power
78
UMRT=str2num(get(handles.edit12,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',UMRT,1,'H4');
%Sensibility
S=str2num(get(handles.edit13,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',S,1,'H5');
% polarisation attenuation
Lp=str2num(get(handles.edit14,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',Lp,1,'H6');
Lrec=str2num(get(handles.edit20,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',Lrec,1,'H8');
alpha=str2num(get(handles.edit5,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',alpha,1,'H7');
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
% ------------------Channel-----------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
D_L_E=str2num(get(handles.edit7,'string'))
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',D_L_E,1,'E8');
%----------------------------------------------------------------
%----------------Calculations---------------------------------
D_L_E=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'E8');
alpha=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H7');
Rearth=6378*10^3 %% Rayon de la Terre en metre

%Dsu^2-2*Dsu*cos(alpha+90)+Rearth-Rgps^2==0
a=1
b=-2*6378*10^3*cosd(alpha+90)
%Rgps=20200+6378
%d=(6378*10^3)^2 -(26578*10^3)^2
d=(6378*10^3)^2 -(26578*10^3)^2
y=[a b d]
z=roots(y)
w=real(z)
Dsu1=w(2,1)
Dsu=abs(Dsu1)
D=Dsu-D_L_E
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',D,1,'E4')
%xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',Dsu,1,'E4')
set(handles.edit18,'string',D*10^-3);
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
% --------------free space loss--------------------------
D=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'E4');
lamda=(c*10^-6)/F %%lamda en cm
%lamda=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'B6');
%FSL=10*log10(((4*pi*D)/lamda*10^2)^2)
FSL=10*log10((4*pi*D/lamda)^2)
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',FSL,1,'E7')
79
set(handles.edit10,'string',FSL);
%Emitted Power
UMRT=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H4');
G_leo=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H3');
G_gps=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'B4');
FSL=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'E7');
Lp=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H6');
%pire1=pe*G_gps
pire1=UMRT+FSL+Lp-G_leo
pire2=10^(pire1/10)
G_gps1=10^(G_gps/10)
pe=pire2/G_gps1
pe1=pire2/G_gps1
pe=10*log10(pe1)
set(handles.edit19,'string',pe)
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',pe,1,'B7')
% ------------------Received power-----------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
%pe=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'B7');
pr=pe+G_gps+G_leo-FSL-Lp-Lrec
set(handles.edit15,'string',pr)
xlswrite('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',pr,1,'H9')
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
delete(gcbf)
80

double


end
% ------------------Input_GPS_SATELLITE PARAMETERS--------------------------
---
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
theta=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'B3');
set(handles.edit1,'String',theta);
G_gps=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'B4');
set(handles.edit2,'String',G_gps);
set(handles.edit3,'String',F);
% ------------------Input_GPS_Channel-----------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
D_L_E=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'E8');
set(handles.edit7,'String',D_L_E);
BER=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'E5');
set(handles.edit8,'String',BER);
Threshold=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'E6');
set(handles.edit9,'String',Threshold);
% ------------------Input_LEO_Receiver-----------------------------
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
%Gain
81
G_leo=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H3');
set(handles.edit11,'String',G_leo);
%minimun power
UMRT=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H4');
set(handles.edit12,'String',UMRT);
%Sensibility
S=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H5');
set(handles.edit13,'String',S);
% polarisation attenuation
Lp=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H6');
set(handles.edit14,'String',Lp);
% Elevation Angle
El_Angle=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H7');
set(handles.edit5,'String',El_Angle);
% reception attenuation
Lrec=xlsread('linkbudgetdata.xlsx',1,'H8');
set(handles.edit20,'string',Lrec)


double


end


double
82

end


double


end


double
83

end
84

Characterization and Channel Modeling For Satellite - MEDJAHED & SICHONA

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‫اﻟﺠﻤﮭـــــﻮرﯾــــــﺔ اﻟﺠـــﺰاﺋـــﺮﯾـــــــﺔ اﻟـــﺪﯾﻤﻘـــــﺮاطﯿـــــــﺔ اﻟﺸـﻌﺒﯿـــــﺔ‬

Ministère de l’enseignement Ministère de la poste et des

Institut National des

Projet de fin d’études Pour l’obtention du Diplôme d’Ingénieur

President: Mr. D. ZIANI KERARTI

Premier chapitre : Parle essentiellement de la communication dans son ensemble et

Deuxième chapitre : Donne un compte rendu détaillé sur l’organisation d’une

Troisième chapitre : Traite une application.

Enfin une conclusion générale.

Mots clés: [Satellite, modélisation, liaison, GPS, communication]

Second chapter: gives a detailed account of how a satellite communication is

Finally a general conclusion.

Keywords : [Satellite, modeling,link, GPS, communication]

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. iii

List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................. vi

General introduction ................................................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM .................................................... 2

“Don’t forget a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated”

Government of Zambia that accorded me this scholarship.

Most especially I would like to express my gratitude to my Mother who has

Thankyou to a very special person Sunday Danhalbi and to all my friends

that encouraged and believed in me,most especially my collegue Rayane for

her genuine help and equal dedication to this project.

A very special thank you to my supervisor Pr. Seddik BOUTIOUTA who

A sincere thankyou to all my teachers from whom I aquired much

Last but not the least thankyou to CDS(Centre de developpement des

satellite) for their immense contribution towards the realization of this

SICHONA Chizo Limpo

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Communication is defined as a process by which information is exchanged between

1.1.1. Early communications

Figure 1:Example of Paleolithic Painting[2]

Communication today includes cell phones, emails, internet etc.

communication system involves a receiver, an emitter and a channel of communication as

Figure 2: Transmission system

1.1.2. What are the different types of communication

For example, a TV communication system is a combination of the radio and simplex

Figure 3: Different technologies of communication systems[5]

More accurate Less accurate due to the Quantization error that

In mobile communications, analog In mobile communications, digital supports Voice,

1.1.3. Why do we use different types of communication systems

1.2. What is a satellite communication system

1.2.1. Definition of satellite communication system

Figure 4: Satellite (Space segment)[7]

Figure 5 : Earth station[8]

Figure 6: Communication Link between two Earth stations and a satellite[9]

1.2.2. History and developement of a satellite communications

1.2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of satellitecommunications

Thus satellite Communication possesses several advantages which are as follows:

D. Flexibility: Mobile communication can be easily achieved by satellite communication

H. Superior Reliability: Satellite communications can operate independently from

I. Immediacy and Scalability: Additional receive sites, or nodes on a network; can

 There are also other services provided by satellite communication:Fixed satellite

Figure 8 : Services provided by satellite communication systems[13]

CHAPTER 2: HOW TO ESTABLISH A SATELLITE

2.2. Study of the frequency radio spectrum

2.2.1. Frequencies used in satellite communications

Figure 9: Atmospheric attenuation effects for space-to-Earth paths as a function of

Figure 10: ITU Regions[15]

Figure 11: Showing the radio frequency spectrum[16]

Symbols Frequency range Wavelength range

2.2.2. Satellite frequency bands and their uses:

 Microwave bands C, X and Ku-Bands