Wireless WANs: Satellite Networks

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Brief history of satellite communication

Name SPUTNIK I SCORE Date of launch October 4, 1957 December 18, 1958 note
the world's first orbital spacecraft. Nov 1957, Sputnik 2 and a dog escape earth and enter outerspace The first communication satellite which broadcasted a Christmas message for 12 days until the batteries failed

Echo 1

August 12, 1960

April 12, 1961

a passive reflector satellite, the technology was soon abandoned

First man in space First telecommunication satellite, first real-time active geosynchronous earth orbit ,open to use by all nations used in international shipping spot beams, on-board storage and processing, and all digital transmission

Telstar Intelsat Inmarsat ACTS

1962 1964-1979 1979 1993

DirecTV
Iridium

1994
Motorola

begins Direct Broadcast to Home

was supposed to provide mobile telephone service

16-2 SATELLITE NETWORKS

A satellite network is a combination of nodes, some of which are satellites, that provides communication from one point on the Earth to another. A node in the network can be a satellite, an Earth station, or an end-user terminal or telephone.

Figure Satellite orbits

Table 1 Satellite frequency bands

Example 16.1
What is the period of the Moon, according to Keplers law? Here C is a constant approximately equal to 1/100. The period is in seconds and the distance in kilometers. The Moon is located approximately 384,000 km above the Earth. The radius of the Earth is 6378 km. Applying the formula, we get.

Example 16.2
According to Keplers law, what is the period of a satellite that is located at an orbit approximately 35,786 km above the Earth? Solution

This means that a satellite located at 35,786 km has a period of 24 h, which is the same as the rotation period of the Earth. A satellite like this is said to be stationary to the Earth. The orbit, as we will see, is called a geosynchronous orbit.
7

Figure 16.14 Satellite categories

GEO: EXACTLY 22 238 miles

MEO: typically around 8000 miles

HEO: var.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO)

LEO: typically between 500 and 1000 miles

16.8

Figure 16.15 Satellite orbit altitudes

Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) Satellite Systems

Advantages:

large area coverage, stay where they are at 35,786km (22,000miles) above the Earth satellite rotation is synchronous to earth three satellites can cover the whole globe low system complexity

Disadvantages:

long propagation delay (~125 msec) high transmission power is required

Figure 16.16 Satellites in geostationary orbit

11

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Satellite Systems

Advantages:

slightly longer propagation delays (~40 msec) slightly higher transmission power required more expensive than LEOs but cheaper than GEOs

Disadvantages:

coverage spot greater than a LEO, but still less than a GEO still the need to be in rotation to preserve their low altitude 6-8 hours to circle the earth. multiple MEO satellites are still needed to cover a region continuously handovers and satellite tracking are still needed, hence, high complexity

Global Position System (GPS)

Operated by the US Department of Defense. Orbiting at an altitude about 18,000km Consists of 24 satellites in 6 orbits At any time, four satellites are visible from any point on Earth A GPS receiver has an almanac that tell the current position of each satellite
13

Figure Trilateration

If we now our distance from three points, we know exactly where we are. (three circles meet at one signal point)
14

Application of GPS
Military forces
Navigation Clock synchronization, CDMA cellular system

15

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Systems

Advantages:

short propagation delays (10-15 msec) low transmission power required low price for satellite and equipment

Disadvantages:
small coverage spot they have to be in rotation to preserve their low altitude (90 mins period) a network of at least 6 LEO satellites is required to cover a region continuously high system complexity due the need for handovers and satellite tracking

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Systems

LEO satellites have polar orbits Altitude is between 500-2000 km Rotation period of 90-120 min. An LEO system has a cellular type of access Footprint has a diameter of 8000 km. Delay < 20 ms, accept for telephony Work together as a network, connected through intersatellite links (ISLs)
16.17

Figure LEO satellite system

18

Three categories of LEO

Little LEO, under 1GHz, for low date rate message Big LEO: between 1-3 GHz, Globalstar and Iridium system Broadband LEO provide communication similar to fibre optic network. Teledesic

19

Figure Iridium constellation

The Iridium system has 66 satellites in six LEO orbits, each at an altitude of 750 km. Iridium is designed to provide direct worldwide voice and data communication using handheld terminals, a service similar to cellular telephony but on a global scale.
20

21

 Each satellite has 48 spot beams. The system can have up to 66*48 =3168 beams Active beam approximately 2000 due to some beam turn off as the satellite approaches the pole

The earth is divided by 2000 overlapping cells Call between two user of Iridium can go through several satellites. Repaying is done in satellites and limited the number of user. 2.4-4.8 kbps voice
22

Figure Teledesic

Internet in the sky. Teledesic officially suspended its satellite construction work on October 1, 2002.

Teledesic has 288 satellites in 12 LEO orbits, each at an altitude of 1350 km.
23

24

Use Keplers formula to find the period and altitude for an Iridium satellite and Globalstar satellite. Iridium satellites are orbiting at 750 km above the earth surface. Globalstar satellites are orbiting at 1400 km above the earth surface. The radius of the earth 6378 km

25

Iridium satellites are orbiting at 750 km above the earth surface. Considering the radius of the earth 6378 km, the radius of the orbit is then (750 km + 6378 km) = 7128 km. Using the Kepler formula, we have Period = (1/100) (distance) 1.5 = (1/100) (7128)1.5 = 6017 s = 1.67 hours

26

Globalstar satellites are orbiting at 1400 km above the earth surface. Considering the radius of the earth, the radius of the orbit is then (1400 km + 6378 km) = 7778 km. Using the Kepler formula, we have Period = (1/100) (distance) 1.5 = (1/100) (7778)1.5 = 6860 s = 1.9 hours

27

The space shutter is an example of a LEO satellite. Sometimes, it orbits at an altitude of 250 km. a. Using a mean earth radius of 6378km, calculate the period of the shuttle orbit. b. Determine the linear velocity of the shutter along this orbit.
a. a = 6378 + 250 = 6628 km T = 1/100 a1.5 = 5396 sec = 1.5 hours b. The linear velocity is the circumference divided by the period (2a)/T = (41645)/(5396) = 7.72 km/s
28