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MODULE 2
Satellite subsystem
The power supply subsystem generates, stores, controls and distributes electrical
power to other subsystems on board the satellite platform.
The electrical power needs of a satellite depend upon the intended mission of the
spacecraft and the payloads that it carries along with it in order to carryout the
mission objectives. The power requirement can vary from a few hundreds of watts
to tens of kilowatts.
Types of Power System
1) Solar Energy Driven Power Systems
2) Batteries

1) Solar Energy Driven Power Systems:

The major components of a solar power system are
Solar panels (of which the solar cell is the basic element),
Rechargeable batteries,
Battery chargers with inbuilt controllers,
Regulators and inverters to generate various d.c and a.c voltages.

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During the sunlight condition, the voltage of the solar generator and also the bus
is maintained at a constant amplitude with the voltage regulator connected across
the solar generator. The battery is decoupled from the bus during this time by
means of a battery discharge regulator (BDR) and is also charged using the
battery charge regulator (BCR) as shown in the figure. During the eclipse periods,
the battery provides power to the bus and the voltage is maintained constant by
means of the BDR.
Solar Panels :The solar panel is nothing but a series and parallel connection of a
large number of solar cells.
The series–parallel arrangement is employed to get the desired output voltage
with the required power delivery capability. A large surface area is therefore
needed in order to produce the required amount of power.
The three-axis body stabilized satellites use flat solar panels whereas spin
stabilized satellites use cylindrical solar panels.
In the case of three-axis stabilized satellites, the flat solar panels can be rotated to
intercept maximum solar energy to produce maximum electric power.
However, as the solar panels always face the sun, they operate at relatively higher
temperatures and thus reduced efficiency as compared to solar panels on spin-
stabilized satellites, where the cells can cool down when in shadow

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On the other hand, in the case of spin-stabilized satellites, such as Intelsat-VI

series satellites, only one-third of the solar cells face the sun at a time and hence
greater numbers of cells are needed to get the desired power, which in turn leads
to an increase in the mass of the satellite.

This disadvantage is, however, partially offset by reduction in the satellite mass
due to use of a relatively simpler thermal control system and attitude control
system in the case of spin stabilized satellites
Principle of Operation of a Solar Cell
The basic principle of operation of Solar cell is based on photovoltaic effect.
According to the photovoltaic effect, there is generation of an open circuit
voltage across a P–N junction when it is exposed to light, which is the solar
radiation in the case of a solar cell. This open circuit voltage leads to flow of
electric current through a load resistance connected across it.

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impinging photon energy leads to the generation of electron–hole pairs. The

electron–hole pairs either recombine and vanish or start to drift in the opposite
directions, with electrons moving towards the N-layer and holes moving towards
the P- layer. This accumulation of positive and negative charge carriers
constitutes the open circuit voltage. This voltage can cause a current to flow
through an external load. When the junction is shorted, the result is a short circuit
current whose magnitude is proportional to the incident light intensity. Fig below
shows current–voltage and power–voltage characteristics of a solar cell.

From above graph ,1) the solar cell generates its maximum power at a certain
voltage.

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2) The power–voltage curve has a point of maximum power, called the maximum
power point (MPP).
3) The cell voltage and the corresponding current at the maximum power point
are less than the open circuit voltage and the short circuit current respectively.
4)The material used to make solar cells is silicon and Gallium arsenide.

Batteries:
Following four types of batteries are used in on board satellite to meet the power
requirements when power cannot be provided by solar panels, during eclipse
periods. Rechargeable batteries are used for this purpose. These are charged
during the period when the solar radiation is available to the satellite’s solar
panels and then utilized during eclipse periods. The choice of the right battery
technology for a given satellite mission is governed by various factors such as
the frequency of use, magnitude of load and depth of discharge.
Batteries used on board low Earth orbit satellites encounter much larger number
of charge/discharge cycles as compared to batteries on board geostationary
satellites, Since LEO satellites have an orbital period of the order of 100 min and
the eclipse period is 30–40min per orbit. Batteries on LEO satellites are therefore
subjected to a lower depth of discharge.
For GEO satellites, the orbital period is 24 hours and the eclipse duration varies
from 0 to a maximum of 72 min during equinoxes. Hence batteries on
geostationary satellites are subjected to a greater depth of discharge.
Nickel–cadmium battery
The nickel–cadmium battery is the most commonly used rechargeable battery.
The basic galvanic cell in a nickel–cadmium battery uses a cadmium anode, a
nickel hydroxide cathode and an alkaline electrolyte.
The anode is the electrode at which oxidation takes place and the cathode is the
electrode that is reduced. In the case of a rechargeable battery, the negative
electrode is the anode and the positive electrode is the cathode while discharging.
They can offer high currents at a constant voltage of 1.2V.
Disadvantages
1)they are highly prone to ‘memoryeffect’: Memory effect means that if a battery
is only partially discharged before recharging repeatedly, it can forget that it can
be further discharged.

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2) The other problem with this battery is the toxicity of cadmium, as a result of
which it needs to be recycled or disposed of properly.
3) For a given battery capacity, these are relatively heavier.
Applications:
Are mostly used on LEO satellites,
SPOT satellites.
Nickel Metal Hydride Battery:
The anode of the battery is made of a hydrogen storage metal alloy and the
cathode is made Of nickel oxide. The basic cell produces a voltage of 1.2V.
Advantage:
 These batteries offer relatively higher energy density which implies an
increased runtime for the battery with no additional weight implications.
 less affected by the memory effect.
Disadvantage:
 have problems at very high and low temperatures and therefore are not for
space applications.
Nickel–hydrogen Batteries
The nickel–hydrogen battery combines the technologies of batteries and fuel
cells. The battery uses nickel hydroxide as the cathode and hydrogen as the active
element in the anode. These have high specific energy, high power density, high
cyclic stability.
Disadvantages: high cost
low volumetric energy density.
Applications: LEO and GEO satellites.
Lithium Ion Battery
Lithium ion batteries produce the same energy as nickel metal hydride batteries
but weigh approximately 30% less.
Advantage: weigh approximately 30% less, compared to nickel metal hydride
batteries.
do not suffer from the memory effect.

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Applications: used for LEO, MEO as well as GEO satellites.

Tracking, Telemetry and Command subsystem (TT&C)

 This system monitors and controls the satellite from lanch stage to till its life span
in space.
 The tracking subsystem determines the position of the spacecraft and follows its
travel using angle and velocity information.
 The telemetry subsystem collects information on the health of various subsystems
of the satellite and It encodes this information and then transmits the same
towards the Earth station.
 The command subsystem receives and executes remote control commands
from the Earth control.
Tracking;
Is used to determine the orbital parameters of the satellite on a regular basis. This
helps in maintaining the satellite in the desired orbit and in providing look-angle
information to the Earth stations. Angle tracking can, for instance, be used to
determine the azimuth and elevation angles from the Earth station. The time
interval measurement technique is used for the purpose of ranging by sending a
signal via the command link and getting a return via the telemetry link. The rate of
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change of range can be determined either by measuring the phase shift of the return
signal as compared to that of the transmitted signal or by using a pseudorandom
code modulation and the correlation between the transmitted and the received
signals.

Telemetry:
During the orbital injection the telemetry link is primarily used by the tracking
system to establish a satellite-to-Earth control centre communications channel.
After the satellite is put into the desired orbit, its primary function is to monitor the
health of various subsystems of the satellite. It collects data from different sensors
and then transmits that data to the Earth control centre. The data include a variety
of electrical and non-electrical parameters. The sensor output may be analogue or
digital. Wherever necessary, the analogue output is digitized. All these digital
signals are, multiplexed using the time division multiplexing (TDM) technique.
Since the bit rates involved in telemetry signals are low, it allows a smaller
receiver bandwidth to be used at the Earth control centre with good signal-to-noise
ratio.
Command
The command system is used to receive, verify and execute remote control
commands from the satellite.
The functions performed by the command element include
controlling certain functions during the orbital injection and positioning phase,
including firing, the apogee boost motor,extending solar panels, during the launch
phase.
When in orbit, it is used to control certain onboard equipment status including
transponder switching, antenna pointing control, battery reconditioning, etc.
The control commands received by the command.

System on the satellite are first stored on the satellite and then retransmitted back
to the Earth control station via a telemetry link for verification. After the
commands are verified on the ground, a command execution signal is then sent to
the satellite to initiate intended action.

Two well-established TT&C networks used worldwide for

telemetry, tracking and command operations of satellites include
i) the ESTRACK (European
space tracking) network of the ESA (European Space Agency)

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ii) ISTRAC (ISRO

telemetry, tracking and command) network of the ISRO(Indian Space Research
Organization).

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Module II
CHAPTER II
EARTH STATION
Earth Station:
 Three elements of satellite communication network or system are Earth segment, the
space segment and the up/down link between the space segment and the Earth segment.
 The space segment consists of different hardware components that constitute the
satellite.
 An Earth station is a terrestrial terminal station located on the Earth’s surface. It could be
fixed or mobile.
 The Earth station is intended for communication with one or more manned or unmanned
space stations .

 An Earth station include:

(a) Transmitter system: whose complexity depends upon the number of different carrier
frequencies and satellites simultaneously handled by the Earth station.
(b) Receiver system: whose complexity again depends upon the number of frequencies and
satellites handled by the Earth station;
(c) Antenna system:a single antenna used for both transmission and reception with a multiplex
arrangement to allow simultaneous connection to multiple transmit and receive chains.
(d) Tracking system: ensure that the antenna points to the satellite;
(e)Terrestrial interface equipment:It interfaces earth station to different number of terrestrial
network.
(f) Primary power system:to run the Earth station to run it 24*360days.
(g) Test equipment: required for routine maintenance of the Earth station and terrestrial interface.

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Types of Earth Stations Type your text

Based on the type of service provided by the Earth station, they are classified into the following
three broad categories.
1. Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Earth Stations
2. Broadcast Satellite Service (BSS) Earth Stations
3. Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) Earth Stations
1 Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Earth Station:
 It provides following services telephony, data communications and radio and television
broadcast using geostationary communication satellites.
 FSS satellites operate in either the C band (3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz) or in Ku band (11.45
GHz to 11.7 GHz and 12.5 GHz to 12.75 GHz in Europe, and 11.7 GHz to 12.2 GHz in
the USA).
 They operate at relatively lower power levels as compared to Broadcast Satellite Service
(BSS) satellites hence require a much larger dish.
 FSS satellite transponders use linear polarization.
 large Earth stations (G/T ∼ = 40 dB/K),medium Earth stations( G/T ∼ =30dB/K),small
Earth stations(G/T ∼ =25dB/K),very small terminals with transmit/receive functions (
G/T ∼ =20 dB/K) and very small terminals with receive only functions ( G/T
∼12dB/K) will come under FSS group.

Broadcast Satellite Service (BSS) Earth Stations:

 It is also known by the name of Direct Broadcast Service or DBS or more commonly as
Direct-to-Home or DTH.
 Large Earth stations (G/T ∼ = 15 dB/K)used for community reception and small Earth
stations ( G/T ∼ = 8 dB/K) used for individual reception will come under group of BSS.
 International Telecommunication Union has allocated a specific frequency band to all
countries such as 10.7 GHz to 12.75 GHz in ITU region-1 (Europe, Russia, Africa),
12.2 GHz to 12.7 GHz in ITU region-2 (North and South America) and 11.7 GHz to 12.2
GHz in ITU region-3.

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 The term DBS is often used interchangeably with DTH to cover both analog and digital
video and audio services received by relatively small dishes.

Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) Earth Stations

 Under the group of MSS Earth stations, the large Earth stations (G/T ∼ =−4 dB/K),
Medium Earth stations ( G/T ∼ =−12 dB/K) and small Earth stations (G/T ∼ =−24
dB/K).
 Do not require tracking equipment.
 Satellite phone is the most commonly used mobile satellite service.
 It is a type of mobile that connects to satellites instead of terrestrial cellular sites.
 Mobile satellite services are provided both by the geostationary as well as low Earth orbit
satellites .

Classification of earth stations based on their usage.

1 Single function stations
2. Gateway stations
3. Teleports
1 Single function stations
 Are characterized by a single type of link to a satellite or a satellite constellation.
 These stations may be transmit-only, receive-only or both.
 Ex: television receive-only (TVRO) terminals used for TV reception by an individual,
satellite radio terminals.
2 Gateway stations
 They serve as an interface between the satellites and the terrestrial networks and also
serve as transit points between satellites.
 These stations are connected to terrestrial networks through OFC, transmission lines and
Microwave tower.
 signal processing is the major activity.

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 A gateway station receives terrestrial signals such as telephone, television signals, and
data streams. These signals come in different formats. A lot of signal manipulation
activities therefore need to be carried out on these signals before they are routed to the
intended satellite and all it is done at Gateway.
3 Teleports
 Teleport is a type of gateway station operated by firms that are usually not a part of a
specific satellite system.
 These are used by business houses located in crowded places inhibiting line-of-sight to
the satellite of interest due to the close proximity of another tall building or some other
obstacle.
 Teleports are usually located on the outskirts of the city and the connectivity from the
subscriber company to the teleport station is provided through a hub.
 All subscribers are linked to the hub and the hub in turn is connected to the teleport
through a fibre-optic or a microwave link.

EARTH STATION ARCHITECTURE

The major components of an Earth station are
1)RF section,
2)Base band equipment

3)Terrestrial interface.

4) Support facilities such as power supply unit with adequate back-up, monitoring and control
equipment and thermal and environment conditioning unit (heating, air-conditioning etc.).

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1) RF section:

 It comprises of up-converter, high power amplifier (HPA) in the up-link channel, antenna
subsystem, low noise amplifier (LNA),down-converter in the down-link channel.
 It interfaces with the modem subsystem of the base band section.
 The up-converter in the up-link channel up-converts the baseband signal to the desired
frequency. The up converted signal is then amplified to the desired level before it is fed to
the antenna system for subsequent transmission to the intended satellite by HPA.
 A low noise amplifier amplifies the weak signals received by the antenna. The amplified
signal is then down converted to the intermediate frequency level before it is fed to the
modem in the base band section.
 The antenna feed system provides the necessary aperture illumination, desired
polarization and isolation between the transmitted and the received signals by connecting
HPA output and LNA input to the cross-polarized ports of the feed.

Baseband section
 Performs the modulation/demodulation function depending upon the modulation
technique and the multiple access method employed.
 In the case of a two-way digital communication link, the baseband section would
comprise of a digital modem and a time division multiplexer.
 The baseband section input/output is connected to the terrestrial network through
terrestrial interface.
 The terrestrial network could be a fibre optic cable link or a microwave link or even a
combination of the two.

Earth Station Design Considerations

There are two steps in designing of Earth station.
 Step I: Identification of Earth station requirement specifications such as Type of
service offered like Fixed satellite service(FSS), Broadcast satellite service(BSS)
or Mobile satellite service(MSS).
 Communication requirements (telephony, data, television etc.),
 System capacity and reliability.
 Step II: Identifying the most cost effective architecture that achieves the desired
specifications.
 Performance of Earth station is measured by two parameters Effective Isotropic
Radiated Power (EIRP) and Figure of Merit(G/T).
 EIRP: is defined for both Earth station transmitting antenna as well as satellite
transmitting antenna.
 It gives the performance of the transmitting antenna and HPA combination;
 It can be determined by using the formulae
EIRP=Output Power Of HPA*Gain of transmitting Antenna.or

EIRP=Output Power Of HPA in dB + Gain of transmitting Antenna.

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 A footprint map with EIRP numbers are indicative of the amount of power sent down to
the Earth station.
 Illumination Level =EIRP − Space loss.
 Power Flux Density (PFD) = (EIRP−Space loss− Bandwidth) in dB
 Operators prefer to specify received power per unit bandwidth. The unit of bandwidth is
typically taken as 4 kHz, which is the bandwidth of a typical analog telephony channel.
 Receiver Figure-of-merit (G/T): is indicative of receiving antenna performs.
 G/T is the ratio of receiving antenna gain to system noise temperature and expressed in
dB/K.
 It indicates sensitivity of the receiving antenna and the Low Noise Amplifier (LNA).
 G/T is proportional sensitivity.
 A poorer G/T necessitates a higher EIRP and vice versa.

Earth Station Design Optimization

 In optimization process there is tradeoff between EIRP and G/T.
G/T=C/N0-EIRP+(Lp+Lm)+k

Where C/N0 carrier-to-total noise power spectral density,

EIRP satellite’s effective isotropic radiated power,
Lp path loss,

Lm link margin
k Boltzmann constant (all in dBs)

 The factors that govern Earth station complexity and hence cost are Earth station
EIRP,antenna tracking requirements,traffic handling capacity,terrestrial interface
requirements.
 International Telecommunications Union (ITU) had put limitations on the transmitted
EIRP.For mobile communications limiting the satellite EIRP would put a lower limit on
the diameter of the dish antenna. This implies that G/T can not be reduced below a
certain value.
 Even if G/T is reduced by using a smaller antenna, reduction in size would increase
antenna side lobes to undesired levels, which would further lead to more interference to
and from adjacent satellite systems.
 The satellite EIRP is also limited by the DC power available on the satellite, maximum
power is generated by the high power amplifiers on board the satellite.
 Also, for a given antenna size, gain reduces with decrease in operational freq uency.
Hence satellite EIRP limitation is more acute in L-band used for mobile communications.
 Specified EIRP and G/T may be obtained by any of the possible options.

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a) A small size antenna, which would be low cost, and a relatively low noise LNA, which would
be expensive, is one option.
b) Another option is to use large size antenna and LNA with a higher noise figure. Antenna size
also affects the EIRP as a small size antenna may require a prohibitively large HPA.

Environmental and Site Considerations for Earth station

 Location for earth station is decided by following Environmental factors:
i) external temperature ii)humidity iii)rainfall iv)snow v)wind conditions vi)likelihood
of Earth quakes.

 RFI and EMI produced by the Earth station can cause interference to other RF
installations. It is usually necessary to carry out a radio frequency survey at various
possible sites before a final choice is made.
 Other requirements such as

a clear line-of-sight to the satellites of interest.

Availability of sufficient space for the Earth station equipment.
Easy transportation to the Earth station.
Reliable electrical power.

Earth station Hardware

Earth station hardware is categorized in 3 group
 RF equipment,

 IF and baseband equipment

 Terrestrial interface equipment.

 RF equipment
It consists of
Up-converters,
High power amplifiers (HPA)

Transmit antenna in the transmit channel,

Receiving antenna,

Low noise amplifiers (LNA)

Down-converters in the receive channel

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Block Diagram of RF Equipment.

Up converter does frequency translation of input IF to Ka band (27GHz-40GHz) and is
amplified by High power amplifier stage and fed to the transmitting antenna through feed
system.
In down link path received satellite signal is applied to LNA stage and is down converted to Ku
band(14GHz-20GHz) by down converter.

ANTENNA
Most commonly used antennas in satellite earth station are

• prime focus fed parabolic reflector antenna (D<4.5m)

• offset fed sectioned parabolic reflector antenna (D<2m)

• cassegrain fed reflector antenna.

• Gregorian antenna
Prime focus fed parabolic reflector antenna (D<4.5m)

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 It has diameter of less than 4.5m, and used by receive only Earth stations.
 Main Feed system is placed at focus of parabola.

Offset fed sectioned parabolic reflector antenna

 Used for antenna diameters of less than 2 m.

 This configuration eliminates the blockage of the main beam due to feed and its
mechanical support system and thus improves antenna efficiency and reduces side lobe
levels.

Cassegrain antenna

 The cassegrain antenna uses a hyperbolic reflector placed in front of the main reflector,
closer to the dish than the focus.
 This hyperbolic reflector receives the waves from the feed placed at the centre of the
main reflector and bounces them back towards the main reflector.

Gregorian antenna

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 This configuration uses a concave secondary reflector just behind the prime focus.
 The purpose of this reflector is to bounce the waves back towards the dish.
 Offset feed configuration is also possible in case of Gregorian antenna as shown in fig
below .

Family curve to achieve 80dB EIRP

• Uplink performance of the Earth station is evaluated in terms of EIRP.
• EIRP=(O/p power of HPA-loss in transmit waveguide)*gain of transmitting antenna.
• To achieve the specified EIRP for the Earth station,use a combination of moderate output
power HPA and a high gain antenna.
• To achieve 80dB EIRP, in C band output power of 800watts and antenna diameter of 6
mt required.Or

• output power of 300 watts and antenna diameter of 10mt is required to have EIRP 80dB.
HIGH POWER AMPLIFIERS (HPA)
Types of High power amplifiers(HPA) used in Earth station are
(a) Traveling wave tube amplifiers(TWT)
(b) Klystron amplifiers
(c) Solid state power amplifiers(SSPA)
(a) Traveling wave tube amplifiers(TWT)
 Used for High power applications
 TWTA is a wideband amplifier.
 Offers a bandwidth of more than 500 MHz
 Power level ranges a few watts to a few kilowatts.
(b) Klystron
 Is narrow band device.
 Provides bandwidth of the order of 40 to 80 MHz that is tunable over a range of
500 MHz or more.
 Offers a Power levels from several hundred watts to few kilowatts.

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 Are less expensive.

 Simple to operate and easy to maintain.
(c) Solid State Power Amplifier (SSAP)
 Is used for low power applications.
 Are cheaper and more reliable though the power level offered by them is limited.

Amplifier configurations for Multicarrier Amplification

Different configuration for Multicarrier amplification are
A) Single amplifier configurations.

B) Multiple amplifier configurations.

A) Single amplifier configurations

 Different carriers are combined before the amplifier and the composite signal is fed to the
input of the amplifier.
 The amplifier is operated in the linear region to minimize the inter-modulation noise.
 Redundant HPA is used to improve the system reliability.

Multiple amplifier configurations

• In this configuration,each HPA amplifies either a single or a group of carriers.

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• Amplified signals are then combined at the output of HPAs.

• This configuration allows the HPA to be operated near its full power rating, which
increases the overall efficiency of the Earth station.
• However this comes at the cost of additional HPAs.

Up-converters/Down-converters
Frequency converters

Single frequency Double frequency

Up converter Up converter
Down Converter Down Converter
Up converter with single conversion Topology:

 Up-converters convert the IF band used in the modems and base band equipment to the
operating RF frequency bands(C,Ku and Ka).
 The up-converter translates the IF signal at 70 MHz (or 140 MHz) from the modulator to
the operating RF frequency in C or Ku or Ka band.
 Mixer along with local oscillator(LO)provides frequency conversion.
 A frequency synthesizer is used for LO so as to generate any frequency within the
satellite up-link band.
 The signal is amplified after frequency conversion before it is fed to the high power
amplifier.
 A band pass filter at the output of the mixere liminates LO frequency and its harmonics
from reaching the up-link path.

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Down converter with Single frequency conversion topology

The down-converter translates the received RF signal in C or Ku or Ka band into IF signal which
is subsequently fed to demodulator .

Up converter with Double frequency conversion topology

IF frequency is first up-converted to another intermediate frequency ie L-band. The signal is

then amplified and fed to the second mixer stage where it is up-converted to the final RF
frequency band.

Down converter with Double frequency conversion topology

Low Noise Amplifier

LNA decides system noise temperature and hence figure-of-merit G/T of the Earth station.
Different LNA technologies used are:

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IF and Baseband Equipment

 The nature and complexity of baseband equipment in an Earth station is mainly governed
by the range of services offered by it.
 Important building blocks of IF and baseband equipment of the Earth station are
baseband processing circuits, modulator/demodulator (MODEM), multiplexer/
demultiplexer etc.
 FDMA Earth station capable of providing full duplex digital transmission for multiple
carriers.
 Each carrier has its own dedicated modem tuned to a separate frequency in the
transponder.
 The modems interface with the terrestrial network through a TDM multiplexer.
 Provides high reliability.

Terrestrial Interface
 Terrestrial interface is that part of the Earth station that connects the Earth station to the
users.
 Two major components of terrestrial interface are i)Terrestrial tail ii)Interface
 Terrestrial tail: are used to connect the main Earth station to one or more remote user
locations with line-of-sight microwave and fibre optic cable.
 Its length vary from few tens of metres to hundreds of kilometers.
 C-band station will have longest tail due RFI.

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Satellite &Optical Communication(18EC732) V Sem

 Ka and Ku band will have shortest tail.

Interface: Terrestrial networks such as telephone interface (voice), data transmission interface
(data) and television interface (video).

• A fibre optic cable link connecting the RF terminal and the Earth station’s main building.

• A microwave tail connecting the Earth station and a switching,office,which in turn

connects to user locations through public or private loops.
• Direct fibre optic link between the Earth station and the customer location.
• Fibre optic cable are used in the case of short tails and have low noise and are immune to
electromagnetic interference (EMI).
• Some times Single hop microwave is also a good alternative for short tails.
• For long and elaborate tails, microwave link are used.
• large satellite Earth station, handle massive traffic comprising of hundreds of telephone
channels together with data and video reaching the station through microwave and fibre
optic systems using time division or frequency division terrestrial multiplex methods.

• Signals received from the terrestrial network are de-multiplexed and then changed from
the existing terrestrial formats to formats suitable for satellite transmission.

INTERFACE
• Large satellite Earth station, handle massive traffic comprising of hundreds of telephone
channels together with data and video reaching the station through microwave and fibre
optic systems using time division or frequency division terrestrial multiplex methods.

• Signals received from the terrestrial network therefore need to be de-multiplexed and
then changed from the existing terrestrial formats to formats suitable for satellite
transmission.

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• After this format/standards conversion, the signals are processed further in the up-link
chain of the Earth station as shown in fig below

 On the down-link side, the signals received from satellite/s are processed in the down-
link chain before they are sent to standard converter. After reformatting, the signals are
multiplexed and put on the terrestrial network as shown in fig below.

Issue Related to interface:

• variation in the data rate at the receiving station which is due path length variation.
• The path length variation is due to slight inclination and eccentricity of the orbit.

• For example a nominal data rate of 9.6kbps changes to 10.56kbps due to path length
delay of 1.1 ms.
• This causes problem of interfacing this data to terrestrial networks, since terristrial
networks use synchronous transmission they cannot tolarate this data rate variation.
• To overcome from this problem ELASTIC BUFFERs are used.

 It is a FIFO RAM and absorbs data rate variation.

ELASTIC BUFFER

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Satellite Tracking
 Satellite drifts 0.5 deg to 3deg everyday hence needs to be tracked periodically by Earth
station.
 The tasks performed by the Earth station’s satellite tracking system include
 Satellite acquisition The acquisition system acquires the desired satellite by either
moving the antenna manually around the expected position of the satellite or by
programming the antenna to perform a scan around the expected position of the satellite.
 Manual tracking: is used in the when there is a total failure of autotrack system.
 Automatic tracking: is initiated only after the received signal strength due to the beacon
signal transmitted by the satellite is above a certain threshold value,which allows the
tracking receiver to lock to the beacon.
 Programme tracking: The antenna is driven to the anticipated position of the satellite
usually predicted by the satellite operator.

Satellite Tracking System:

Block diagram of Satellite tracking system

 The Earth station antenna uses satellite beacon signal to track itself to the desired
positions in both azimuth and elevation.
 The auto track receiver derives the estimated position of the satellite.
 The estimated position is compared with the measured position in the control subsystem
whose output feeds the servomechanism.

NOTE:Beacon is the satellite's signal that signifies its presence to the world.

Tracking Techniques
1) Lobe switching
2)Sequential lobing

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3)Conical scan
4)Monopulse track
5)Step track
6)Intelligent tracking

1) Lobe switching:
In this technique antenna beam is rapidly switched between two positions around the antenna
axis in a single plane.

When satellite is on antenna axis,echo pulses of same amplitude are sent to earth station.

When satellite above antenna axis and near to First lobe, two echo pulses of different amplitude
are sent to earth station.
Based on amplitude difference position of tracking antenna is adjusted till received echo pulses
are of same amplitude.

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When satellite is below antenna axis and near to Second lobe, two echo pulses of different
amplitude are sent to earth station.
Based on amplitude difference position of tracking antenna is adjusted till received echo pulses
are of same amplitude.

This technique is more prone to inaccuracies .

2) Sequential Lobing

• In sequential lobing, the beam axis is slightly shifted off the antenna axis.

• This squinted beam is sequentially placed in discrete angular positions, usually four,
around the antenna axis.
• The angular information about the object to be tracked is determined by processing
several echo signals.

 The track error information is contained in the echo signal amplitude variations.
3) Conical Scan

 Is similar to sequential lobing except that in the case of conical scan, the squinted beam is
scanned rapidly and continuously in a circular path around the axis.
 If the object to be tracked is off the antenna axis, the amplitude of the echo signal varies
with antenna’s scan position.
 The tracking system senses the amplitude variations and the phase delay as function of
scan position to determine the angular co-ordinates.

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 The amplitude variation provides information on the amplitude of the angular error and
the phase delay indicates direction.
 The angular error information is then used to steer the antenna axis to make it to coincide
with the object location.
 The technique offers good tracking accuracy and an average response time.

4) Monopulse Tracking
 The drawback of lobe switching,sequential,Conical tracking techniques is that if the
cross-section of the object to be tracked changes during the time the beam was being
switched or scanned to get the desired number of samples. Then it results in to inaccurate
results.This draw back is eliminated in Monopulse.
 In the case of satellite being on-axis, the amount of energy falling on the four feeds
representing four quadrants (A, B, C and D) will be the same as shown in fig below.

 When the satellite is located off-axis, as shown in fig below the amount of energy falling
on the four feeds will be different depending upon which quadrant around the antenna
axis, the satellite is located.

 If satellite is above axis then energy falling on four coordinates is as shown in fig below .

 If satellite is below antenna axis then energy falling on four coordinates is as shown in fig
below

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 If Satellite located right of antenna axis then energy falling on four coordinates is as
shown in fig below

 If Satellite located left of antenna axis then energy falling on four coordinates is as
shown in fig below

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Attitude and Orbit Control

 Attitude and Orbit Control subsystem performs two main functions

1) Controlling the orbital path: which ensures that the satellite is in the correct
location in space to provide the intended services.

2) Provides attitude control: which is essential to prevent the satellite from

tumbling in space.

Attitude Control system:

 Attitude of a satellite, is its orientation as determined by the relationship

between its axes (yaw, pitch and roll) and some reference plane.
 It maintains a certain attitude of the satellite, both when it is moving in its
orbit and also during its launch phase.
 Two types of attitude control systems are in common use, namely spin
stabilization and three-axis stabilization.
 During the launch phase, it maintains the correct attitude of the satellite so
that satellite is able to maintain link with the ground Earth station and
controls its orientation such that the satellite is in the correct direction for
an orbital manoeuvre.
 When the satellite is in orbit, the attitude control system maintains the
antenna of the satellite pointed accurately in the desired direction.
 Attitude control in spin stabilized satellites requires pitch correction and it
can be obtained by varying the speed of the spin motor. In the case of three-
axis stabilized satellites, the speed of the inertia wheel needs to be
controlled.
 In Passive attitude control systems there is no feedback mechanism to
check the orientation of the satellite. Active attitude control system
maintains the satellite attitude by sensing its orientation along the three
axes.
 The basic active attitude control system has three components:
(a)one that senses the current attitude of the platform,
(b)Second that computes the deviations in the current attitude from the
desired attitude
(c) Third that controls and corrects the computed errors.
Orbit Control:

 Perturbation forces alter one or more orbital parameters.

  The orbit control subsystem provides correction of these undesired orbital
changes and his is usually done by firing thrusters.
 During the launch phase the orbit control system is used to move the
satellite to the desired location.
 In the case of geostationary satellites, the inclination of the orbit increases
at an average rate of about 0.85◦ per year. In general, the geostationary
satellites have to remain within a block of ±0.05◦ or so. This change in
angle of inclination is corrected by orbit control system.
Payload
 Payload is the most important subsystem of any satellite and can be
considered as the brain of the satellite that performs its intended function.
 The payload carried by a satellite depends upon the mission requirements.
 The basic payload in the case of a communication satellite, is a
transponder, which acts as a receiver/amplifier/transmitter.
 A transponder performs the function of frequency translation from the
uplink frequency to the relatively lower downlink frequency.

 Communication Satellites uses L, S, C, X,Ku and Ka microwave

frequency bands.
 Due to the low atmospheric absorption at the L (2 GHz/1 GHz), S (4 GHz/2
GHz) and C (6 GHz/4 GHz) bands, they are used for broadcasting
applications.
 The high frequency Ku (12–18 GHz) and Ka (27–40 GHz) bands are also
used. These high frequency bands provide higher bandwidth and reduced
antenna size.
 In the case of weather forecasting satellites, the radiometer is payload and
used as a camera and has a set of detectors to detect the radiation in the
visible, near-IR and far-IR bands.
 Visible images show the amount of sunlight being reflected from Earth or
clouds. IR images provide information on the temperature of the cloud or
the Earth’s surface.
 High resolution visible (HRV) cameras, multispectral scanners and
thematic mapper are the main payloads on board an Earth observation
satellite.
 The US remote sensing satellite Landsat-7 consists of an enhanced
thematic mapper plus (ETM+) payload which observes Earth in eight
spectral bands ranging from the visible to the thermal IR region.