1

G.NARAYANAMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE(for women) Shaikpet, Hyderabad. Paper on AN EYE IN THE SKY
In communication

Presented by: S.Sruthi ETM-3/4 [email protected] Mobile:9948982405 K.Srinija Rao ETM-3/4 [email protected] Mobile:9440994278

2 Abstract Mars is not going to give its secrets, but we have the tools to get them. NASAs Deep Space Network (DSN), succeeded in making the communication possible with the rovers landed on Mars. NASAs scientific investigations of the solar system are accomplished mainly through the use of robotic spacecraft. The Deep Space Network (DSN) provides the two-way communications link that guides and controls spacecraft and brings back images and other scientific data they collect. The Deep Space Network encompasses complexes strategically placed on three continents. The largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world, it also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. It is managed and operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). In this paper titled AN EYE IN THE SKY (Communicating with rovers) we will be dealing with antennas used in the DSN, the arraying of antennas, the deep space communication complexes (DSCC)and the data flow in the DSCC. bombardments of solar radiation can last more than a week. Presumably, astronauts on Mars would have to remain confined in some sort of shelter during such blasts of radiation. Without taking these risks NASA scientists, succeeded in landing Rovers to continue their research on Mars. 2. What is a Rover? A ROVER is nothing but a robot. The current mission to Mars involves a pair of robotic rovers that are known as the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER).The MER (Fig. 1) robots are the largest rovers to ever successfully land on another planet. On this mission NASA has designed the MER robots to act as robotic geologists.

Fig1: SPIRIT ROVER LANDED ON MARS

1. Introduction The radiation environment on the surface of Mars is unknown but probably poses a similar risk, even though the planet's tenuous atmosphere would provide some shielding. It still remains to be seen what the hazards are on the surface. The main worry for astronauts on Mars would be the periodic bursts of charged particles that stream outward from the sun. On Earth, a global magnetic field and a substantial atmosphere protect against that radiation. Observations made last year show

A two-way communication link between Earth and the spacecraft is made up of the following types of data The Coded instructions (commands) that are sent on the "uplink" to control the spacecraft's operating modes (for high-power uplink transmissions, the 70-meter-diameter antennas are equipped with a transmitter that has up to 400 kilowatts of available power). Science information and "housekeeping" status data (telemetry) that are sent

3 back to Earth on the "downlink." 3. How do we communicate with rovers? The perfect answer to this question will be DSN. NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) is a collection of antennas at three sites around the globe used to communicate with interplanetary spacecraft missions. There are three deep-spaces such communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the world (Fig. 2): at Goldstone, in California's Mojave Desert near Madrid, Spain near Canberra, Australia 34-meter (112-foot) diameter 26-meter (85-foot) diameter 3.1The 70-m Subnet: The 70-m DSSs are used for deepspace mission support, radio astronomy, and VLBI. The 70-m subnet DSSs support both X-band and S- Band up link and down link 3.2The 34-m HEF Subnet: HEF stands for High-Efficiency. The 34-m HEF subnet DSSs support Xband uplink and downlink, and S-band downlink. 3.3The 34-m BWG Subnet: BWG stands for Beam Wave Guide. The 34-m BWG subnet supports mostly deep space missions, but may occasionally support a mission in high Earth orbit. The 34-m BWG subnet DSSs generally supports both X-band and Sband uplink and downlink. 3.4The 26-m Subnet: That combination of locations permits constant observation of spacecraft as the Earth rotates, and helps to make DSN the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world. Each location has an 8-hour to 14-hour viewing period for contact with a spacecraft. Each complex consists of several deep space stations equipped with large parabolic reflector antennas and ultra sensitive receiving systems that include the following antennas (Fig. 3): 70-meter (230-foot) diameter The 26-m diameter subnet is used for rapidly tracking Earth-orbiting spacecraft. The 26-m subnet DSSs supports S-band uplink and downlink.

Fig2: Map Showing The 3 DSN Stations On Earth

4 Fig3: 70 M SUBNET
BWG SUBNET 34-M HEF 26-M SUBNET

4. Arraying: A powerful technique for obtaining higher sensitivity in support of distant spacecraft is arraying. Arraying (Fig.4) means electronically combining the signals coming in from two or more DSSs, either at the same DSCC, at two different DSCCs, or with a non-DSN radio telescope. This increases the effective aperture, strengthens reception of the spacecraft's weak signal, and permits the spacecraft to be able to downlink data at a higher rate.

Fig5: ARRAYING OF ANTENNAS

The signal received at each antenna is characterized by a delay and a Doppler shift that depend on the relative position and motion of the antenna and the spacecraft or other signal source. In order to achieve fullspectrum arraying, it is necessary to alter the signal received by each antenna to make its delay and Doppler shift equal to the delays and Doppler shifts of the similarly altered signals received by the other antennas. The altered signals are then combined coherently to obtain an improved detection of telemetry and navigation data. 5. Full-Spectrum Arraying of Receiving Radio Antennas: In the original DSN application, the signals received by as many as eight geographically diverse antennas are processed by full-spectrum receivers (FRS) followed by a full-spectrum combiner (FSC) (shown in Fig.6). The analog signal from each antenna is first down-converted to an intermediate-frequency (IF) band centered at 300 MHz. Then in an FSR, the IF signal is subjected to a combination of analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion and frequency down-conversion that yields an in-phase (I) and a quadrature-phase (Q) data stream, each consisting of 8-bit samples at a rate of 16 mega samples per second. The delay and phase of the I and Q streams from each antenna are altered by use of a delay line and a phase rotator. Adjustment is made first by using delay prediction, followed by a feedback measurement of residual delay and phase by the FSC. In the FSC, cross-correlations

Fig4: DSN Stations using ARRAYING TECHNIQUE

Arraying (Fig.5) is beneficial in deep space communications where the signal transmitted by a spacecraft becomes very weak as it travels across vast interplanetary distances. When the signal arrives at Earth, it is spread over a large area, and the ground antenna is able to receive just a small part of the signal. Arraying allows the capture of these very weak signals and enables a higher data rate.

5 of upper and lower sidebands from different antennas (e.g., of the upper sideband received by antenna 1 with the upper sideband received by antenna 2) are computed. The correlations contain information on frequency-dependent and frequency-independent phase offsets related in known ways to differential delays and Doppler shifts. The correlations are processed to generate phase and a delay offset for feedback to each FSR. The I and Q data streams from the FSRs are weighted and summed; the sum signal is then subjected to digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion and frequency up-conversion to obtain the desired enhanced IF signal. subnet, the 34m subnet, and the 26m subnet. The signal processing center, SPC. The SPC connects with all the DSSs at the DSCC. Administrative offices, a cafeteria, and a visitor center.

Fig6: FULL SPECTRUM RECEIVER AND COMBINER

6.Deep Space Communication Complexes: The DSN's sophisticated Earth-based communications system at the DSCCs is an essential component for controlling a spacecraft's operating modes, loading and reprogramming its computers, navigating it to its destination, and sending scientific data back to Earth. A Closer Look at the DSCCs: Each DSCC has the following: A number of Deep Space Stations, DSSs. Each DSS comprises a highgain, parabolic-reflector steerable antenna dish, and its associated front-end equipment such as lownoise amplifiers and transmitters. The DSSs are divided, according to their aperture size, into groups called subnets, for example the 70m

6.1.Data Flow at the DSCC Downlink RF enters the DSS antenna reflector shown inblack in the diagram, and proceeds down the green line, which represents waveguides. Along this initial path is where the five reflectors of a BWG would be located, directing the RF into the basement where the rest of the equipment is located. With other DSSs, all the equipment in the first diagram is located in the feed horn and just below the reflector, where it all moves with the reflector as it tracks the spacecraft. The blue arrow on the left indicates antenna control signals going to the DSS antenna equipment from the DSCC tracking s/s in the SPC. All the other components in this diagram belong to the DSCC microwave s/s. The green line comes to a diachronic plate, also called a diachronic mirror. (Shown in Fig. 7) RF at one frequency, for example Sband, passes through the plate, to the gold colored path below, while RF of another frequency, for example X-band, reflects off to follow waveguides in another path colored blue. Some DSSs can also select Ka-band or other bands of RF. The desired polarization is selected using filters. This might be right-hand circular polarization, RCP, or left-hand, LCP, or none.

6 signal to be amplified by the klystron, which is a microwave power amplifier vacuum tube. The signal is generated by the exciter (part of the receiver) based on a reference frequency provided by FTS, and other inputs to be discussed later. Polarization of the klystron's output is selected by a filter to match the spacecraft's receiver. The klystron's output illuminates the DSS's antenna reflector so it can be seen by the spacecraft. Most klystrons have to be actively cooled by refrigerated water or other means. The klystron, its high-voltage-DC, high-current power supply, and its cooling apparatus are collectively known as the transmitter, TXR. Looking at the lower diagram, which represents equipment in the SPC, the signal from the LNA enters at the top. If two or more LNAs are operating, the path would be multiple. Depending on operations, the LNA may feed either a closed-loop receiver, an open-loop receiver, or both. The switches in the diagram show there's an operational choice. The openloop receivers select a band of frequencies to amplify for further processing by RS or VLBI(Very Long Baseline Interferometry Data Type) equipment. VLBI equipment typically outputs data to tapes that are delivered to a correlator at a different location. Radio science equipment, controlled remotely from JPL, will typically output its high-volume data online for transmission to JPL via the GCF, indicated by the block at the bottom of the diagram.

The RF of each band, S and X in this example, goes to a low-noise amplifier, LNA. The LNA used depends on what is installed at a particular DSS and the needs of the user. It may be a cryogenically cooled amplifier called a maser (an acronym from "Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation"), or it may be a solid-state device called a high-electron-mobility transistor, HEMT. The function of the LNA is to amplify a band of RF while introducing an absolute minimum amount of noise. DSN's masers are cooled with liquid helium to keep RF noise down. An amplified band of RF leaves the LNA and is directed to the receivers, which are shown in the next diagram. Before getting to the next diagram, notice the red line labelled "From Exciter" coming up to the klystron on the right. This represents the uplink

7 induces that can be accounted for in data analysis. In the DSCC tracking s/s the downlink's Doppler shift is measured and compared with the predicted Doppler shift. The difference is called the Doppler residuals. If there are ranging symbols on the downlink, they are processed within this subsystem as well. The ranging and Doppler data is passed to the navigators at JPL via the GCF. If there are telemetry symbols present on the downlink, they are processed within the DSCC telemetry s/s. First they are Viterbi-decoded to recover data bits from the convolutionally coded symbol stream. The assembly that does this is the maximum-likelihood convolutional decoder, MCD. If any other coding, such as ReedSolomon is present, it can be decoded here or at JPL. The bits are then grouped into the same packages, called transfer frames, that the spacecraft had grouped them into .The TLM data is then sent to JPL via the GCF. Command data intended to be sent to the spacecraft comes from JPL via the GCF as indicated on the right side of the diagram. The DSCC command s/s processes the data and sends the bits, on a subcarrier if applicable, to the exciter (Fig. 8). Also, and not shown in the diagram, is a response from the command s/s to JPL. The response, also designated CMD data, includes information identifying the CMD bits that have left the antenna, and reports of all the command s/s operations.

Fig8: DATA FLOW IN DSS

RF from the LNA can also go to the closed-loop receiver. DSN uses its highly advanced receiver known as the Block-V receiver (V is the Roman numeral five), BVR. In the BVR a single frequency, the spacecraft's downlink carrier, is selected and amplified. If there are any sub-carriers, they are detected here. If any symbols are present on the carrier or on any sub-carriers, they are recovered within the BVR. The carrier is down-converted (shifted to a lower, more manageable frequency) and passed to the DSCC tracking s/s. Any TLM symbols from the downlink are passed to the DSCC telemetry s/s. At the discretion of the Ace, a feature known as conscan may be invoked. Conscan, which stands for conical scanning, observes the closed-loop receiver's signal strength and adjusts the antenna pointing via the tracking s/s. The antenna constantly moves in small, tightening circles as it optimizes its pointing. Conscan must be disabled when the spacecraft's signal changes or disappears. It is not desirable to conscan during VLBI or RS operations due to the variations it induces in signal level. RS does, however, have a feature called mono pulse to optimize Kaband reception. Monopulse creates records of the adjustments it

8 If operations call for placing ranging symbols and/or a ranging sub-carrier on the uplink, the DSCC tracking s/s sends it to the exciter. The exciter creates the uplink signal with any appropriate command sub-carrier, ranging sub-carrier, and/or data modulation. It sends this signal to the transmitter which will amplify it enough for the spacecraft to receive . The GCF, indicated by the lower block, uses a reliable network service, RNS, to deliver data to a central data recorder, CDR, at JPL. RNS automatically replays any data that may have gotten dropped during its trip to JPL. The result is 100% error-free data transmission, given enough time to identify and process the replays. band at frequencies as high as 31 to 35 gigahertz. Ka-band allows much more data transfer without the need for more ground antennas, which are very expensive to build. 8.REFERENCES 1. www2.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn.html 2. www.nasatech.com

7.CONCLUSION Research continues on ways to improve the communications capabilities of the DSN. Going to a higher frequency range than that currently in use would provide several benefits. So capabilities are under development to enable use of the Ka-