Satellite Link Design

Fundamentals
•A comprehensive look will be taken at the important
parameters that govern the design of a satellite
communication link.

•The overall link performance in terms of both quantity and

quality of services provided by the link, without of course
losing sight of the system complexity of both the Earth station
and the space segment and the associated costs involved
therein.

•The designer must therefore attempt to optimize the overall

link, giving due attention to each element of the link and the
factors associated with its performance.
Transmission Equation

•The transmission equation relates the received power level at the

destination, which could be the Earth station or the satellite in the
case of a satellite communication link, to the transmitted RF power,
the operating frequency and the transmitter–receiver distance.

•The quality of the information delivered to the destination is

governed by the level of the signal power received.

•It is assumed that the transmitter radiates a power PT watts with an

antenna having a gain GT as compared to the isotropic radiation
level.
• The power flux density (PRD in W/m2) due to the radiated
power in the direction of the antenna bore sight at a distance
d metres is given by

• The product PTGT is the effective isotropic radiated power

(EIRP).

• Also, if the radiating aperture AT of the transmitting antenna

is large as compared to λ2, where λ is the operating
wavelength, then GT equals (4πAT/λ2).
• If AR is the aperture of the receiving antenna, then the
received power PR at the receiver at a distance d from
the transmitter can be expressed as

where AR is related to the receiver antenna gain by

GR = 4πAR/λ2. The expression for the
received power is modified to
The term (4πd/λ)2 represents the free space path loss LP. The
above expression is also known as the Friis transmission equation.
The received power can be expressed in decibels as

The above equation can be modified to include other losses, if any,

such as losses due to atmospheric attenuation, antenna losses, etc.
For example, if LA, LTX and LRX are the losses due to atmospheric
attenuation, transmitting antenna and receiving antenna,
Satellite Link Parameters

• Important parameters that influence the

design of a satellite communication link
include the following:

1. Choice of operating frequency

2. Propagation considerations
3. Noise considerations
4. Interference-related problems
Choice of Operating Frequency
•Factors such as propagation considerations, coexistence with other services, interference-
related issues, technology status, economic considerations and so on.

•There would be interference-related problems as a large number of terrestrial microwave links

use frequencies within these bands. Hence it is economic to use lower frequency bands.

•Higher frequency bands offer higher bandwidths but suffer from the disadvantage of severe
rain-induced attenuation, particularly above 10 GHz.

•It may be mentioned here that for frequencies less than 10 GHz and elevation angles greater
than 5◦, atmospheric attenuation is more or less insignificant.
Propagation Considerations
•The nature of propagation of electromagnetic waves or signals through the
atmospheric portion of an Earth station–satellite link has a significant bearing on
the link design.

•It is mainly the operating frequency and to a lesser extent the polarization that
would decide how severe the effect of atmosphere is going to be.

•It is the first few tens of kilometres constituting the troposphere and then the
ionosphere extending from about 80 km to 1000 km that do the damage.

•The effect of atmosphere on the signal is mainly in the form of attenuation

caused by atmospheric scattering and scintillation and depolarization caused by
rain in the troposphere and Faraday rotation in the ionosphere.
• While rain-induced attenuation is very severe for
frequencies above 10 GHz, polarization changes due
to Faraday rotation are severe at lower frequencies
and are almost insignificant beyond 10 GHz.

• Atmospheric attenuation is the least in the 3 to 10

GHz window. That is why it is the preferred and
most widely used one for satellite communications.
Noise Considerations
•The quality of signal received at the Earth station is strongly dependent on the carrier-to-noise
ratio of the satellite link.

•The quality of the signal received on the uplink therefore depends upon how strong the signal
is, as it leaves the originating Earth station and how the satellite receives it.

•On the downlink, it depends upon how strongly the satellite can retransmit the signal and then
how the destination Earth station receives it.

•If the received signal is sufficiently weak as compared to the noise level, it may become
impossible to detect the signal.

•Even if the signal is detectable, steps should be taken within the system to reduce the noise to
an acceptable level lest it impairs the quality of the signal received.
•The sources of noise include natural and man-made sources, as
well as the noise generated in the Earth station and satellite
equipment.

•The man-made noise mainly arises from electrical equipment

and is almost insignificant above 1 GHz.

•The natural sources of noise include solar radiation, sky noise,

background noise contributed by Earth, galactic noise due to
electromagnetic waves emanating from radio stars in the
galaxy and the atmospheric noise caused by lightening flashes
and absorption by oxygen and water vapour molecules
followed by re-emission of radiation.
Interference-related Problems

• Major sources of interference include

interference between satellite links and
terrestrial microwave links sharing the same
operational frequency band, interference
between two satellites sharing the same
frequency band, interference between two
Earth stations accessing different satellites
operating in the same frequency band.
• Interference between satellite links and
terrestrial links could further be of two types:
first where terrestrial link transmission
interferes with reception at an Earth station
and the second where transmission from an
Earth station interferes with terrestrial link
reception.
Propagation Considerations
• The nature of propagation of electromagnetic waves
through the atmosphere has a significant bearing on the
satellite link design.

• The effect of the atmosphere on the signal is mainly in

the form of atmospheric gaseous
absorption, cloud attenuation, tropospheric scintillation
causing refraction, Faraday rotation in the ionosphere,
ionosphere scintillation, rain attenuation and
depolarization.
Attenuation is defined as the difference between the power that
would have been received under ideal conditions and the actual
power received at a given time.

Where,
A(t) is the attenuation at any given time t
Prideal(t) is the received power under ideal conditions at time t
Practual(t) is the actual received power at time t
•Depolarization refers to the conversion of energy from the
wanted channel to the unwanted channel.

•Propagation losses are further of two types, namely those that

are more or less constant and therefore predictable and those
that are random in nature and therefore unpredictable.

•Free-space loss belongs to the first category, attenuation caused

due to rain is unpredictable to
a large extent.

•The second category of losses can only be estimated

statistically.
• Due to the random nature of some types of losses,
the received signal strength fluctuates with time and
may even reduce to a level below the minimum
acceptable limit for as long a period as an hour in 24
hours during the period of severe fading. This is
amply illustrated in the graph

Fig: Fading phenomenon

Free-space Loss
• Free-space loss is the loss of signal strength only due to
distance from the transmitter.

• In the present context it implies remoteness from all material

objects or forms of matter that could influence propagation of
electromagnetic waves.

• The radiated electromagnetic power diminishes as the inverse

square of the distance from the transmitter, which implies that
the power received by an antenna of 1 m2 cross-section
The free-space path loss component can be computed from

where LFS is the free space loss and λ = operating wavelength.

Also, λ = c/f, where
c = velocity of electromagnetic waves in free space
f = operating frequency

If c is taken in km/s and f in MHz, then the free-space path loss

can also be computed from
Gaseous Absorption
• Electromagnetic energy gets absorbed and converted into
heat due to gaseous absorption as it passes through the
troposphere.

• The absorption is primarily due to the presence of molecular

oxygen and uncondensed water vapour and has been
observed to be not so significant as to cause problems in the
frequency range of 1 to 15 GHz.

• The presence of free electrons in the atmosphere also causes

absorption due to collision of electromagnetic waves with
these electrons. However, electron absorption is significant
only at frequencies less than 500 MHz.

• Absorption increases with a decrease in elevation angle E due

to an increase in the transmission path.
Figure shows the plot of total absorption (in dB) towards the
zenith, i.e. for an elevation angle of 90◦ as a function of frequency.

Fig: Gaseous absorption as a function of frequency and elevation angle

Attenuation due to Rain
•After the free-space path loss, rain is the next major factor contributing
to loss of electromagnetic energy caused by absorption and scattering of
electromagnetic energy by rain drops.

•The losses due to precipitation in the form of rain, fog, clouds, snow, etc.,
are variable and far less predictable.

•Losses can be estimated in order to allow the satellite links to be

designed with an adequate link margin wherever
necessary.

•Losses due to rain increases with an increase in frequency and reduction

in the elevation angle.
Fig: Rain-caused attenuation as a function of frequency and elevation angle
Attenuation of electromagnetic waves due to rain (Arain) extended
over a path length of L can be computed from

where α = specific attenuation of rain in dB/km. Specific

attenuation again depends upon various factors like rain drop size,
drop size distribution, operating wavelength and the refractive
Signal Fading due to Refraction
• Refraction is the phenomenon of bending of electromagnetic
waves as they pass through the different layers of the atmosphere.

• Refraction of the satellite beams occur in the troposphere (lower

layer of the atmosphere from the Earth’s surface to a height of 15
km approximately) due to the variations in the refractive index of
the air column.

• The variations in the refractive index lead to bending of

electromagnetic waves resulting in fluctuations in the received
signal levels, also referred to as scintillations.
 Fig: Bending of electromagnetic waves caused by refraction in the atmosphere

Fading is the phenomenon wherein the Earth station receiving

antenna receives the signal transmitted by the satellite via different
paths with different phase shifts. The fading phenomenon is more
adverse at lower elevation angles.
Ionosphere-related Effects
•The ionosphere is an ionized region in space, extending from
about 80–90 km to 1000 km
(Figure) formed by interaction of solar radiation with different
constituent gases of the atmosphere.

•Electromagnetic waves travelling through the ionosphere are

affected in more than one way, some more predominant than the
other from the viewpoint of satellite communications.

•The effects that are of concern and need attention include

polarization rotation, also called the Faraday effect, and
scintillation, which is simply rapid fluctuation of the signal
amplitude, phase, polarization or angle of arrival.
Fig: Different layers of atmosphere
 Polarization Rotation – Faraday Effect
•When an electromagnetic wave passes through a region of high electron
content like the ionosphere, the plane of polarization of the wave gets rotated
due to interaction of the electromagnetic wave with the Earth’s magnetic field.

•The angle through which the plane of polarization

rotates is directly proportional to the total electron content of the ionized region
and – inversely proportional to the square of the operating frequency.

•Due to its 1/f 2 dependence, the effect is observed to be pronounced only at

frequencies below 2 GHz.

•Circular polarization is virtually unaffected by Faraday effect and therefore its

impact can be minimized by using circular polarization.
The polarization rotation angle for a path length through the
ionosphere of Z metres is given by

Where,
is the rotation angle (radians)
θ is the angle between the geomagnetic field and the direction
of propagation of the wave
N is the electron density (electrons/cm3)
Bo is the geomagnetic flux density (Tesla)
f is the operating frequency (Hz)
Ionospheric Scintillation
•Scintillation is nothing but the rapid fluctuations of the signal
amplitude, phase, polarization or angle-of-arrival.

•In the ionosphere, scintillation occurs due to small scale refractive

index variations caused by local electron concentration fluctuations.

•The total electron concentration (total number of electrons existing

in a vertical column of 1m2 area) of the ionosphere increases by two
orders of magnitude during the day as compared to night due to the
energy received from the sun.

•The signal reaches the receiving antenna via two paths, the direct
path and the refracted path
Fig: Ionospheric scintillation
• Multipath signals can lead to both signal enhancement as well
as signal cancellation depending upon the phase relationship
with which they arrive at the receiving antenna.

• In the extreme case, when the strength of the refracted signal is

comparable to that of the direct signal, cancellation can occur
when the relative phase difference between the two is 180◦.

• The scintillation effect is inversely proportional to the square of

the operating frequency and is predominant at lower
microwave frequencies, typically below 4 GHz.
 Fading due to Multipath Signals
•Ionospheric scintillation, as illustrated above, results in a multipath phenomenon where the indirect
signal is produced as a result of refraction caused by pockets of ion concentration in the F-region of
the ionosphere.

•Multipath signals also result from reflection and scattering from obstacles such as buildings, trees,
hills and other man-made and natural objects.

•In the case of fixed satellite terminals, the situation remains more or less the same and does not
change with time as long as the satellite remains in the same position with respect to the satellite
terminal.

•However, in the case of mobile satellite terminals, the situation keeps changing with time.

•The relative phase difference between the two signals could produce either a signal enhancement or
fading.
Fig: Fading due to multipath signals for a fixed satellite terminal
Fig : Mobile satellite terminal receiving multipath signals