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IEEE
COMMUNICATIONS
SURVEYS
The Electronic Magazine of
Original Peer-Reviewed Survey Articles
www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AT
KU, KA, AND V BANDS:
PROPAGATION IMPAIRMENTS AND
MITIGATION TECHNIQUES
n the past decade, new and demanding satellite applications evolved, leading to spectral congestion of the conventional frequency bands allocated for satellite services,
namely L (1/2GHz), S (2/4GHz), and C (4/6GHz). Among
the recent developments in the satellite industry, one can
single out the proliferation of VSAT/USAT (very/ultra
small aperture terminals) systems destined primarily for
data applications, the provision of direct-to-home (DTH)
services by Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) systems, and
the extension of satellite communications to non-geostationary (NGSO) orbit constellations. All the above systems,
including the conventional geostationary (GSO) satellite
systems belonging to the Fixed Satellite Service (FSS),
gradually tend to employ higher frequency bands to satisfy
the growing capacity requirements. Therefore, besides
operation at the Ku band (12/14GHz), the Ka band
(20/30GHz) and the V band (40/50GHz) have been investigated or even adopted in satellite systems recently put into
operation.
However, crossing the 10GHz frequency limit gives rise to
signal fading due to physical phenomena related to the propagation of radiowaves through the atmosphere [1]. The fade
margin, that is, the system gain insuring the necessary Quality
of Service (QoS) against various transmission and other
impairments, must be significantly increased to compensate
for the severe signal fading occurring at frequencies above
10GHz. The larger fade margins required are not feasible
either technically or economically. Under these conditions, it
is more difficult for satellite systems to satisfy the availability
and QoS specifications recommended by the Radiocommunications Sector of the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU-R) [2].
To make operation of modern satellite systems feasible at
frequencies above 10GHz, an appropriate fade mitigation
technique (FMT) must be adopted. Apart from satisfying
availability and QoS specifications, enhancing a satellite system with a FMT leads to realistic fade margins both economically and technically.
The purpose of this article is to overview the latest developments of FMTs for satellite communication systems operating in the 10GHz to 50GHz spectral region. Specifically,
FMTs are categorized with respect to their applications and
investigated with emphasis on modeling, prediction methods,
experimental work done in the past, and future trends. The
article also discusses the physical phenomena concerning the
propagation of radiowaves through the atmosphere at the frequency bands under consideration, as well as how they are
modeled in the recent literature.
14
Attenuation (dB)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
8
10
11
12
13 14
Time (hour)
15
16
17
18
ments.
frequency spectrum above 10GHz, it will focus on the tropospheric effects. The most important tropospheric phenomena
affecting satellite communication systems at frequencies above
10GHz are summarized as follows.
Attenuation Due to Precipitation: When propagating
through rain, snow, hail, or ice droplets, radiowaves suffer
from power loss due to hydrometeor scattering (Fig. 1).
Although hydrometeor scattering is the major limiting factor
in the EHF band (>30GHz), hydrometeor absorption is the
dominant phenomenon causing power loss in the lower spectral part between 10GHz and 30GHz. The combined effect of
hydrometeor scattering and absorption results in a power loss
proportional in dB to the square of the frequency [4]. This
constitutes the main disadvantage of operating at the Ku, Ka,
or V frequency bands. As far as satellite systems are concerned, the depth of rain fades also depends on the elevation
and polarization angles. On the other hand, as rain attenuation depends unfavorably on the rainfall rate and the raindrop
size distribution, it affects heavily tropical and subtropical
regions. An indicative picture of rain fades is obtained from
Fig. 2, which illustrates a typical fade incident with a peak
value of 14dB. A variety of models exists for the prediction of
the average rain attenuation on an annual basis: Rec. ITU-R
P.618-7 [5], Leitao-Watson [6], Lin [7], Morita and Higuti [8],
and the EXCELL [9] model, all of them performing satisfactorily on a global scale. The methodology usually followed to
handle propagation phenomena involves the representation of
the fade depths as a function of time percentage and results in
calculating the time occurrence of outages for a given attenuation level. For example, in Fig. 3 the ITU-R model predicting the annual exceedance probability of rain attenuation is
implemented for the downlink frequency of the bands under
consideration, and for a hypothetical satellite link operating in
Athens, Greece.
Gaseous Absorption: Besides hydrometeor absorption,
gaseous absorption, mostly from oxygen and water vapor, contributes to the total attenuation of radiowaves, especially in
the case of low elevation angles. However, the contribution of
gaseous absorption to the total attenuation is small compared
to the attenuation due to rain. In Fig. 4 the frequency dependence of oxygen and water vapor absorption is presented in
terms of specific attenuation. One may observe that water
vapor is the main contributor to gaseous attenuation in the
frequency range just below 30GHz due to a maximum occurring at 22.5GHz. Moreover, other maxima that occur at
183GHz, 320GHz for water vapor and at 60GHz, 119GHz for
oxygen absorption lie outside the spectral region considered
in this article. The attenuation due to oxygen absorption
exhibits an almost constant behavior for different climatic
105
50
Ku band downlink frequency (12GHz)
Ka band downlink frequency (20GHz)
V band downlink frequency (40GHz)
45
104
103
Specific attenuation (dB/km)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
10
0.1
10
1
10-1
10
5
2
5
2
5
2
5
2
10-2
5
0
0.01
102
5
2
5
2
5
2
5
-3 2
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900 1000
Frequency, f(GHz)
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.1
10
100
to amplitude fluctuations known as scintillations. These fluctuations increase with frequency and depend upon the length
of the slant path decreasing with the antenna beamwidth.
Amplitude fluctuations are also accompanied by a phase fluctuation. Returning to Fig. 2, apart from the apparent single
fade event, the fluctuations on the received signal are obvious.
Models estimating the effects of scintillations on the received
signal can be found in [5, 16] and [17].
Intersystem Interference: Interference may occur between
a satellite system and terrestrial systems, or between two
satellite systems whenever a frequency band is shared or
adjacent orbital positions are used. During clear sky conditions, intersystem interference is mainly caused by the sidelobes of the antennas and is reflected on the clear sky
carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I) nom . However, from the
propagation impairments perspective, intersystem interference is aggravated by potential differential rain attenuation,
A, whenever the desired signal undergoes a large rain
attenuation, while at the same time the undesired signal
from an adjacent satellite experiences a lower level of attenuation [1822]. In this case, the carrier-to-interference ratio
must be properly modified to account for the effect of rain
as follows
C
C C
=
A =
( Ac AI )
I I nom
I nom
where AC, AI (expressed in dB) are the rain attenuation values on the intended and the interfering satellite path, respectively. To evaluate the time occurrence of such an event, i.e.
the percentage of total time the C/I is not exceeded due to
differential rain attenuation, the methodology described in
[18] yields the results presented in Fig. 7. In this figure, operation under (C/I) nom = 25dB and an aperture angle of 2
between the two satellites are assumed. Furthermore, to generate the three curves, a fade margin equal to 15dB has been
adopted.
To conclude, several ITU-R Recommendations exist for
the prediction of the effects of most of the propagation phenomena. The methods recommended are widely used, easy to
apply, and agree satisfactorily with experimental results in various geographical regions. Still, due to the rare propagation
50
Ku band downlink frequency (12GHz)
Ka band downlink frequency (20GHz)
45
Cross-polarization, XPD (dB)
1.8
40
35
30.
25
0.001
0.01
0.1
25
24.8
clouds, and rain are incorporated. This model can be utilized for radio communications and remote sensing applications.
24.6
24.4
24.2
24
23.8
23.6
23.4
Ku band downlink frequency (12GHz)
Ka band downlink frequency (20GHz)
V band downlink frequency (40GHz)
23.2
23
0.001
0.01
0.1
Percentage of total time
10
measurements above 30GHz, the validity of only a few propagation models presented above has been tested.
where AO2 , AH2O , AC , AR , AML , and AS stand for the attenuation due to oxygen, water vapor, cloud, rain, melting layer,
and scintillation, respectively.
The second approach treats attenuation effects as being
partially uncorrelated; therefore, RMS summing is adopted
for the total attenuation:
A2 + A2
O2
H2O
2
+ AC2 + AR2 + AML
+ AS2
( AC + AR )2 + AS2
10-3
10-4
BER
Atot =
Ku band downlink
frequency (12GHz)
Ka band downlink
frequency (20GHz)
V band downlink
frequency (40GHz)
10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8
0.01
0.1
Percentage of total time
1 second
ahead rain
fade prediction
Frequency
scaling
of rain fade
FIFO-2 samples
Fade
slope
Filter
12.5GHz
beacon
signal
FIFO-21 samples
Standard
deviation
Frequency
scaling
of scintillation
*
1.96
100
QPSK
8-PSK
16-QAM
10-1
BER
10-2
10-3
10-4
10-5
0.01
0.1
Percentage of total time
satellite downlink (20GHz) operating in Athens, Greece (elevation angle = 30, vertical polarization, Eb/N0 = 12dB).
10-3
Single site
Double site (D=10km)
Double site (D=20km)
10-4
BER
10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8
0.01
0.1
Percentage of total time
10
COMPARISON OF
FADE MITIGATION TECHNIQUES
In the framework of the COST 255 campaign [62], some very
useful conclusions were drawn about the FMTs presented in
the previous sections. Based on the results of this study, these
conclusions are summarized in Table 1, listing the availability
range of each FMT, the maximum gain in dB, and the main
limiting factor for its implementation.
To elaborate on these conclusions, ULPC only adjusts the
earth station power and, therefore, can be implemented for
most of the time, resulting in a very flexible technique. Apart
from the limitations of the satellite amplifier, the same is true
for DLPC. ULPC and DLPC are sufficient to counteract only
for a fraction of the total attenuation, such as weak precipitation and the effect of clouds, events that are bounded by the
6
Ku band downlink frequency (12GHz)
Ka band downlink frequency (20GHz)
V band downlink frequency (40GHz)
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
20
30
40
50
60
70
Angular separation in OD (deg)
80
90
FMT
Availability
range
(%) of year
Maximum achievable
gain (dB)
Limiting factor
Faded region
Clear region
Fade pool
NCS
dwell
1
Dwell
2
Dwell
N
Dwell
N+1
VSAT
Dwell acquisition
N+2
dwell
11
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In the last decade satellite communication systems have turned
to frequency bands above 10GHz to exploit the large bandwidths available. Since the Ku frequency band shows signs of
repletion, much research activity is focused on the full utilization of the Ka band, while the V band is considered for applications in the near future. However, this operational turn is
accompanied by impairments due to propagation that substantially degrade the earth-space links as the frequency increases.
This survey has focused on the various fade mitigation
methods developed to counteract tropospheric signal impairments and, therefore, preserve the necessary availability and
QoS of satellite systems. Remarks regarding the effectiveness
and the applicability of each technique were made with
respect to past and recent experimental works. Currently, a
main concern of the relevant research is to enhance the
knowledge of the dynamics of the propagation phenomena
and to initiate the appropriate FMT based on reliable realtime estimates of attenuation. Also, since individual FMTs
successfully combat only a fraction of the total attenuation
and, furthermore, correspond to a specific range of availability, they can be applied simultaneously in the form of mixed
FMTs. Examples of such sophisticated fade compensation
schemes have already been applied in some pioneering satcom
systems.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Dr. Antonio Martellucci from
ESA-ESTEC and Dr. L. Castanet from ONERA for providing
them with some very useful documents on the COST campaign. They are also indebted to the five anonymous reviewers
whose comments helped to improve the original version of
this article.
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BIOGRAPHIES
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