Fundamentals of Microwave & Satellite Technologies

Historical Perspective
   

Founded during WWII Used for long-haul telecommunications Displaced by fiber optic networks Still viable for right-of-way bypass and geographic obstruction avoidance

Microwave Spectrum


Range is approximately 1 GHz to 40 GHz



Total of all usable frequencies under 1 GHz gives a reference on the capacity of in the microwave range

Microwave Impairments


Equipment, antenna, and waveguide failures Fading and distortion from multipath reflections Absorption from rain, fog, and other atmospheric conditions Interference from other frequencies

Microwave Engineering Considerations

   

Free space & atmospheric attenuation Reflections Diffractions Rain attenuation

Microwave Engineering Considerations-cont d

    

Skin affect Line of Sight (LOS) Fading Range Interference

Free Space & Atmospheric Attenuation



Free space & atmospheric attenuation is defined by the loss the signal undergoes traveling through the atmosphere. Changes in air density and absorption by atmospheric particles.

Reflections


Reflections can occur as the microwave signal traverses a body of water or fog bank; cause multipath conditions

Diffraction


Diffraction is the result of variations in the terrain the signal crosses

Rain Attenuation


Raindrop absorption or scattering of the microwave signal can cause signal loss in transmissions.

Skin Affect


Skin Affect is the concept that high frequency energy travels only on the outside skin of a conductor and does not penetrate into it any great distance. Skin Affect determines the properties of microwave signals.

Line of Sight Fresnel Zone Clearance



Fresnel Zone Clearance is the minimum clearance over obstacles that the signal needs to be sent over. Reflection or path bending will occur if the clearance is not sufficient.

LOS & FZC-cont d

Fresnel Zone

D1 X D2
72.2

FxD

secret formula

Microwave Fading
Normal Signal

Reflective Path Caused by multi-path reflections and heavy rains

Range


The distance a signal travels and its increase in frequency are inversely proportional

Repeaters extend range  Back-to-back antennas  reflectors

Range-cont d


High frequencies are repeated/received at or below one mile

Lower frequencies can travel up to 100 miles but 25-30 miles is the typical placement for repeaters

Interference


Adjacent Channel Interference



digital not greatly affected caused by signal feeding past a repeater to the receiving antenna at the next station in the route. Eliminated by zigzag path alignment or alternate frequency use between adjacent stations

Overreach


Components of a Microwave System

  

Digital Modem Radio Frequency (RF) Unit Antenna

Digital Modem


The digital modem modulates the information signal (intermediate frequency or IF).

RF Unit


IF is fed to the RF unit which is mounted as close physically to the antenna as possible (direct connect is optimal).

Antenna


The antenna is a passive device that radiates the modulated signal. It is fed by direct connect of the RF unit, coaxial cable, or waveguides at higher frequencies.

Waveguides

Waveguides are hollow channels of low-loss material used to direct the signal from the RF unit to the antenna.

Modulation Methods


Primarily modulated today with digital FM or AM signals



Digital signal remains quiet until failure threshold bit error rate renders it unusable

Bit Error Rate (BER)



The BER is a performance measure of microwave signaling throughput

10 or one error per million transmitted -6 bits of information  Data fail over is at 10 ; voice traffic can withstand this error-3rate


Diversity
   

Space Diversity Frequency Diversity Hot Standby PRI

Space Diversity
Normal Signal

Transmitter

Receiver

Space Diversity-cont d


Space Diversity protects against multipath fading by automatic switch over to another antenna place below the primary antenna. This is done at the BER failure point or signal strength attenuation point to the secondary antenna that is receiving the transmitted signal at a stronger power rating.

Frequency Diversity
Active XTMR Frequency #1 RCVR Frequency #1

Protect XTMR Frequency #2

RCVR Frequency #2

Transmitter

Receiver

Frequency Diversity-cont d


Frequency Diversity uses separate frequencies (dual transmit and receive systems); it monitors primary for fail over and switches to standby. Interference usually affects only one range of frequencies. Not allowed in non-carrier applications because of spectrum scarcity.

Hot Standby*
System XTMR Primary #1 Active RCVR #1

System XTMR Standby #2

Standby RCVR #2

failure switch Transmitter Receiver

*Hot standby is designed for equipment failure only

PRI
System Transmission Facilities Connect to PRI interface & PSTN System Receiver Facilities Connect to PRI interface & PSTN

Transmitter To PSTN

Receiver To PSTN

Availability Formula
Percent Availability equals: 1 (outage hours/8760 hours per year) Private microwaves have 99.99% availability

Microwave Path Analysis

 

Transmitter output power Antenna gain



proportional to the physical characteristics of the antenna (diameter)

  

Free space gain Antenna alignment factor Unfaded received signal level

Microwave Radio Applications

Satellite Communications

Satellite-Related Terms
 

Earth Stations antenna systems on or near earth Uplink transmission from an earth station to a satellite Downlink transmission from a satellite to an earth station Transponder electronics in the satellite that convert uplink signals to downlink signals

Ways to Categorize Communications Satellites



Coverage area


Global, regional, national Fixed service satellite (FSS) Broadcast service satellite (BSS) Mobile service satellite (MSS) Commercial, military, amateur, experimental

Service type
  

General usage


Classification of Satellite Orbits



Circular or elliptical orbit

 

Circular with center at earths center Elliptical with one foci at earths center Equatorial orbit above earths equator Polar orbit passes over both poles Other orbits referred to as inclined orbits Geostationary orbit (GEO) Medium earth orbit (MEO) Low earth orbit (LEO)

Orbit around earth in different planes

  

Altitude of satellites
  

Geometry Terms


 

Elevation angle - the angle from the horizontal to the point on the center of the main beam of the antenna when the antenna is pointed directly at the satellite Minimum elevation angle Coverage angle - the measure of the portion of the earth's surface visible to the satellite

Minimum Elevation Angle



Reasons affecting minimum elevation angle of earth stations antenna (>0o)



Buildings, trees, and other terrestrial objects block the line of sight Atmospheric attenuation is greater at low elevation angles Electrical noise generated by the earth's heat near its surface adversely affects reception

GEO Orbit


Advantages of the the GEO orbit

  

No problem with frequency changes Tracking of the satellite is simplified High coverage area Weak signal after traveling over 35,000 km Polar regions are poorly served Signal sending delay is substantial

Disadvantages of the GEO orbit

  

LEO Satellite Characteristics

   

  

Circular/slightly elliptical orbit under 2000 km Orbit period ranges from 1.5 to 2 hours Diameter of coverage is about 8000 km Round-trip signal propagation delay less than 20 ms Maximum satellite visible time up to 20 min System must cope with large Doppler shifts Atmospheric drag results in orbital deterioration

LEO Categories


Little LEOs
   

Frequencies below 1 GHz 5MHz of bandwidth Data rates up to 10 kbps Aimed at paging, tracking, and low-rate messaging Frequencies above 1 GHz Support data rates up to a few megabits per sec Offer same services as little LEOs in addition to voice and positioning services

Big LEOs
  

MEO Satellite Characteristics



  

Circular orbit at an altitude in the range of 5000 to 12,000 km Orbit period of 6 hours Diameter of coverage is 10,000 to 15,000 km Round trip signal propagation delay less than 50 ms Maximum satellite visible time is a few hours

Frequency Bands Available for Satellite Communications

Satellite Link Performance Factors



Distance between earth station antenna and satellite antenna For downlink, terrestrial distance between earth station antenna and aim point of satellite


Displayed as a satellite footprint (Figure 9.6) Affected by oxygen, water, angle of elevation, and higher frequencies

Atmospheric attenuation


Satellite Footprint

Satellite Network Configurations

Capacity Allocation Strategies



 

Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) Time division multiple access (TDMA) Code division multiple access (CDMA)

Frequency-Division Multiplexing


Alternative uses of channels in point-to-point configuration

      

1200 voice-frequency (VF) voice channels One 50-Mbps data stream 16 channels of 1.544 Mbps each 400 channels of 64 kbps each 600 channels of 40 kbps each One analog video signal Six to nine digital video signals

Frequency-Division Multiple Access



Factors which limit the number of subchannels provided within a satellite channel via FDMA
  

Thermal noise Intermodulation noise Crosstalk

Forms of FDMA


Fixed-assignment multiple access (FAMA)



 

The assignment of capacity is distributed in a fixed manner among multiple stations Demand may fluctuate Results in the significant underuse of capacity Capacity assignment is changed as needed to respond optimally to demand changes among the multiple stations

Demand-assignment multiple access (DAMA)



FAMA-FDMA


FAMA logical links between stations are preassigned FAMA multiple stations access the satellite by using different frequency bands Uses considerable bandwidth

DAMA-FDMA


Single channel per carrier (SCPC) bandwidth divided into individual VF channels


Attractive for remote areas with few user stations near each site Suffers from inefficiency of fixed assignment

DAMA set of subchannels in a channel is treated as a pool of available links



For full-duplex between two earth stations, a pair of subchannels is dynamically assigned on demand Demand assignment performed in a distributed fashion by earth station using CSC

Reasons for Increasing Use of TDM Techniques



Cost of digital components continues to drop Advantages of digital components



Use of error correction Lack of intermodulation noise

Increased efficiency of TDM



FAMA-TDMA Operation


Transmission in the form of repetitive sequence of frames

 

Each frame is divided into a number of time slots Each slot is dedicated to a particular transmitter Sends data in assigned time slot Broadcast to all stations

Earth stations take turns using uplink channel



Satellite repeats incoming transmissions



Stations must know which slot to use for transmission and which to use for reception

FAMA-TDMA Uplink

FAMA-TDMA Downlink