Link Budget Analysis Guide

August 13, 2007

13865 Sunrise Valley Drive | Herndon, VA 20171 | (703) 648-8000 | www.iDirect.net

Copyright © 2007 iDirect, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is
prohibited. Information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The specifications and
information regarding the products in this document are subject to change without notice. All
statements, information, and recommendations in this document are believed to be accurate, but are
presented without warranty of any kind, express, or implied. Users must take full responsibility for their
application of any products. Trademarks, brand names and products mentioned in this document are the
property of their respective owners. All such references are used strictly in an editorial fashion with no
intent to convey any affiliation with the name or the product's rightful owner.

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
Contents
About This Guide ........................................................................................................................ 5
Purpose ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Intended Audience .................................................................................................................................. 5
Contents Of This guide ............................................................................................................................ 5
Document Conventions ........................................................................................................................... 5
Getting Help ............................................................................................................................................ 6

Link Budget Analysis Information .............................................................................................. 7

Specification Considerations ................................................................................................................... 7
iDirect Supplied VSAT Antenna and LNB Specifications ....................................................................... 11
SatMaster Pro Considerations ............................................................................................................... 12
Frequently Asked Questions .................................................................................................................. 14

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ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1: Sample GEO Digital Link Budget Parameters ............................................... 13

Table 1. iDirect Netmodem II Plus Specifications ....................................................... 7

Table 2. iDirect iNFINITI series Specifications ........................................................... 8
Table 3. Antenna and LNB Specifications ............................................................... 11
Table 4. Carrier and Modulation Data Fields ........................................................... 12
Table 5. Sample Bandwidth Requirement Calculations ............................................... 14
Table 6. Sample Turbo Code calculations ............................................................... 14

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
This pre-installation guide provides the purpose, intended audience, contents of this
guide, document conventions, and getting help.

PURPOSE
This document describes the basic design requirements that you must meet when
planning the implementation of an iDirect network in your teleport or Earth Station. It
contains the necessary technical information for your Systems Engineer to plan the
mechanical, electrical and communication requirements for an iDirect Hub. The
information presented in this guide is specific to the different iDirect hardware
products; Eb/No and C/N performance can vary depending on which iDS Release you
are running.

INTENDED AUDIENCE
The intended audience for this guide is customer network engineers who are planning
the integration of the iDirect Hub Equipment in an existing teleport or Earth Station.

CONTENTS OF THIS GUIDE

Other than the information in this section, this guide contains:
• “Link Budget Analysis Information,” which includes supported modulation
modes, FEC rates, expected C/N and Eb/No values, and antenna/LNB RF
specifications.
• “Frequently Asked Questions”, which provides information about transmission
and FEC rates.

DOCUMENT CONVENTIONS
This section illustrates and describes the conventions used throughout the manual.
Take a look now, before you begin using this manual, so that you can correctly
interpret the information presented.
Information you type directly into data fields or at command prompts is written in
blue courier font.

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
Names of commands, menus, folders, tabs, dialog boxes, list boxes, and options are
shown in bold font.

There are important notes throughout this guide that are presented as follows:

Text written with bold italic indicates note information.

This information is of interest to you, and pertains to the
NOTE
part of the procedure in which it is listed. Make sure you
review this information before you proceed.

GETTING HELP
If you are unable to find the answers or information that you need within this guide,
contact the iDirect Implementation Group via email at tac@idirect.net.

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
LINK BUDGET ANALYSIS INFORMATION
This link budget analysis information provides you the necessary information to
perform a link budget analysis using iDirect NetModem II Plus and iDirect iNFINITI
series™ 20-Slot Hub Chassis, Private Hubs, Mini Hubs, Satellite Routers, and iNFINITI
Hub Line Cards. This section also includes specification considerations for iDirect
supplied VSAT equipment when using the SatMaster Pro Link Budget Analysis software,
and answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.

SPECIFICATION CONSIDERATIONS
Table 1 summarizes the specifications typically required for link budget analysis for
the iDirect NetModem II Plus.
Table 1. iDirect Netmodem II Plus Specifications
Parameter iDirect NetModem II Plus Specifications

Symbol Rate

Forward

Min 0.064 Msps

Max 5.75 Msps

Return

Min 0.064 Msps

Max 2.875 Msps

Demodulator Threshold Mod Type Rate Block Size Eb/No(1) C/N

Forward QPSK TPC 0.793 4K 4.60 6.60

QPSK TPC 0.495 4K 4.00 3.95

Return QPSK TPC 0.793 4K 4.60 6.60

QPSK TPC 0.660 1K 5.40 6.60

Channel Spacing 1.4

1.2(2)

BT Product 1.2 (1 + Roll off factor)

-9
(1) BER @ 10 (2) Performance may be limited by system frequency stability. See the iDirect Technical Note,
“Release 3.2 Carrier Bandwidth Optimization”, dated 3/21/03 for details.

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
Table 2 summarizes the specifications typically required for link budget analysis for
the iDirect iNFINITI series™ Private and Mini Hubs, 3000, 5000 and 7000 series Satellite
Routers, and Hub Line Cards (such as the M1D1 and M0D1).

Table 2. iDirect iNFINITI series Specifications

Parameter iDirect iNFINITI series™ Specifications

Symbol Rate

Forward (SCPC)

Min 0.064 Msps

Max 11.5 Msps

Return/Mesh (TDMA)

Min 0.064 Msps

1
Max 7.5 Msps

Demodulator Threshold Block Eb/No

Mod Type Rate (1,2,3,7) C/N
Size

Forward 8-PSK TPC 0.879 16 K 7.9 12.1

(SCPC)
8-PSK TPC 0.793 4K 7.0 10.8

QPSK TPC 0.879 16 K 4.8 7.2

QPSK TPC 0.793 4K 4.6 6.6

QPSK TPC 0.533 1K 3.9 4.2

QPSK TPC 0.495 4K 4.0 4.0

BPSK TPC 0.879 16 K 4.6 4.0

BPSK TPC 0.793 4K 4.3 3.3

BPSK TPC 0.533 1K 3.9 1.2

1
Refer to the Release Notes that pertain to the IDS Release that your network is running.

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
 BPSK TPC 0.495 4K 4.1 1.00

BPSK SF=2(6) TPC 0.879 16 K 5.1 1.5

BPSK SF=2(6) TPC 0.793 4K 4.6 0.6

BPSK SF=2(6) TPC 0.495 4K 4.9 -1.2

BPSK SF=4(6) TPC 0.879 16 K 5.0 -1.6

BPSK SF=4(6) TPC 0.793 4K 4.8 -2.2

BPSK SF=4(6) TPC 0.495 4K 4.6 -4.5

Block Eb/No
Mod Type Rate (1,2,3,7) C/N
Size

Return/Mesh 8-PSK(4) TPC 0.660 1K 7.7 10.7

(TDMA)
8-PSK(4) TPC 0.793 4K Not supported in iDS
Release 7.0.2 and later.

QPSK TPC 0.793 4K 4.6 6.6

QPSK TPC 0.660 1K 4.9 6.1

QPSK TPC 0.533 1K 5.4 5.7

BPSK TPC 0.793 4K 5.4 4.4

BPSK TPC 0.660 1K 4.7 2.9

BPSK TPC 0.533 1K 4.8 2.0

BPSK TPC 0.431 1K 4.6 0.9

iDS iDS iDS iDS

8.0 8.1 8.0 8.1

BPSK SF=2(6) TPC 0.660 1K 6.4 4.6 1.6 -0.2

BPSK SF=2(6) TPC 0.533 1K 5.7 4.6 0.0 -1.1

BPSK SF=2(6) TPC 0.431 1K 6.2 4.7 -0.5 -2.0

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
 BPSK SF=4(6) TPC 0.660 1K 6.4 4.3 -1.4 -3.5

BPSK SF=4(6) TPC 0.533 1K 5.8 4.4 -3.0 -4.4

BPSK SF=4(6) TPC 0.431 1K 6.2 4.7 -3.5 -5.0

Ch Spacing Minimum 1.2(5)

BT Product 1.2 (1 + Roll off factor)

(1) Modem Eb/No performance threshold is specified at a BER of BER @ 10-8 for the forward SCPC channel and Cell Loss
Rate (CLR) of 1e-5 for the return TDMA channel.
(2) Performance may degrade slightly (<0.5 dB) for data rates > 10 Mbps.
(3) Eb/No value at IF or L-Band loopback with two adjacent carriers +7dB.
(4) Excludes model 31xx.
(5) Increased spacing is required to accommodate system frequency stability and satellite operator regulations. See
the “Carrier Bandwidth Optimization” section of the iDirect Technical Reference Guide for more information.
(6) Spread Spectrum carriers are supported on Model 8350 Remotes and M1D1-TSS Hub Line Cards only.
(7) Eb/No=C/N-10log10(m*r/SF), where m is the modulation order (BPSK:1, QPSK:2, 8PSK:3), r is the FEC ratio and SF is
the spreading factor.

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
iDirect Supplied VSAT Antenna and LNB
Specifications
Table 3 summarizes the specifications typically required for link budget analysis for
the VSAT antenna and LNB provided by iDirect.

Table 3. Antenna and LNB Specifications

Description Parameter C-band* Ku-band*

Size: 1.2 M Tx Gain N/A 43.3 dBi

Manufacture: Channel (@ 14.25 GHz)
Master
Type: 124 Rx Gain N/A 41.8 dBi
(@ 11.95 GHz)

Noise Temp 10° El N/A 45° K

20° El 31° K
30° El 24° K

G/T (@ 20° El) N/A 19.7 dB/K

Size: 1.8 M Tx Gain 39.3 dBi 46.8 dBi

Manufacturer: Channel (@ 6.138 GHz) (@ 14.25 GHz)
Master
Type: 183 Rx Gain 35.4 dBi 45.3 dBi
(@ 3.913 GHz) (@ 11.95 GHz)

Noise Temp 10° El 41° K 44° K

20° El 36° K 36° K
30° El 33° K 33° K

G/T (@ 20° El) 15.8 dB/K 23.1 dB/K

Size: 2.4 M Tx Gain 42.0 dBi 49.3 dBi

Manufacturer: Channel (@ 6.138 GHz) (@ 14.25 GHz)
Master
Type: 243 Rx Gain 38.0 dBi 47.6 dBi
(@ 3.913 GHz) (@ 11.95 GHz)

Noise Temp 10° El 40° K 42° K

20° El 35° K 34° K
30° El 32° K 31° K

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
Description Parameter C-band* Ku-band*

G/T (@ 20° El) 18.4 dB/K 25.4 dB/K

Linear Feed System Rx Tx Rx Tx

Manufacturer: Channel
Master Insertion Loss 0.2 dB 0.2 dB 0.4 dB 0.2 dB

VSWR 1.3:1 1.2:1 1.4:1 1.3:1

Cross-Polarization (on axis) ≥ 35 dB ≥ 35 dB ≥ 30 dB ≥ 30 dB

Circular Feed System Insertion Loss 0.3 dB 0.2 dB N/A N/A

Manufacturer: Channel
Master VSWR 1.3:1 1.3:1 N/A N/A

Axial Ratio 2.3 dB 2.3 dB N/A N/A

LNB Noise Figure / Temp 0.5 dB / 35° K 1.1 dB / 84° K

Manufacturer: NJRC

* Nominal values

SATMASTER PRO CONSIDERATIONS

This section outlines the modem specific information required when using the
SatMaster Pro link budget analysis feature.
The data fields in Table 4 apply to the Carriers and Modulation tab of the Edit GEO
Digital Link Budget Parameters data sheet:
Table 4. Carrier and Modulation Data Fields

Operational Parameter Value

Required Eb/No dB See Table 8 and Table 9.

Log bit Error Rate -9

Overhead % info rate 0

FEC Code Rate See Table 8 and Table 9.

Spreading Gain dB 0

RS code (n/k) 1

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
 Operational Parameter Value

(1 + Roll off factor) 1.2

Carrier Spacing 1.2

Modulation M-PSK and M=4

The information from Table 11 as populated in the data fields on the Carriers and
Modulation Tab of the Edit GEO Digital Link Budget Parameters data sheet is shown
in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Sample GEO Digital Link Budget Parameters

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Link Budget Analysis Guide
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THE TRANSMISSION RATE WHEN USING TURBO PRODUCT CODES?
Turbo Product Codes are a standalone code. In other words, there is no outer code
meaning that it is not concatenated with Reed-Solomon coding. Example bandwidth
requirements for a 474 Kbps Return/Inbound are shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Sample Bandwidth Requirement Calculations

Operational Parameter Value

Info Rate 474 Kbps

Code Rate 0.66

Tx Rate 718 Kbps (474 * 1/0.66)

Bits/Symbol 2

Sym Rate 359 Ksps (718/2)

Channel Spacing 1.2

Required BW 0.431 MHz (359 * 1.2)

ARE THE DEMODULATOR THRESHOLDS FOR RATES 0.66 AND 0.793 REVERSED?
Unlike convolutional codes such as Viterbi, the strength of a block code such as Turbo
Product Code cannot be judged by the code rate alone. The error correction capability
of the code is a function of both block size and code rate. For more information, refer
to the iDirect Technical Note Why is the Eb/No Threshold Lower for the 0.66 Code
Rate?. An example is shown in Table 6.
Table 6. Sample Turbo Code Calculations

Parameter Specification

Info Rate 474 Kbps

Code Rate 0.66

Tx Rate 718 Kbps (474 * 1/0.66)

Bits/Symbol 2

Symbol Rate 359 Ksps (718/2)

Channel Spacing 1.2

Required Band Width 0.431 MHz (359 * 1.2)

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