Satellite Systems

5.
Satellite Systems
 History
 Basics
 Localization
 Routing
Handover
1
History of satellite communication
1945 Arthur C. Clarke publishes an essay about „Extra Terrestrial
Relays“
1957 first satellite SPUTNIK
1960 first reflecting communication satellite ECHO
1963 first geostationary satellite SYNCOM
1965 first commercial geostationary satellite Satellit „Early Bird“ (INTELSAT
I): 240 duplex telephone channels or 1 TV channel, 1.5 years lifetime
1976 three MARISAT satellites for maritime communication
1982 first mobile satellite telephone system INMARSAT‐A
1988 first satellite system for mobile phones and data
communication INMARSAT‐C
1993 first digital satellite telephone system
1998 global satellite systems for small mobile phones
Applications
Traditionally
– weather satellites
– radio and TV broadcast satellites
– military satellites
– satellites for navigation and localization (e.g., GPS)
Telecommunication
replaced by fiber optics
– global telephone connections
– backbone for global networks
– connections for communication in remote places or underdeveloped areas
– global mobile communication
 satellite systems to extend cellular phone systems (e.g., GSM or

AMPS)
Classical satellite systems
Inter Satellite Link (ISL)
Mobile User
Link (MUL) MUL
Gateway Link
(GWL) GWL
small cells
(spotbeams)
base station
or gateway
footprint
ISDN PSTN GSM
PSTN: Public Switched User data

Telephone Network
Basics
 elliptical or circular orbits
 complete rotation time depends on distance satellite‐
earth
 inclination: angle between orbit and equator
 elevation: angle between satellite and horizon
 LOS (Line of Sight) to the satellite necessary for
connection
 high elevation needed, less absorption due to e.g. buildings
 Uplink: connection base station ‐ satellite
 Downlink: connection satellite ‐ base station
 typically separated frequencies for uplink and downlink
– transponder used for sending/receiving and shifting of frequencies
– transparent transponder: only shift of frequencies
– regenerative transponder: additionally signal regeneration
Inclination
plane of satellite orbit
satellite orbit
perigee
inclination 
equatorial plane
Elevation
Elevation:
angle  between center of satellite beam
and surface
minimal elevation:
elevation needed at least 
to communicate with the satellite
Link budget of satellites
Parameters like attenuation or received power determined by four parameters:
 sending power L: Loss
 gain of sending antenna f: carrier frequency
r: distance
 distance between sender c: speed of light
and receiver
 4 r f 
2
 gain of receiving antenna L 

Problems  c 
 varying strength of received signal due to multipath propagation
 interruptions due to shadowing of signal (no LOS)
Possible solutions
 Link Margin to eliminate variations in signal strength
 satellite diversity (usage of several visible satellites at the same time) helps to use less
sending power
Atmospheric attenuation
Attenuation of
the signal in % Example: satellite systems at 4‐6 GHz
50
40 rain absorption
30
fog absorption

20
10
atmospheric
absorption
5° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50°

elevation of the satellite
Orbits I
Four different types of satellite orbits can be

identified depending on the shape and
diameter of the orbit:
GEO: geostationary orbit, ca. 36000 km
above earth surface
LEO (Low Earth Orbit): ca. 500 ‐ 1500 km
MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) or ICO
(Intermediate Circular Orbit): ca. 6000 ‐
20000 km
HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) elliptical orbits
Orbits II GEO (Inmarsat)
HEO MEO (ICO)
LEO inner and outer Van

(Globalstar, Allen belts
Irdium)
earth
1000
10000
Van‐Allen‐Belts: 35768
km
ionized particles
2000 ‐ 6000 km and
15000 ‐ 30000 km
above earth surface
GEO Satellites
• No handover
• Altitude: ~35.786 km.
• One‐way propagation delay: 250‐280 ms
• 3 to 4 satellites for global coverage
• Mostly used in video broadcasting
– Example: TURKSAT satellites
• Another applications: Weather forecast, global communications, military applications
• Advantage: well‐suited for broadcast services
• Disadvantages: Long delay, high free‐space attenuation
12
MEO Satellites
• Altitude: 10.000 – 15.000 km

• One‐way propagation delay: 100 – 130 ms
• 10 to 15 satellites for global coverage
• Infrequent handover
• Orbit period: ~6 hr
• Mostly used in navigation
– GPS, Galileo, Glonass
• Communications: Inmarsat, ICO
13
MEO Example: GPS
• Global Positioning System
– Developed by US Dept. Of Defence
– Became fully operational in 1993
– Currently 31 satellites at 20.200 km.
• Last lunch: March 2008
• It works based on a geometric principle
– “Position of a point can be calculated if the distances between this point and
three objects with known positions can be measured”
• Four satellites are needed to calculate the position
– Fourth satellite is needed to correct the receiver’s clock.
• Selective Availability
• Glonass (Russian): 24 satellites, 19.100 km
• Galileo (EU): 30 satellites, 23.222 km, under development (expected
date: 2013)
• Beidou (China): Currently experimental & limited.
14
LEO Satellites
• Altitude: 700 – 2.000 km
• One‐way propagation delay: 5 – 20 ms
• More than 32 satellites for global coverage‐needs handoff
• Orbit period: ~2 hr
• Applications:
– Earth Observation
• GoogleEarth image providers (DigitalGlobe, etc.)
• RASAT (First satellite to be produced solely in Turkey)
– Communications
• Globalstar, Iridium
– Search and Rescue (SAR)
• COSPAS‐SARSAT
• Earth stations must track satellite or have Omni directional antennas
• Requires complex architecture
• Requires tracking at ground
15
Routing
One solution: inter satellite links (ISL)

 reduced number of gateways needed
 forward connections or data packets within the satellite network as long as
possible
 only one uplink and one downlink per direction needed for the connection of
two mobile phones
Problems:
 more complex focusing of antennas between satellites
 high system complexity due to moving routers
 higher fuel consumption
 thus shorter lifetime
Iridium and Teledesic planned with ISL
Other systems use gateways and additionally terrestrial networks
Localization of mobile stations
Mechanisms similar to GSM

Gateways maintain registers with user data
– HLR (Home Location Register): static user data
– VLR (Visitor Location Register): (last known) location of the mobile station
– SUMR (Satellite User Mapping Register):
• satellite assigned to a mobile station
• positions of all satellites
Registration of mobile stations
– Localization of the mobile station via the satellite’s position
– requesting user data from HLR
– updating VLR and SUMR
Calling a mobile station

– localization using HLR/VLR similar to GSM
– connection setup using the appropriate satellite
Handover in satellite systems
Several additional situations for handover in satellite
systems compared to cellular terrestrial mobile phone
networks caused by the movement of the satellites
– Intra satellite handover
• handover from one spot beam to another
• mobile station still in the footprint of the satellite, but in another
cell
– Inter satellite handover
• handover from one satellite to another satellite
• mobile station leaves the footprint of one satellite
– Gateway handover
• Handover from one gateway to another
• mobile station still in the footprint of a satellite, but gateway
leaves the footprint
– Inter system handover
• Handover from the satellite network to a terrestrial cellular
network
• mobile station can reach a terrestrial network again which might
be cheaper, has a lower latency etc.
Features of Satellite Networks
• Effects of satellite mobility
– Topology is dynamic.
– Topology changes are predictable and periodic.
– Traffic is very dynamic and non‐homogeneous.
– Handovers are necessary.
• Limitations and capabilities of satellites
– Power and onboard processing capability are limited.
– Implementing the state‐of‐the‐art technology is difficult.
– Satellites have a broadcast nature.
• Nature of satellite constellations
– Higher propagation delays.
– Fixed number of nodes.
– Highly symmetric and uniform structure.
19
Routing & Network MM
• Considering these issues various routing & MM techniques

are proposed. Main ideas are:
– To handle dynamic topology changes with minimum overhead.
– To prevent an outgoing call from dropping due to link handovers
– To minimize length of the paths in terms of propagation delay and/or
number of satellite hops.
– To prevent congestion of some ISLs, while others are idle (Load
balancing).
– To perform traffic‐based routing.
– To provide better integration of satellite networks and terrestrial
networks.
– To perform efficient multicasting over satellites.
“Exploring the Routing Strategies in Next-Generation Satellite Networks”
IEEE Wireless Communications, 2007
20

Satellite Systems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Satellite Systems

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Satellite Systems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

5.

 satellite systems to extend cellular phone systems (e.g., GSM or

Inter Satellite Link (ISL)

ISDN PSTN GSM

PSTN: Public Switched User data

 gain of receiving antenna L 

5° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50°

Four different types of satellite orbits can be

HEO MEO (ICO)

LEO inner and outer Van

• Altitude: 10.000 – 15.000 km

One solution: inter satellite links (ISL)

Mechanisms similar to GSM

Calling a mobile station

• Considering these issues various routing & MM techniques

You might also like