Effects of solar transit on Ku-band VSAT systems

A satellite earth-station is affected by added radio noise from the Sun when the Sun passes behind the satellite as seen from the earth-station. In the following, an exact analysis of this solar transit is derived, and an approximate method is presented for practical cases. Moreover, networks of very small aperture satellite terminals (VSATs) operating at K_u-band microwave frequencies of 12–14 GHz behave differently during the solar transit period than the more traditional C- or K_u-band satellite networks; therefore analytical and experimental results for VSATs have been presented. An explanation is given, based on these analyses, of why solar transit outages are rarer in VSATs than in conventional satellite communications systems.     

An experimental optical link between an earth remote sensing satellite,spot 4, and a European data relay satellite

The implementation of an experimental optical link between a low earth orbit spacecraft (SPOT 4, of the French Earth Remote Sensing Programme) and a geostationary satellite (for which the European Space Agency is responsible) is described. This optical link is to be used for transmitting the SPOT 4 payload data stream at a rate of 50 Mb/s. These data will be relayed to a ground station through a feeder link in the K_a or K_u band. This first model, on SPOT 4, will demonstrate the feasibility and performance of optical communications and will be used on a pre-operational basis to relay image data. The second model, on SPOT 5, could be used on an operational basis in connection with the European Data Relay satellite. The optical terminal uses a 20 cm diameter telescope with Ritchey Chrétien optics, a 30 mW GaAlAs laser diode and a silicon avalanche photodiode, the total weight being around 80 kg and the power consumption 120 W.     

Flight 2 version of in-orbit test transponder (IOTT2) for on-board regenerative satellites

This paper presents the design and realization of regenerative satellite on-board bypass test equipment. Furthermore, two particular examples of an in-orbit test transponder (IOTT) are discussed in detail. The IOTT1, developed for the first 30/20 GHz ITALSAT satellite (F1), was launched in January of 1991. IOTT1 has been a useful tool during satellite assembly, integration and pre-launch tests. IOTT1 was successfully used to fully characterize the multibeam ITALSAT satellite in orbit. In general, the IOTT functions to bypass the demodulator, the baseband switchboard and the modulator of the multibeam package of the ITALSAT spacecraft payload, providing the ability to fully characterize the satellite's transponders using well-established IOT test techniques. This paper describes and compares the design, fabrication and test of both ITALSAT in-orbit test RF bypass transponders (IOTT1 and IOTT2) mounted on board the ITALSAT multibeam spacecraft, (F1) and (F2), respectively. The IOTT1 contains the first MMIC circuitry ever launched into space on a communications satellite. The improved IOTT2, fabricated for the second 30/20 GHz ITALSAT satellite (F2), is schedule for launch in early 1996. These fully space-qualified designs incorporate COMSAT Laboratories' designed and fabricated MMIC K_u-band amplifiers, lightweight waveguide K_u-band channel filters and electronic power conditioner (EPC) and combined IOTT telemetry/command (T&C) circuitry.     

Trellis-coded dpsk with multiple-symbol viterbi decoding over mobile satellite channel at K and L bands

Mobile satellite communication systems at K_a/K band (30/20 GHz) are attractive because of their large bandwidth availability and potentiality to support smaller earth-stations and satellite antennas compared with L-band (1·6/1·5 GHz) systems. In this paper, multiple-symbol Viterbi decoding and dual-space equal-gain diversity reception for trellis-coded differential M-ary phase-shift-keying (DPSK) modulation are investigated as two mitigation techniques for severe channel impairments expected from a land mobile satellite communication channel at K band and, for comparison purposes, at L band. The multiple-symbol Viterbi decoder (MSVD) is a modified Viterbi decoder with inputs from multiple differential detectors. The channel is modelled as Rayleigh distributed multipath fading with a lognormally distributed line-of-sight (LOS) component due to shadowing. Four trellis-coded modulation (TCM) schemes are studied. The dependency of the system performance improvement on the decoder structure, the TCM scheme, and the system RF frequency band is presented.     

High Gain Compact Multiband Cavity-Backed SIW and Metamaterial Unit Cells with CPW Feed Antenna for S,and Ku Band Applications

A compact multiband cavity-backed substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) and metamaterial antenna with coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed is designed for S and K_u bands thereby providing low and high frequency applications. Designing simultaneous achievement of high gain in S band and K_u band antennas are challenging task, but the proposed antenna overcomes this limitation. The proposed antenna has a ground structure with radiating T-shaped stub opposite to the feed line and a combination of SIW and metamaterial. SIW and complementary square split ring resonator (CSSRR) are used to enhance efficiency, directivity, gain and bandwidth. The proposed antenna structure uses FR-4 epoxy as the substrate material with ?_r?=?4.4 with a dimension of 40 × 40?×?1.6 mm and analyzed using ANSYS HFSS. The designed antenna resonates at three frequencies (i.e.), 4.23, 13.63 and 17.05 GHz with a gain greater than 5 dBi and efficiency greater than 80%. It is suitable for S band (ISM, WLAN, WiMax) and K_u band (radar, satellite communications) applications. The designed antenna is linearly polarized with high gain and efficiency at both the bands.

     

Adaptive frequency‐hopping schemes for CR‐based multi‐link satellite networks

In this paper, we study two dynamic frequency hopping (DFH)–based interference mitigation approaches for satellite communications. These techniques exploit the sensing capabilities of a cognitive radio to predict future interference on the upcoming frequency hops. We consider a topology where multiple low Earth orbit satellites transmit packets to a common geostationary equatorial orbit satellite. The FH sequence of each low Earth orbit–geostationary equatorial orbit link is adjusted according to the outcome of out‐of‐band proactive sensing scheme, performed by a cognitive radio module in the geostationary equatorial orbit satellite. On the basis of sensing results, new frequency assignments are made for the upcoming slots, taking into account the transmit powers, achievable rates, and overhead of modifying the FH sequences. In addition, we ensure that all satellite links are assigned channels such that their minimum signal‐to‐interference‐plus‐noise ratio requirements are met, if such an assignment is possible. We formulate two multi‐objective optimization problems: DFH‐Power and DFH‐Rate. Discrete‐time Markov chain analysis is used to predict future channel conditions, where the number of states are inferred using k‐means clustering, and the state transition probabilities are computed using maximum likelihood estimation. Finally, simulation results are presented to evaluate the effects of different system parameters on the performance of the proposed designs.     

Modelling and simulation of a Ka-band DBPSK/DQPSK mobile satellite channel

For the prospective personal satellite communications in the early 21st century, this paper presents a general exploration of a K_a-band DBPSK/DQPSK land-mobile satellite channel model and its BER performance from system design, modelling and simulation. A forward-link (i.e. outbound from the hub) channel design is introduced in brief. A complete model of channel multipath fading and shadowing is proposed for the first time, including a basic model and various derivative submodels corresponding to different actual propagation environments. Computer simulation results are given for a Rician channel model, a shadowed channel model and different combinational-fading channel models by complete curve sets of BER performance, which coincide with the results of the analysis, and could be used as valuable references in further research and implementation.     

Filter bank‐based multiple access in next‐generation satellite uplinks: A DVB‐RCS2‐based experimental study

In the context of the on‐going evolution of satellite communications (SatCom) systems to their next generation, and in the direction of their integration with fifth generation (5G) terrestrial networks, it is of interest to study in depth the applicability in realistic SatCom of waveforms that have shown promise to meet the 5G requirements. This paper presents a comparative study, based on total degradation (TD) over a range of output back‐off (OBO) values, on out‐of‐band emission and spectral efficiency, of frequency division multiple access (FDMA) schemes employing offset quadrature amplitude modulation‐based filter bank multi‐carrier (FBMC /OQAM), classical orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), and their single‐carrier counterparts to illustrate the potential gains from the integration of the FBMC waveforms in the satellite context and standards. The air interface simulated follows the digital video broadcasting (DVB) family of standards for the satellite uplink, considering both time and frequency synchronization impairments and two typical input constellations. Our results confirm the superiority of the single‐carrier (SC) schemes in such a nonlinear environment. The SC‐FBMC waveform is shown to be the most practical candidate since it is shown to attain a TD performance similar to that of SC‐OFDM at absolutely no cost in spectral efficiency.     

On-board non-linear circuitry for Ku-band active arrays

Active phased arrays will play an important role in future satellite communications, because of the system flexibility and potential reconfigurability that they may provide. Therefore, an investigation of the relationship existing between payload characteristics and the synthesis parameters of this kind of antenna may constitute a helpful tool. To this end, a parametric analysis of the on-board non-linear circuitry of the transmitting system (power and up-converter sections) has been carried out, establishing the dependence of the mass and DC power demand on the number of beams and feeds of the transmitting phased array. The parametric investigation has been, in particular, applied to an active imaging phased array and an active direct radiating phased array whose suitability to provide a multibeam coverage of Western Europe at K_u band has been demonstrated within an ESA/ESTEC contract. This paper describes the parametric approach followed in the investigation of the on-board non-linear subsystems of the active transmitting phased arrays. The assumed circuitry configurations are widely commented, and the parametric curves for the case of imaging and direct radiating phased arrays are reported.     

IPv6 networks over DVB‐RCS satellite systems

Satellite plays an important role in global information infrastructure (GII) and next generation networks (NGNs). Similarly, satellite communication systems have great advantages to support IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) networks as a technology that allows universal access to broadband e‐services (audio, video, VPN, etc.). In the context of DVB‐S2 (digital video broadcast‐satellite) and DVB‐RCS (digital video broadcast‐return channel via satellite) standards, this paper presents the current SatSix project (satellite‐based communications systems within IPv6 networks) within the European 6th Framework Programme, which is implementing innovative concepts and effective solutions (in relation with the economical cost) for broadband satellite systems and services using the technology presented above. This project is promoting the introduction of the IPv6 protocol into satellite‐based communication systems. Moreover, through SatSix, the industry is addressing the next generation Internet, IPv6. It also enhances its competitive position in satellite broadband multimedia systems by exploiting the common components defined by the European DVB‐S2 and DVB‐RCS satellite broadband standards. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ku- vs. C-band and digital vs. analogue television transmission in a tropical climate

This paper analyses the K_u-band versus C-band transmission for digital and/or analogue TV, keeping in mind K_u-band attenuation in the tropical climate as a function of earth-station antenna elevation angle. The analysis is done for the case that adjacent satellites illuminate the same converage area and that interfering signals are of same e.i.r.p. and spectral make-up. It is shown that a multiplex of compressed digital carriers requires smaller receiving antennas than a single analogue TV carrier. It turns out that because of low power requirements of the compressed digital carrier and/or for high e.i.r.p. values, the earth-station antenna diameter is interference limited. Below the interference limit the aperture can only be reduced by applying an elliptical area to provide for a narrower beamwidth along the geostationary arc.     

Deep‐space communications with a 2‐hop downlink with high link‐availability

We recall and discuss the theory of a 2‐hop downlink in deep‐space communications. The first hop (length d₁) links the deep‐space spacecraft to either a geostationary satellite or to a low Earth orbiting satellite. The second hop (length d₂, with d₂ ? d₁) links the satellite to the Earth receiver through a transparent or regenerative transponder, in slant paths affected by troposphere attenuation. If we adopt a BPSK or QPSK modulation scheme and the same carrier frequencies in the two hops with a transparent transponder, a particular value of the carrier frequency makes the noise‐to‐signal ratio minimum. A better choice is to assign a low carrier frequency (X‐band) to the second hop and a high one (W‐band) to the first hop. A 2‐hop downlink is superior to a 1‐hop downlink with a large power gain proportional to (d₁/d₂)² ? 1 at high microwave frequencies and large troposphere attenuation (high link‐availability). Shannon's capacity theorem provides the same large gain independently of the choice of the carrier frequencies in the two hops, if we use a regenerative transponder. The carrier frequencies of a 2‐hop downlink need not be those reserved to deep‐space communication, because the spacecraft could communicate as if it were transmitting ‘from the Earth’ through a conventional satellite connection. We have applied the theory to a first‐order design in the frequency range 10–100 GHz, slant path elevation angles 30°, 45° and 90° at Gera Lario or Fucino (Italy), and downlinks form Mars and Saturn, although the general findings and methodology are of global applicability. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fade countermeasures at Ka band for olympus

Fade countermeasure techniques that can be applied to K_a band satellite communication systems are reviewed. Considered in detail are diversity, adaptive forward error correction, fade spreading, up-link power control and adaptive TDMA. The techniques are compared for their effectiveness at K_a band, and recommendations are made for operating systems. The two important control techniques of fade detection and fade control are discussed in terms of their ease of implementation for each countermeasure technique. Details of a planned experiment to evaluate the application of fade countermeasures to VSAT networks via the Olympus satellite are presented.     

Ferroelectric Self‐Poling,Switching, and Monoclinic Domain Configuration in BiFeO3 Thin Films

Self‐poling of ferroelectric films, i.e., a preferred, uniform direction of the ferroelectric polarization in as‐grown samples is often observed yet poorly understood despite its importance for device applications. The multiferroic perovskite BiFeO₃, which crystallizes in two distinct structural polymorphs depending on applied epitaxial strain, is well known to exhibit self‐poling. This study investigates the effect of self‐poling on the monoclinic domain configuration and the switching properties of the two polymorphs of BiFeO₃ (R′ and T′) in thin films grown on LaAlO₃ substrates with slightly different La_0.3Sr_0.7MnO₃ buffer layers. This study shows that the polarization state formed during the growth acts as “imprint” on the polarization and that switching the polarization away from this self‐poled direction can only be done at the expense of the sample's monoclinic domain configuration. The observed reduction of the monoclinic domain size is largely reversible; hence, the domain size is restored when the polarization is switched back to its original orientation. This is a direct consequence of the growth taking place in the polar phase (below T_c). Switching the polarization away from the preferred configuration, in which defects and domain patterns synergistically minimize the system's energy, leads to a domain state with smaller (and more highly strained and distorted) monoclinic domains.     

Opportunistic interference management: a new approach for multiantenna downlink cellular networks

A new approach for multiantenna broadcast channels in cellular networks based on multiuser diversity concept is introduced. The technique called opportunistic interference management achieves dirty paper coding capacity asymptotically with minimum feedback required. When there are K antennas at the base station with M mobile users in the cell, the proposed technique only requires K integer numbers related to channel state information between mobile users and base station. The encoding and decoding complexity of this scheme is the same as that of point‐to‐point communications, which makes the implementation of this technique easy. An antenna selection scheme is proposed at the base station to reduce the minimum required mobile users significantly at the expense of reasonable increase in feedback. In order to guarantee fairness, a new algorithm is presented that incorporates opportunistic interference management into existing Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) standard. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

16‐QAM OFDM‐Based W‐Band Polarization‐Division Duplex Communication System with Multi‐gigabit Performance

This paper presents a novel 90 GHz band 16‐quadrature amplitude modulation (16‐QAM) orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system. The system can deliver 6 Gbps through six channels with a bandwidth of 3 GHz. Each channel occupies 500 MHz and delivers 1 Gbps using 16‐QAM OFDM. To implement the system, a low‐noise amplifier and an RF up/down conversion fourth‐harmonically pumped mixer are implemented using a 0.1‐μm gallium arsenide pseudomorphic high‐electron‐mobility transistor process. A polarization‐division duplex architecture is used for full‐duplex communication. In a digital modem, OFDM with 256‐point fast Fourier transform and (255, 239) Reed‐Solomon forward error correction codecs are used. The modem can compensate for a carrier‐frequency offset of up to 50 ppm and a symbol rate offset of up to 1 ppm. Experiment results show that the system can achieve a bit error rate of 10^–5 at a signal‐to‐noise ratio of about 19.8 dB.     

Design of Lanthanide‐Based OLEDs with Remarkable Circularly Polarized Electroluminescence

Organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) able to directly emit circularly polarized (CP) electroluminescence (CP‐OLEDs) are rapidly gaining much interest, due to their possible applications in displays with antiglare filters and 3D displays. Development of more efficient CP‐OLEDs can open their use also in point‐of‐care and personalized diagnostic tools, since CP light alteration can be related to health state of irradiated tissues. In this work it is shown that the performance of chiral europium complex‐based CP‐OLEDs can be improved both in terms of external quantum efficiency (measured on all the Eu bands) and degree of polarization of emitted photons (as measured by the dissymmetry factor g _EL), by proper active layer formulation and through a fine tuning of the architecture of the device. Polarization performances (g _EL = ?1) are obtained about three times higher than for any other CP‐OLED reported so far. Moreover, for the first time, it is shown that the position of the recombination zone (RZ) plays a major role on the polarization outcomes. In order to rationalize these results the level of light polarization is related to the position of the RZ allied with the reflection on the cathode through a simple mathematical model. The values predicted by this model are in qualitative agreement with the experimental ones.     

BER minimization for dual‐polarized wireless systems with polarization‐domain rotation

We consider the problem of bit error rate (BER) degradation because of the power gain imbalance between horizontal (H)‐polarization and vertical (V)‐polarization components in an orthogonal dual‐polarization transmission system. To alleviate the aforementioned BER degradation problem, we propose a non‐orthogonal polarization‐domain rotation scheme where the axes of H‐polarization and V‐polarization components are rotated with different angles at the transmitter and de‐rotated at the receiver. In addition, in order to assess the effectiveness of the polarization‐domain rotation scheme, we derive the closed‐form BER expression under a practical dual‐polarized channel model, which is represented by cross‐polarization ratio and co‐polarization ratio (CPR). We also derive the approximated BER expressions for the two asymptotic values of CPR: balanced CPR and infinite CPR. With the derived BER expressions, we find the optimal rotation angles that jointly minimize the BER. According to the numerical results, it is shown that about 3dB E_b/N₀ gain is obtained at the BER of 10^?4 and the CPR of 10dB by the polarization‐domain rotation scheme with optimal rotation angles compared with the conventional orthogonal dual‐polarization transmission. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于混沌映射的偏振移位键控光通信系统

提出了一种基于数字混沌与偏振移位键控(PolSK)技术的光保密通信系统.该系统选取几种偏振态部分或完全相同的PolSK方式,在系统不同时钟周期,发送端根据实时产生的数字混沌序列选用不同的PolSK方式调制信息,接收端利用同步的混沌序列与相应的PolSK方式解调信息.数字混沌序列的伪随机特性使得该系统的PolSK调制方式呈现无规则变化.当星座点个数不少于6且选用的PolSK方式不少于4种时,可选的PolSK组合超过1060种,系统的密钥空间庞大.用OptiSystem和Matlab软件相结合的方法进行了系统仿真,并做了一定的数值分析.仿真与分析结果表明,该光通信系统通信正常,具有较强的保密性.     

Structural and Room‐Temperature Transport Properties of Zinc Blende and Wurtzite InAs Nanowires

Here, direct correlation between the microstructure of InAs nanowires (NWs) and their electronic transport behavior at room temperature is reported. Pure zinc blende (ZB) InAs NWs grown on SiO₂/Si substrates are characterized by a rotational twin along their growth‐direction axis while wurtzite (WZ) InAs NWs grown on InAs (111)B substrates have numerous stacking faults perpendicular to their growth‐direction axis with small ZB segments. In transport measurements on back‐gate field‐effect transistors (FETs) fabricated from both types of NWs, significantly distinct subthreshold characteristics are observed (I_on/I_off ～ 2 for ZB NWs and ～10⁴ for WZ NWs) despite only a slight difference in their transport coefficients. This difference is attributed to spontaneous polarization charges at the WZ/ZB interfaces, which suppress carrier accumulation at the NW surface, thus enabling full depletion of the WZ NW FET channel. 2D Silvaco‐Atlas simulations are used for ZB and WZ channels to analyze subthreshold current flow, and it is found that a polarization charge density of ≥10¹³ cm^?2 leads to good agreement with experimentally observed subthreshold characteristics for a WZ InAs NW given surface‐state densities in the 5 × 10¹¹–5 × 10¹² cm^?2 range.