Non-regenerative satellite switched FDMA (SS/FDMA) payload technologies

Satellite switched frequency division multiple access (SS/FDMA) satellite systems are new adaptations of the basic FDMA architecture for multiple beam spacecraft. Present multibeam satellite systems feature on-board interbeam connections operating on a transponder channel basis, e.g. 72 MHz. SS/FDMA on board connectivity is based on much narrower channels and consequently achieves a much better utilization of spectrum resources whenever connectivity requirements are of the order of fractions of a transponder bandwidth. This work presents a critical analysis of various non-regenerative SS/FDMA satellite systems, identifies the technological requirements to be met in order to achieve the practical realization of SS/FDMA on-board processors and, finally, proposes two novel variable bandwidth variable centre frequency (VBVCF) demultiplexers with continuous and discrete reconfigurability.     

SS/TDMA scheduling for satellite clusters

The authors present a novel approach to the optimal time-slot assignment problem for a general satellite-switched time-division multiple-access (SS/TDMA) satellite cluster with intersatellite links (ISLs) interconnection. The proposed allocation algorithm accounts for the following: systems with any number of satellites; each satellite covers an arbitrary number of zones; no onboard buffering at the satellites; and ISLs with arbitrary capacities. They present an analogy between the satellite cluster scheduling problem and the modified openshop scheduling problem. Using this analogy the authors introduce a heuristic algorithm and an optimal branch-and-bound algorithm. They investigate the performance of the proposed heuristic both by theoretical bounds and by comparing the simulation results produced by the heuristic with the optimal results. In all cases the heuristic algorithm results are within 10% of the optimum     

DESIGN OF MULTIBEAM SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS REALIZED BY SS/FDMA

In the subchannel switched frequency-division multiple access (SS/FDMA) system, each transponder bandwidth is subdivided into several narrow bands named ‘subchannels’, and interbeam connections are established on a subchannel by subchannel basis. The SS/FDMA system makes it possible to construct a satellite communications network among multiple beams by using only one transponder per beam. This paper presents systematic design methods for such networks. First, a method to determine transmission parameters of the network, such as transmit power levels of respective carriers, is described. Objectives of the design method are to maximize the system capacity, and to minimize the average transmit power for one carrier. Results of example calculations are also presented for power-limited and bandwidth-limited networks. Next, a method to determine the number of subchannels is described for bandwidth-limited networks, which is an important parameter affecting the system capacity of the bandwidth-limited networks. Results of an example calculation taking account of uniform and non-uniform traffic distribution patterns are also presented.     

Spread SCPC/FDMA,spread TDMA/FDMA and SSMA/FDMA transmission through A non-linear satellite channel with an earth-station off-axis emission constraint

This paper analyses and compares possible access schemes to be used in satellite networks with a large number of small earth-stations. Basically, frequency division (FDMA), time division (TDMA), and spread spectrum multiple access (SSMA) are considered. For TDMA, one single carrier originated in one particular earth-station is transmitted in each sub-band and therefore a single-channel-per-carrier system results (SCPC/FDMA). For TDMA and SSMA, it is assumed that groups of earth-stations using either of these access schemes share the full available band in FDMA. The corresponding systems are thus TDMA/FDMA and SSMA/FDMA. Moreover, for SCPC/FDMA and TDMA/FDMA individual carriers may be spread to the extent that the available bandwidth is always fully occupied. Spectral efficiencies for these three access modes (Spread SCPC/FDMA, Spread TDMA/FDMA and SSMA/FDMA) are computed and compared for transmission through a non-linear satellite channel and optimum operating points for the non-linear amplifier are also determined. Comparisons are also performed for the situation in which transmitting earth-stations are bounded to obey an off-axis emission constraint.     

250 MHz SAW FILTERS FOR SS/FDMA SYSTEM EMPLOYING ST-CUT QUARTZ SUBSTRATES

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters are key devices in developing the bandwidth-variable filter matrix for the subchannel switched frequency division multiple access (SS/FDMA) system. This paper addresses the design and fabrication of two 250 MHz SAW filters employing temperature-stable ST-cut quartz substrates. The specafications for these filters are decided with due consideration of practical use by INTELSAT-type satellites. Measured electrical responses of the individual and combined channels show satisfactory performance. Computer simulations are performed using the measured responses to assess the effects of the SAW filters on digital carriers. Finally, the effects of the temperature and ageing stability characteristics are discussed based on the measured and calculated responses.     

Code acquisition for DS/SS communications in non-Gaussian impulsive channels

In this letter, we propose a new detector for code acquisition systems in non-Gaussian noise channels. Modeling the acquisition problem as a hypothesis testing problem, a detector is derived for non-Gaussian, symmetric /spl alpha/-stable noise, based on the locally optimum detection technique. Numerical results show that the proposed detector can offer robustness and substantial performance improvement over the conventional schemes in non-Gaussian channels.     

适用于高动态平台的TDM/FDMA+令牌环卫星混合多址接入协议

对卫星通信中比较常用的多址接入方式进行了比较,提出了一种固定分配与自由分配相结合的卫星混合多址接入协议,对指标性能进行了分析。试验结果表明,该协议具有业务接入灵活、卫星频带利用率高、系统实现简单等特点,适用于高动态平台卫星通信。研究内容对相关工程应用具有一定的参考价值。     

TCP/IP enhancements for satellite networks

With the emerging market for high-mobility remote access broadband services, satellite networks are becoming increasingly popular. Although the ubiquitous TCP/IP protocol is widely used to provide reliable data delivery in terrestrial networks, it faces many challenges in satellite environments. These stem from the inherent features of satellite channels, such as large delays, increased error rates, and bandwidth asymmetry. To address these concerns, a variety of solutions have been proposed. These include direct TCP enhancements to better tune the TCP/IP stack and additional selective acknowledgment mechanisms. Other proposals use advanced interworking to reduce sensitivity to various channel features. Examples include multiple TCP sessions, link-layer interworking, and ACK control schemes. Improving onboard satellite features (buffer management, flow control) can also provide benefits for TCP/IP transport. The objective of this article is to present the various solutions and discuss their possible trade-offs. Overall, there exists a rich set of alternatives to meet the challenges in this important arena     

Mobile satellite communications

The paper presents an up-to-date overview as well as new results on mobile satellite communications. Specifically, the following subjects are addressed: worldwide activities; satellite orbits; multiple access techniques; Novstar global positioning system; economic and regulatory issues; future trends. Some of these technical and nontechnical subjects appeal disjoint, but they are unique and significant among the many facets, which effect the development and operation of mobile satellite communication systems     

适用于高动态平台的TDM/FDMA+令牌环卫星混合多址接入协议

对卫星通信中比较常用的多址接入方式进行了比较,提出了一种固定分配与自由分配相结合的卫星混合多址接入协议,对指标性能进行了分析。试验结果表明,该协议具有业务接入灵活、卫星频带利用率高、系统实现简单等特点,适用于高动态平台卫星通信。研究内容对相关工程应用具有一定的参考价值。     

Distributed source coding for satellite communications

Inspired by mobile satellite communications systems, we consider a source coding system which consists of multiple sources, multiple encoders, and multiple decoders. Each encoder has access to a certain subset of the sources, each decoder has access to certain subset of the encoders, and each decoder reconstructs a certain subset of the sources almost perfectly. The connectivity between the sources and the encoders, the connectivity between the encoders and the decoders, and the reconstruction requirements for the decoders are all arbitrary. Our goal is to characterize the admissible coding rate region. Despite the generality of the problem, we have developed an approach which enables us to study all cases on the same footing. We obtain inner and outer bounds of the admissible coding rate region in terms of Γ_N * and Γ¯_N*, respectively, which are fundamental regions in the entropy space defined by Yeung (1991). So far, there has not been a full characterization of Γ_N*, so these bounds cannot be evaluated explicitly except for some special cases. Nevertheless, we obtain an alternative outer bound which can be evaluated explicitly. We show that this bound is tight for all the special cases for which the admissible coding rate region is known. The model we study in this paper is more general than all previously reported models on multilevel diversity coding, and the tools we use are new in multiuser information theory     

Incremental time-slot assignment in SS/TDMA satellite systems

The heterogeneous traffic in this environment can be categorized into a rapidly changing type composed of packet switched data traffic and a relatively static type composed of circuit switched voice traffic. From the time-slot assignment viewpoint, the problem is to construct an efficient TDMA frame that permits the static voice traffic to be transmitted and, then, on a frame-by-frame basis to attempt to insert the data packets into the slots that are unused by the voice traffic. It is proved that the problem is NP-complete, even for very simple traffic configurations. Several suboptimal fast heuristic algorithms are presented and empirically compared by experiments on randomly generated traffic patterns. The experiments reveal that, on the average, the algorithms give close to the optimal performance     

CDMA versus FDMA channel capacity in mobile satellite communication

At present a major effort is under way to define the most efficient modulation/multiple access system in mobile satellite communication. Where the emphasis is on digital voice modulation, the proposed multiple access methods almost always imply frequency division multiple access (FDMA). This analysis presents a comparison between FDMA and code division multiple access (CDMA), for the operation of both multiple access methods in the mobile satellite communication environment. The mobile satellites under consideration use multiple-beam or scan-beam antennas and employ frequency reuse of the allocated L-band frequency spectrum. As CDMA is better at absorbing Doppler and multipath effects, and permits higher rate coding, in general (practical considerations aside) it appears to be the more capable system.     

Switching for IP-based multimedia satellite communications

This paper discusses the structure and performance of an Internet protocol (IP)-based satellite communications system to provide multimedia services. Uplink scheduling and switching to support IP differentiated services (DiffServ) traffic in a multibeam environment are addressed. End-to-end performance of a multibeam satellite communications system using an on-board switch is evaluated using simulation. Aggregate real-time and non-real-time traffic using different DiffServ classes is considered and the effects of their burstiness and long-range dependent behavior on the queueing performance are examined. Multiple-frequency time-division multiple-access is used on the uplink in conjunction with a dynamic capacity allocation scheme. Higher priority is given to voice and video real-time traffic to avoid delay variation. On-board downlink queue for non-real-time traffic is provided to achieve high statistical multiplexing gain.     

Personal communications by satellite

Personal communications (PC) refers to two-way voice (and possibly data) communications to a small hand-held unit, capable of being carried by a person and used in various locations. PC via satellite refers to the case where this hand-held unit communicates directly with a satellite to provide the duplex voice (or data) service. Both geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites have been considered to provide this service. GEO and LEO satellite systems must compete with existing mobile cellular radio systems both in meeting performance requirements and service costs, if they are to be a significant supplier of PC services. GEO and LEO systems each have unique advantages and disadvantages when used to provide a PC service. While these general characteristics are identified in Section 1 of the paper, a more quantitative comparison is needed. This quantitative comparison is made by comparing a GEO PC satellite system, operating at EHF (K_a-band) frequencies with a LEO system operating at UHF (L-band) frequencies, including service costs for both systems. The two systems used in the comparison are examples of realistic GEO and LEO system designs for PC service, and although it is not exhaustive, the comparison points out some of the key differences between GEO and LEO systems that affect service performance and cost.     

Linear suppression of wideband data-like interference in DS/SS communications

In this paper, a linear receiver is proposed and its performance is analyzed for direct-sequence spread-spectrum communications with wideband data-like interference. Two groups of communicators employing generalized random spreading are considered, and the signals are assumed to have harmonically related cyclostationarity periods. First, the output signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of a general correlation receiver is derived in the frequency domain, and the key system parameters that affect the structure of the interference are identified. Then, a linear interference suppression scheme based on the maximum SIR (MSIR) criterion is proposed, and a receiver structure similar to the cyclic Wiener filter is derived. Numerical results show that the proposed linear MSIR receiver significantly outperforms the conventional correlation receiver by effectively suppressing the wideband data-like interference.     

Array processing for nonstationary interference suppression inDS/SS communications using subspace projection techniques

Combined spatial and time-frequency signatures of signal arrivals at a multisensor array are used for nonstationary interference suppression in direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DS/SS) communications. With random PN spreading code and deterministic nonstationary interferers, the use of antenna arrays offers increased DS/SS signal dimensionality relative to the interferers. Interference mitigation through a spatio-temporal subspace projection technique leads to reduced DS/SS signal distortion and improved performance over the case of a single antenna receiver. The angular separation between the interference and desired signals is shown to play a fundamental role in trading off the contribution of the spatial and time-frequency signatures to the interference mitigation process. The expressions of the receiver signal-to-interference-noise ratio (SINR) implementing subspace projections are derived, and numerical results are provided     

Commercial satellite communications experience

The operational Intelsat I (Early Bird) and Intelsat II satellites and associated earth stations that comprise the present commercial satellite communications system provide a capacity of close to 720 voice circuits between major earth stations. All but a limited portion of the inhabited globe is now within the line of sight of a commercial satellite relay. In addition, it is expected that by 1968, with the operation of Intelsat III, a truly global international satellite communications system will exist.     

GaAs FET satellite communications

What is claimed to be the industry’s first 90W c-band GaAs field effect transistor (GaAs FET) suitable for use in solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA) for base station or earth-station satcom and radar applications, as well as for microwave digital radios for terrestrial communications, has been released by Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. Using TAEC’s HFET process technology, the TIM5964-90SL GaAs FET employs ion plantation technology to produce an output power of 49.5dBm at a frequency range of 5.9GHz to 6.4GHz. and is priced at around $1,500 each.This is a short news story only. Visit www.three-fives.com for the latest advanced semiconductor industry news.