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Background
In the past, humans had to go to pretty extreme measures to keep from getting lost. They erected monumental landmarks, laboriously drafted detailed maps and learned to read the stars in the night sky.
Background (Contd)
Things are much, much easier today.
For less than $100, you can get a pocket-sized gadget that will tell you exactly where you are on Earth at any moment. As long as you have a GPS receiver and a clear view of the sky, you'll never be lost again.
To gain a full appreciation of the complexity of this system, we will also provide an introduction to satellite communications.
What is it?
GPS: Global Positioning System is a worldwide radionavigation system formed from a constellation of 24 satellites and their ground stations. A simplistic explanation: GPS uses these man-made stars as reference points to calculate positions accurate to a matter of meters.
History (Contd)
Then, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik on Oct. 4, 1957, it was immediately recognized that this "artificial star" could be used as a navigational tool. Very next evening, researchers at Lincoln Labs at MIT were able to determine satellite's orbit precisely by observing specific properties of its transmitted radio wave (Doppler Shift).
More History
The proof that a satellite's orbit could be precisely determined from ground was first step in establishing that positions on ground could be determined by homing in on signals broadcast by satellites. Then U.S. Navy experimented with a series of satellite navigation systems to meet navigational needs of submarines carrying nuclear missiles. These submarines needed to remain hidden and submerged for months at a time.
More Background
Each satellite is expected to last approximately 7.5 years and replacements are constantly being built and launched into orbit. Each satellite transmits on three frequencies. Civilian GPS uses the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz.
Background (Contd)
Each of these 3,000- to 4,000-pound solar-powered satellites circles the globe at about 12,000 miles (19,300 km), making two complete rotations every day. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, anywhere on Earth, there are at least four satellites "visible" in the sky.
Triangulation
A GPS receiver's job is to locate four or more of these satellites, figure out the distance to each, and use this information to deduce its own location. This operation is based on a simple mathematical principle called triangulation or trilateration. Triangulation in three-dimensional space can be a little tricky, so we'll start with an explanation of simple twodimensional trilateration.
An Example of 2D Triangulation
Imagine you are somewhere in the United States and you are TOTALLY lost -- for whatever reason, you have absolutely no clue where you are. You find a friendly local and ask, "Where am I?" He says, "You are 625 miles from Boise, Idaho." This is a nice, hard fact, but it is not particularly useful by itself. You could be anywhere on a circle around Boise that has a radius of 625 miles
To pinpoint your location better, you ask somebody else where you are. She says, "You are 690 miles from Minneapolis, Minnesota. If you combine this information with the Boise information, you have two circles that intersect.
If a third person tells you that you are 615 miles from Tucson, Arizona, you can eliminate one of the possibilities, because the third circle will only intersect with one of these points. You now know exactly where you are
This same concept works in three-dimensional space, as well, but you're dealing with spheres instead of circles.
Another 2D Example
Consider the case of a mariner at sea (receiver) determining his/her position using a foghorn (transmitter). Assume the ship keeps an accurate clock and mariner has approximate knowledge of ships location.
Fog
Foghorn Example
Foghorn whistle is sounded precisely on the minute mark and ship clock is synchronized to foghorn clock. Mariner notes elapsed time from minute mark until foghorn whistle is heard. This propagation time multiplied by speed of sound is distance from foghorn to mariners ear.
Foghorn 1
D2
Foghorn 1
Foghorn 2
D2
Foghorn 1
Foghorn 2
B
D3 Foghorn 3
D3+e3 Foghorn 3
3D Triangulation
Fundamentally, three-dimensional trilateration is not much different from two-dimensional trilateration, but it's a little trickier to visualize. Imagine the radii from the examples in the last section going off in all directions. So instead of a series of circles, you get a series of spheres.
GPS Triangulation
If you know you are 10 miles from satellite A in the sky, you could be anywhere on the surface of a huge, imaginary sphere with a 10-mile radius.
10 miles
Earth
15 miles 10 miles
Receivers generally look to four or more satellites, however, to improve accuracy and provide precise altitude information.
GPS Receivers
In order to make this simple calculation, then, the GPS receiver has to know two things:
The location of at least three satellites above you The distance between you and each of those satellites
The GPS receiver figures both of these things out by analyzing high-frequency, low-power radio signals from the GPS satellites.
Satellites
The basic component of a communications satellite is a receiver-transmitter combination called a transponder. A satellite stays in orbit because the gravitational pull of the earth is balanced by the centripetal force of the revolving satellite. Satellite orbits about the earth are either circular or elliptical.
Satellite Orbits
A circular satellite orbit can be described as:
Satellite, m = mass r
R Earth
Using basic principles from physics, we can determine the orbit, i.e., find r, the radius of the circular orbit.
3D Orbit
Satellite orbits are not just determined by radius. There is also an inclination of the orbit relative to the equatorial plane (plane formed by the earths equator).
Orbit of Satellite
Inclination
Equatorial Plane
Earth
Orbit Shapes
Only some of the satellites have circular orbits. Others have elliptical orbits. These orbits have further classifiers:
Apogee Perigee
The satellite is then released. At that point, rockets are fired again to ensure some separation between the launch vehicle and the satellite itself.
Orbit Velocity
Orbital velocity is the velocity needed to achieve balance between
gravity's pull on the satellite and the inertia of the satellite's motion -- the satellite's tendency to keep going.
Without gravity, the satellite's inertia would carry it off into space.
Drag
In general, the higher the orbit, the longer the satellite can stay in orbit. At lower altitudes, a satellite runs into traces of Earth's atmosphere, which creates drag. Drag causes orbit to decay until the satellite falls back into the atmosphere and burns up. At higher altitudes, where the vacuum of space is nearly complete, there is almost no drag and a satellite can stay in orbit for centuries (take the moon as an example).
Satellites Similarities
They have an onboard computer to control and monitor the different systems. They have a radio system and antenna. All satellites have an attitude control system. The ACS keeps the satellite pointed in the right direction.
Transponder
Some satellites have (hundreds of) transponders for communication purposes. A transponder
1) 2) 3) 4)
receives transmissions from earth (uplink); changes signal frequency; amplifies the signal; and transmits the signal to earth (downlink).
Satellite Subsystems
The main subsystems in a satellite are
communications; power; telemetry; tracking, and control (TTC); propulsion; attitude stabilization; and antenna subsystems.
Power subsystem consists of solar panels, batteries, dc-to-dc converters, and regulators. Solar panels convert sunlight into power to operate all satellite electronics and to charge batteries (used when sunlight is blocked).
Satellite Dish
Ground stations feature large parabolic dish antennas with high gain and directivity for receiving the weak satellite signal.
Satellite signals
The larger the dish is the higher the received signal power.
Earth
MEO (ICO)
GEO Satellites
The majority of communications satellites are GEOs. These support voice, data, and video services, most often providing fixed services to a particular region. For example, GEO satellites provide back-up voice capacity for majority of U.S. long distance telephone companies and carry bulk of nation-wide television broadcasts, which commonly are distributed via from a central point to affiliate stations throughout country.
GEOs (Contd)
GEO systems are less complicated to maintain because fixed location requires relatively little tracking capability at ground. High orbital altitude allows GEOs to remain in orbit longer than systems operating closer to earth.
GEOs (Contd)
These characteristics, along with their high bandwidth capacity, may provide a cost advantage over other system types. However, their more distant orbit also requires relatively large terrestrial antennae and high-powered equipment and are subject to delays.
Satellite Delay
An important artifact of satellite communications is delay. The radio signal has to travel a large distance to reach satellite from ground station (or to reach ground station from satellite).
Variation of Delay as a Function of Elevation Angle Delay
LEOs
Typical LEO satellite takes less than 2 hours to orbit the Earth, which means that a single satellite is "in view" of ground equipment for a only a few minutes. If transmission takes more than few minutes that any one satellite is in view, a LEO system must "hand off" between satellites to complete the transmission.
LEOs (Contd)
Handoffs can be accomplished by relaying signals between satellite and various ground stations, or by communicating between satellites themselves using "inter-satellite links."
LEO systems designed to have more than 1 satellite in view from any spot on earth at any given time.
LEOs (Contd)
LEO systems must incorporate sophisticated tracking and switching equipment to maintain consistent service coverage. Advantages: very little delay, operate using smaller equipment (because signals travel shorter distance), etc. Disadvantages: highly complex and sophisticated control and switching systems, shorter life span (subject to greater gravitational pull and higher transmission rates lead to shorter battery life).
MEOs
MEOs are in between a GEO and a LEO. Advantages/Disadvantages are also in between:
PRO: MEO systems will require far fewer satellites than LEOs, reducing overall system complexity and cost, while still requiring fewer technological fixes to eliminate signal delay than GEOs. CON: MEO satellites, like LEOs, have a much shorter life expectancy than GEOs, requiring more frequent launches to maintain system over time.
HEOs
Elliptical orbit causes satellite to move around earth faster when it is traveling close to earth and slower the farther away it gets. Satellites beam covers more of earth from farther away. Orbits are designed to maximize amount of time each satellite spends in view of populated areas.
HEOs (Contd)
Delay characteristics depend on where the satellite is in its orbit.
Several of proposed global communications satellite systems actually are hybrids of the four varieties reviewed above.
Satellite Costs
Satellite launches don't always go well; there is a great deal at stake. The cost of satellites and launches to name one. For example, a recent hurricane-watch satellite mission cost $290 million. A missile-warning satellite cost $682 million.
Next Time
This concludes our introduction to satellite communications. Next time, we will study AM and FM in detail.