Satellite Communications Training, Bootcamp Course

Satellite Communications play a part in multiple industries: business continuity, emergency management, oil and gas, IoT, healthcare, government, maritime, mining, logging, outdoor recreation and more.

Essentially, a satellite is a radio located in space which has between 24 and 72 transponders, the signal path which data follows through the satellite. Each transponder has a capacity of 155 million bits per second.

Satellite communications consists of sending electromagnetic waves signals from earth stations to space stations (satellites) and vice versa. The transmission of information goes from a ground-based antenna to the satellite whose antennas capture the signals, changes the frequency and sends it to another ground-based antenna or broadcasts it to many earth stations.

It is called uplink when the transmission goes from an earth station to a space station and downlink when the signal goes from the satellite’s antenna to the ground’s one.

Commercial satellite communications services are grouped into three general categories:

• Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) – These use ground equipment at set locations to receive and transmit satellite signals. FSS satellites support the majority of our domestic and international services, from international internet connectivity to private business networks
• Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) – These use a variety of transportable receiver and transmitter equipment to provide communication services for land mobile, maritime and aeronautical customers
• Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS) – These offer high transmission power for reception using very small ground equipment. BSS is best known for direct-to-consumer television and broadband applications such as DIRECTV

The U.S. continues to lead the industry in both satellite manufacturing and launch service revenues.

Analysts predict the overall demand for satellite data will grow annually at 30% between now and 2025. The global market for new launch technology for small satellites will be worth nearly $30 billion over the next 20 years.

Satellite Communications Training Course by Tonex

Satellite Communications Training crash course focuses on satellite communications  payloads, systems engineering and architecture of satellite systems including application requirements such as digital video and broadband media, mobile services, IP networking and UDP/TCP/IP services, concept of operations, identifying end-to-end. satellite payload requirements and constellation.

This popular and intensive Satellite Communications Training crash course provides attendees with an in-depth knowledge of satellite communication principals and techniques and key emerging technologies.

Who Should Attend

The course is ideal for engineers and managers involved in Satellite Communications planning, architecture, design, implementation and operation.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will:

• Learn the basic introduction to RF characteristics and modelling tools used to calculate spurious signals, inter-modulation levels, phase noise, Bit Error Rate and RF interference
• Gain familiarity with merits such as Gain to Noise Temperature Ratio (G/T) and
  provide an in-depth knowledge of satellite communication systems planning, design, operation and maintenance
• Gain familiarity with propagation, link budget, RF planning, system tradeoffs multiple access, modulation and coding schemes
• Gain familiarity with system architecture of satellite communications payloads
• Learn the basic aspects of satellite performance
• Gain familiarity with repeater design and different repeater components
• Gain familiarity with key communications parameters
• Basic introduction of speech and video coding, satellite networking, TCP/IP and other trends
• Learn the basic satellite communication cybersecurity and mitigation
• Gain familiarity with  Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) principles

Course Topics

Introduction to Satellite Communications (SATCOM)

• Different types of satellite orbits and payloads
• Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) system
• Low Earth Orbit (LEO) system
• Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) system
• Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) system
• Major categories of satellite services defined by ITU
• Broadcasting Satellite Service
• Mobile Satellite Service
• Fixed Satellite Service
• Satellite communications systems engineering principals
• Digital Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV
• VSAT services
• 2-way interactive services
• Mobile communications technologies
• Service and performance requirements

Planning and Design (Earth & Planetary)

• Satellite constellations
• Satellite orbits
• Orbital mechanics basics
• Satellite coverage
• Space environment orbit and attitude determination and analysis
• Propulsion system
• Spacecraft operations and automation
• Spacecraft navigation
• Coverage and communication analysis

Satellite Communications Principles

• Terrestrial Systems
• Satellite communication systems
• Satellite communication system architecture
• Satellite access
• Radio link reliability
• Doppler effect
• Satellite constellations
• Spot beams
• Radio Link
• Spectrum issues
• Spectrum sharing methods
• Propagation characteristics
• General propagation characteristics
• Analog and digital Modulation
• Digital modulation and Coding
• Satellite RF Link
• Multiple access principles
• Earth Stations
• Antennas
• Satellite system performance
• Link budget analysis
• System tradeoffs

System Specification and Requirement Writing

• Spacecraft subsystems areas
• Communications payload, Altitude Control, Propulsion, Electrical Power and Distribution, Payload, Thermal, Telemetry, Tracking and Command, and Orbit Control
• Satellite Radio building blocks
• Satellite ground segment
• Earth stations subsystem
• Various types of satellite payloads
• Satellite transponders
• Bent-pipe Satellites
• Key technology advancements in Satellite Communications (SATCOM) payloads for telecommunications services
• Different types of orbits for satellites
• International regulations (ITU-T) governing the frequency planning and coordination of the diverse satellite networks

Requirement analysis  of the Satellite Payload

• Capabilities of different repeater components
• Assessment techniques for performance of all major building blocks including repeaters, antenna system, and tracking
• Critical subsystem and system design concepts such as power budget, loss, group delay, IM (Intermodulation) distortion, digital impairments, cross-polarization, adjacent satellite and channel interference
• Design principles and performance budgets for system elements such as receivers, phased-array antennas, multiplexers, amplifiers, analog and digital processors, reflector, feeds and other passive and active components
• System verification of payload and ground segment performance
• Evaluation of subsystem / system performance, and guidelines for overseeing development

Key Payload Communications Parameters

• Gain and phase variation with frequency
• Phase Noise
• Frequency Stability
• Spurious signals from frequency converter
• Self-interference products
• Passive Intermodulation products
• Noise figure and payload performance budgets
• Engineering specifications and techniques for payload compatibility with the satellite bus
• Communications satellite’s transponder
• Communications channel between the receiving and the transmitting antennas

Transponder System Design and Architecture

• System tradeoffs
• RF tradeoffs (RF power, EIRP, G/T)
• Input band limiting device (a band pass filter)
• Input low-noise amplifier (LNA)
• Frequency translator
• Oscillator and a frequency mixer
• Output band pass filter
• Power amplifier
• Traveling-wave tube
• Solid state amplifiers
• Design elements and specifications for the satellite communications payload
• “Bent pipe” principle
• Bent-pipe repeater subsystem
• Regenerated mode
• Regenerated and bent-pipe mode
• Bent-pipe topology
• On-board processing
• Demodulated, decoded, re-encoded and modulated signals

Communications Payload Performance Management

• Performance and capacity planning
• Payload system Tradeoffs
• Bent-pipe repeater analysis and design
• Antenna Design and Performance
• Link budget
• On-board Digital processor
• A/D and D/A conversion
• DSP (digital signal processing)
• Multiple access technologies
• Principles behind FDMA, TDMA, CDMA
• Demodulation and remodulation
• Multiplexing
• Multi-beam Antennas
• RF Interference
• Spectrum Management

SATCOM Networks and System Cybersecurity

• SATCOM Systems Attacks
• SATCOM System Vulnerabilities
• Exploiting SATCOM Systems and Devices
• Hacking/exploitation techniques, tools and entry points
• Cybersecurity Attacks and Best Mitigation Practices for SATCOM Systems

Overview of Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)

• MUOS orbiting satellites
• MUSO system survey
• MUOS satellites payload
• Lockheed’s A2100 satellite bus
• MUOS radio terminal users and space segment payload
• UHF data uplink (300-320 MHz)
• Conversion to Ka-Band for downlink to ground stations
• Uplink Ka-Band as part of a ground station feeder link
• Conversion to UHF (360-380MHz) by the satellite for reception by mobile users
• MUOS spot beams
• Data rates of up to 384kbps  for mobile users
• Voice, data and combined voice/data communications
• Principles of 3G broadband wireless and WCDMA
• Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) payload
• Legacy UHF payload
• Principles of ultra high frequency (UHF) band and next generation of narrowband communications
• Secure ultra-high frequency (UHF) satellite communications (SATCOM) for mobile force

Overview of Military Satellites

• Military Satellite Common Missions
• ISR, intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications
• Photographic reconnaissance missions
• Overview of narrowband and broadband military communications satellite systems

Satellite Communications Training