Large scale assessment of Ka/Q band atmospheric channel across Europe with ALPHASAT TDP5: The augmented network

Abstract

Ventouras, S. ; Reeves, R. ; Rumi, E. ; Perez-Fontan, F. ; Machado, F. ; Pastoriza, V. ; Rocha, A. ; Mota, S. ; Jorge, F. ; Panagopoulos, A.D. ; Papafragkakis, A.Z. ; Kourogiorgas, C.I. ; Fiser, O. ; Pek, V. ; Pesice, P. ; Grabner, B. ; Vilhar, A. ; Kelmendi, A. ; Hrovat, A. ; VanhoenackerJanvier, Danielle ; Graziani, Alberto ; Quibus, Laurent ; Goussetis, G. ; Martellucci, A. AbstractThe upcoming migration of satellite services to higher bands, namely the Kaand Q-bands offers many advantages in terms of bandwidth, data rates and system capacity. However, it poses challenges as propagation effects introduced by the various atmospheric phenomena are particularly pronounced in these bands and can become a serious constraint in terms of system reliability and performance. This paper outlines the goals, organization and some first results of an ongoing large propagation campaign consortium formed across Europe under the supervision of the European Space Agency; the campaign, shall ultimately assist in the validation and development of channel models targeting thesebands. Finally, the consideration of diverse climatic conditions and elevation angles along with the evaluation of the frequency and spatio-temporal effects, shall support the development of Fading and Mitigation Techniques and their assessment using real data. Abstract-The upcoming migration of satellite services to higher bands, namely the Ka-and Q-bands offers many advantages in terms of bandwidth, data rates and system capacity. However, it poses challenges as propagation effects introduced by the various atmospheric phenomena are particularly pronounced in these bands and can become a serious constraint in terms of system reliability and performance. This paper outlines the goals, organization and some first results of an ongoing large propagation campaign consortium formed across Europe under the supervision of the European Space Agency; the campaign, shall ultimately assist in the validation and development of channel models targeting these-bands. Finally, the consideration of diverse climatic conditions and elevation angles along with the evaluation of the frequency and spatio-temporal effects, shall support the development of Fading and Mitigation Techniques and their assessment using real data.

Q-Band LEO Earth Observation Data Downlink: Radiowave Propagation and System Performance

“…However, they address mainly propagation effects for satellites in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and have been tested at K, Q and V band using only propagation measurements from GEO-based campaigns (e.g. OLYMPUS, ITALSAT and Alphasat [5], [6]). Therefore, the applicability of these models, the associated uncertainty and their extension to the LEO case (in particular for fade dynamics and atmospheric channel simulators) are still under study.…”

Validation of a Digital Noise Power Integration Technique for Radiometric Clear Sky Attenuation Estimation at Q-Band

“…The temperatures T B90 , T B (θ ), and T m in ( 12) are unknown. Given that, as per (7), the relationship between measured noise power and temperature is linear, ( 12) can be rewritten in terms of the associated integrated noise power levels…”

“…An early campaign to experimentally characterize atmospheric propagation effects beyond the K a-band was made with the ITALSAT F1 satellite which carried beacons covering Europe at three bands, K a-, Q-, and V -bands (20,40, and 50 GHz, respectively) [4], [5]. Presently, the Aldo Paraboni payload hosted onboard the ALPHASAT satellite delivers beacons with similar coverage at K a-and Q-bands (19.701 and 39.402 GHz) underpinning an ongoing Europe-wide test campaign [6], [7]. Anticipating future needs for characterization at W -band, ESA is currently making preparations for a beacon at these frequencies in geostationary orbit [2].…”

Performance of Micro-Scale Transmission & Reception Diversity Schemes in High Throughput Satellite Communication Networks

“…According to [22], system capacity can be increased for both SIMO and MISO cases provided that perfect knowledge of the channel state is available at the receiver and transmitter, respectively. The Channel State Information (CSI) from the user terminals can be extracted either through beacon signals and/or radiometers [26,27], or by exploiting the pilot symbols used in the transmitted frames [28,29].…”