Design of a 10-Gb/s satellite downlink at millimeter-wave frequencies

Richard W. Ridgway; David W. Nippa; Stephen Yen; Thomas J. Barnum

doi:10.1117/12.877065

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21 February 2011 Design of a 10-Gb/s satellite downlink at millimeter-wave frequencies

Richard W. Ridgway, David W. Nippa, Stephen Yen, Thomas J. Barnum

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Proceedings Volume 7936, RF and Millimeter-Wave Photonics; 79360H (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.877065
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2011, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

System requirements, including carrier frequency, transmitted power and antenna gain are presented for a 10 Gb/s satellite downlink operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. Telecommunications-grade optical components and a high-speed photodiode are used to generate and modulate millimeter-wave carrier frequencies between 90 GHz and 100 GHz at data rates in excess of 10 Gb/s. Experimental results are presented that determine the minimum received power level needed for error-free wireless data transmission. Commercially available W-band power amplifiers are shown to increase the transmitted power level and extend the error-free propagation distance to distances of 10 km. Experimental results and documented atmospheric attenuation values for clouds, fog and rain are used to estimate link budgets for a wireless downlink located on a low-earth-orbiting satellite operating at an altitude of 350 km.

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Richard W. Ridgway, David W. Nippa, Stephen Yen, and Thomas J. Barnum "Design of a 10-Gb/s satellite downlink at millimeter-wave frequencies", Proc. SPIE 7936, RF and Millimeter-Wave Photonics, 79360H (21 February 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.877065

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