New generation ground segment architecture for LEO satellites

Paper number

IAC-06-B3.1.08

Author

Mr. Alberto Torre, INSA, Spain

Coauthor

Dr. Jesus Gonzalo, Aeronautical School of University of León, Spain

Coauthor

Mrs. Rosa María Pulido Puerto, INSA, Spain

Coauthor

Mr. Ramón Martínez Rodríguez-Osorio, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain

Coauthor

Mr. Leandro de Haro Ariet, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain

Year

2006

Abstract

Nowadays, the ground segment for data reception of LEO satellites of the main aerospace agencies is composed of a low number of nodes with expensive large parabolic dishes. This approach does not provide with a total coverage, neither global connectivity, so most of the satellites have to operate in store and forward mode. For this reason, mission productivity is seriously reduced as the satellite-to-ground link acts as a bottleneck, reducing the amount of useful data available to end-users. One way to overcome this problem, is by building a network of multiple low cost reception multimission nodes scattered around the globe. To achieve a low production cost new technology other than large dishes must be addressed. In this sense adaptive antenna array technology promises a series of advantages that makes it the most suitable to achieve this goal, among them: inexpensive and easily replicable adaptive antennas, multisatellite tracking, electronical reconfiguration, incremental upgrades and increased reliability.
Adaptive antenna array nodes will be composed of 10-15 electronically steerable antennas, plus signal processing hardware for coherent addition. The main enabling technologies that must be developed are adaptive antennas and digital beamforming. In both cases a lot of technology infusion is expected from the wireless industry, where smart antennas and MIMO systems are for the time being widely investigated. For instance, much of the temporal reference and blind algorithms can be reused to make the beamforming. This fact can greatly reduce initial research and development costs, by taking advantage of the progress made in the telecommunications sector. As a result, we end up with a node that has an inherently much lower cost but with less equivalent aperture. This is compensated with a more densely populated network, where the ground visibility time of the satellite fleet is largely increased, allowing for a higher daily data transfer. 
If in a future scenario this new generation ground network is built, this will open the possibility of new applications that at this time are not feasible. As an example, as global connectivity is guaranteed, the introduction of Mobile IP technologies would enable real time streaming of data. This means a completely new paradigm in the way that data is disseminated, as end-users can connect from anywhere in the world to the network and receive data from a pool of satellites in near real time. 

Abstract document

IAC-06-B3.1.08.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-B3.1.08.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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