The basic types of satellite systems include geostationary (GEO), Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) satellites. There are also public and private satellite systems such as Television Receive Only (TVRO), Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and multibeam satellite operations. Geosynchronous satellites orbit the Earth on …
The Ka band uplink uses frequencies between 27.5GHz and 31Ghz and the downlink uses frequencies between 18.3 and 18.8Ghz and between 19.7 and 20.2Ghz. The Ka band is branch of the K band from the electromagnetic spectrum. The term “Ka-band” is from Kurz-above, which originates from the German phrase “kurz” implying short. Ka band dishes …
Intersymbol interference is a signal distortion in telecommunication. One or more symbols can interfere with other symbols causing noise or a less reliable signal. The main causes of intersymbol interference are multipath propagation or non-linear frequency in channels. This has the effect of a blur or mixture of symbols, which can reduce signal clarity. If …
QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) is a phase modulation algorithm. Phase modulation is a frequency modulation version where the carrier wave’s phase is modulated to encode bits of digital information in each phase change. The “PSK” in QPSK refers to the use of Phased Shift Keying. Phased Shift Keying is a form of phase modulation …
Reed-Solomon is an algorithm for Forward Error Correction (FEC). Reed-Solomon was introduced by Irving S. Reed and Gustave Solomon of MIT Labs in Polynomial Codes Over Certain Finite Fields, which was published in the Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 1960. Reed-Solomon does not specify a block size or a specific …
An IDU, or In-Door Unit, is a telecommunication device that is used in satellite television and Internet service to receive and decode satellite transmissions. An IDU is a box that connects to the user’s television and/or router and contains a built-in satellite receiver that may also be connected to a satellite dish on the roof …
Rainfade refers to a phenomenon that occurs during strong rain or snowfall in which satellite signals are prevented from reaching their destination. Rainfade may also refer to extensive cloud cover, strong winds, or any other environmental effect that distorts a satellite broadcast, but is most often observed during rainfall. Rainfade may also refer to the …
Geostationary satellites are located exactly above the earth’s equator and revolve around the earth in a circular orbit. Their revolving speed and direction (west to east) are exactly same as that of the earth, which makes it look stationary from the earth’s surface. The exact altitude of these satellites above the equator is approximately 36,000 …
MCPC stands for Multiple Channel Per Carrier. MCPC is a form of satellite transmission where each carrier is utilized to transmit multiple channels. MCPC transmits multiple video or audio channels on one carrier by utilizing Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). The alternative to MCPC is SCPC (Single Channel Per Carrier). MCPC is used much more than …
TV-GPS is a technology from Rosum Corporation of California. Basically, it is a GPS tracking technology that makes use of television broadcasting signals to intensify or strengthen GPS signals. It is slated for use in urban areas where most people own a television (so the TV broadcasting signals are extremely strong) and where the regular …