Online Journal of Space Communication
Article Title
Advanced Communications Technology Satellite Adaptive Rain Fade Compensation Protocol Performance
Abstract
http://acts.grc.nasa.gov/docs/4thKa_Cox_Coney.pdf
Communication satellite operation at the Ka Band or higher frequencies, and the resultant signal fades caused by rain, have a significant impact on satellite system design. The NASA Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), launched in September 1993, provided an opportunity to test and evaluate an adaptive rain fade compensation protocol for a communication system operating at the Ka Band.
To date the ACTS protocol has performed exceptionally well in responding to and compensating for fades which without the compensation would have adversely impacted a network ground stationÕs communication channel bit error rate (BER) performance. Other studies have addressed the statistical performance of the protocol over a period of 2 to 3 years. This paper characterizes the performance of the protocol as a function of fade rate, response time, signal filtering and the ACT S Time Division Multiple Access framing structure.
Communication satellite operation at the Ka Band or higher frequencies, and the resultant signal fades caused by rain, have a significant impact on satellite system design. The NASA Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), launched in September 1993, provided an opportunity to test and evaluate an adaptive rain fade compensation protocol for a communication system operating at the Ka Band.
To date the ACTS protocol has performed exceptionally well in responding to and compensating for fades which without the compensation would have adversely impacted a network ground stationÕs communication channel bit error rate (BER) performance. Other studies have addressed the statistical performance of the protocol over a period of 2 to 3 years. This paper characterizes the performance of the protocol as a function of fade rate, response time, signal filtering and the ACT S Time Division Multiple Access framing structure.
Recommended Citation
Cox, C. B. and Coney, T. A.
(2002)
"Advanced Communications Technology Satellite Adaptive Rain Fade Compensation Protocol Performance,"
Online Journal of Space Communication: Vol. 1:
Iss.
2, Article 20.
Available at:
https://ohioopen.library.ohio.edu/spacejournal/vol1/iss2/20