An Overview of Satellite Communications
Course Overview
This course provides an overview of the principles and applications of satellite communications (SATCOM). It is designed especially for professionals who are new to this field or who require basic knowledge and concepts to deal with technical or management aspects related to SATCOM. This course will serve as a mandatory pre-requisite for participants who wish to attend intermediate and/or advanced-level SATCOM courses offered by Telefocal.
In this 3-day course, you will be introduced to the different types of satellites and the purposes they serve, such as the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. You will learn about propagation delays and free space loss, multiple access techniques that include time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing, and link power budget.
In addition to theory, this course will also present real-world examples to give you a practical understanding of how SATCOM works. More specifically, examples of typical VSAT applications like PDH, SDH, Ethernet, DBV, etc. will be covered.
Target Audience
- 3G/4G/5G mobile network operators
- Broadcasting companies that utilize satellite links
- Telecommunications companies (PTTs, carriers)
- Satellite operators
- Internet service providers
- IT & system integration companies
- Multinational companies that rely on satellites
- Professionals in non-technical domains (eg. management, finance, PMO) who wish to learn about SATCOM
Duration & Training Format
- Classroom: 3 days
- LIVE Virtual*: 21 hours
- A minimum of 6 or more participants are required to commence a company-based LIVE Virtual course
- LIVE Virtual courses can be conducted for 5 hours or 7 hours daily. Please note that the number of training days will be extended if you opt for 5 hours daily.
Upcoming Course Dates
20 – 22 Jan 2025 (Mon – Wed), GMT +08:00
18 – 20 Jun 2025 (Wed – Fri), GMT +08:00
If you are keen on attending the above scheduled courses, please register your interest via our course enquiry form.
Course Objectives
This course aims to equip participants with the fundamental SATCOM knowledge and motivate them to further their knowledge in this domain. At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Demonstrate a thorough and solid understanding of the fundamentals of SATCOM, including different types of satellites, earth stations, and VSATs
- Identify and describe the frequency spectrum and satellite bands, including the bands used for different applications such as TV, radio, and Internet
- Use terminology related to satellite radio link planning, including link budget, satellite footprint, and elevation angle
- Analyze technical and regulatory challenges related to SATCOM, including licensing, interference, and spectrum management
- Explain multiple access techniques used in SATCOM
- Identify and mitigate the impact of free space loss and atmospheric impairments on SATCOM
- Understand the impact of antenna design on beam shaping and coverage area, including antenna gain, beamwidth, and polarization
Course Outline
- SATCOM Fundamentals
- Transmission Equation
- Advantages of Satellites
- Disadvantages of Satellites
- Types of Satellites
- Types of Orbits
- LEO vs MEO vs GEO
- Satellite Launching
- Satellite Subsystems
- Basic Terminology: Inroute vs Outroute, Uplink vs Downlink
- Satellite Transponder
- Spot Beams
- Satellite Footprints EIRP
- Beam Shaping
- Polarization
- Modulation
- Frequency Bands
- Examples
- Link Budget
- Rain Margin
- Coverage Angle and Area
- VSAT Components
- ODU vs IDU
- Uplink and Downlink Chains
- LNB and BUC
- Noise Figure
- Feed Horn
- Examples of LEO and GEO Satellites
- Global, Wide and Narrow Spot Beams
- Astronomical and Navigation Satellites
- Reconnaissance and Weather Satellites
- Communication Satellites
- Fixed Service Satellites
- Mobile Service Satellites
- Direct Broadcast Satellites
- Satellite Phone, Radio and TV
- Star and Mesh Topology
- Link Budget Calculations
- Installing Satellite Dish
- Â Modulation and Multiple Access
- Need for Modulation
- ASK, FSK and PSK
- QAM, APSK and M-PSK: 8QAM, 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, etc
- Multiple Access Systems: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA
- DAMA, SCPC, MCPC
- Forward Error Correction (FEC)
- Adaptive Coding Modulation
- Block Codes, Convolutional Codes
- Typical FEC Rates
- MODCODs Variation with Environment
- Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
- Spectral Efficiency
- Case Study: A Study into an Operator’s Transformation of VSAT Network
- Fiji Islands – Geography
- Fiji – Telecom Statistics
- Transmission Layout
- VSAT Network
- Telecom Operators in Fiji
- Earth Station and Satellite Beam
- VSAT Remote Setup
- Transformation Journey
- Project Challenges
- Benefits
- Learnings
- Emerging Trends in the Satellite Industry
- Beam Hopping
- Docking
- StarLink and OneWeb
- Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope
- Second Gen Galileo Navigation Satellites
- Anti-Satellite (ASAT) and Direct Ascent Anti- Satellite (DA-ASAT) Technologies
- Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)
- Next-generation Interceptor
- Project Kuiper – $10 Billion Venture
Note: A Certificate of Completion will only be issued upon achieving at least 75% attendance for the course.
Pre-requisites
No pre-requisite knowledge is required but some background in wireless would be beneficial.
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