Rain Fade Compensation Research Articles

Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) fade compensation protocol impact on very small-aperture terminal bit error rate performance

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) communications system operates at Ka band. ACTS uses an adaptive rain fade compensation protocol to reduce the impact of signal attenuation resulting from propagation effects. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an analysis characterizing the improvement in VSAT performance provided by this protocol. The metric for performance is VSAT bit error rate (BER) availability. The acceptable availability defined by communication system design specifications is 99.5% for a BER of 5E-7 or better. VSAT BER availabilities with and without rain fade compensation are presented. A comparison shows the improvement in BER availability realized with rain fade compensation. Results are presented for an eight-month period and for 24 months spread over a three-year period. The two time periods represent two different configurations of the fade compensation protocol.

Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS): four-year system performance

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) was conceived at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the late 1970s as a follow-on program to ATS and CTS to continue NASA's long history of satellite communications projects. The ACTS project set the stage for the C-band satellites that started the industry, and later the ACTS project established the use of Ku-band for video distribution and direct-to-home broadcasting. ACTS, launched in September 1993 from the Space Shuttle, created a revolution in satellite system architecture by using digital communications techniques employing key technologies such as a fast hopping multibeam antenna, an on-board baseband processor, a wide-band microwave switch matrix, adaptive rain fade compensation, and the use of 900 MHz transponders operating at Ka-band frequencies. This paper describes the lessons learned in each of the key ACTS technology areas, as well as in propagation investigations.

Ka-band propagation measurements: an opportunity with the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS)

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) was conceived at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a follow on program to its long history in satellite communications projects that have reduced the risk of developing new technologies that fall outside the sponsorship capability of the private sector. To counter the foreign challenge that developed in the late 1970's to the once insuperable US lead in this field, ACTS was developed to maintain the US preeminence. Launched in September 1993 from the space shuttle, key technologies on ACTS include a multibeam antenna, a baseband processor, a 900 MHz wideband microwave switch matrix, adaptive rain fade compensation techniques, and the use of Ka-band frequencies. Since this is the United States' first effort in using Ka-band for satellite communications, beacons are incorporated on the satellite, which provide an opportunity for propagation measurements. NASA is sponsoring a network of propagation experimenters using these beacons and receive-only terminals identical in design. This paper provides some history that leads to the eventual development of ACTS. Also, a system overview of the spacecraft is provided for those less familiar with it.

ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE (ACTS): DESIGN AND ON‐ORBIT PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), developed and built by Lockheed Martin Astro space for the NASA Lewis Research Center, was launched in September 1993 on the shuttle STS 51 mission. ACTS is a digital experimental communications test bed that incorporates gigahertz bandwidth transponders operating at Ka band, hopping spot beams, on-board storage and switching, and dynamic rain fade compensation. This paper describes the ACTS enabling technologies, the design of the communications payload, the constraints imposed on the spacecraft bus, and the measurements conducted to verify the performance of the system in orbit.

ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE (ACTS): DESIGN AND ON-ORBIT PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), developed and built by Lockheed Martin Astro space for the NASA Lewis Research Center, was launched in September 1993 on the shuttle STS 51 mission. ACTS is a digital experimental communications test bed that incorporates gigahertz bandwidth transponders operating at Ka band, hopping spot beams, on-board storage and switching, and dynamic rain fade compensation. This paper describes the ACTS enabling technologies, the design of the communications payload, the constraints imposed on the spacecraft bus, and the measurements conducted to verify the performance of the system in orbit.