On A Method to Evaluate Satellite Link Performance to Optimize Power

Abstract

The Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS) satellite has the unique means to set sub-channel gain for a specific link or bandwidth segment. This capability allows for a wide range of data rates for a specific uplink signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)up. However, arbitrarily selecting a data rate for a given (SNR)up can utilize satellite power inefficiently. This paper develops a method to determine the practical upper bound of data rate to (SNR)up, quantify the impact to satellite power when exceeding this upper bound, and determine the channel gain as a function of (SNR)up, data rate, intermodulation (IM) noise, and overall transponder drive level.