Utilization of UWB Transmission Techniques for Broadband Satellite Connections Operating in W-Band

Abstract

Recently, scientific experiments are being carried out targeted to test the suitability of W-band (70-110 GHz) for the provision of broadband satellite services. W-band is a large and almost interference-free spectrum portion. For this reason, it is theoretically possible to forecast aerospace connections able at approaching the "dream value" of Gb/s data rate. This work aims at proposing a novel PHY-layer design for broadband satellite connections based on the Prolate Spheroidal Wave Functions (PSWF). PSWF waveforms (originally developed for terrestrial UWB) are characterized by a near-optimal tradeoff between spectral compactness and envelope compactness. The resulting QAM-modulated signal can be amplified in saturation without any appreciable effect of nonlinear distortion, while maintaining a spectral efficiency rather similar to bandwidth- limited raised cosine waveforms. Experimental results, achieved by means of realistic simulation trials, fully demonstrate the potential advantages taken by the employment of PSWF in terms of reduced bit-error rate and increased link availability.