Design of a Transparent-Transponder System.
Abstract
This report describes and discusses the engineering specifications of a proposed system of great flexibility and general applicability for directly determining the effects of disturbed plasmas on a wide variety of actual or proposed signal waveforms. Both rocket-borne and satellite applications and missions are possible, and numerous signals in the VHF-UHF range (to about 1.5 GHz) can be dealt with simultaneously without undue mutual interference. The system operates by retransmitting back to earth signals that originally had been modulated onto the lower sideband of an 8-GHz uplink carrier. If they passed through regions of naturally occurring or man-made plasma disturbances, the downlink signals would suffer degradations similar to those produced by the high-altitude nuclear environment. Even when the uplink transmitter is collocated with the downlink receiver (a convenient arrangement), the rather high frequency of the uplink signals ensures that plasma effects will be minimal on the uplink. The flexibility to readily change the types of downlink signals and their parameters makes this system particularly attractive for a satellite application because of the long-term nature of many satellite missions. Alternative system configurations and design tradeoffs are considered in detail. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA108748
Entities
People
- A. A. Burns
- D. J. Barnes
- D. T. Magill
Organizations
- SRI International