Incompatible Polarization Wavefront Multiplexing: A New System Perspective

The principle of frequency reuse by orthogonal polarization has long been of critical importance in satellite communications. The same portion of allocated bandwidth can be used for two signals broadcast in opposite polarizations. It has been common practice that the terminals and transponders use compatible polarization for communications. In this paper, we present a new perspective on satellite communications with focus on incompatible polarization. We observe that circularly polarized (CP) terminals are becoming more economical in manufacturing and installations as comparing to compatible linearly polarized (LP) terminals. It shall be valuable to enable satellite operators to cost-effectively service Ku band VSAT users (terminals or hubs), either fixed or mobile, via LP space assets in Ku band. Toward this end, we have developed a method that exploits multiple LP satellite transponders through Wave-Front (WF) Multiplexing (muxing) techniques. Multiple LP transponders become accessible efficiently by CP ground terminals and vice versa. The applications of WF muxing techniques to satellite communications offer many advantages, including improved flexibility and utility efficiency of existing space assets. Proposed methods enable service providers to service CP VSAT regardless the polarization formats of space assets, allowing teleport operators to manage their assets with greater flexibility.