Results of an experiment to demonstrate the effectiveness of open-loop up-link power control for KU-band satellite links

With the open-loop control, a down-link signal from the satellite may be monitored at the transmitting earth station to obtain the fade level at that frequency, and this fade level is scaled to the up-link frequency. Provided the frequency difference between up- and down-links is not too large, frequency scaling of rain attenuation and other propagation effects can be accomplished with reasonable accuracy. An open-loop up-link power control system developed for Ku-band applications is described. The system was evaluated over a 12 month period on a transoceanic link between US and the Netherlands