A novel dimensioning method for high throughput satellite design

This work describes a novel methodology for the dimensioning of a Ka-Band high throughput satellite (HTS) for broadband communications. The method is based on the optimization of performance for a forward link, as a function of a set of input criteria and a given envelope of available power. This approach is based on a spacecraft architecture using a multi-beam coverage implementing frequency re-use. Among the input criteria, we use the percentage of covered service area with a certain type of earth stations, the service availability and the cost and mass of the system. The proposed methodology is adaptable to any kind of service area. A digital video broadcasting satellite second generation (DVB-S2) air interface with adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) is used as a reference. The method, employing iterative advanced link budget calculations including carrier-to-interference at antenna level, provides the highest capacity given a batch of antenna and pragmatic feed design.