Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies
This study captures the state of current satellite transponder technology, specifically, solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) and traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and describes expected future advances, including GaN SSPAs. The findings of five previous SSPA and TWTA studies, including the 19...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Wiley
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110897 |
| _version_ | 1824458155686363136 |
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| author | Aniceto, Raichelle Cahoy, Kerri Lohmeyer, Whitney |
| author2 | Space Telecommunications Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Lab |
| author_facet | Space Telecommunications Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Lab Aniceto, Raichelle Cahoy, Kerri Lohmeyer, Whitney |
| author_sort | Aniceto, Raichelle |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This study captures the state of current satellite transponder technology, specifically, solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) and traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and describes expected future advances, including GaN SSPAs. The findings of five previous SSPA and TWTA studies, including the 1991 European Space and Technology Center study, the 1993 National Aeronautics and Space Administration study, and three Boeing studies conducted in 2005, 2008, and 2013, are tabulated and summarized. The results of these studies are then compared with new analyses of two validated sources of amplifier data: a commercially licensed database, Seradata's Spacetrak, and a publicly available database, Gunter's Space Page. The new analyses consider a total of 18,902 amplifiers (6428 TWTAs, 2158 SSPAs, and 10,316 unspecified amplifiers) onboard 565 communications satellites launched from 1982 to 2016. This new study contains the largest number of satellites and amplifiers to date and compares output power, redundancy, and bandwidth capabilities. We find an increase in output power from the 1993 study of >200% for Ku-band TWTAs and C-band SSPAs, and >1000% increase for C-band TWTAs. The ratio of operational to redundant amplifiers is 10 times higher for TWTAs than SSPAs, and the majority of amplifiers over the past 30 years operate with bandwidth less than 100 MHz. A second analysis is conducted using failure records and telemetry of 16 geostationary satellites equipped with 659 amplifiers: 535 SSPAs and 124 TWTAs. We find that <2% of TWTAs and 5% of SSPAs experience anomalies. Overall, this research was performed to update and clarify how the power and bandwidth needs and redundancy trends of the SatCom community have evolved over the past 30 years. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:27:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/110897 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:21:24Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1108972025-02-11T19:58:16Z Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies Aniceto, Raichelle Cahoy, Kerri Lohmeyer, Whitney Space Telecommunications Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Lab Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics communication satellite power amplifiers satellite transponder technology solid-state power amplifiers SSPA traveling wave tube amplifiers TWTA amplifier data This study captures the state of current satellite transponder technology, specifically, solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) and traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), and describes expected future advances, including GaN SSPAs. The findings of five previous SSPA and TWTA studies, including the 1991 European Space and Technology Center study, the 1993 National Aeronautics and Space Administration study, and three Boeing studies conducted in 2005, 2008, and 2013, are tabulated and summarized. The results of these studies are then compared with new analyses of two validated sources of amplifier data: a commercially licensed database, Seradata's Spacetrak, and a publicly available database, Gunter's Space Page. The new analyses consider a total of 18,902 amplifiers (6428 TWTAs, 2158 SSPAs, and 10,316 unspecified amplifiers) onboard 565 communications satellites launched from 1982 to 2016. This new study contains the largest number of satellites and amplifiers to date and compares output power, redundancy, and bandwidth capabilities. We find an increase in output power from the 1993 study of >200% for Ku-band TWTAs and C-band SSPAs, and >1000% increase for C-band TWTAs. The ratio of operational to redundant amplifiers is 10 times higher for TWTAs than SSPAs, and the majority of amplifiers over the past 30 years operate with bandwidth less than 100 MHz. A second analysis is conducted using failure records and telemetry of 16 geostationary satellites equipped with 659 amplifiers: 535 SSPAs and 124 TWTAs. We find that <2% of TWTAs and 5% of SSPAs experience anomalies. Overall, this research was performed to update and clarify how the power and bandwidth needs and redundancy trends of the SatCom community have evolved over the past 30 years. 2017-08-01T20:06:59Z 2017-08-01T20:06:59Z 2016-04 Article 1542-0973 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110897 Lohmeyer, W., Aniceto, R., & Cahoy, K. (2016). Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies. International Journal Of Satellite Communications And Networking, 34(2), 95-113. doi:10.1002/sat.1098 en_US application/pdf Wiley |
| spellingShingle | communication satellite power amplifiers satellite transponder technology solid-state power amplifiers SSPA traveling wave tube amplifiers TWTA amplifier data Aniceto, Raichelle Cahoy, Kerri Lohmeyer, Whitney Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies |
| title | Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies |
| title_full | Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies |
| title_fullStr | Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies |
| title_short | Communication satellite power amplifiers: current and future SSPA and TWTA technologies |
| title_sort | communication satellite power amplifiers current and future sspa and twta technologies |
| topic | communication satellite power amplifiers satellite transponder technology solid-state power amplifiers SSPA traveling wave tube amplifiers TWTA amplifier data |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110897 |
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