Broadband satellite communications can enable a plethora of applications in customer services, global
nomadic coverage and disaster prediction and recovery. Terahertz (THz) band is envisioned as a key satellite
communication technology due to its very broad bandwidth, astrophysical observation advantages and device
maturing in recent years. In this paper, a massive-antenna-array-enabled THz satellite communication system
is proposed to be established in Tanggula, Tibet, where the average altitude is 5.068 km and the mean-clear-sky
precipitable water vapor (PWV) is as low as 1.31 mm. In particular, a link budget analysis (LBA) framework
is developed for THz space communications, considering unique THz channel properties and massive antenna
array techniques. Moreover, practical siting conditions are taken into account, including the altitude, PWV, THz
spectral windows, rain and cloud factors. On the basis of the developed link budget model, the massive antenna
array model, and the practical parameters in Tanggula, the performances of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and
capacity are evaluated. The results illustrate that 1Tbit/s is attainable in the 0.275—0.37 THz spectral window
in Tanggula, by using an antenna array of the size 64.
ZHEN Ruchen (甄儒辰), HAN Chong* (韩充)
. Link Budget Analysis for Massive-Antenna-Array-Enabled Terahertz Satellite Communications[J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University(Science), 2018
, 23(1)
: 20
-27
.
DOI: 10.1007/s12204-018-1904-2
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