Link Budget for Dummies
by Alvaro Sanchez
Madrid, Spain, June 3, 2019--Managing new business challenges should encompass the entire satellite workflow and make it far easier to set up satellite antennas, reduce operator fails/ issues and ensure entire networks are continuously and automatically monitored. Integrasys has already worked and continues to do so, with a few satellite operators to drastically reduce running costs through better tools for installation and monitoring. Yet, there is one area that remains very tricky complicated and that is the process of buying and selling satellite capacity. Especially when you are not a experience satellite expert.
The management of the capacity using link budget calculations shows gains and losses on any given satellite link. However, few outsides of this exacting process know exactly how to assume this task, this requires expertise in this matter because even professionals who are specialized on Link Budgets, take a lot of time to perform single calculations.
This also means time is required and the correct resources must be applied to the process... and as all know, time is in short supply for most operators. With delayed link budget calculations, there is less business to materialize.
Incorrect computations result in an unsuitable satellite selection and that leads to signal degradation. Correct calculations, on the other hand, and completing a link budget quickly and effectively, equalizes to a satellite operator maximizing revenue and providing the correct capacity to the customer every time, with a greater customer experience.
Integrasys owns a simple accurate link budget tool, released earlier this year, Beam Budget. This product aims to democratize link budget calculations, making it possible for anyone to perform and understand these important calculations. There are a number of factors that make link budgets complex and those elements have been positively addressed with this tool.
One of the biggest issues with a link budget calculation is the volume of parameters that need to be input in order to obtain an accurate calculation.
In most cases, this work requires at least 50 parameters that include: Uplink power amplifier gain and noise factors; Transmit and receive antenna gain; Slant angles and corresponding atmospheric loss over distance; Climactic attenuation factors; Satellite transponder noise levels and power gains; Receive antenna and amplifier gains and noise factors; Cable losses; Adjacent satellite interference levels; and Intermodulation interferences.
This work generally needs to be done separately, for both the uplink and downlink frequencies. With Beam Budget, the company wanted to introduce a tool that could provide highly accurate results with fewer inputs. This tool can provide more than 75 results from just 25 inputs. Moreover, Integrasys has developed a new full-duplex function in which Beam Budget performs calculations from the HUB to the VSAT and the VSAT to the HUB, and a latest option to a regional network link budget.
Accuracy, accurate and simplicity
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View a video on Link Budget Basics at: |
In spite of multiple parameters, traditional link budget work is not always as accurate as it should, and must, be. The goal for Integrasys was to ensure that all possible frequency bands and types of satellites were covered in a single tool, rather than having to further complicate matters using multiple tools, and it does with great results.
Beam Budget is available for every frequency band and also enables users to upload different types of satellite data. Every modulation is also supported. The result is the most accurate link budget calculation product possible in just one fee.
For a commercial visit to any client, link budget is really important for buying and selling satellite capacity — these calculations enable satellite operators to confidently establish new satellite networks to ensure the best performance possible for a client company. Established networks use link budgets to calculate and demonstrate suitabilities for prospective customers. Satellite users need these tools to ensure the service they have selected is the correct choice.
In the case that link budgets cannot be performed or completed quickly enough, such could result in a costly, lost opportunity and revenue. Equally, if a customer does come on board without an accurate calculation, they may quickly take their business elsewhere if the end result does not match what they require.
Fast and accurate link budget calculations are a must — by making this tool accessible to anyone within an organization, as well as making it easy for stakeholders to understand the completed results, satellite operators can greatly improve their efficiency and have full confidence in Link Budget’s results — and that, ultimately, is going to help them to realize more business.
For more information, please visit www.integrasys-space.com/
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Alvaro Sanchez is the CEO of Integrasys, which specialises in providing satellite spectrum monitoring systems for the satellite, telecommunication, and broadcast markets VSAT Tools for VSAT deployment and maintenance. He can be reached at alvaro.sanchez@integrasys-sa.com
