The Importance of Link Budgets
by Alvaro Sanchez
Link budgets are living a new era specially with new technologies such as Flat Panel Antennas, ACM, and the launches of LEO and MEO. Complexity have grown exponentially; much more complex than ever before.
The first step in designing a satellite network is to perform a satellite link budget analysis in any Satellite network and constellation. The calculation of the received power is a set of complicated processes that no everyone could find the right answer, therefore, a specialist is called to manage this complex task involving a complex excel sheet.
Integrasys have been working on a new product that simplifies satellite connectivity, whether is a traditional GEO, HTS, MEO or latest LEOs. Now, everybody in the satellite industry can calculate the link budget margin with just using Beam Budget.
Not only capacity engineers are capable to make this calculation for the quotes. This way of calculating all the gains and losses between transmitters and receivers in satellite communications have significantly changed.
Then, you would ask, what is Beam Budget? It is a web-based, easy to use; the simplest for quick and accurate link budget calculations. This software solves thousands of link budget calculations in a few seconds.
In terms of user experience, this tool has a user-friendly interface with the ability to generate incredible graphics and charts along with the most relevant conclusions. This data is easy to understand for the entire network, including all profits and losses. In this way, sales representatives have the possibility to provide a correct offer in a very short period time, doing the link budget themselves.
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. With the link budget tool, the only requirement is to fill a few inputs, after that, you select the service area and BeamBudget does 1000s of link budgets in few seconds over the selected area and provides you with a very complete result with the most important outputs in a simple executive summary. Optimizing time ensuring accurate calculations is relevant to everybody.
On the one hand, signal degradation is not allowed in this industry, no selecting the wrong satellite or transponder. On the other hand, completing link budgets correctly and accurately with the correct tool maximizes revenue and available user capacity. As a result, customer experience will increase exponentially and service reliability will increase much more, allowing a major number of businesses.
Beam Budget provides users with charts and maps that help them quickly and easily visualize the relevant results of the link transmission speed and margins, as well as bandwidth and power to use for the desired availability.
In most cases, this work requires at least 70 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. However, Beam Budget requires less than half of them for the same accuracy.
The goal of 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 when the functionalities of different tools can be brought together in a single web-based app.
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View a video on Link Budget Basics at: |
Each input needs its own elaboration separately, for both the uplink and downlink frequencies. With the tool, the company wanted to introduce a tool that could provide highly accurate results with fewer inputs. This tool can provide more than 2500 link budget calculations with 200 results from just 45 inputs. Moreover, Integrasys has developed a new full-duplex function in which performs calculations from the HUB to the VSAT and the VSAT to the HUB, and the latest option to a regional network link budget.
The software is available for every frequency band and 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 for perpetual use.
For a commercial visit to any customer, the link budget is really important for the purchase and sale satellite capacity. These calculations allow satellite operators to confidently establish new satellite networks to ensure the best performance for a client network. Established networks use link budgets to calculate and demonstrate the capabilities of potential customers, as well as satellite users need these tools to ensure the service, selecting is the right choice.
If link budgets cannot be completed quickly enough, this could result in lost opportunities and costly expenses. Similarly, if a customer comes on board without an accurate calculation, they may quickly take their business elsewhere if the result does not match the expectations.
Quick and accurate link budget calculations are essential, making this tool accessible to anyone within an organization, as well as facilitating stakeholder understanding with the executive summary report.
As a conclusion, Integrasys delivers disruptive technologies to simplify the satcom industry, bringing the satellite to the people, facilitating operations, increasing revenues, saving up operational expenses and ensuring the maximum performance of the networks. Beam Budget is the finest solution for calculating link budgets easily, accurately and obtaining a considerable return on investment. Now, link budgets are more accurate and easier than ever.
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Alvaro Sanchez is the CEO of Integrasysand Marquess of Antella (Noble Title from 17th century in Spain). Alvaro is a Software and Industrial engineer by European University and holds a Master Degree in Management, Sales & Marketing by ESIC Business School. Alvaro during the last 10 years has worked at Integrasys as Management, Sales Director and Executive roles were he was very successful growing the sales, revenue, profit and responsibilities within the company; and previous to that he was working at CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research as a RF Engineer measuring timing in a Nanosecond Synchronization for measuring the Neutrino Speed. The Noble Title that he hosts, is coming in his heritage from 1649 from his ancestor Nicolo Palavicino, given by Phillip IV in Sicily for the Antella region near Florence. He can be reached at alvaro.sanchez@integrasys-sa.com
