Mm-wave Satellite Communications Workshop

10:00 Arrival, tea and coffee

10:15 Welcome
Professor George Goussetis
Chair in Microwave and Antenna Engineering
Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems
Heriot-Watt University
Professor Stephen McLaughlin,
Head of School of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Heriot-Watt University

10.45 Propagation issues in Fixed SatCom Systems
Dr. Carlo Riva
Associate Professor of Electromagnetics
Principal Investigator of the Italian Space Agency for the Alphasat ‘Aldo
Paraboni’ Q/V Band propagation experiment
Polytechnic University of Milano
Abstract:
The talk will present the main aspects and issues of the propagation of microwave satellite radio link
through the troposphere highlighting the necessity for propagation measurement campaigns and
propagation modelling activity. The constituents (oxygen, water vapor, hydrometers and turbulence)
more affecting the signal at satellite frequencies at Ka band an above, will be described in terms of
attenuation (absorption and scattering), depolarization, scintillation and of their space and time
variability. The statistics that can be derived from a complete propagation measurement campaign will be
presented and commented. The new Alphasat SCIEX (propagation) experiment will be depicted. The main
ITU-R propagation models will be shortly described together with their climatological input.
Bio: Dr. Carlo G. Riva received the Laurea Degree in Electronic Engineering (cum laude) and the PhD
degree in Electronic and Communication Engineering, from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, in 1990 and
1995, respectively.
In 1999, he joined the Electronics and Information Science Department, Politecnico di Milano, where,
since 2006, he has been an Associate Professor of electromagnetic fields.
Since 1992, he participated in the Olympus, Italsat and Alphasat ‘Aldo Paraboni’ propagation
measurement campaigns, in the COST255, COST280 and COSTIC0802 international projects on
propagation and telecommunications and in the Satellite Communications Network of Excellence
(SatNEx). In 2010, he has been Director of the 49° Course “Radiowave Propagation” in the frame of the
‘International School of Quantum Electronics’ at Erice. In 2011 he is has been nominated to the Steering
Committee of ESA’s Network of Experts as Italian Representative. In 2012 he has been
appointed Principal Investigator by the Italian Space Agency for the Alphasat Aldo Paraboni propagation
experiment. In 2015 he has been nominated Technical Programme Committee Co-Chair of the European
Conference on Antennas and Propagation 2016 (EuCAP2016). Since 2015 he is Chairman of Working
Party 3J (‘Propagation Fundamentals’) of the ITU-R Study Group 3.
He is the author of more than 150 papers published in international journals or international conference
proceedings. His main research activities are in the fields of atmospheric propagation of millimeterwaves,
propagation impairment mitigation techniques, and satellite communication adaptive systems.

11.30 Questions and discussion

11.45 Propagation Terminal Design and Measurements
Dr. James Nessel
NASA Glenn Research Center, Antenna and Optical Systems Branch, Cleveland
Abstract:
The primary means in which we obtain information on the effects of the atmospheric channel on satellite
communications links is via the use of a geostationary continuous wave beacon signal whose power level
is continuously monitored by a beacon receiver (propagation terminal). The NASA propagation terminal
has been designed and developed by the Glenn Research Center and is presently deployed at over 7
NASA and partner ground stations worldwide collecting information on the effects of the atmosphere on
Ka-band and millimeter wave communications links. This lecture provides an overview of the system
design and requirements for the measurement of atmospheric propagation effects and, specifically, the
types of hardware and digital signal processing techniques employed by current state-of-the-art
propagation terminal systems.
Bio: Dr. James Nessel is an Electronics Engineer in the Advanced High Frequency Branch at
the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH. He is the Principal Investigator for
NASA's Propagation Studies efforts, leading the design and development of propagation
terminals in support of the characterization of atmospheric effects on satellite communications
frequencies at NASA ground stations around the world. Dr. Nessel earned his Bachelor of
Science and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University in 2002
and 2004, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Akron in
2015. He has over 50 publications in journal and conference proceedings and is a US delegate to
the International Telecommunications Union - Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Study
Group 3 on Radiowave Propagation, where is the table keeper for atmospheric phase scintillation
measurements.

12:30 Questions and discussion

12:45 End of the event