With sum throughputs exceeding 1 Tbit/s, next-generation high throughput satellites will play a key role in integrated satellite-terrestrial 5G networks for applications including backhauling or broadband internet access in rural areas, planes and vessels. Such satellites require the deployment of tens of Ka- and/or Q/V-band feeder links to provide enough uplink bandwidth. Meanwhile, geographical restrictions as well as cost and quality-of-service considerations significantly constrain the search for gateway deployment sites. Diversity strategies are also necessary to cope with strong rain fades. In this thesis, multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) feeder links are proposed to address these challenges. Using two active gateway antennas per feeder link, a MIMO-based solution enables to support twice the data traffic per feeder link compared to the state-of-the-art. The optimization of the backbone network design and the interference isolation between the different links can easily be achieved thanks to a reduction of the number of gateway sites. Moreover, a better robustness against adverse weather conditions can be guaranteed. On-ground and on-board processing strategies for such MIMO links are introduced to enable the reliable spatial multiplexing of different data streams. Furthermore, advanced smart diversity schemes are presented to guarantee a sufficient system availability. A thorough analysis in terms of achievable uplink carrier to interference plus noise ratio (CINR) emphasizes the advantages of the proposed concept and provides guidelines for an efficient design.
«With sum throughputs exceeding 1 Tbit/s, next-generation high throughput satellites will play a key role in integrated satellite-terrestrial 5G networks for applications including backhauling or broadband internet access in rural areas, planes and vessels. Such satellites require the deployment of tens of Ka- and/or Q/V-band feeder links to provide enough uplink bandwidth. Meanwhile, geographical restrictions as well as cost and quality-of-service considerations significantly constrain the searc...
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