Transmitter model for the design of communication satellites

The paper proposes a modeling approach for satellite communication systems able to relate analytically the on-board transmitter reliability to the effective isotropic radiated-power (EIRP) requirement. The latter, in fact, plays a key role in system design, yielding a direct impact on transmitter configuration and technological features. In addition, that requirement is directly related to the antenna characteristics and, hence, to the critical compromise between transmitter and antenna specifications. In this frame, the proposed model, which is based on an innovative design-oriented approach, is able to relate the antenna complexity to the transmitter reliability and, therefore, to the overall system reliability. The potential of the proposed approach is pointed our through the description of the analytical model and the achieved results.