Ku-band Time-Delayed Diversity/Satellite Diversity (TDD/Sat. D) system for improving link availability using lune-Q antenna

This paper deals with the Ku-band Time-Delayed Diversity/Satellite Diversity (TDD/Sat. D) system, which is combination of a TDD system and a Sat. D system to overcome heavy rain attenuation in the Ku-band Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) systems. To optimize the construction of the TDD/Sat. D system, the Lune-Q antenna is introduced due to its optimum multi-satellite reception characteristics. To verify the characteristics of the TDD/Sat. D system, propagation experiments are carried out between Yokohama and Sapporo earth-stations. The rain attenuation data measured between April and November 2007 are processed for assess the TDD/Sat. D system characteristic. From the calculated results, it can be clarified that by using the TDD/Sat. D system, the satellite link unavailability time percentage can be improved by approximately 1/10 with a delay time T=10∼20 minutes.