Rain attenuation compensation function of WINDS communication systems

WINDS (Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite) is a geostationary Ka-band satellite and capable of providing high speed data satellite link with a small dish antenna at user sites. The Ka-band frequency is severely affected due to rain attenuation, so WINDS adopts a rain attenuation compensation function in both uplink and downlink path between the satellite and ground user terminals. The basic function was confirmed under the statistic conditions by using the attenuator in the ground user terminal and JAXA will conduct the field test to define suitable parameters under the weather conditions actually.