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RKF provides beam forming and beam laydown solutions for fixed and mobile satellite and terrestrial applications. Utilizing several patent pending approaches RKF can improve the capacity, coverage, and performance of spot or shaped beam satellite systems. RKF’s suite of software tools and applications accept a combination of business and technical requirements to optimize existing satellite communication networks or optimize the design of future systems. Companies such as DirecTV and TerreStar have used RKFs services to maximize capacity, and performance of their respected networks.
For ground or space based beamforming networks actual beam coefficients are optimized to maximize capacity, and performance while meeting regulatory constraints. Coefficients are generated either for shaped or spot beam usage and can be generated taking into consideration:
- Hard regulatory limits (such as not to exceed levels)
- System design consideration such as the power amplifier limitations and unique antenna characteristics
- Performance metrics such as maximized SNR or target SNR
- Variable target performance across service area
- All beams simultaneously in a joint optimization (e.g. sum of all sidelobes must not exceed…)
- Joint optimization of coefficients and frequency and channel plans
With these advance approaches, RKF can dramatically improve the capacity and performance of fixed and shaped beam networks.
RKF software performs joint optimizations of beamforming coefficients, beam locations/coverage, channel/frequency plans while at the same time meeting regulatory constraints. For example optimizations be constrained by localized PFD limits on the ground taking into consideration frequency plans and beam shapes. A summary of joint optimization capability is provided in the table shown below.
| Joint Optimization of Coverage, Frequency and Channel Plans |
| Optimization Metrics |
Optimized Parameters
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Constraints/ Flexibility |
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Capacity
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Beam Locations |
Candidate antenna architecture(s) |
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Performance:
G/T, EIRP, C/I… |
Beam shape (for beam formed systems)
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ITU/FCC Rules |
| Coverage: Population, Average income, Targeted market areas… |
Beam Size |
Business Objectives |
| Flexibility: Failure backup, market backup |
Feed Locations |
Interference/Capacity thresholds
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| Combined resource and beam shape optimization |
Frequency Plans |
Spacecraft constraints:
RF path (PA,MPA, Switches…)
Antenna (gimbal limits, feed spacing, dish size..),
Signal distortions
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Channel Allocations |
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Number of Apertures/Size of Aperture(s)
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RKF used these software tools optimize beam locations, channel plans, frequency plans, coding for nearly one hundred spot beams two satellites and a ground spare for DirecTV 10 and 11. These satellites are presently in orbit delivering high definition television service to more than a hundred markets across the United States.
For TerreStar, RKF software optimizes beam coefficients while simultaneously optimizing resource and channel and frequency plans. In the first quarter of 2010 Terrestar will use RKF software to provide mobile telephony over the satellite throughout North America.
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