Satellite payload architectures for wideband communications systems

Future communications satellites will employ broadband communications techniques. In order to provide for a planning of their development and conceptual design, various satellite payload architectures need to be investigated. Of particular interest, the architectures discussed in this paper include no-processing, partial-processing, and full-processing satellite payloads. Functional characteristics and features associated with each of these architectures are described in detail. Typical link budget calculations are presented for comparison. In addition, this paper presents a brief discussion on the issue of implementing the onboard channelization and switching circuitry, comparing the use of analog and digital components.