The feasibility of employing frequencies between 20 and 300 GHz for earth-statellite communications links

This report develops a model for estimating in a new way the statistical distributions of signal attenuation, sky noise temperature, and total atmospheric-induced degradation in millimeter-wave link performance resulting from the presence of humidity, clouds, and rain in the atmosphere. The statistical distribution of system outages is then found for certain hypothetical communications links using six frequencies and four elevation angles. To illustrate the compatibility of the communications equipment with small, mobile-user platforms, pointing and tracking, weight and power, radome considerations, and antenna options are treated. It is conculded that generally acceptable performance in the millimeter-wave frequency region can be obtained both for small, mobile users and for wide-band data relay users.