TDMA communication experiments via the CS - Advanced experimental results

Results of TDMA communication experiments via the CS are presented, and a study of the more detailed satellite link performances such as transponder nonlinearity and signal level variations due to spin modulation is reported. The usefulness of the initial acquisition method which employs range data estimated using satellite orbit data or obtained via the ranging unit of the TDMA system is shown. Site-diversity switching at the transmitting side is shown to improve the link availability for rainfall attenuation. In order to investigate the TDMA system performance in field operation, experiments were carried out on communication between two earth stations, on link performance in rainfall, and on BER performance under sun interference conditions, and the results are reported.