Multi-Satellite Multi-User MIMO Precoding: Testbed and Field Trial

Precoding for multibeam satellite systems with full frequency reuse in a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) downlink scenario is addressed. A testbed is developed to perform an over-the-air field trial of zero forcing precoding for the spatial multiplexing of two separate video streams over two co-located geostationary satellites. Commercial-off-the-shelf DVB-S2x receivers in two single-antenna user terminals (UTs) are operated to successfully decode two independent video streams. To this end, particular attention is paid to a comprehensive assessment of the practical synchronization tasks of a precoding based MU-MIMO system. In particular, carrier frequency recovery and carrier phase synchronization in the most challenging multi-satellite scenario with different oscillators in the payloads is performed. An estimation method for channel state information (CSI), i.e. the complex channel coefficients, is also proposed and implemented. The successful video transmission finally constitutes the first field trial of MU-MIMO precoding and proves the feasibility of precoding concepts for multibeam satellite systems.