Disseny de practiques docents de Telecomunicacio Espacial basades en STK

Abstract

The present TFC englobes a series of practicals that involve STK software. They have been designed as a possible application for the CNS (Communications, Navigation & Surveillance) subject, more specifically for the chapter about Satellite Communications. Firstly, different software that simulate satellite communications is described, along with its functionalities. Most of them are user-friendly and part of the public domain. A comparative analysis of the main attributes of each software – recommended by ITU-R – and of common satellite links models is presented subsequently. Secondly, STK software is described and its main functionalities are enlisted. The main part of this present work is a collection of three practicals of spacial communications subject that involve the previously mentioned software. The first practical is an introduction to this software and uses 3D potential so that students are familiar with typical telecom satellite orbits. Furthermore, the users learn to visualize orbital parameters, 3D moving vectors, effects of parameters on ground track on a 2D window, and the comparison of different orbits for the understanding of their pros and conts. The second and third practicals present typical case studies of this chapter of CNS subject that have been resolved with the communications module of STK Professional. Advantages of different propagation models are analysed, several instrumentation options and the effects of every link parameter are studied as well. Summarizing, these two practicals are tutorials for the simulation and comparison of different satellite links, their coverage, effect of interferences, and different tools for generating reports.