When used for communications, a satellite acts as a repeater. Its height above the Earth means that signals can be transmitted over distances that are very much greater than the line of sight. An earth station transmits the signal up to the satellite. This is called the up-link and is transmitted on one frequency. The satellite receives the signal and re-transmits it on what is termed the down link which is on another frequency.
Using a Satellite for Long distance communications
The circuitry in the satellite that acts as the receiver, frequency changer, and transmitter is called a transponder. This basically consists of a low noise amplifier, a frequency changer consisting a mixer and local oscillator, and then a high power amplifier. The filter on the input is used to make sure that any out of band signals such as the transponder output are reduced to acceptable levels so that the amplifier is not overloaded. Similarly the output from the amplifiers is filtered to make sure that spurious signals are reduced to acceptable levels.
The signal is received and amplified to a suitable level. It is then applied to the mixer to change the frequency in the same way that occurs in a super-heterodyne radio receiver. As a result the communications satellite receives in one band of frequencies and transmits in another.
In view of the fact that the receiver and transmitter are operating at the same time and in close proximity, care has to be taken in the design of the satellite that the transmitter does not interfere with the receiver. This might result from spurious signals arising from the transmitter, or the receiver may become de-sensitized by the strong signal being received from the transmitter. The filters already mentioned are used to reduce these effects.
Block diagram of a basic satellite transponder
Signals transmitted to satellites usually consist of a large number of signals multiplexed onto a main transmission. In this way one transmission from the ground can carry a large number of telephone circuits or even a number of television signals. This approach is operationally far more effective than having a large number of individual transmitters.
Obviously one satellite will be unable to carry all the traffic across the Atlantic. Further capacity can be achieved using several satellites on different bands, or by physically separating them apart from one another. In this way the beam width of the antenna can be used to distinguish between different satellites. Normally antennas with very high gains are used, and these have very narrow beam widths, allowing satellites to be separated by just a few degrees.
Separating satellites by position
Telecommunications 