SAW based systems for mobile communications satellites

Modern mobile communications satellites, such as INMARSAT 3, EMS, and ARTEMIS, use advanced onboard processing to make efficient use of the available L-band spectrum. In all of these cases, high performance surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are used. SAW filters can provide high selectivity (100-200 kHz transition widths), combined with flat amplitude and linear phase characteristics; their simple construction and radiation hardness also makes them especially suitable for space applications. An overview of the architectures used in the above systems, describing the technologies employed, and the use of bandwidth switchable SAW filtering (BSSF) is given. The tradeoffs to be considered when specifying a SAW based system are analyzed, using both theoretical and experimental data. Empirical rules for estimating SAW filter performance are given. Achievable performance is illustrated using data from the INMARSAT 3 engineering model (EM) processors.