It is a critical national security issue to ensure optimum performance for SATCOM Systems. RF interference represents the single largest impact to robust satellite operations performance. Interference issues result in significant vulnerability for military operators in terms of situational awareness and asset control, as well as sunk costs for the contracted satellite operator when the signal is interrupted. Additional time, manpower and costs are also encountered to debug and repair communications problems. Various types of interference impact satellite communications. These include the following:
- User error due to poorly aligned antennas and improper mating of connections
- Adjacent frequency emissions from other signals with significantly higher power levels. This includes FM radio harmonics, 5G cellular and other broadcast signals
- Adjacent satellite interference
- Equipment failure
- Radar signal quality
- Aircraft altimeter signals
- Unauthorized transmissions (piracy) and intentional jammers
- Radiation leakage at the satellite earth station
Additionally, the federal government’s growing demand and requirement for incorporation of 5G systems and solutions, across all aspects of the DoD environment, demand accurate and robust performance with virtually zero tolerance for down time or failure.
Anritsu offers a large portfolio of solutions for satellite operators to mitigate interference problems. These products are designed for both long-term spectrum monitoring as well as for addressing issues generated by equipment upgrades and interference from RF services operating in spectrum adjacent to satellite frequencies. Specific Anritsu products related to Satellite Communications systems include:
