I have picked the title but don't know which direction to take it. Looking for any and all inspiration. I took the project as it sounded interesting when reading into it, but I'm a satellite novice, and my degree is in electronics.
1 Comment
Hi Lewis,
You have chosen indeed a fascinating endeavor that combines elements of electronics and telecommunications. I can provide inspiration to your ideas by sharing some ideas and examples to get you started. My favorite and foremost simple project to start with calculating link budgets by considering parameters like satellite transmit power, antenna gains, path loss,etc to understand the system's performance. Here are some code snippets that I would like to share with you. So, I wrote script which allows for a comprehensive understanding of simulating multihop communication links and analyzing line-of-sight access in Matlab. Here is detailed explanation of code snippet example,
Define Ground Station Positions:
ground_station_positions = [150, 60; 120, 80; 90, 100];
% Example ground station positions [x, y]
Visualize Multihop Communication Links in 3D:
figure;
hold on;
scatter3(satellite_position(1), satellite_position(2), 0, 'ro', 'filled', 'DisplayName', 'Satellite');
scatter3(mobile_platform_position(1), mobile_platform_position(2), 0, 'bo', 'filled', 'DisplayName', 'Mobile Platform');
scatter3(ground_station_positions(:, 1), ground_station_positions(:,
2), zeros(size(ground_station_positions, 1), 1), 'gx', 'filled',
'DisplayName', 'Ground Stations');
for i = 1:size(ground_station_positions, 1)
plot3([satellite_position(1), ground_station_positions(i, 1)],
[satellite_position(2), ground_station_positions(i, 2)], [0, 0], 'b--
');
plot3([ground_station_positions(i, 1),
mobile_platform_position(1)], [ground_station_positions(i, 2),
mobile_platform_position(2)], [0, 0], 'g--');
end
legend;
xlabel('X');
ylabel('Y');
zlabel('Z');
title('Multihop Communication Links Simulation');
grid on;
hold off;
Analyze Line-of-Sight Access with 2D Plots
figure;
hold on;
plot([satellite_position(1), mobile_platform_position(1)],
[satellite_position(2), mobile_platform_position(2)], 'b-',
'LineWidth', 2);
if distance > max_line_of_sight_distance
plot([satellite_position(1), mobile_platform_position(1)],
[satellite_position(2), mobile_platform_position(2)], 'r--',
'LineWidth', 2);
end
scatter(satellite_position(1), satellite_position(2), 'ro', 'filled',
'DisplayName', 'Satellite');
scatter(mobile_platform_position(1), mobile_platform_position(2),
'bo', 'filled', 'DisplayName', 'Mobile Platform');
legend;
xlabel('X');
ylabel('Y');
title('Line-of-Sight Access Analysis');
grid on;
hold off;
Line-of-Sight Access Confirmation: Line-of-sight access is available based on the provided information in the code snippet. Further analysis can be conducted based on specific requirements or constraints.
So, in the above code snippet, I first define the positions of the satellite and mobile platform, calculate the distance between them and check for line-of-sight access based on a predefined maximum distance, then simulate multihop communication links between ground stations and visualize them in 3D. Additionally, analyze line-of-sight access with a 2D plot to distinguish between available and blocked access scenarios.Feel free to run this code snippet in your matlab to get an idea.
I will also suggest studying real-world satellite missions and their communication protocols to gain insights into practical applications. Analyze case studies of satellite constellations like GPS, Iridium, or Starlink to understand the challenges and solutions in satellite communication. By incorporating these ideas and examples into your undergraduate project on satellite communication simulation, you can delve into the intricacies of satellite technology while leveraging MATLAB's capabilities for advanced modeling and analysis. Remember to document your progress, seek guidance from experts in the field, and enjoy the journey of exploring the vast realm of satellite communications. Good luck with your project!