Ground-to-satellite time and frequency synchronization link with active carrier phase compensation

Area of Science:

• Space communication
• Signal processing
• Metrology

Background:

• Establishing stable communication links between ground stations and geostationary satellites is crucial for various applications.
• Signal propagation through space introduces phase fluctuations that degrade link performance.
• Accurate dissemination of frequency standards requires minimizing timing errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a real-time phase compensation synchronization link between a ground station and a geostationary satellite.
• To investigate methods for mitigating phase noise and reducing time jitter in the ground-to-satellite communication channel.
• To assess the potential of the developed system for frequency standard dissemination.

Main Methods:

• A synchronization link was established using a ground station and a geostationary satellite.
• The ground station measured phase delay and actively compensated for fluctuations in retransmitted satellite signals.
• A dual-frequency transmission scheme was employed to eliminate common-mode phase noise, with carrier phase delay differences measured and compensated.

Main Results:

• Real-time phase fluctuation compensation was achieved.
• Different modes of carrier phase variation were separated and compensated.
• A remaining time jitter of ±200 picoseconds was attained.

Conclusions:

• The proposed active compensation method successfully establishes a stable synchronization link between ground and satellite.
• The system demonstrates significant reduction in time jitter, enabling precise signal transmission.
• The developed ground-to-satellite link shows promise for applications in frequency standard dissemination to remote receivers.