Ka-to-W Band EM Wave Propagation: Tropospheric Effects and Countermeasures

Near future satellite and terrestrial telecommunication (TLC) systems are expected to benefit from the use of operational frequencies spanning the Ka, Q, V and W bands, the main advantages being the availability of larger bandwidths and the smaller antenna size for a given gain. Moreover, the possibility of using on‐board antennas with enhanced directivity is attractive for satellite systems whose coverage area is subdivided into spot beams for frequency reallocation or regional services. For example, the W band is attractive for fixed satellite services (FSS), especially for geostationary high‐throughput systems (HTSs), in which the use of such frequencies for the feeder link (i.e. large available bandwidth) could reduce significantly the number of gateways with respect to Ka and Q/V bands. As for deep space missions, the main driver for the interest in using frequencies in the Ka to W bands is the possible increase in the on‐board antenna gain with respect to the values at X band considered for current or planned missions. The drawback of using electromagnetic waves at frequencies in Ka, Q, V and W bands is the definite impact of the impairments caused by the troposphere. As a consequence, the design of TLC systems at such frequencies, and in particular satellite‐based ones, cannot rely on the classical approach of simply assigning an extra power margin to counteract atmospheric fades. The extensive use of fade mitigation techniques (FMTs), such as link power control (LPC), site diversity or on‐board adaptive power allocation, from the propagation side, adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) and data rate adaptation (DRA), from the telecommunication side, is mandatory. A reduction of the quality of service (QoS) should also be considered. This chapter deals with all these aspects characterizing the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the Ka, Q, V and W bands, spanning from the main impairments induced by the troposphere (and how they change as the frequency increases), to how extreme atmospheric conditions can be handled making use of suitable FMTs

Effectiveness of multisite diversity schemes to support optical systems in scientific missions

This contribution investigates the effectiveness of optical communication links in enabling high-speed data transfer from deep-space (DS) probes directly to Earth ground stations. In particular, the propagation impairments induced by clouds are estimated by exploiting long-term radiosonde observation data collected in some European sites. The impact of different cloud types on optical links operating at 1.55 μm is first quantified in terms of total path attenuation, and afterward, the implementation of multisite diversity schemes is discussed to counteract the extremely high attenuation levels caused by clouds. Results show that a three-site diversity system with target availability of 90% allows reduction of the link margin to counteract cloud attenuation from at least 40 dB to ∼6  dB, which makes optical communications a viable option also for DS mission

Combined effect of turbulence and aerosol on free-space optical links

[EN] Despite the benefits of free-space optical (FSO) communications, their full utilization is limited by the influence of atmospheric weather conditions, such as fog, turbulence, smoke, snow, etc. In urban environments, additional environmental factors such as smog and dust particles due to air pollution caused by industry and motor vehicles may affect FSO link performance, which has not been investigated in detail yet. Both smog and dust particles cause absorption and scattering of the propagating optical signal, thus resulting in high attenuation. This work investigates the joint impact of atmospheric turbulence and dust particle-imposed scattering on FSO link performance as part of the last-mile access network in urban areas. Propagation of an optical wave is at first analyzed based on the microphysic approach, and the extinction caused by small particles is determined. An experimental measurement campaign using a dedicated test chamber is carried out to assess FSO link performance operating wavelengths of 670 nm and 830 nm and under dust and turbulent conditions. The measured attenuation and the 𝑄Q factor in terms of the velocity of particle flow and turbulence strength are analyzed. We show that for an airflow of 2 m/s, the 𝑄Q factor is almost 3.5 higher at the wavelength of 830 nm than at 670 nm. However, for a wavelength of 670 nm, the FSO link is less affected by the increase in airflow compared to 830 nm. The 𝑄 factor reduces with turbulence. Under similar turbulence conditions, for ash particles, the 𝑄Q factor is higher than that of sand particles.European Social Fund (ESF) (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0034); Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) (JCI-2012-14805); European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) (IC 1101); Ceske Vysoke Uceni Technicke v Praze (CVUT) (SGS14/190/OHK3/3T/13).Libich, J.; Perez, J.; Zvanovec, S.; Ghassemlooy, Z.; Nebuloni, R.; Capsoni, C. (2017). Combined effect of turbulence and aerosol on free-space optical links. Applied Optics. 56(2):336-341. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.56.000336S336341562Khalighi, M. A., & Uysal, M. (2014). Survey on Free Space Optical Communication: A Communication Theory Perspective. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 16(4), 2231-2258. doi:10.1109/comst.2014.2329501Wang, C.-X., Haider, F., Gao, X., You, X.-H., Yang, Y., Yuan, D., … Hepsaydir, E. (2014). Cellular architecture and key technologies for 5G wireless communication networks. IEEE Communications Magazine, 52(2), 122-130. doi:10.1109/mcom.2014.6736752Parca, G. (2013). Optical wireless transmission at 1.6-Tbit/s (16×100  Gbit/s) for next-generation convergent urban infrastructures. Optical Engineering, 52(11), 116102. doi:10.1117/1.oe.52.11.116102Kedar, D., & Arnon, S. (2004). Urban optical wireless communication networks: the main challenges and possible solutions. IEEE Communications Magazine, 42(5), S2-S7. doi:10.1109/mcom.2004.1299334Awan, M. S., Horwath, L. C., Muhammad, S. S., Leitgeb, E., Nadeem, F., & Khan, M. S. (2009). Characterization of Fog and Snow Attenuations for Free-Space Optical Propagation. Journal of Communications, 4(8). doi:10.4304/jcm.4.8.533-545Nauerth, S., Moll, F., Rau, M., Fuchs, C., Horwath, J., Frick, S., & Weinfurter, H. (2013). Air-to-ground quantum communication. Nature Photonics, 7(5), 382-386. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2013.46Perez, J., Zvanovec, S., Ghassemlooy, Z., & Popoola, W. O. (2014). Experimental characterization and mitigation of turbulence induced signal fades within an ad hoc FSO network. Optics Express, 22(3), 3208. doi:10.1364/oe.22.003208Kim, I. I., McArthur, B., & Korevaar, E. J. (2001). Comparison of laser beam propagation at 785 nm and 1550 nm in fog and haze for optical wireless communications. Optical Wireless Communications III. doi:10.1117/12.417512Rekab-Eslami, M., Esmaeili, M., & Aaron Gulliver, T. (2017). Generic Linear Network Code Construction Using Transversal Matroids. IEEE Communications Letters, 21(3), 448-451. doi:10.1109/lcomm.2016.2619706Corrsin, S. (1951). On the Spectrum of Isotropic Temperature Fluctuations in an Isotropic Turbulence. Journal of Applied Physics, 22(4), 469-473. doi:10.1063/1.1699986Ghassemlooy, Z., Le Minh, H., Rajbhandari, S., Perez, J., & Ijaz, M. (2012). Performance Analysis of Ethernet/Fast-Ethernet Free Space Optical Communications in a Controlled Weak Turbulence Condition. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 30(13), 2188-2194. doi:10.1109/jlt.2012.2194271Clifford, S. F., Ochs, G. R., & Lawrence, R. S. (1974). Saturation of optical scintillation by strong turbulence*. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 64(2), 148. doi:10.1364/josa.64.00014

OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF FLEXIBILITY SERVICES IN LV DISTRIBUTION GRIDS

With the increase of intermittent and not programmable generation from clean resources and of new demand tech-nologies characterized by high coincident peaks (like heat pumps, induction cookers, etc.) the management of avail-able flexibility in distribution grids to provide network ser-vices has become very important. The paper proposes an optimization model to manage the flexibility in the LV net-work to both solve local network problems and aggregate the available flexibility for use at higher levels while sat-isfying LV network constraints. The model is a tool for the LV DSOs to optimally manage the flexibilities and its fea-tures are illustrated on the IEEE 123 test feeder

Istical Characterization of Aerosols' Liquid Water Content and Visibility for Terrestrial FSO Links

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Designing the Future: An Intelligent System for Zero-Mile Food Production by Upcycling Wastewater

The project deals with the environmental problem of water consumption. The aim of this work is to experiment the recycling of dishwasher wastewater through its reuse in growing edible vegetables or ornamental plants; this can also accomplish the valorization of nutrients present in the wastewater. This new process allows to ensure washing functions coupled with vegetables production and to affect users’ environmental awareness and habits, following a user-centered system design approach to understand the users and involve them actively in the system development. The presented work is also aimed to experiment a multidisciplinary approach in order to face environmental problems