Theoretical and experimental satellite link level characterisation

This is a PhD research project in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. It addresses the end-to-end characterisation of satellite to Earth links in terms of the wireless channel and its atmospheric fading as well as the imperfections of the radio front-end. The research studies will benefit from a receive terminal associated with the ESA ALPHASAT TDP#5 propagation campaign as well as instrumentation in the microwave engineering lab where a mm-wave testbed to assess radio front end performance in the digital domain will be developed. The project is aligned with the latest and foreseen trends in the satellite communications arena as well as the research agenda of the microwave and antenna engineering research group at Heriot-Watt.