AboutMark C J Posen Expertise I am happy to answer questions of a technical and regulatory nature in the area of satellite and radio communications. I am best able to answer questions about systems and technology and less able to respond to questions about specific hardware and equipment setup and installation, but I'm happy to try and address any question put my way.
My main areas of expertise are link analysis (link budgets, performance, Eb/No, capacity), interference analysis (C/I, protection ratios, interference avoidance), spectrum management (frequency coordination, inter-system sharing), Radio Regulation (ITU, ITU-R) and satellite technologies and trends.
Experience I have worked as a satellite communications engineer at a professional level since 1983. Since 1990, as Managing Director of RPC Telecommunications Limited, I have operated a private satellite communications consultancy and have provided technical support to many satellite operators and national governments.
Organizations IET - Institution of Engineering and Technology, IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
Expert: Mark C J Posen Date: 5/24/2008 Subject: Internet access.
Question Between Ku-band and C-band which is better as a backhaul/gateway for Mesh Network.
Answer If the link is engineered properly - i.e. sufficient Eb/No to support the required BER and enough power margin to give the required availability - then there's really no difference between the performance of a C-band or Ku-band backhaul link. The choice of which to use would then depend on other issues such as: availability of C-band or Ku-band coverage (e.g. in Africa there is much more C-band capacity available than Ku-band); available transponder power (C-band transponders are often lower EIRP than Ku-band, so larger earth-station antennas would be necessary); transponder pricing (Ku-band transponders are often more expensive than C-band); amount of transponder power/bandwidth needed to support the link (e.g. higher rain fade at Ku-band implies larger margins so potentially more transponder resource required, and thus more cost); cost and availability of antenna and earth-station equipment; whether size of antenna is an issue. Really it's a case of considering all these options and working out which option, C or Ku, gives you the link performance you want at a price which meets your budget, taking the other factors into account.
