Moment based performance evaluation of low Earth orbit satellite

Using the moment technique, the approximated performance of a low Earth orbit satellite communication system is presented. Since the nonlinearity of a TWTA and fading factor are the main degradation factors in mobile satellite communication, emphasis is given to verify these effects. The fading channel is modeled as a non-frequency selective fading model combining lognormal and Rician statistical properties. Results show the combined effects of different elevation angles and fading. When the line of sight component of the received signal is weaker, the performance is greatly affected by the fading factor.