With sum throughputs exceeding 1 Tbit/s, next-generation high throughput satellites will play a key role in integrated satellite-terrestrial 5G networks for applications including backhauling or broadband internet access in rural areas, planes and vessels. Such satellites require the deployment of tens of Ka- and/or Q/V-band feeder links to provide enough uplink bandwidth. Meanwhile, geographical restrictions as well as cost and quality-of-service considerations significantly constrain the search for gateway deployment sites. Diversity strategies are also necessary to cope with strong rain fades. In this thesis, multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) feeder links are proposed to address these challenges. Using two active gateway antennas per feeder link, a MIMO-based solution enables to support twice the data traffic per feeder link compared to the state-of-the-art. The optimization of the backbone network design and the interference isolation between the different links can easily be achieved thanks to a reduction of the number of gateway sites. Moreover, a better robustness against adverse weather conditions can be guaranteed. On-ground and on-board processing strategies for such MIMO links are introduced to enable the reliable spatial multiplexing of different data streams. Furthermore, advanced smart diversity schemes are presented to guarantee a sufficient system availability. A thorough analysis in terms of achievable uplink carrier to interference plus noise ratio (CINR) emphasizes the advantages of the proposed concept and provides guidelines for an efficient design.    «

With sum throughputs exceeding 1 Tbit/s, next-generation high throughput satellites will play a key role in integrated satellite-terrestrial 5G networks for applications including backhauling or broadband internet access in rural areas, planes and vessels. Such satellites require the deployment of tens of Ka- and/or Q/V-band feeder links to provide enough uplink bandwidth. Meanwhile, geographical restrictions as well as cost and quality-of-service considerations significantly constrain the searc...    »