A major challenge
for earth station designers is to distribute system gain such that no
component overloads the component that follows it. Third order
intermodulation intercept calculations are standard ways of evaluating the
input and output levels to be maintained to avoid generating excessive
intermodulation noise.
AuraGateway calculates the third order intermodulation levels
at each device in both the uplink and downlink electronics chains, comparing them to the published limits for
that device, and alerting the user if a breach has been detected. This is
done for both the uplink and the downlink chain.
By incorporating the characteristics of
specific items of equipment, these chain calculations provide a vehicle
for evaluating system performance based on specific items of hardware.
Within the AuraGateway program, the Earth Station Intermodulation Module
aggregates all of the Earth Station electronic equipment into a separate
database from the antennas, with passive and active elements being
distinctly tagged as such.
