SYNCHRONIZING TO A SWITCHING SATELLITE USING NONCOHERENT FSK SYNC BURSTS.

A method of synchronizing an earth station to the switching sequence of this satellite using noncoherent FSK sync bursts is described. The sync bursts are transmitted from the earth station and travel to the satellite where sync window modulation occurs. These sync window modulated sync bursts then are returned to the earth station where timing information is deduced based on error detection characteristics. Analysis shows that indeed accurate synchronization is possible and that FSK sync bursts exhibit a wide capture range. A simulation is performed to provide estimates of average timing error and rms timing error.