Transparent Repeater vs Regenerative Repeater | difference between Transparent Repeater and Regenerative Repeater

This page compares Transparent Repeater vs Regenerative Repeater and mentions difference between Transparent Repeater and Regenerative Repeater used in satellite.

Introduction:
The Satellite payload can be divided into two major parts viz. antennas and repeater. The repeater is categorized into Transparent Repeater and Regenerative Repeater.

Transparent Repeater

Transparent Repeater

• The figure-1 depicts block diagram of a single frequency conversion transparent repeater.
• It is also known as bent pipe because it captures the signal from the earth and re-directs it back to the earth without demodulating it.
• Before retransmission however, the received uplink signal is frequency converted to the downlink frequency, amplified and filtered.
• Other operations may also be applied to the signal.

Regenerative Repeater

Regenerative Repeater

• The figure-2 depicts block diagram of Regenerative Repeater.
• A regenerative repeater is known as on-board processing repeater.
• It consists of one or more uplink antennas, downlink antennas, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), frequency converters and high power amplifiers (PAs) like transparent repeater.
• It demodulates received uplink RF signal to recover the baseband signal and later re-modulates the baseband signal to produce the downlink RF signal unlike transparent repeater
• This allows onboard processing based on different applications and switching in the baseband.
• Isolation between the uplink and downlink signals is accomplished by re-modulation of the baseband signal at a different frequency rather than by frequency conversion.

Following are the major difference between Transparent Repeater and regenerative repeater.
➨Regenerative repeaters offer better performance compare to transparent repeaters. This is due to the fact that the degradation in the uplink signal is not re-transmitted back in the downlink signal.
➨Regenerative repeaters are less flexible compare to transparent repeaters as they can handle predetermined data formats. Transparent repeater does not bother the type of RF signal is being transported.
➨Regenerative repeaters are more complex and costly compare to Transparent Repeater.
➨Regenerative repeaters require more electrical power to operate compare to Transparent Repeater.


Satellite related links

To know more about satellite go through following mentioned links:
Satellite tutorial   what is a satellite   Satellite frequency bands of operation   Parts of a satellite   Satellite Orbits   Satellite Services   Satellite types   Satellite Capacity Allocation   Satellite Network Configuration   Satellite Applications   Satellite Terminology  Satellite Applications   Satellite Launch Procedure   Remote sensing satellites   Satellite TTC   Satellite Launch Service Providers   Satellite Parts Manufacturers  

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