Preliminary Analysis of a Proposed High-Stability Frequency Standard Distribution System

A system for distributing a frequency reference, which involves the use of geostationary satellites and two-way microwave transmissions, seems capable of stabilities exceeding those of primary atomic standards. The principal sources of error are instabilities in oscillators in the system, imperfect geostationary orbits, additive noise, and radio propagation effects. Even extreme assumptions of propagation phase instability lead to very small errors. Thus the limitations on stability seem to be imposed by the hardware.