Polarization shift keying over satellite - Implementation and demonstration in Ku-band

Polarization Shift Keying is a digital modulation method using the state of polarization of an electromagnetic wave as the signalling quantity. The technique comes from fibre communications, where the channel offers two orthogonal states of polarization. This paper develops on the idea to adapt this technology to satellite communications, where comparable channel conditions exist. For this purpose, a digital Polarization Shift Keying transceiver was implemented on programmable logic. Detection performance of the modem was measured in different set-ups with thermal noise and non-linear distortion and the results compared to simulations. Finally, the implemented system was used to demonstrate a 16-state Polarization Shift Keying link over commercial satellite in Ku-band.