A classical problem for the large domestic satellite system planner is the overall mix of types of earth stations that can be utilized in the 4 and 6 GHz bands. Because of overlapping frequency bands with the common carrier terrestrial microwave plant, earth station placement can be extremely difficult. Thus, the planner is faced with major cost unknowns in deciding how many earth stations will colocate next to existing facilities and how many will need to be placed at a remote location and linked to existing facilities via terrestrial microwave and/or cable.
An attempt to analyze each site on an individual basis results in a large computer printout of each site with multiple potential great circle interference cases and beam intersections. Thus, for a large number of earth station locations, the sheer volume of data becomes overwhelming.
Spectrum Analysis and Frequency Engineering (SAFE) has defined and successfully used a Figure-of-Merit to solve this problem. This paper is an in-depth discussion of the Figure-of- Merit approach.