Nowadays, the future satellite systems for telecommunications are designed to provide multimedia services similar to those offered by terrestrial infrastructures. The main objective in the design of such services is to provide a solution allowing the maximum data rate. This way, the authors propose a new tool, the MALTE package, to analyze accurately link budgets for new satellites operating in the Ka-Band (30 GHz/20 GHz) allocated for the Fixed Services. The use of this frequency band implies that new problems have to be understood and new challenges overcome: propagation phenomena affect more strongly the transmitted signals, and new technologies have to be developed. Moreover, in order to ensure a high capacity and availability of the transmission links, adaptive modulations and codes are used. In part 1, the paper recalls the classical method for link budget computation. In part 2, new systems based on adaptivity are shown. Finally, the last past introduces a new method based on a statistical approach in order to estimate accurately the spatial and temporal availability of the RF links.

Satellites are increasingly used for global communications, as well as for radio and television transmissions. With the growth of mobile communications, and of digital technology, the use of satellite systems is set to expand substantially and already all students of electronics or communications engineering must study the subject. This book steers a middle path between offering a basic understanding of the process of communication by satellite and the methodology used; and the extensive mathematical analysis normally adopted in similar texts. It presents the basic concepts, using as much mathematical content as is necessary to make the process understandable. The principles introduced are backed up by examples of actual applications showing how professional systems engineers have achieved the required system performance capabilities. The practical systems chosen are representative of modern day applications and comprise an international communications system, an international maritime system and a regional system.

Deals with the physics and geometry of the geostationary orbit, and the construction and operation of satellites and launch vehicles. Gives a thorough analysis of essential factors governing the quality of speech, data, and television signals received via satellite. Particular attention is paid to the use of satellites for maritime, aeronautical and land-mobile communications and VSATs (very-small aperture terminals). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This is a satellite communications primer.

Mobile satellite services are set to change with the imminent launch of satellite personal communication services (S-PCS), through the use of non-geostationary satellites. This new generation of satellites will be placed in low earth orbit or medium earth orbit, hence, introducing new satellite design concepts. One of the first texts to cover this rapidly evolving field, this text provides the reader with an overview of mobile satellite systems, from their initial introduction (Inmarsat), current satellite-PCS (referring to such systems as Globalstar), through to Satellite-UMTS and an understanding of the following: * The design concepts associated with non-geostationary satellite systems (constellation, link budgets, Doppler) * The concepts of UMTS (network architecture, aims, in the context of IMT-2000) and the role foreseen for the satellite component (complementary to terrestrial network, network extension, global availability) * Inter-working between satellite and terrestrial networks (network architecture, ATM Adaptation Layer) * Radio interface technologies (WB-CDMA, TDMA, transmission environment) * Regulatory issues * Future services and applications * Potential satellite markets (prediction techniques, effect of tariffing policies on potential market) With leading edge information, this valuable resource will be indispensable to researchers, engineers, operators and market evaluators in satellite service industries and research institutions, as well as postgraduates and research students in the field.