Although low earth orbital (LEO) satellites are the most promising candidates for establishing personal communication networks (PCNs) on a global basis, their usage is also problematic. This new book provides the first comprehensive analysis of one of the hottest topics in communication systems today -- the application of LEO satellites in PCNs.

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.

Consisting of selected technical contributions to the European Project COST252, this volume provides many innovative results which can be the basis for new global telecommunications systems providing multimedia services at high rates. It also presents new perspectives on communications problems in various areas.

Raj Pandya, international expert in Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT), guides you through the past, present, and future of mobile and personal communication systems. Telecommunications professionals and students will find a comprehensive discussion of mobile telephone, data, and multimedia services, and how the evolution toward next-generation systems will shape tomorrow s mobile communications industry. A broad systems overview combined with carefully selected technical details give you a clear understanding of the basic technology, architecture, and applications associated with mobile communications. You ll learn valuable information on numbering, identities, and performance benchmarks to help you plan and design mobile systems and networks. A timely discussion of underlying regional and international standards will keep you informed of the influences at work in the industry today. You'll also gain essential insights into the future direction of mobile and personal communications from an in-depth analysis of: International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) Global Mobile Satellite Systems Universal Personal Telecommunications Mobile Data Communications The outlook for GSM, IS-136, and IS-95. MOBILE AND PERSONAL COMMUNICATION SERVICES AND SYSTEMS is indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand what lies ahead for this rapidly evolving technology.

The shift from network-oriented to user-oriented services in the 80s and early 90s has increased the penetration of satellite services into the user community. Parallel to this, worldwide interest has arisen in Personal Communication Services (PCS), where satellites play a crucial role in the provision of PCS all over the world. Satellite Personal Communication Networks (S-PCN) are extremely attractive because they can serve a significant sector of the rapidly growing cellular market. This publication presents market perspectives and technological aspects in relation to satellite mobile and personal communication services. Papers were written by some of the most acclaimed European specialists in PCS. They present basic concepts and the latest research results.

There are numerous factors contributing to the dynamic growth of wireless communication systems we've been observing in the past 10 years, the most important being the increasing network user mobility and the technological advances in high-speed data transmission over radio channels. Research centres and standards-making institutions the world over conduct works on 3G integrated systems of person-to-person and person-to-computer communications, wireless counterparts of classical LAN, ATM and IP architectures, satellite and access networks as well as advanced service platforms like W AP and other concepts. Among the many commercial and non-profit organisations professionally involved in the development of the new information infrastructure, of particular influence is the International Federation for Information Processing. Within its Technical Committee TC-6, a working group WG 6.8 has been set up to co-ordinate IFIP activities in the area of wireless communications. It has done so, among others, by arranging regular meetings of academic and industrial researchers, known as IFIP TC-6 WG 6.8 Workshops on Personal Wireless Communications (pWC). Such workshops were held in recent years in Prague, Frankfurt/M, Tokyo and Copenhagen, and their success has resulted in the promotion of PWC to the status of IFIP Working Conference.

The emphasis of this text is on data networking, internetworking and distributed computing issues. The material surveys recent work in the area of satellite networks, introduces certain state-of-the-art technologies, and presents recent research results in these areas.