Proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1990)

Presented here are the proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC), held June 17-20, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Topics covered include future mobile satellite communications concepts, aeronautical applications, modulation and coding, propagation and experimental systems, mobile terminal equipment, network architecture and control, regulatory and policy considerations, vehicle antennas, and speech compression

MSAT-X: A technical introduction and status report

A technical introduction and status report for the Mobile Satellite Experiment (MSAT-X) program is presented. The concepts of a Mobile Satellite System (MSS) and its unique challenges are introduced. MSAT-X's role and objectives are delineated with focus on its achievements. An outline of MSS design philosophy is followed by a presentation and analysis of the MSAT-X results, which are cast in a broader context of an MSS. The current phase of MSAT-X has focused notably on the ground segment of MSS. The accomplishments in the four critical technology areas of vehicle antennas, modem and mobile terminal design, speech coding, and networking are presented. A concise evolutionary trace is incorporated in each area to elucidate the rationale leading to the current design choices. The findings in the area of propagation channel modeling are also summarized and their impact on system design discussed. To facilitate the assessment of the MSAT-X results, technology and subsystem recommendations are also included and integrated with a quantitative first-generation MSS design

Proceedings of the Fifth International Mobile Satellite Conference 1997

Satellite-based mobile communications systems provide voice and data communications to users over a vast geographic area. The users may communicate via mobile or hand-held terminals, which may also provide access to terrestrial communications services. While previous International Mobile Satellite Conferences have concentrated on technical advances and the increasing worldwide commercial activities, this conference focuses on the next generation of mobile satellite services. The approximately 80 papers included here cover sessions in the following areas: networking and protocols; code division multiple access technologies; demand, economics and technology issues; current and planned systems; propagation; terminal technology; modulation and coding advances; spacecraft technology; advanced systems; and applications and experiments

Proceedings of the Third International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1993)

Satellite-based mobile communications systems provide voice and data communications to users over a vast geographic area. The users may communicate via mobile or hand-held terminals, which may also provide access to terrestrial cellular communications services. While the first and second International Mobile Satellite Conferences (IMSC) mostly concentrated on technical advances, this Third IMSC also focuses on the increasing worldwide commercial activities in Mobile Satellite Services. Because of the large service areas provided by such systems, it is important to consider political and regulatory issues in addition to technical and user requirements issues. Topics covered include: the direct broadcast of audio programming from satellites; spacecraft technology; regulatory and policy considerations; advanced system concepts and analysis; propagation; and user requirements and applications

Space Shuttle/TDRSS communication and tracking systems analysis

In order to evaluate the technical and operational problem areas and provide a recommendation, the enhancements to the Tracking and Data Delay Satellite System (TDRSS) and Shuttle must be evaluated through simulation and analysis. These enhancement techniques must first be characterized, then modeled mathematically, and finally updated into LinCsim (analytical simulation package). The LinCsim package can then be used as an evaluation tool. Three areas of potential enhancements were identified: shuttle payload accommodations, TDRSS SSA and KSA services, and shuttle tracking system and navigation sensors. Recommendations for each area were discussed

Proceedings of the Mobile Satellite System Architectures and Multiple Access Techniques Workshop

The Mobile Satellite System Architectures and Multiple Access Techniques Workshop served as a forum for the debate of system and network architecture issues. Particular emphasis was on those issues relating to the choice of multiple access technique(s) for the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS). These proceedings contain articles that expand upon the 12 presentations given in the workshop. Contrasting views on Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)-based architectures are presented, and system issues relating to signaling, spacecraft design, and network management constraints are addressed. An overview article that summarizes the issues raised in the numerous discussion periods of the workshop is also included

Band sharing and satellite diversity techniques for CDMA.

High levels of interference between satellite constellation systems, fading and shadowing are a major problem for the successful performance of communication systems using the allocated L/S frequency bands for Non-Geostationary Earth Orbit (NGEO) satellites. As free spectrum is nonexistent, new systems wishing to operate in this band must co-exist with other users, both satellite and terrestrial. This research is mainly concerned with two subjects. Firstly, band sharing between different systems Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) has been evaluated for maximizing capacity and optimising efficiency of using the spectrum available. For the case of widened channel bandwidth of the CDMA channel, the overlapping was tested under different degrees of channel overlap and different orders of filters. The best result shows that at the optimum degree of channel overlap, capacity increases by up to 21%. For the case of fixed channel bandwidth, the optimum overlapping between CDMA systems depends on the filtering Roll-off factor and achieves an improvement of the spectrum efficiency of up to 13.4%. Also, for a number of narrowband signal users sharing a CDMA channel, the best location of narrowband signals to share spectrum with a CDMA system was found to be at the edge of the CDMA channel. Simulation models have been constructed and developed which show the combination of DS- CDMA techniques, forward error correction (FEC) code techniques and satellite diversity with Rake receiver for improving performance of interference, fading and shadowing under different environments. Voice activity factor has been considered to reduce the effect of multiple access interference (MAI). The results have shown that satellite diversity has a significant effect on the system performance and satellite diversity gain achieves an improvement up to 6dB. Further improvements have been achieved by including concatenated codes to provide different BER for different services. Sharing the frequency band between a number of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation systems is feasible and very useful but only for a limited number of LEOS satellite CDMA based constellations. Furthermore, satellite diversity is an essential factor to achieve a satisfactory level of service availability, especially for urban and suburban environments

Research and advanced development Semiannual review, 1 Jan. - 30 Jun. 1970

Research and development of interferometer, satellite telephone system, berylliumized propellants, and decontamination processes for space hardwar

Proceedings of the Mobile Satellite Conference

A satellite-based mobile communications system provides voice and data communications to mobile users over a vast geographic area. The technical and service characteristics of mobile satellite systems (MSSs) are presented and form an in-depth view of the current MSS status at the system and subsystem levels. Major emphasis is placed on developments, current and future, in the following critical MSS technology areas: vehicle antennas, networking, modulation and coding, speech compression, channel characterization, space segment technology and MSS experiments. Also, the mobile satellite communications needs of government agencies are addressed, as is the MSS potential to fulfill them