BROADBAND SATELLITE SYSTEMS

DANIEL J. BEM, TADEUSZ W. WIECKOWSKI, AND RYSZARD J. ZIELINSKI,

WROCLAW UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
ABSTRACT
Recently, the interest in broadband satellite multimedia (BSM) systems has grown rapidly.
Advancements in transmission technology have led to the availability of low-cost satellite earth
terminals. The superior remote access capabilities of satellite networks are foreseen to provide
broadband services to geographically diverse user groups. The desire to support a wide range of
broadband services in satellite networks implies that many features present in terrestrial multi-
media networks will also emerge in satellite networks. The interest in TCP/IP, DVB, and ATM
is also demonstrated by the architecture of some proposed new satellite systems. Access to
broadband services via satellites is one of the major issues and depends on the type of orbit of
the satellite system. This is the motivation for discussing orbits and their features in this article.
Different technical features can be achieved when the satellite system serves as an access sys-
tem and when it serves as an access and core (transport) system. Broadband services need
broadband frequency channels. The discussion about spectrum availability led to the conclusion
that BSM systems can operate at higher bands, i.e., Ka and V, or they must use unique solu-
tions to be compatible with the existing systems. The problem of electromagnetic compatibility
is discussed in many places in this article. There is also a classification of user terminals and a
list of services the BSM systems can offer. Of course, for each particular system this list
depends on the features of the BSM system, which is selected by the designer and the future
operator. Three types of protocols/platforms can be identified when BSM systems are consid-
ered. There are TCP/IP and ATM protocols and the DVB-S platform. This article presents
three BSM system concepts: ARCS, Teledesic, and Skybridge. They have been chosen to pre-
sent several technical aspects, i.e., how to use geostationary satellites in BSM, highly asymmetri-
cal links, bandwidth on demand, beam diversity, spectrum efficiency, EMC aspects, etc. ARCS
is a geostationary system with both links provided by the satellite. Many other BSM GSO sys-
tems plan to use similar concept (e.g., Direct PC), but only ARCS is well advanced in the stan-
dardization process and use of satellite links in both directions. Two other systems, Teledesic
and Skybridge, use LEO orbits and are designed with a completely different architecture.
Teledesic provides satellite access as well as a satellite core network, while Skybridge is a satel-
lite access system. They differ in coverage, frequency utilization, constellation, and many other
important parameters. Considering all this, presenting these three concepts, it is possible to
show many technical issues. Other solutions of broadband multimedia systems based on high
altitudes platform systems (HAPS) are also presented. The conclusion presents an opinion
about the future of BSM systems.

T he fairly recent development of the Internet system along

with the continuous advances in voice and image com-
pressing techniques has raised interest in multimedia ser-
vices. These services enable the joint presentation of various
data sources, of which the most common are still and moving
pictures, voice, and text. As defined above, the multimedia ser-
vices include data transmission from remote sources, as well as
the processing and presentation of data from a local source. By
definition, multimedia transmission means the joint broadcast
and presentation of text, voice, and pictures. This definition,
however, does not include any demands on the operation of
the system in real time, which may be of paramount impor-
tance to the Quality of Service (QoS). Analysis of the telecom-
munication service market has revealed that the demand for
data communication services will be greater than that of stan-
dard telephone services. Figure 1 [1] shows the predicted
transmission capacity performance for a typical Point of Pres-
ence (PoP). According to the available forecast, the number of
Internet users (which was 50 million in 1997) will increase to
175 million in 2001, and range between 250 and 500 million in
2005. This rapid growth will certainly accelerate, along with the
availability of such services. So far, multimedia services have
been carried out via terrestrial networks. In the future, access
networks will have to provide multimedia services not only to
fixed, but also to mobile users. This is why so many organiza-
tions today develop access networks, in order to meet the

2 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
 Capacity [Mb/s]
1200 000
Total capacity
1 000 000 Data service capacity
Voice service capacity
800 000
600 000
400 000
200 000
1995 1997 1999 2001
FIGURE 1. Development of data and voice services at a POP (WWW).
demands made by their future users. Some organizations,
namely those interested in satellite communications (service
providers, satellite operators, and manufacturers), would like
to have their share of the profits by making use of the global
coverage, the flexibility, and the potentials for communication
with fixed and mobile terminals provided by satellite systems.
However, these organizations will have to face a variety of
technical and legal problems. Here are some of the technical
issues to be considered:
Continued access to the services via fixed and mobile ter-
minals.
Continuity of service.
Reduction of the power radiated by fixed and mobile ter-
minals.
Adequate QoS (adequate transmission capacity of the
link, the least possible propagation delay, simultaneous
access to the resources of the system by more than one
terminal, communication protocols including a short
delay and small jitters).
Adequate capacity of the system.
The legal issues can be listed as follows:
Determination of bandwidths within the defined frequen-
cy ranges.
Compatibility of the system with other satellite and ter-
restrial systems.
Obtaining licenses from many countries and development
of local distributor networks.
Collaboration with regional and local operators, which
includes interfacing with the terrestrial telecommunica-
tions infrastructure.
There is no doubt that the construction of a satellite sys-
tem, which would meet all of the requirements, raises serious
problems and in some instances may not be cost-effective.
The concepts of satellite multimedia systems take into account
all the limitations associated with global access, and they
make a distinction between user categories and service types.
ACCESS TO MULTIMEDIA SERVICES
The access to multimedia services is determined by two
parameters: coverage and time. In general, satellite systems
are grouped into two major categories: those providing global
access (i.e., where the entire surface of the Earth is covered
by the system) and those providing incomplete global access
(certain areas are not covered by the system because of the
expected low demand for such services, or there is regional
access that covers certain areas of high demand and includes
the continental or regional specificity of these services).
Global coverage and continuous access can be achieved
IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
only through an appropriate satellite constellation. The
choice of the orbit and the number of satellites on
each orbit enables appropriate shaping of the systems
capacity (e.g., as a function of latitude) and provides
visibility of several satellites to the terminals at an ele-
vation angle greater than the minimal one. To con-
struct satellite multimedia systems, one can use any of
the satellite constellations on the following orbits: low
earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), and
the highly elliptical orbit (HEO), or the geostationary
orbit (GSO) (Fig. 2). Of the ones mentioned, the
LEO-based systems deserve special attention because
2003 of some advantageous features pertaining to signal
propagation delay and to link budget.
LEOs are circular or elliptical in shape. Their alti-
tude ranges from 500 to 2000 km above the ground.
The lower bound of the altitude range consists of air
particles, whereas the upper bound is built by the first Van
Allen zone with increased radiation. The satellite period for
LEOs ranges from 90 to 120 minutes, and the satellite visibili-
ty above the horizon does not exceed 20 minutes. The radius
of the serviced area is under 3000 4000 km. A global system
such as this requires a constellation of many orbits with many
satellites on each of them. As the satellite travels at a high
speed relative to the terrestrial observer, the radio interface
must make allowance for large Doppler shifts in frequency.
The system for stabilizing the satellite position on the orbit
must compensate the residual atmosphere effects that con-
tribute to the degradation of the orbit. The LEO constellation
is likely to be used by:
Teledesic (a common system by Motorola and
Gates/McCaw).
M-Star (Motorola).
SkyBridge (Alcatel).
V-Band (Leo One).
Medium orbits (MEO) may be circular or elliptical in
shape. Circular MEOs are also called intermediate circular
orbits (ICOs). Their altitude varies from 8000 to 12000 km
above the ground. The satellite period for MEO or ICO
approaches six hours (the satellite visibility above the horizon
being also expressed in hours). A global system needs a con-
stellation of 10 to 20 satellites distributed on two to three
orbits. The MEO constellation is going to be used by:
Tundra
HEO
Molnia
GEO
MEO
LEO
FIGURE 2. Orbits.
3
 Parameter Molnia Tundra Loopus
Period [h] 12 24 14.4
Eccentricity 0.65 0.2 0.6
Apogee height [km] 39400 44220 41700
Perigee height [km] 2900 27350 5642
Table 1. Parameters of HEO orbits.
GESN (TRW).
StarLynx (Hughes).
WEST MEO (Matra Marconi).
It shall be noticed, however, that while LEO/MEO satellite
constellations could theoretically provide global coverage,
many do not because constellations are chosen to serve specif-
ic groups of users located in certain regions.
HEOs have perigees and apogees approaching 500 km and
50000 km, respectively. The most frequent angle of orbit incli-
nation is 63.4, at which the line of apsis is stationary. The
satellite period varies from eight to 24 hours. HEOs have
been used in Molnya and Tundra systems (having satellite
periods of 12 hours and 24 hours, respectively). The remain-
ing parameters are listed in Table 1.
When HEO constellations are used, we can develop a
satellite system having properties similar to those of a geosta-
tionary system. This means that the active satellite is almost
stationary with respect to the relevant terrestrial point and it
is visible in the served area at a large elevation angle. The
project is known as Loopus [2].
The GSO is used by a majority of satellite telecommunica-
tion systems presently under operation. The orbit is circular in
shape. It lies in the equator plane and has a satellite period that
is equal to the Earths period of rotation. The orbit altitude
equals 35786 km. There is only one GSO. GSO satellites are
apparently stationary in relation to points on the Earths sur-
face. This orbit is now being used widely, despite the disadvan-
tageous link budget and despite the occurring delays that are
higher than approximately 260 ms. The arrangement of satel-
lites has become more and more dense, and the frequencies
employed by the satellites are increasingly high. Many compa-
nies (such as Intelsat, Eutelsat, Hughes,
SES Astra, Matra Marconi, Loral Space,
Panamsat, or Inmarsat) intend to construct Satellite
multimedia systems involving geostationary
satellites. Some of these systems are now
being implemented (e.g., Astra K), while
others are standardizing the subscriber ter-
minal units.
Terminal
ARCHITECTURE
a)
A satellite system can act as an access net-
work (Fig. 3a) or as a core network1 (Fig.
3b). In an access network the signal sent
from the subscribers terminal is received
1 According to ITU-T G.902 Recommendation the
access network is defined as an implementation
comprising those entities (such as cable plant,
transmission facilities, etc.) which provide the
required transport bearer capabilities for the provi- b)
sion of telecommunications services between a Ser-
vice Node Interface (SNI) and each of the
associated User-Network Interfaces (UNIs). The FIGURE 3. a) Satellite systems as an access network; and b) as access and core net-
access network does not interpret (user) signalling. works.
4 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
by a satellite, which retransmits it to a gateway. The transmis-
sion of the signal to the recipient (e.g., to a WWW server), or
to its nearby vicinity and further to the recipients terminal
(through a terrestrial or a satellite access network), proceeds
via a gateway to a terrestrial network which acts as a core net-
work.
In the access/core network, the signal sent from the termi-
nal and received by the satellite is transmitted via inter satel-
lite links (ISL) through the satellite network (which provides
onboard processing and switching) to the satellite, which
serves the recipient, or to the terrestrial core network (via a
gateway).
The ISLs can be established between the satellites belonging
to the same type of orbit, and attempts are made to apply links
to geostationary satellites. Such concepts provide an advanta-
geous link budget for the link connected to the terminal, but
they do not solve the problem of serious signal delay.
Another problem associated with the architecture of satel-
lite multimedia systems is the construction of the satellite pay-
load. There are two major methods enabling data
communication services to be provided by the payload: bent
pipe and onboard processing and switching (Fig. 4).
The majority of the satellites currently in use act as retrans-
mission stations and this do not allow regeneration of the sig-
nal on the satellite. The link budget must consider the joint
effect of the Earth-to-satellite and satellite-to-Earth links,
thus affecting the size of the antennas and the emitted power.
The retransmitted signal cannot be used for the control of
dynamic antenna beams. This does not necessarily mean that
these systems do not allow such control. Antenna beams are
controlled via separate links and through a supervising system.
Signal retransmission by the satellite has one major advan-
tage: the signal is retransmitted transparently. Thus, the signal
structure can be arbitrarily modified on Earth, provided that
the bandwidth occupied by the signal will not undergo
changes. In this way it is possible to implement new types of
transmission protocols.
The development of processing and switching methods has
made it possible to perform the two operations onboard the
satellite. Thus, we can construct in outer space a channel-
Satellite
Service provider
Terrestrial core network
Terminal
Gateway Gateway
Satellite network with ISL
Satellite core network
Terrestrial core network

switched or packet-switched transmission network through
satellites equipped with steerablebeam antennas. Termi-
nal antennas and/or the emitted power can then be small-
er because the signal is regenerated onboard the satellite.
This is of particular importance to nomadic use and
mobile terminals. In this case, however, the link is not
transparent, it is adapted to a defined protocol type. This
complicates the construction of the satellite payload: the
system must be very reliable because repairs in outer
space are not taken into account.
FREQUENCY RANGE
The VHF and UHF frequency ranges assigned to satellite
services (137 to 401 MHz) do not include appropriate
bandwidths for multimedia services. These bandwidths are
used by the small LEO systems to provide low bit rate
data transmission services. Neither can multimedia ser-
vices be provided at L (1610 to 1626.5 MHz) or S (2483.5
to 2500 MHz) frequencies, as these are used by the big
LEO systems for telephone (POTS) and short message
services (SMS), as well as for terminal positioning (e.g.,
Iridium, Globalstar). Band C (4 to 8 GHz) serves primari-
ly as the feeder link, and there is no indication that it
might be used in the future for the supply of satellite mul-
timedia services.
The Ku band (10 to 18 GHz) is now being used for
satellite broadcasting, as well as for Internet connections
carried out by a variety of satellite systems. There are plans
for the application of the Ku band for multimedia systems
providing data communication services to the subscriber.
The reverse channel (from the subscriber) will be available in
the Ka band. Some designs make use of the Ku band for data
transmission to and from the subscriber. In this case spatial
beam separation is used (SkyBridge). This solution makes the
system compatible with any other system operating in the same
bands. Companies such as SES Astra, Hispasat, and Eutelsat
are now using the Ku band, and there are plans for its use by
multimedia systems.
The Ka band, which is used in satellite communications (18
to 31 GHz), offers the potential of utilizing approximately 1.5
GHz in the frequency range of 19.7 to 21.2 GHz (downlink)
and 29.5 to 31 GHz (uplink) for multimedia transmissions.
The majority of satellite multimedia systems (e.g., Arabsat,
Astrolink, Chinasat, Euroskyway, GE Star, Genesis, Hughes
Spaceway, Intelsat, Koreasat, Morningstar, Orion, Palapa,
PanAmSat, Teledesic, Thaicom, Turksat, Videosat, Voicestar,
West, Yamal) intend to use this band. Because of the consid-
erable attenuating effect produced by atmospheric precipita-
tion, the terminals sharing this band are supposed to function
properly at fading amounting up to 20 dB [3].
The V-band (40-75 GHz) offers much wider bandwidth
for multimedia systems. There are plans to use frequencies
close to 40/50 GHz in future satellite systems, and many com-
panies have applied so far for these frequencies at the Feder-
al Communications Commission (FCC). The technology of
manufacturing the elements that are to operate in this range
is not as advanced as it should be, so further research is
needed. The effect of atmospheric precipitation on the link
budget in the V-band is far more distinct in comparison to
the Ka band, thus complicating the construction of terminals.
It is anticipated that the V-band will be used for communica-
tions with stratospheric platforms located at an altitude of
about 20 km (downlink: 47.2 to 47.5 GHz; uplink: 47.9 to
48.2 GHz), which will serve for the construction of regional
multimedia systems.
IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
Satellite
Retransmission
Downlink frequencies
(bent pipe)
Uplink frequencies
Satellite
Switching and processing
FIGURE 4. Satellite payload acting as a bent pipe and a switching
and processing node.
MULTIMEDIA TERMINALS
Multimedia systems are frequently linked to mobile terminals,
but a full range of multimedia services can be provided only
with fixed terminals. In general, terminals are grouped into
the following three classes:
Fixed terminals providing a full spectrum of multimedia
services with a high QoS factor.
Terminals for nomadic use, having the same properties as
the fixed terminals; they provide services with a lower
QoS factor because of the poorer electric properties of
the antenna.
Mobile terminals, offering a limited range of services that
are characterized by a lower QoS factor than that of the
other two groups.
Terminals for nomadic use differ in their construction from
the fixed terminals. They must be lightweight and portable,
and their installation at a new point should be easy and quick.
It is the antenna that raises certain problems. In some
instances, the terminals must be equipped with a roaming
function.
SERVICES
Satellite multimedia systems will be able to offer a wide range
of services, similar to those offered by terrestrial systems.
Owing to the unique properties of satellite communications,
the provision of certain services will be much easier and will
serve a considerably wider group of interested users. The most
frequently named services can be specified as follows: access
to the Internet and WWW pages, electronic transfer of docu-
ments, electronic mail, message transmission, data distribu-
tion, television to home, television on demand, radio on
demand, radio for global service area, distribution of music
5
 Data X I
stream
Convolutional Punctured
Filtering
encoder coder
Y Q
FIGURE 5. Encoding and modulation in DVB-S.
Source data rate after
MPEG-2 encoding [Mb/s] Application
6 Broadcast quality
4 Most users detect no visible degradation
23 Sports
1.5 VHS quality for film material
Table 2. Quality of transmission and MPEG-2 bit rates.
programs, books on demand, local publishing and printing of
documents, switched broadcasting services, interactive televi-
sion, high-definition television, video conferences, bank ser-
vices, electronic transactions, electronic shops, tele-medical
services, remote teaching, satellite news gathering (SNG),
wireless LAN, connection of LANs, library services, access to
data bases, and backup links for satellite and terrestrial net-
works.
PROTOCOLS, TRANSMISSION PLATFORMS
It is anticipated that satellite multimedia systems will employ
the following protocols and digital platforms:
TCP/IP protocol.
DVB-S digital platform.
ATM protocol.
TCP/IP
The TCP/IP protocol was not designed for application to
satellite links [47]. Because of the specific conditions for this
link type, work has begun to develop standards for a reliable
IP protocol (multicast, that is, supplying information to a
group of users) and for new protocols running over UDP for
guaranteed multimedia services provided in real time at an
appropriate QoS factor. The protocols in question can be
grouped as follows:
Real-time transport protocol (RTP).
Signaling protocol (RTCP) cooperating with RTP.
Resource reservation protocol (RSVP).
Real-time streaming protocol (RTSP).
DIGITAL PLATFORM DVB-S
The digital video broadcasting-satellite (DVB-S) determines
new standards for satellite broadcasting and for the supply of
multimedia services [813]. Besides the specification of the
protocols that are in use now, the protocol also includes:
Methods of encoding certain types of MPEG-2 (Moving
Picture Experts Group) signals.
The method of including additional information for the
appropriate configuration of the decoder and its synchro-
nization (service information (SI)).
DVB data broadcasting.
Protection of the signal by the Reed-Solomon outer code,
by interleaving and by the inner code (in the form of a
punctured convolutional code).
6 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
QPSK
modulator The basic unit for data trans-
mission using the DVB-S plat-
form is a 188 byte container. The
system can be made flexible and
adaptable to a variety of environ-
ments (depending on the power,
antenna size, or error rate) by varying the efficiency of the
inner code. Transmission is performed via QPSK modulation
(Fig. 5). A stream of 38 Mb/s may include from 4 to 8 TV
programs, 150 radio programs, 550 ISDN connections, or a
combination of those signals.
The digital platform DVB-S involves using the MPEG-2
standard for the source sound and video signals, which
reduces considerably the rate of signal transmission. The
required typical transmission rates depend on the informa-
tion contained in the video signal and on the quality demands
(Table 2).
The DVB-S platform has two mechanisms of conditional
access (CA). For the interactive services provided by DVB-S
a reverse channel is needed. Many concepts are available. The
standards developed so far have made use of the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or the Integrated Ser-
vices Digital Network (ISDN). Standards for the construction
of a reverse channel via satellite are underway. The DVB
platform has been developed for highly asymmetric traffic,
and that is why the demands made on the reverse channel are
not critical.
A major advantage of the digital DVB-S platform is its
ability to provide broadcast transmission of a large volume of
data at a very high rate and with an excellent protection
against a variety of transmission errors. The distributed data
may represent sound and video signals, data files, or other
basic information structures. To enable transmission of such a
wide spectrum of data (as well as to back up the exploitation
of such services by retransmission of the same data at defined
or random time intervals) it was necessary to specify how to
perform such data transmission. Such a specification enables
the operator to transmit software via the satellite link, to sup-
ply Internet services (IP tunneling), to provide interactive
television, etc. Four profiles for the application of data trans-
mission (Fig. 6) are available:
Data pipe is a simple end-to-end transport.
Data streaming includes transmission of asynchronous,
synchronous, or synchronized data streams between end-
users (end-to-end).
Multi-protocol encapsulation involves a DVB transport
mechanism to provide a variety of data communication
services.
Data carousel consists of periodic retransmission of data
files.
The application of the data carousel profile is similar to
that of teletext if data files replace pages.
The DVB-S platform has been used to provide Internet
services. The reverse channel can be constructed in two differ-
ent ways:
By using terrestrial data transmission networks.
By utilizing a satellite link.
When terrestrial networks are involved, we deal with the so-
called Turbo-Internet. Transmission of data casting and Inter-
net services is usually performed by utilizing the free capacities
of geostationary satellite transponders; their reception takes
place via typical parabolic receiving antennas of a 45-cm diame-
ter. The received signal is transmitted through a coaxial wire to
a computer equipped with a DVB card, which decodes the
information and displays it through the browser. It is also possi-
ble to record the information on a hard disk and read it later.
The reverse channel is established through the public net-
 1. Data piping - transport of anonymous non-synchronized bit streams
1 1
work (POTS/ISDN). The user calls 0
1 0
the host or connects to a defined DVB data 0 1 1
WWW page. The DVB card of the broadcast
user has a conditional access function 0 1 0
1
(CA) cooperating with the manage-
ment system. This enables the opera- 2. Data streaming - transport of synchronous or synchronized bit streams
tor to follow and set a tariff on the Audio
data received by the user. The trans-
DVB data Data
mitted information can be received broadcast
simultaneously by millions of users
within the area served by the geosta- Video
tionary satellite. Data transmission at 3. Multiprotocol encapsulation - use of DVB transport mechanism
a rate of 30 Mb/s makes the content
of an optical disk available to the
user within three minutes. The Turbo- DVB data
broadcast TCP/IP
Internet system can be put into oper-
ation at reasonable investment
expenditure. DirecPC (Hughes Net-
4. Data carousel - periodic transmission of comprehensive files
work System) [14] is an example of
this kind of system. DirecPC has the
capability to deliver content to an .xls
unlimited number of users, anywhere .pic .dll
.dll
in the continental United States and DVB data
.doc broadcast
provides a platform for distributing
IP-based content to multiple users.
DirecPC can provide transmission in
multicast mode at speeds as high as
1.2 Mb/s, and the user is able to view
the content with the standard brows-
FIGURE 6. DVB-S profiles of data broadcasting.
er-based media player.
Another reverse channel solution
is under construction that makes use
of a satellite and which needs satellite interactive terminals traffic. It is difficult to adapt this service when using
(SIT). The design will be described later. satellite links.
Non-real time VBR (nrt-VBR), which is independent of
ATM PROTOCOL time. The sub-category applies to services that require
quick responses, and do not generate traffic of a variable
Many designers of satellite systems are thinking about the nature (bank transactions, control systems).
application of the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) proto- Available bit rate (ABR), which is associated with ser-
col [6, 1517]. The ATM protocol transmits data that have vices characterized by no significant time demands;
been placed in cells of a constant length (53 bytes). The ATM there are some possibilities retained to guarantee (to a
guarantees data transmission at a rate ranging between 2 Mb/s limited extent) an allowable share of the band. The cri-
and 2.4 Gb/s. The protocol acts on the principle that a virtual terion for allowable sharing is the admissible level of
channel should be set up between two points whenever such a lost cells. If the performance of the link is sufficiently
need appears. This is what makes the ATM protocol different high, transmission can proceed at a rate faster than that
from the TCP/IP protocol, in which messages are transmitted guaranteed.
in packet form, where each packet may reach the recipient via Unspecified bit rate (UBR) pertains to services with no
a different route. The ATM protocol enables data transmis- quality protection for the transmission of information
sion through various media. However, taking into account the that does not need definition of the admissible delay lev-
header of the cell (cell-tax) which takes 5 bytes, the applica- els or jitters.
tion of the ATM protocol may appear not to be so cost-effec- The adaptive layers for the said services can be itemized as
tive when the rate of transmission is low, and the capacity of follows:
the link (e.g., in two-way modem channels), becomes a basic AAL 1 for CBR.
limitation. AAL 2 for VBR.
ATM networks provide the following service categories: AAL 3/4 for datagram services.
Constant bit rate (CBR), which is associated with services AAL 5 for protocols serving fast transmissions.
characterized by a permanent demand for such bands as The ATM protocol provides the user with services of vary-
circuit emulation, voice transmission without compres- ing QoS.
sion and silence removal.
Variable bit rate (VBR), which is associated with services
generating data streams of a varying rate. This is a cate- GEOSTATIONARY MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS
gory that provides services by adaptation to the demands
made on the parameters of the data stream. It subdivides By definition geostationary multimedia systems involve geo-
into: stationary satellite links and provide coverage of large areas
Real time VBR (rt-VBR), which allows an economic served by the satellite. Fixed terminals may use high-gain
use of the band by statistical multiplex operation. This directional antennas, which improve the link budget and
sub-category applies to data streams with a non-uniform enable data transmission at a higher rate.

IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1 7
 Applications
TCP UDP Other protocols
built over IP
Other protocols
built over ATM
IP
ATM
FIGURE 7. Return channel protocol stack.
ARCS SYSTEM
One of the multimedia systems now being implemented, the
Astra Return Channel System (ARCS), makes use of the
Astra geostationary satellites [3, 18]. The return channel
involves the Ka band. The user establishes communication
with an interactive host server via his satellite interactive ter-
minal (SIT) equipped with a small fixed antenna, a multime-
dia PC, or an integrated receiver decoder (IRD). The return
channel enables multiplex operation and transmission of a
variety of messages: images, data, fax, or sounds. Information
for a single subscriber or a group of subscribers is entered
into the DVB/MPEG-2 stream in the transmission center and
transmitted using the Ku band. The central transmitting sta-
tion (which operates in the Ku band) and the central receiving
station (which operates in the Ka band) are located at the
same site. The SIT can send a message only if it is able to
receive the signal information in the Ku band. The return
channel is part of a digital network having a central station,
which acts as an interface (gateway) to the terrestrial telecom-
munications network. The subscriber terminal sends relevant
information to the central station using either the IP over
ATM or ATM protocol. In this way it is possible to avoid
incompatibility with the protocols used by the terrestrial net-
work. More so, the choice of the IP protocol was justified by
the availability of various applications. The ATM proto-
col was chosen in order to provide connection between
two terminals with a guaranteed QoS. A large set of ser-
vices requires flexibility and quasi error free (QEF)
transmission in the return channel (BER at the level
10 10).
Transmission to the ARCS users takes place through
the DVB-S platform, which conforms to the ETSI stan-
dards. Figures 7 and 8 show examples of protocol combi-
nations for the return channel and the forward channel,
respectively.
In the return channel, the ATM cells (53 bytes) are
encoded using a 16-byte RS code and a convolutional
code similar to the one used in the DVB-S platform. The
data stream (packets) prepared as above is then QPSK-
modulated and transmitted to the center.
The SIT uses multi-frequency TDMA (MF-TDMA). A
slotted time-frequency matrix is established for this purpose,
where each slot is able to hold one packet. Thus, each termi-
nal can utilize an arbitrary time-frequency slot.
The forward channel signaling provides the terminal with
information about the time-frequency errors and band (slot)
allocation. The information is transmitted through one or
more virtual channels of the DVB platform. Tables informing
where the signaling can be found are also transmitted (as is
data on the segmentation of resources available either ran-
domly or on request, data on the rate of symbol transmission,
and data concerning the frequencies and positions of the time
slots).
A SIT consists of an outdoor unit (ODU), an inter-facility
link, and an indoor unit (Fig. 9). The ODU of the SIT com-
prises a parabolic antenna, a universal low-noise block (sin-
gle, double, or quadruple) receiving signals in the frequency
range of 10.70 to 12.75 GHz, and a hybrid feed for the Ku/Ka
band and the transmitting module operating in the Ka band.
The feed provides simultaneous signal transmission in linear
polarization (determined during the installation) and signal
reception from either a single or a few bands of the Astra
satellite with an arbitrary polarization. The transmitting mod-
ule includes an IF converter and a solid state amplifier. The

Applications

Other
Tele- Audio TCP UDP protocols
Other text over IP PSI SI Other
Video Other protocols
serv. Other
protocols built
built
built over proto- sect. sect.
over
Other protocols over cols
directly built PES ATM IP datagrams private
over TS packets sections

AAL x AAL 5 DVB multi-protocol

PES packets MPEG/DVB Private
encapsulation
ATM cells section sections
section

MPEG-2 transport stream packets

FIGURE 8. Forward channel protocol stack.

8 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
 Parameter Value

Tx frequency range 29.50 30.00 GHz

950 - 2150 MHz Rx frequency range 10.70 12.75

e.g. 10 base T Ku band
Rx Polarization Linear
IEEE 1394
USB 10 MHz reference Ka band Antenna diameter 0.6 1.2m
Tx
SIT output power 0.5 2 W
2500 - 3000 MHz
User Tx on/off Maximum user data rate 144 2048 kb/s
device
(PC, IRD, TV) ARCS
IDU Data rate granularity 16 kb/s

Price (target) <1000$

FIGURE 9. Satellite interactive terminal SIT. Table 3. ARCS terminal parameters.

frequency of the local generator, which is part of the outdoor

unit, is synchronized by received signal. The local generator
provides a frequency of 10 MHz and sends it to the indoor
unit, where it is compared with the highly stable program
clock reference (PCR) frequency obtained after demodula-
tion of the DVB/MPEG-2 control channel. The above
explains why the SITs need not be equipped with expensive
frequency reference generators to provide sufficiently exact
carrier frequency. Tables 3, 4 and 5 list the basic electric
parameters of the SIT, as well as of the forward and return
channels.
The ARCS uses the geostationary satellites of Astra 1H
and Astra 1K (Astra 1H has already been set in operation).
The significant G/T value of the receiving system ranges from
8 to 14 dB (1/K) (the rated value is 10 dB (1/K)). The territo-
ry of Europe is covered by the Astra 1H satellite beam, which
transmits the forward channel. The precondition for a good
reception is the use of an antenna with a diameter of at least
50-cm. All of Western and Central Europe are covered
approximately by one out of eight beams of the return chan-
nel. In the Astra 1K satellite the forward channel beam will
be shifted to the east.
GLOBAL SATELLITE MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS
The SkyBridge system is now under construction. Until
recently, there have been two competing systems: Teledesic
and Celestri. However, the major shareholders of the two pro-
jects (McCaw/Gates and Motorola) decided to join their
efforts and develop a new system. At the time of this writing
little information about the new
system was available. This is why
we are going to describe briefly the Parameter Value
old concept of Teledesic (with fully
global access) and in more detail Modulation QPSK
the SkyBridge system (with incom- Coding RS code + convolutional code
plete global access), which has a
stable architecture and a defined Access MF-TDMA
timetable of construction and
expenditures. Protocols IP over ATM and ATM
Parameter Value
Transmission system DVB-S according to ETS 300 421
Signaling According to DVB DB
IF frequency 950 2150 MHz
Synchronization 10 MHz from ODU
Table 4. Forward channel parameters.
high as for fiber links. To achieve such a coverage and quality of
communications the system implements various highly advanced
technologies, which are presented in the next few paragraphs [3,
19, 20].
Space Segment The constellation of Teledesic consists of
288 active satellites (plus 36 in-orbit spares), which are dis-
persed in 12 circular orbital planes at an altitude of 1375 km
and at an 84.7 inclination, each with 24 active satellites. Each
satellite will have 725 uplink beams, with 1:7 frequency re-use.
The Teledesic constellation assures a minimum earth station
elevation angle (mask angle) of 40 within its entire service
area. At this mask angle, the Teledesic system is able to
achieve availability of 99.9 percent or greater. This high mask
angle minimizes blockage by various structures and terrain,
minimizes interference with terrestrial microwave links, and
limits the effects of rain attenuation and multi-path reflec-
tions.
Each satellite in the constellation serves as a node in the

Synchronization From forward channel

TELEDESIC SYSTEM
The Teledesic network provides
globally low delay, high rate, digital
connections between Teledesic ter-
minals and between Teledesic termi-
nals and the terrestrial
telecommunications infrastructure.
The quality of service (QoS) is as
Transmission control No transmission without Ku reception and authorization:
No transmission when (large) living beings detected in antenna near
field (option: proximity detector)
TX-IF 2500 3000 MHz
Power level control TX-IF level control based on Hub power level information
Table 5. Return channel parameters.

IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1 9
 service provider networks via stan-
dard interfaces. They are the bound-
ISLs ary of the Teledesic network and
Satellite
provide the interface both between
the satellite network and the terres-
Packet 1 Packet 3
Path 1 Path 3 trial end-users and networks. They
perform the translation between the
Packet 2 Teledesic networks internal proto-
Path 2
cols and the standard protocols of
the terrestrial world including IP,
ATM, Frame Relay, and telephony
3 2 1 services, thus isolating the satellite-
based core network from complexity
and change. The Teledesic system is
a) b) Time
application-independent, so the user
Earth terminal will decide the most effective inter-
face.
FIGURE 10. Teledesic concept of a) inter-satellite connections; and b) adaptive routing. The terminals use a combination
of multi-frequency time division mul-
tiple access (MF-TDMA) on the
fast packet switched network. It has optical inter-satellite uplink and asynchronous time division multiplexing (ATDM)
communication links ISL (with RF ISLs reserved as a backup on the downlink. The modulation schemes will be QPSK and
solution) with other satellites in the same and adjacent orbital 8-PSK with the target bit error rate <10 10. Each cell within
planes, as shown in Fig. 10. This configuration of intercon- a supercell is assigned to one of nine equal time slots during
nected satellite links forms a mesh network that is tolerant to which all communication takes place between the satellite
faults and local congestion and, together with overlapping and the terminals in that cell. During each cell time slot the
coverage areas with the use of on-orbit spare satellites, full allocated bandwidth can be used (Fig. 12). The cells are
increases the systems reliability. scanned in a regular cycle by the satellites transmit and
The satellites have onboard switching and play the role of receive beams, resulting in fixed time division multiple access
an access and a core network. Fixed earth mapping of uplink TDMA among the cells in a supercell (Fig. 13). The path
beams enables traffic to be directed to whichever satellite length variations to the cells and corresponding propagation
beam is providing geographic coverage for the corresponding delays are compensated (timed transmissions) in uplinks and
transmitting earth station. Downlink beams are pointed to downlinks. Physical separation (space division multiple access
specific points on Earth depending on the traffic requirements SDMA) eliminates interference between cells scanned at the
from the satellite currently responsible for the coverage of same time in adjacent supercells. Guard intervals eliminate
that area. overlap signals received from time-consecutive cells. Within
Communication links between satellites are established and each cell time slot terminals use FDMA on the uplink and
disconnected as orbits intersect and as satellites move in and asynchronous TDMA on the downlink (Fig. 12). On the
out of communication range. The changes are continuous but FDMA uplink, each active terminal is assigned one or more
predictable. Teledesic uses a proprietary autonomous orbit
determination system to provide the precise positioning of
each satellite to all satellites in the constellation. The informa-
1 2 3 1 2 3
tion is used for precise beam control between satellites and to
Earth terminals, to calculate propagation delays, and to deter-
mine the current geographical coverage area.
The Teledesic network maps the Earths surface into a 8 9 4 8 9 4
fixed grid of a large amount of supercells, each consisting of
nine cells, as shown in Fig. 11. Each supercell forms a square.
Supercells are arranged in bands parallel to the equator. The
relationship between supercell geographical coordinates and 7 6 5 7 6 5
each of the satellites orbital positions makes it possible to
determine at any time, based on a terminals location, which
satellite has primary coverage responsibility to serve that ter-
minal. The actual number of cells for which a satellite is 1 2 3 1 2 3
responsible varies depending on the satellites location and
the spacing between satellites. As a satellite passes over, it
steers its antenna beams to the fixed cell locations within its
footprint. As long as a terminal remains within the cell, it 8 9 4 8 9 4
maintains the same channel. Channel reassignment becomes
the exception rather than the normal case.
7 6 5 7 6 5
Ground Segment The ground segment consists of net-
work gateways, user terminals, and network operations and
control systems. There is no distinction between gateways and
user terminals. Terminals can be used to provide interconnec-
tion to other networks as required. Terminals operating as FIGURE 11. Space division between supercells and cell scan pat-
gateways will be interconnected through existing and future tern (cell 9 illuminated in all supercells).

10 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
 Frequency Frequency
1 512 bits (1 packet)
2 network from complexity and
3
4 Allocated
bandwidth
Channel
M
Time slot interval Time slot interval
Uplink FDM Time Downlink ATDM
FIGURE 12. Uplink FDM and downlink ATDM used for transmission multiplexing in
Teledesic.
frequency slots for the call duration, and it can send one
packet per slot during each scan period. The number of fre-
quency slots assigned to a terminal depends on the transmis-
sion rate requirements. On the ATDM downlink, during each
cell scan interval the satellite transmits a series of packets
addressed to terminals within that cell and each terminal
selects all packets addressed to it. The satellite transmits for
only as long as it takes to send the packets buffered for the
given cell. ATDM takes advantage of the burst nature of
most communications.
In the Teledesic system two types of terminals will be used:
Standard terminal: symmetrical on-demand 16 kb/s to
2048 kb/s, with downlink data rates up to 64 Mb/s.
Broadband terminal: symmetrical up to 64 Mb/s.
The maximum EIRP is approximately 45 dBW with the
power amplifier operating at 10 W in heavy rain conditions
and substantially less during clear sky conditions. The rain
margin for uplink is 10.5 dB (with power control); for down-
link it is 5.5 dB.
Standard terminals will use flat, phased arrays or small (30
cm) dishes that simply are to be mounted in a horizontal
plane and will be designed for installation by non-profession-
als.
Broadband terminals will be equipped with electronically
and/or mechanically steered antennas. User terminal transmis-
sions will be pre-compensated for frequency Doppler shift.
Terminals also provide the interconnection points
for the Teledesic networks constellation operations
control centers (COCC) and network operations con-
trol centers (NOCC). COCCs coordinate initial
deployment of the satellites, replacement of spares,
fault diagnosis, repair, and de-orbiting. The NOCCs
include a variety of distributed network administra-
tion and control functions, including network databas-
es, feature processors, network management, and
billing systems.
Network Teledesic uses fast packet switching tech-
nology similar to Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM). All communication within the network is
treated identically as streams of short fixed-length
packets. Each packet contains a header that includes
an address and sequence information, a CRC
sequence (error control section used to verify the
integrity of the header), and a payload section that
carries the digitally encoded voice or data. Conversion
to and from the Teledesic-specific packet format
takes place in the terminals interfaces, thus isolating FIGURE 13. Fixed TDMA among nine cells in a supercell.
IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
512 bits (1 packet)
the satellite-based access and core
change.
Although optimized for service to
fixed-site terminals, the Teledesic
network is able to serve trans-
portable and mobile terminals, such
as those for nautical and aviation
applications.
Frequency Plan and Electromag-
netic Compatibility The
Teledesic system will operate within
the 2 x 500 MHz portion of the Ka
Time
frequency band that has been speci-
fied internationally for non-geosta-
tionary fixed satellite service (FSS).
Downlinks between 18.8 GHz and
19.3 GHz and uplinks between 28.6
GHz and 29.1 GHz will be shared with other FSS systems
according to the ITU World Radio Conference 1997 resolu-
tions. Electromagnetic compatibility with terrestrial fixed-ser-
vice (FS) systems are governed by the general ITU rules
pertaining to the coexistence between FSS and FS. In the
United States the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) licensed Teledesic to use these bands.
Given that the Teledesic system will have ubiquitously
deployed terminals, inefficient use of the spectrum will result
if FS systems are also widely deployed in the same bands.
Therefore, although bilateral coordination is possible between
Teledesic terminals and FS stations, the high cost of this and
the limitations on growth inherent in band sharing will lead to
a band segmentation solution in many countries. By reserving
the bands of 18.8 to 19.3 GHz and 28.6 to 29.1 GHz for
NGSO FSS use, these countries will guarantee access to the
full benefits that NGSO FSS technology can deliver to all
their citizens.
Small fixed cells used by Teledesic allow the system to con-
tour service areas to national boundaries, an impossible feat
with large cells or cells that move with the satellite. A cell
database contained in each satellite defines the type of services
allowed within each cell. This information can be used to turn
off services on a country-by-country basis or to avoid interfer-
ence with radio astronomy systems or other electronic or
radio-communications installations located at the specific sites.
Illuminated cell
Cells
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2
Supercells
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
N
Guard interval
11

FIGURE 14. SkyBridge satellite constellation (WWW).
SKYBRIDGE SYSTEM
The SkyBridge system is based on the constellation of 80 LEO
satellites at the altitude of 1469 km and makes use of the Ku
frequency band. The architecture of the system provides trans-
mission of the entire traffic (generated by terrestrial terminals)
through satellites to the gateway acting as an interface to the
terrestrial network [3, 21]. The gateway serves users within a
350-km radius, so ocean coverage in not provided. The Sky-
Bridge system is complementary rather than alternative to the
high-speed terrestrial networks. Its philosophy of multimedia
service provision resembles that of the Globalstar system with
respect to POTS. The authors of the system have made a num-
ber of strategic decisions, which define its properties as follows:
The LEO constellation allows application of small anten-
nas in the terminals, provides short times of signal delay
(as in terrestrial networks), and makes it possible to use
the TCP/IP protocol.
The Ku band (10 to 18 GHz) has well defined propaga-
tion characteristics and the technology is well known, so
it is possible to reduce both risks and costs.
FIGURE 16. Blocking of transmission in protected zone.
12 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
FIGURE 15. SkyBridge satellite (WWW).
Bent pipes without onboard signal processing and with-
out intersatellite links (ISL) are cheap. The brain of
the system has been located on Earth, which has several
advantages: the costs involved can be reduced, the time
required for setting the system in operation can be short-
ened, the system becomes more flexible to market
demands, easier integration with the existing terrestrial
network.
The concentration of the network intelligence in ground
systems, which operate using the ATM protocol, provides
a better integration with the terrestrial network.
SkyBridge is a broadband access system providing the user
with multimedia services. It consists of two subsystems:
A space segment owned by SkyBridge Ltd. Partnership
(LP).
A ground segment comprising approximately 200-satellite
base stations (Gateways, which belong to local operators)
and subscriber terminals (which are either leased or
owned by the users).
The gateways will be equipped with ATM switches that
facilitate integration with the terrestrial network. The expect-
ed cost of an inexpensive fixed terminal approaches US$700.
Space Segment The space segment forms a constella-
tion of 80 operational transparent LEO satellites (plus four
spare satellites on Earth). There are two identical sub-con-
stellations of 40 satellites each, with 20 planes each con-
taining four satellites. All 80 satellites are in a circular
orbit at an altitude of 1469 km, with an inclination of 53
(Fig. 14.), thus providing coverage limited to the area
between two parallels of 68 latitude (for a 30 elevation
angle mask). The constellation is supervised by the control
ground segment (CGS), which includes a satellite control
center (SCC) and a network of ground sta-
tions, also used as a telemetry and com-
mand (TT&C) unit.
The CGS controls the satellites during
the stage of positioning and during tests.
Once the satellite has been positioned within
the constellation, there is no need to moni-
tor it from Earth. The GPS navigation sys-
tem (with which the satellites have been
equipped) enables precise positioning and
automatic position control.
The launch mass of the satellite amounts
to 1250 kg, of which 400 kg accounts for the
payload (Fig. 15). Each satellite builds 18
cells on the Earths surface through elec-
tronically steerable antenna beams so as not
to allow the cells to displace when the satel-
lite travels. In this way a terrestrial network
of fixed cells has been established. The total
capacity of the satellite is respectively 2 Gb/s
for data reception and 6 Gb/s in terms of
data transmission.
 45
40
35
Elevation
30
Protected zone
25
20
15
Geostationary arc
10
0
120 140 160 180 200 220 240
Azimuth
FIGURE 17. View on protected zone from the Earth surface (Lat-
itude 51).
Ground Segment The ground segment consists of satel-
lite interactive terminals (SITs) and of a network of gate-
ways connected to one another by a WAN data transmission
system. Each gateway and each terminal served by the Sky-
Bridge system has been guaranteed the visibility of at least
one satellite at a position, which does not interfere with
other satellite systems, and at an elevation angle that is
greater than its minimum value. At the moment of
switchover, another satellite is always available. The data
transmission is controlled by the gateway, and the gateway
establishes virtual connection between the SITs and the ter-
restrial network. The base station guides the traffic to the
appropriate ground network (narrow band, broadband,
Internet) through the relevant interfaces. One gateway may
serve many cells. In addition, a gateway can be connected to
the terrestrial telecommunication infrastructure through
another gateway when direct connection cannot be estab-
lished. In this way it is possible to expand the coverage of
the system onto regions with low population density and
poor terrestrial infrastructure. The transmitter and the
receiver of the gateway have a maximum capacity of 2.4 Gb/s
and 870 Mb/s, respectively.
Two SIT types have been developed:
Individual terminals, which are small enough to be
installed on the roof of a detached house. They are able
to watch two satellites (in order to perform the
switchover procedure between satellites), to receive a sig-
nal of 20 Mb/s transmission rate, and transmit with a rate
of 2 Mb/s.
Collective terminals, which are large in size and able to
transfer traffic at a rate five times greater than the capa-
bilities of an individual terminal (reception and transmis-
sion rate amounting to 100 Mb/s and 10 Mb/s,
respectively).
The terminals can be connected individually to personal
computers, video-telephones, conventional telephones and TV
sets, or collectively to local distribution networks and LANs.
Frequency Plan and Electromagnetic Compatibility
The system has been designed for the frequency range of
10.7 to 14.5 GHz in a way that eliminates interference with
geostationary satellite systems or terrestrial systems. Elec-
tromagnetic compatibility of the SkyBridge system with geo-
stationary systems has been provided by reducing the power
radiated at the direction of the geostationary orbit. The
receiver of the satellite earth station will suffer from inter-
IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
10
10
FIGURE 18. Broadband multimedia system operating from
HAPS (WWW).
ference only if one of the active cells generated by the satel-
lite of the SkyBridge system covers the station. In that par-
ticular case the receiver on the geostationary satellite will
also experience interference (Fig. 16). Compatibility
between the systems will be reestablished, if in such
instances transmission of the SkyBridge system is blocked.
Furthermore, if another compatible satellite is able to
serve the interfered terminal (or if the base station is able
to transmit via another compatible satellite), continuity of
services will be maintained. The SkyBridge system meets all
these requirements. There is no need to switch off all the
beams of the satellite. Only beams with the potential to
cause interference are shut down.
The protected zone for a beam influencing a base station
includes all satellite positions at which interference with the
geostationary satellite and relevant satellite earth stations
might occur. If the transmission to or from the satellite is like-
ly to produce interference, it will be blocked by a relevant
gateway. The protected zone for a cell containing a gateway
can be presented as an area monitored from an arbitrary
point of the cell. This area is bounded by arcs deflecting on
both sides from the arc of the geostationary orbit at an angle
of 10 (Fig. 17).
Frequency resource management is carried out centrally
by sending frequency allocation plans to each base station
and each satellite. In this way the gateway and the satellites
can be programmed in proper time and will be able to per-
form the transfer procedures. The SIT has not been
equipped with protected zone charts, so it can transmit to
the satellite only if it has received a signal from the gateway
(through the satellite) which serves the SIT and if there has
been a clearly defined permission to transmit along with a
frequency assignment.
The SkyBridge system will use a radio interface combining
the CDMA, TDMA and FDMA techniques. Delays will not
exceed 120 ms. According to plan, the cost of the space seg-
ment and ground segment amounts to US$ 4.2 billion and
US$ 1.9 billion, respectively. SkyBridge shall be in operation
by the year 2002. The project has financial support from a
variety of companies and organizations, with Alcatel being the
holder of the controlling portion of shares.
13
 Platform

Altitude 21 to 23 km
OTHER DESIGNS OF SUMMARY
MULTIMEDIA RADIO Range 1000 km
The information available on satel-
SYSTEMS No. of beams <1000
lite multimedia systems is of a gen-
Life time 5 10 years eral nature and often conflicting.
Some of the designs for regional Companies and organizations
multimedia systems have replaced Capacity 2.06 Gb/s developing such systems are rarely
satellites with balloon-based willing to reveal any details about
User Terminal
telecommunication platforms (pro- their work. The adopted concepts
ject ConSolar/Rorostar), high alti- Bandwidth Downlink and uplink each 5 MHz may be subject to further modifica-
tude long operational aircraft tions, as was with the Teledesic sys-
(HALO) and high altitude plat- Frequency range 1885 to 1980 MHz tem that will be constructed in a
form stations (HAPS) [3]. This has 2110 to 2160 MHz form different from the one pre-
been done by SkyStation, which is (Region 2-Europe) sented to the public. This is an indi-
the best known. It has been sug- Modulation QPSK
cation that some of the satellite
gested that the payload should be multimedia systems are still at an
placed onboard aircraft. Supported Access W-CDMA early stage of design, which
by a number of small engines, the involves large expenditures on the
aircraft will be able to stay in the Transmission rate 8.0 to 16 kb/s voice construction of satellite constella-
stratosphere at an altitude of about 384 kb/s data tions. As may be inferred from the
21 km. Transmission will be carried Power 25 mW experiences of Motorola (the Iridi-
out via two frequency bands: 47.2 um system) or Globalstar, the real
to 47.5 GHz for the Table 6. Basic parameters of SkyStation HAPS costs are much higher than antici-
stratosphere/Earth link and 47.9 to (UMTS service). pated. Serious problems arise when
48.2 GHz for the Earth/strato- applying for the licenses to use the
sphere link. Radio links T1/E1 will system on a global scale. The
connect the payload to the terrestrial network. The link made license application process itself takes a long time; a great
available to the user will have a throughput of 10 Mb/s for number of sophisticated legal aspects of the problem call for
one carrier. bilateral negotiations. It is also difficult to start large-scale
The stratospheric platform much better utilizes the spec- production of terminals. The success of the system depends
trum. A metropolitan area can be served within a 100 km strongly on the costs the subscriber will have to incur. It goes
radius (from the center) by one beam of the geostationary without saying that they are in principle much higher than
satellite, by not more than six to nine beams of the LEO satel- anticipated. Taking this into account, it is obvious that the
lite, and by as many as 700 to 1000 beams formed by the designs offered by companies that are going to use geosta-
stratospheric platform. Thus, the coefficient of frequency tionary satellites are far less risky. Another advantage of
reuse for a stratospheric platform is by two orders of magni- those designs is that services can be introduced step by step,
tude higher. HAPS does not need rocket-assisted takeoff. after thorough analysis of the market. The preliminary costs
They can travel or spot-hover by using their own engines. that must be incurred are not unattainably high. And there is
They may also be de-orbited for maintenance, repair or doubt as to whether satellite multimedia services really need
retrofitting. The design itself is environment-friendly and com- to be provided on a global scale. The majority of the designs
paratively cheap. A multimedia system with HAPS is shown in proposed accept fixed terminals alone or, under certain con-
Fig. 18. ditions, terminals of nomadic type.
Many companies and organizations are involved in the Radio interfaces of satellite multimedia systems will proba-
SkyStation Project [22], including Aerospatiale, Finmeccanica, bly make use of the DVB-S platform or the ATM protocol.
Alenia Aerospazio, Thomson, Dornier or Comsat. The air- Other protocols, which are used in terrestrial systems, can be
craft have already been constructed (Fig. 19). An aircraft encapsulated.
(157 m in length and 62 m in diameter) is equipped with solar
batteries, which will feed a 1000-kg weight payload. The REFERENCES
parameters of a 2 GHz band system (UMTS service) are list-
[1] Internet page: www.skybridgesatellite.com
ed in Table 6. [2] P. Dondl, Loopus Opens a New Dimension in Satellite Com-
munications, Intl. Journal of Satellite Communications, vol. 2,
1984, pp. 24150.
[3] Survey on Standardization Objectives for Broadband Satellite
Multimedia (Phase 1), TR 101 374-1 v1.1.2, ETSI, Sept. 1998.
[4] M. Allman et al., TCP Performance over Satellite Links, NASA
Lewis Research Center, 1997.
[5] H. D. Clausen, An Overview of IPv6, Technical Workshop,
Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 1999.
[6] R. Goyal and R. Jain, Optimizing TCP over Satellite ATM Net-
works, IETF Draft, Oct. 1998.
[7] M. Mathis et al., The Macroscopic Behavior of the TCP Con-
gestion Avoidance Algorithm, Computer Communication
Review, vol. 27, no. 3, July 1997.
[8] U. Reimers, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB): The Future of
Television, Physics World, Apr. 1998.
[9] J.P. Evain, The Multimedia Home Platform, EBU Technical
Review, Spring Issue, 1998.
[10] The DVB Cookbook, TR 101 200, ETSI, June 1998.
FIGURE 19. SkyStation aircraft (WWW).

14 IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1
[11] DVB; Implementation guidelines for the Use of MPEG-2 Sys-
tems, Video and Audio in Satellite, Cable and Terrestrial Broad-
casting Applications; ETR 154, ETSI.
[12] DVB; Guidelines on Implementation and Usage of Service
Information (SI), EN 300 468, ETSI.
[13] Internet page: www.dvb.org
[14] Internet page: www.hns.com/news/pressrel/
[15] W. D. Ivancic et al., NASAs Broadband Satellite Networking
Research, IEEE Commun. Mag., July 1999.
[16] E. G. Cuevas, The Development of Performance and Avail-
ability Standards for Satellite ATM Networks, IEEE Commun.
Mag., July 1999.
[17] C. P. Charalambous, V. F. Frost, and J. B. Evans, Perfor-
mance Evaluation of TCP Extensions on ATM over High Band-
width Delay Product Networks, IEEE Commun. Mag., July
1999.
[18] ASTRA Return Channel System, Systems Description Docu-
mentation, Societe Europeenne des Satellites, (Doc. No.:
ARCS.240.DC-E001-0.2), Issue 0.2, May 1998.
[19] International Course on Satellite and Mobile Communica-
tions, Proc. CEI-EUROPE, 1993.
[20] Internet page: www.teledesic.com/tech/details.html
[21] Internet page: www.skybridgesatellite.com
[22] Internet page: www.skystation.com

BIOGRAPHIES
DANIEL J. BEM received the degree of Engineer in Radiocommunica-
tions from the Technical University of Wroclaw (Poland) in 1953,
the M.Sc., Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees also from the Technical Univer-
sity of Wroclaw in 1957, 1965 and 1975, respectively. Since 1953
he has been employed at the Technical University of Wroclaw,
where he is professor of telecommunications and holds the Chair
of the Radiocommunications Department. From 1986 to 1990 he
was responsible for a government sponsored project, KASK,
whose goal was to establish an academic computer network in
Poland. From 1990 to 1994 he was a member of the coordinating
body of the Polish Research and Academic Computer Network
(NASK). Since 1994 he has been employed at NASK as a research
fellow. He has published 10 books, seven monographs, five text-
books and 198 papers.

TADEUSZ W. WIECKOWSKI is with the Institute of Telecommunication

and Acoustics of the Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland),
where he works as professor in the field of communications sys-
tems and electromagnetic compatibility. He is currently a director
of the Institute. He received the M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees in
telecommunication in 1976 and 1980, respectively. He is a senior
member of the IEEE, a member of the Association of Polish Elec-
trical Engineers and Organizing Committee of the Wroclaw EMC
Symposia. He is the author of 120 books, articles and papers pre-
sented at international and national conferences.

RYSZARD J. ZIELINSKI (Dick@zr.ita.pwr.wroc.pl) received the M.Sc.

and Ph.D. degrees in telecommunications in 1978 and 1984,
respectively, from Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw,
Poland. He joined the Radiocommunication Department of the
Institute of Telecommunication and Acoustics, Wroclaw University
of Technology in 1978, and is currently an assistant professor of
the same university. From May 1992 to February 1993 he was an
expert of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETSI), Sophia Antipolis, France. His research interest is in electro-
magnetic compatibility issues, e.g., spectrum management, meth-
ods of measurement of broadcasting antennas, EMC of ITE, and
EMC in radiocommunication systems with particular interest in
EMC in satellite systems. He actively participates in the interna-
tional standardization work of ETSI and represents the Polish
National Radiocommunications Agency in the Technical Commit-
tee of Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (TC SES). He is a mem-
ber of the organizing committee of The International Wroclaw
EMC Symposium, the International Symposium EL-TEX, and the
Polish Electrical Engineers Association. He is the author of one
book and 60 papers and publications.

IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/surveys First Quarter 2000, vol. 3 no. 1 15
View publication stats