Mobile Satellite Communications – Principles and Trends 2e

Madhavendra Richharia is a practising professional for well over three decades, with experience in diverse areas such as design and development of earth station products, satellite system design and operation, system planning, academics and research. He is currently a senior consultant and director of Knowledge Space Ltd, UK, prior to which he held a senior technical position at Inmarsat for over 15 years. Earlier, he was a faculty member at the University of Surrey. He has also contributed to satellite communication programmes of ISRO as an engineering scientist. He has published a number of technical papers on a variety of satellite communications topic, authored a book on satellite system design and co-authored a book covering concepts and technologies applicable to satellite systems for personal applications. The first edition of this book was well-received and continues to be recommended for many university courses. He obtained his PhD degree from the University of Birmingham UK and Bachelor and Masters from BHU. He is a member of the IEEE and the IET.

Preface xv About the Author xvii Acknowledgements xix 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Scope and Organization 1 1.2 Evolution of Mobile Telecommunications 5 1.2.1 Terrestrial Systems 5 1.2.2 Satellite Systems 8 1.3 Satellite System Architecture 13 1.3.1 Radio Frequency Environment 15 1.3.2 Orbit 18 1.3.3 Tolerable Delay in Data Delivery 20 1.3.4 Handover 20 1.3.5 Mobility Management 20 1.3.6 Physical Environment 21 1.3.7 Satellite Access 21 1.3.8 Spectrum Management 22 1.3.9 Radio Link Reliability 23 1.4 Business Plan 23 1.5 Regulatory Considerations 23 1.6 Operational Considerations 24 1.7 Mobile Systems A Comparison 26 1.8 Example Applications 27 1.9 Practical Limitations 27 1.10 Related Satellite Systems 29 1.10.1 M-VSAT Systems 29 1.10.2 Satellite Navigation Systems 30 1.10.3 Direct Broadcasts to Individuals and Mobiles 30 1.11 Trends 31 1.11.1 General 31 1.11.2 Market 32 1.11.3 System Architecture 32 1.11.4 Spectrum 33 1.11.5 Technology 33 Revision 34 References 35 2 Satellite Constellations 37 2.1 Introduction 37 2.2 Satellite Orbits 38 2.2.1 Orbital Mechanics Basics 38 2.2.2 Satellite Coverage 56 2.2.3 Space Environment 57 2.2.4 Eclipse on Satellites 58 2.2.5 The Sun s Interference 61 2.2.6 Doppler Effect 61 2.2.7 Orbital Debris 61 2.2.8 Summary of Orbital Characteristics 68 2.3 Satellite Constellations 69 2.3.1 Considerations in Constellation Design 72 2.3.2 Polar Constellations 73 2.3.3 Inclined Orbit Constellations 75 2.3.4 Hybrid Constellations 79 2.3.5 Regional Coverage 79 2.3.6 Constellations for Non-Real-Time Systems 80 2.3.7 Use of Spot Beams 80 2.3.8 Availability Considerations for Non-Geostationary Satellites 80 Revision 85 References 86 3 Radio Link 89 3.1 Introduction 89 3.2 Spectrum Issues 89 3.2.1 Spectrum Sharing Methods 92 3.2.2 Spectrum Forecast Methodology 98 3.3 Propagation Characteristics 100 3.3.1 General Propagation Characteristics 101 3.3.2 Land Mobile Channel 111 3.3.3 Maritime Channel 146 3.3.4 Aeronautical Channel 153 3.3.5 System Implications 158 3.4 Radio Link Analysis 162 Revision 170 References 171 4 Modulation, Coding and Multiple Access 175 4.1 Introduction 175 4.2 Modulation 175 4.2.1 MSS Requirements 175 4.2.2 Preferences 177 4.2.3 PSK Schemes 179 4.2.4 Performance Comparison of Conventional Digital Modulation Schemes 183 4.2.5 Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) Modulation Systems 191 4.2.6 Spread Spectrum Modulation 194 4.3 Coding 197 4.3.1 Trellis-Coded Modulation (TCM) 204 4.3.2 Modulation and Coding Trends and Issues 205 4.3.3 Automatic Repeat Request 207 4.4 Multiple Access Schemes 208 4.4.1 Comparison of Multiple Access Schemes 212 4.4.2 Comparison of Spectral and Power Efficiency 214 Revision 222 References 223 5 Fixed Earth Stations and User Terminals 227 5.1 Introduction 227 5.2 Gateways 228 5.3 User Terminals 230 5.3.1 Antennas 231 5.3.2 Hand-Held UT 239 5.3.3 Mobile Terminals 248 5.4 Environmental Issues 264 5.4.1 Biological Effects 264 Revision 269 References 269 6 Spacecraft 271 6.1 Introduction 271 6.2 Satellites for MSS 272 6.2.1 Transponders 273 6.2.2 Antenna Systems 296 6.2.3 Effect of Orbital Characteristics on Spacecraft Design 298 6.3 Intersatellite links 302 6.3.1 Frequency Bands 304 6.3.2 Implementation Issues 306 6.4 Emerging Technologies 306 6.5 Launching Satellite Constellations 308 Revision 312 References 312 7 System Architecture 315 7.1 Introduction 315 7.2 Air Interface 316 7.2.1 Ancillary Terrestrial Component 319 7.3 System Development 320 7.3.1 Influences 322 7.3.2 Constraints and Considerations 324 7.3.3 System Synthesis 326 7.3.4 Technical Trade-off Analysis 327 7.3.5 Impact of Satellite Altitude 331 7.4 Network Considerations 334 7.4.1 General 334 7.4.2 Functional Entities 338 7.4.3 Network Connectivity 341 7.4.4 Gateway Locations 345 7.4.5 Call Handling 345 7.4.6 Mobility Management 348 Revision 355 References 356 8 Satellite Radio Interface Standards 357 8.1 Introduction 357 8.2 Satellite Radio Interface Standards 359 8.2.1 GMR 359 8.2.2 Satellite Component of UMTS/IMT-2000 380 8.3 Interactive Mobile Broadband Broadcast Standard 407 8.3.1 DVB-S2/RCS+M 407 Revision 422 References 423 9 Operational Considerations 425 9.1 Introduction 425 9.2 Perspective 425 9.3 Subscriber and Gateway Commissioning 428 9.3.1 Gateways 428 9.3.2 Mobile Earth Stations 429 9.4 Radio Resource Management 431 9.4.1 Spectrum Management 431 9.4.2 EIRP Management 454 9.5 Radio Frequency Monitoring 455 9.5.1 Radio Frequency Interference 460 9.5.2 Radio Frequency Interference Management 460 9.6 Quality of Service 463 9.7 Licensing Issues 464 Revision 466 References 466 10 Commercial Issues 469 10.1 Introduction 469 10.2 System Planning 472 10.3 Service Distribution Model 483 10.4 Billing Issues 486 10.4.1 Investment Routes 487 10.5 Regulatory Issues 488 10.6 Traffic Forecast 489 10.6.1 UMTS Methodology 490 10.6.2 ITU Traffic and Spectrum Forecast Methodology 498 10.6.3 Eurocontrol/FAA Approach to Traffic Model Methodology 507 10.7 End-User Perspective A Case Study 507 10.7.1 A Maritime Perspective 507 Revision 513 References 513 11 Representative MSS Systems 515 11.1 Introduction 515 11.2 Geostationary Satellite Systems 516 11.2.1 Inmarsat System 516 11.2.2 Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS) System 534 11.2.3 EUTELTRACS 539 11.3 LightSquared MSS-ATC Proposal 544 11.3.1 Background 544 11.3.2 MSS-ATC Hybrid Network 545 11.4 Big-LEO Systems 547 11.4.1 Iridium 547 11.4.2 Globalstar 557 11.5 Little-LEO System 564 11.5.1 ORBCOMM 564 11.6 MEO System 568 11.6.1 ICO System 568 11.7 Hybrid Orbit Systems 572 11.7.1 ELLIPSOTM System 572 References 577 12 Mobile Satellite Broadcast Systems 581 12.1 Introduction 581 12.2 Evolution 582 12.3 Mobile Broadcast System Requirements 585 12.3.1 Service Requirements 585 12.3.2 Receiver Types 586 12.4 System Configuration 587 12.5 Space Segment 588 12.6 Transmission Technology 590 12.7 OSI Architecture in a Broadcast Context 594 12.8 Prevalent Transmission Systems 597 12.9 Receiver Architecture 604 12.10 DVB-SH System Architecture 606 12.11 Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) 611 12.12 DBS Reception on Mobile Terminals 612 Revision 613 References 614 13 Related Satellite Systems 617 13.1 Introduction 617 13.2 Distress and Safety Systems 617 13.2.1 Cospas-Sarsat Search and Rescue System 619 13.3 Navigation Systems 627 13.3.1 Background 627 13.3.2 Satellite Navigation Principles 628 13.3.3 Navigation System Examples 630 13.4 Mobile Very Small Aperture Terminals 642 13.4.1 Rationale 643 13.4.2 Issues 644 13.4.3 Technology 647 13.5 Terrestrial Cellular System 649 13.5.1 System Architecture 650 Revision 653 References 653 14 The Future 655 14.1 Introduction 655 14.2 Market Projections 656 14.3 Spectrum Forecast 659 14.4 Capacity Enhancement Techniques 659 14.4.1 Multi-User Detection 660 14.4.2 Static and Dynamic Frequency Planning 665 14.4.3 Cross-Layer Optimization 665 14.4.4 Cognitive Radio 667 14.5 System Architecture 672 14.5.1 Terrestrial System Progression 672 14.5.2 Adaptation of Terrestrial 4G Air-Interface 674 14.5.3 Hybrid Architecture 675 14.5.4 Satellite-Enabled ad hoc Networks 676 14.6 Enabling Concepts and Technologies 678 14.6.1 Propagation 679 14.6.2 Modulation and Coding 683 14.6.3 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output 685 14.6.4 Software Defined Radio 689 14.7 Little-LEO Systems 692 14.8 Mobile Satellite Systems in Future Networks 693 14.8.1 Aeronautical Systems 693 14.8.2 Speculative Vision 696 Revision 698 References 699 Appendix 703 A.1 Coverage Snapshot of Representative Non-Geostationary MSS Systems 703 A.2 A List of Useful Formulas 705 A.2.1 Geostationary Orbit 705 A.2.2 Propagation 711 A.2.3 Receiver 713 References 714 Index 715