Satellite communications are becoming a viable means of providing a wide range of applications for both the commercial and military sectors. The infrastructure for distributing signals covers the widest range of communications methods; even the most remote places on earth like the South Pole can have communications via satellite. Satellite's bandwidth, field of view, and availability, along with combining this technology with other types of communications systems, produce a ubiquitous infrastructure that provides communications worldwide.

Chapter Contents:

• 12.1 Communications satellites
• 12.2 General satellite operation
• 12.2.1 Operational frequencies
• 12.2.2 Modulation
• 12.2.3 Adaptive differential pulse-code modulation
• 12.3 Fixed satellite service
• 12.4 Geosynchronous and geostationary orbits
• 12.5 Ground station antennas
• 12.6 Noise and the low-noise amplifier
• 12.7 The link budget
• 12.7.1 EIRP
• 12.7.2 Propagation losses
• 12.7.3 Received power at the receiver
• 12.7.4 Carrier power/equivalent temperature
• 12.8 Multiple channels in the same frequency band
• 12.9 Multiple access schemes
• 12.10 Propagation delay
• 12.11 Cost for use of the satellites
• 12.12 Regulations
• 12.13 Types of satellites used for communications
• 12.14 System design for satellite communications
• 12.15 Summary
• 12.16 Problems
• Further reading

Inspec keywords: telecommunication network reliability; satellite communication

Other keywords: availability; South Pole; military sector; ubiquitous infrastructure; satellite communication

Subjects: Satellite communication systems; Reliability