ECMC 1T5C: Mobile Satellite Communications

Unit –I Mobile Communication System Evolution

Historical Perspective, Cellular Systems, basic concepts, first-generation (1G) systems, second -generation (2G) systems. Cordless telephones, background, cordless telephone-2 (CT-2), digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT), Personal handy phone systems(PHS). Third generation systems (3G).

Unit-II, Mobile Satellite Systems

Introduction, current status, network architecture, operational frequency, logical channels, orbital types. Geostationary satellite systems- general characteristics, Inmarsat, EUTELSAT, Asia Cellular satellite, THURAYA and other systems. Little LEO systems- regulatory back ground, ORBCOMM, E-SAT, LEO ONE, other systems. Satellite personal communication networks (S-PCN)-general characteristics, IRIDIUM, GLOBALSTAR, NEW ICO, constellation communications, Ellipso.

Unit-III Constellation Characteristics and Orbital Parameters

Satellite motion- historical context, proof of Kepler’s first law, second law, Kepler’s third law, satellite velocity. Satellite location- parameters, location in the orbital plane- sat. location w.r.t the rotating earth, w.r.t celestial sphere, w.r.t satellite-centered spherical co-ordinates, w.r.t look angles, geostationary satellite location. Orbital perturbation- general discussion. Effects of moon, sun, oblate earth, atmospheric drag. Satellite constellation design.

Unit-IV Channel Characteristics

Introduction, land mobile channel characteristics- local environment, norrowband channel models, wide band channel models. Aeronautical link, maritime link, fixed link- tropospheric and ionospheric effects.

Unit V Radio Link Design

Introduction, link budget analysis. Modulation-overview, Phase shift Keying, minimum shift keying, QAM. Channel coding- Back ground, block codes, convolution codes, interleaving, concatenated codes, turbocodes, automatic repeat request schemes. Multiple Access- Purpose, FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, contention access scheme.

Unit-VI : Network Procedures

Introduction, signaling protocols- overview of GSM signaling protocol architecture, S-PCN interfaces and signaling protocol architecture. Mobility management- satellite cells and location areas, location management, handover management. Resource management- objectives, effects of satellite system characteristics, mobility, resource allocation strategies, network operations and procedures.

Unit-VII: Integrated Terrestrial-Satellite Mobile Networks

Introduction, integration with PSTN- introduction, gateway functions and operations, protocol architecture of SSN7, Access functions. Integration with GSM- requirements, scenarios, impact of integration scenarios on the- handover procedure, location management procedure, call set-up procedure. The role of dual-mode terminal in terrestrial/S-PCN integration. Integration with third generation(3G) networks- concept of interworking units, radio dependent and radio independent concept, satellite integration with-GSM/EDGE-a GERAN approach, UMTS-a UTRAN approach.

Unit-VIII Future Developments

Introduction, super GEO,s, non-Geostationary satellites, hybrid constellations, mobile-broad band satellite services, mobile IP, transmission control protocol (TCP), fixed-mobile convergence, high altitude platforms, location based service delivery.

Text Books

  1. Mobile Satellite Communications, M.Richharia, Pearson Education, 2003.
  2. Mobile Satellite Communication Networks, Ray E. Sheriff & Y.Fun Hu, John Wiley & Sons Inc. 2007.
  3. Digital Satellite Communications, Tri T.Ha., 2nd Ed., Tata McGraw-Hill, 2009.

Reference Books

  1. Mobile Communications, Jochen H.Schiller, 2nd Ed., Pearson Education, 2011.
  2. Satellite Communication Systems Engineering, 2nd Ed., W.L.Pritchard, H.G.Suyderhoud & R.A.Nelson, Pearson Education.