An Overview on MOBILE SATELLITE SERVICE (MSS) SYSTEMS

1. INTRODUCTION
The use of satellites for the purpose of delivering telecommunication services has been present since the mid-1960s. Today, it has become an integral part of our daily lives through services such as direct television broadcast, personal communication services and global positioning system (GPS) navigation. The following three types of communication satellites exist: 1. Fixed Satellite Services 2. Broadcast Satellite Services 3. Mobile Satellite Services This report focuses on the main aspects of a Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) System. Just when the land mobile cellular networks (first generation) was being developed in the 1980s, mobile satellite services started to make their way also. Initially, they were mainly used in the maritime sector and, later, in the aeronautical sector. But, they experienced a constant growth till the next decade. Since mid-1990s, major investments and advances in the technology caused a great expectation in the market. Developments in the land mobile cellular networks made the operators realise that these services were limited to land users only. On the other hand, users travelling across countries and continents through sea or air could not benefit from those land mobile services. It prompted operators to adopt a more regional approach and to move towards the use of satellites to cover the sea and air as well as the land across large areas. Many MSS operators began business and started offering mobile services through satellite systems being deployed. The demand in personal satellite communication services such as voice, facsimile and multimedia services has since increased gradually. In basic terms, MSS systems enable communication services to mobile terminals. These terminals can be moved anywhere at any time for seamless connectivity in the service area. Examples can be terminals mounted on aircrafts, ships, land vehicles or even individual persons to access the required services. The most common use of mobile satellite service is though the satellite phone which provides voice call services to the user anywhere in the world. It is useful, especially in places not totally covered by land mobile cellular networks such as the ocean, large forest areas, vast desert and very remote areas. Today, there is a growing awareness of the use of mobile satellite service systems to aid mobile and personal communications in a seamless manner.

2. MSS SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

Figure 1 shows the basic network configuration of a mobile satellite service system. The architecture consists of three distinct parts: 1. User Segment 2. Ground Segment 3. Space Segment

Figure 1: Basic Mobile Satellite System Architecture [1]

2.1.1. THE USER SEGMENT User terminals form part of the user segment. They vary in terms of how they are utilized in the environment. They can be of two kinds: Mobile terminal units They are terminals that are fully mobile when in use. They can be for personal use or group use. Examples of mobile personal terminals are the satellite phone and palm-top electronic devices. Examples of group use include terminal units that have been placed in a moving vehicle such as a car, ship or plane. Portable terminal units They are usually bigger than the mobile terminal units. A common example is a laptop. These units can be moved from one location to another but usage during mobility is normally not supported.

2.1.2. THE GROUND SEGMENT The ground segment will contain a fixed earth station which can be access to provide services from terrestrial networks. It consists of three main entities: Gateway Switching Subsystem (GWS) The GWS provide an entry gateway for the satellite connection to access core networks on land. Services are provided to the user terminals through the satellite towards a particular coverage area served by fixed networks such as public switched telephone networks or PSTNs and by mobile networks such as public land mobile networks or PLMNs.

Network Control Centre (NCC) 3

The NCC provides network management functions and call control functions so that access to satellite resources can be managed effectively. Network management functions include operation and maintenance (OAM) functions, network synchronization, signalling links management between stations and congestion control. Call control functions contains gateway configuration, signalling functions of common channels and selection of gateway for originated mobile calls. Satellite Control Centre (SCC) The SCC provides the control function for the satellite position in orbit and monitors performance of the satellite constellation. Other functions include commands generated and transmitted for satellite, payload and orbit operations, range calibration through performance monitoring and commands transmitted for beam direction.

2.1.3. THE SPACE SEGMENT The space segment is the part of Figure 1 which provides links between the mobile users and the earth stations for terrestrial network access. It can also provide direct connection between mobile users via the satellite in space. More than one satellite constellations can be found in that segment. Those constellations depend on the type of the orbit and parameters with respect to the satellite. They are important factors to ensure a desired level of service quality and must be duly considered during the early design stage of the satellite structure. Other factors such as requirements from commercial perspective and technical challenges must be considered in details when designing the satellite constellation. Time sharing and space sharing are two concepts that are applicable to the space segment. Several networks can use the same space segment by these types of sharing. This is applicable to a non-geostationary satellite whereas a geostationary satellite can only have time sharing. In more details, time sharing is the way satellite resources are shared by several networks at different times. These networks have the same coverage region. On the other hand, space sharing, is the way satellite resources are shared by several networks which have different coverage regions. Seamless coverage in a certain region is not ensured when time and space sharing are employed. Another aspect to take into account is the design of the space segment. It can be done in different ways. It depends on the satellite orbit type and the equipments used for the payload. It is very much possible to use different orbit types and get complementary services, with each service making the best out of that type of satellite orbit. Direct connection from satellite to satellite can be done. Routing capabilities from the satellites enable this type of connection and inter-orbit links are used to form the network of satellites in space. By making the space segment more advanced in terms of the applied technology, it becomes less dependent on the terrestrial network for communication services. Therefore, fewer gateways can be implemented on the ground.

3. SATELLITE CONCEPTS
3.1. ORBITS Satellite orbits are of great interest in the design of the space segment for the MSS system architecture. Since the 1990s, the research community has put its focus on orbits other than geostationary orbit (GEO) due to the emerging market for portable communication devices. GEO satellite systems provide coverage over a specified fixed area and global coverage is achieved by the use of at least three satellites in the constellation around the equator. The coverage area by satellite is also known as it footprint. However, a non-GEO satellite can only provide coverage to a particular area at specified times. It depends on the distance the satellite is from its orbit to the earth at a particular time. Low earth orbits (LEO) and medium earth orbits (MEO) are nearer to the earth and therefore apparently provide a more effective way of connecting ground mobile devices to the satellite in orbit. Path loss and propagation delay are both reduced, thus enabling voice and data services to achieve service quality near to that currently experienced by GSM users. Highly elliptical orbits (HEO) are also present as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Satellite Orbit types [2]

The perigee is the term given to the nearest position the satellite can be located from the earths centre and the apogee defines the furthest away position. The satellite orbit in its orbital plane and the exact position of a satellite at a specific time depends on several parameters. They are six in total and are the: 1. Semi-major axis which describes the size of the orbit 2. Eccentricity which describes the shape of the shape of the ellipse 3. Argument of perigee that is the angle between the earth-satellite imaginary line and the earth-perigee imaginary line 4. Inclination which gives the angle between the equatorial plane and the orbital plane

5. Longitude of ascension node which gives the tilt angle of the orbital plane with respect to the line joining the ascending and descending nodes 6. Time passed by since the satellite went through its perigee position They all define the orientation of the ellipse in an orbital plane.

3.1.1. Laws of Motion and Gravitation To understand the satellite orbits of a MSS system (which are the same for FSS or BSS), it is useful to have knowledge of the basic laws of physics which describe the motion of a body around another larger body. In this context, the following laws are taken into account: Keplers Laws The three laws of planetary motion from Kepler can be used to describe the orbit shape of satellites around the earth and their orbital period. The first law illustrates that each satellite has an elliptical path around the earth with the earths centre positioned at one focus. The second law describes that an imaginary line linking the satellite and the earth will cover equal areas in equal time periods. The third and last law indicates that the orbital period of the satellite to the power of two is directly proportional to the semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit to the power of three. Figure 3 illustrates the concept.

Figure 3: Satellite elliptical orbit [3] Newtons Law The law from Newton explains the motion and gravitational behaviour of the satellite with regard to the earth. The force, F, on the two entities (satellite and earth) is directly proportional to mass, m, of the satellite and inversely proportional to the square of the distance of separation, r, between the two entities. The equation below illustrates this 6

relationship where G, the gravitational field, equals to 6.67210-11 Nm2kg-2. M, the earths mass, equals to 5.9741024 kg.
F GM m r2

3.1.2. Orbital Perturbations The orbit of a satellite is defined by the laws described in the last section but different factors can affect the orbit. MSS systems are affected as well. External forces can act on the satellite and cause a deviation from its original orbital path. This may cause the satellite to drift further as time pass by and causes a change in the satellite constellation. Therefore, the footprint can also be affected causing a distorted coverage area. Those forces are mainly due to the following: Non-uniform gravitational strength of the earth The gravitational fields of the earth are not uniform because the earth is not perfectly round. It is slightly elliptical with a bulge at the equator. This bulge causes a toque which rotates the angular momentum vector. The following consequences, mainly on LEO and MEO satellite orbits, can be noted: 1. Slow changes in the imaginary line between the equatorial plane and the orbital plane causing a regression of the line of the nodes 2. Slight rotation of the ellipses major axis due to the equatorial bulge Effects of gravitation from the Sun and Moon These effects have notable consequences for GEO satellites in orbit. Both the sun and the moon cause a net annual inclination of the orbit between 0.750 and 0.940. This inclination must be corrected by manoeuvring the firing thrusters placed on satellites. These effects can be considered negligible for LEO and MEO satellites in orbit as compared to the effects from the earths gravitational field. Other forces which affect the satellite orbits are the drag due to the atmosphere, radiation pressure from the Sun, micro-meteorites and the magnetic field of the earth.

3.2. FREQUENCY ALLOCATION Radio frequency allocation is regulated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is a very limited and precious resource. Common bands for MSS systems are 1.5-1.6 GHz known as the L-band and 2.0-2.5 GHz known as the S-band. However, the evolution of MSS systems since the 1990s, particularly in satellite personal communications, have caused further frequency bands such as the 14-15 GHz (Ku-band) to be used. In the near future, the 20/30 GHz (Ka-band) may also be exploited for use and to provide mobile satellite services.

3.3. PROPAGATION PROBLEMS Propagation of signals from satellites to earth stations is subject to a hostile environment. A number of factors cause the degradation of the signal strength as the wave pass though the ionosphere, troposphere and atmosphere. The land environment poses problems whereby antenna sizes are limited due to space and ground conditions. Antennas are small and have a broad beam width which is more susceptible to propagation impairments. For MSS systems, feeder links are more manageable because they connect to large fixed earth station whereas service links connect to small mobile communication devices, easily affected by propagation impairments such multipath and shadowing. The propagation effects depend on the frequency of the signal. For now, feeder links operate in the 4-30 GHz range whereas service links operate in the L-band and S-band. The most signal attenuation is caused at the troposphere and ionosphere.

3.3.1. Tropospheric Degradation The troposphere is the layer on top of the atmosphere ranging from about 50 to 80 km. The main causes of signal degradation at the troposphere are due to the following: Absorption of Gases This attenuation alters with frequency. It is highest at about 22.2 GHz because of water vapour absorption and near to 60 GHz because of oxygen. It is dependent on the amount of gas present, temperature, pressure, humidity and the angle of elevation of earth to satellite link. Hydro Attenuation It refers to signal degradation because of water particles in rain, clouds, fog and ice. Rain causes the most negative effect due to scattering and absorption. A link margin is a value used by satellite system designers to understand how the rain water would affect the waves. The link margin would depend on the link reliability. MSS systems have link margins in the region of 5-10 dB, thus making the link reliability for Ka-band to be less than 99%. Effects on the L-band frequencies can be considered negligible as compared to shadowing and multipath issues. Scintillations It occurs due to difference in optical density. Different portions of the troposphere have different refractive indices which cause fading of the signal and mismatch of the signal phase at the receiver. Depolarisation During signal propagation, the atmosphere and troposphere acts as an anisotropic medium causing the power from one polarisation to be coupled with the orthogonal component. Degradation of the signal strength occurs.

3.3.2. Ionospheric Degradation The ionosphere layer ranges from 80 to 1000 km around the earth, on top of the troposphere. The ionised region in the ionosphere affects signal waves due to the: Rotation in polarisation Solar radiation interacts with gas molecules in the ionosphere. The effects depend on the solar activity which is higher during the day and lower at night. This rotation in polarisation is also called the Faraday Effect. It is more significant below 2 GHz and can be considered negligible above 10 GHz. Scintillation The ionosphere also varies in optical density with different portions having different refractive indices. This causes fading of the signal and a mismatch of the signal phase at the receiver. Other degradations in the ionosphere are due to variations in angle of arrival, signal absorption and dispersion.

4. CURRENT MSS SYSTEMS

MSS systems can be categorized into GEO, LEO, MEO and highly elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite systems. First generation MSS systems provide global coverage characteristic of GEO satellites and user terminals had to be quite large. The second generation MSS systems aims to provide coverage in rural and remote areas which are not well served by existing public land mobile networks (PLMNs) and to avoid congestion in high traffic areas. The following compares different satellite orbits.

Figure 4: The INMARSAT 3 [4]

4.1. GEO SYSTEMS GEO systems use the GEO orbit which is at an altitude of 35 768 km. It is good for seamless coverage of region using one satellite or for global coverage using at least three satellites. The visibility of the satellite with respect to the user terminal depends on the latitude at which the user is located. As the latitude rises, the visibility reduces. Highly populated areas with many big and tall infrastructures also cause a decrease in the visibility. Examples of GEO systems are given below: International Mobile Satellite Organisation (INMARSAT) INMARSAT is known for providing mobile satellite services globally. It has deployed a constellation of GEO satellites which provide services to maritime, aeronautical and land user terminals. However, high latitudes areas near the north and south poles are not covered as they are out of range of the GEO satellite constellation. INMARSAT began operation following a requirement to provide reliable services in the maritime industry via satellite communications. The success prompted expansion of the business to service terrestrial and air users. Its latest satellite constellation forms part of the fourth generation satellites providing broadband services to small mobile user terminals across the globe. The ground region of INMARSAT contains numerous fixed and different mobile earth stations. Its third generation satellite constellation in the space region consisted of nine GEO satellites with four main ones in operation. The design was done such that each satellite can produce a maximum of five spot beams and offer continuous coverage of the earth excluding the higher latitudes regions. A spare in-orbit satellite is available to each satellite in operation to provide redundancy in case of failures. The second and third generations of INMASAT satellites uses the C and L frequency band. EUTELTRACS Several national and regional operators joined together to launch EUTELTRACS in 1991 and to become the first MSS system to provide commercial services in Europe. The entire system is operated by EUTELSAT (European telecommunications Satellite Organisation). The satellite constellation uses the Ku-band. It is mainly used for mobile messaging through satellites and automatic reports for satellite positions. It also provides TV and radio broadcasting, public telephone and mobile services and video-conferencing across long distances.

4.2. LEO SYSTEMS LEO satellites hover at altitudes varying from 750 to 2000 km. One satellite can be used to store and forward data at specific regions. Also, the satellite will be available for communication only during short time intervals due to the elliptical orbit around the earth. Global coverage is possible but at least 30 satellites are required in several constellations to provide this seamless coverage. Visibility can be increased by the principle of satellite diversity. The design can be made so that, at a specific time, one or more satellites are visible. This can be done by merging more than one link together or by choosing the optimum link. Two examples of LEO systems are provided below.

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Iridium The Iridium satellite system is an example of great innovation in the satellite services market. The initial constellation contained 77 satellites but this was reduced to 66. The space region comprises of the satellites in the LEO orbit and interconnected by inter satellite links (ISL). Six orbital planes are present in the constellation with 11 satellites in each. Each satellite provides 48 circular spot beams to the earth. The Iridium system, therefore, is able to provide continuous coverage across the globe. Services include voice calls to normal size mobile phones, messaging, positioning system, global roaming and paging. The satellite services can be accessed through land networks such as from a GSM operator. However, the Iridium commercial aim failed and the company went bankrupt before the year 2000. ORBCOMM This satellite constellation was put into service in 1993 by Orbital Sciences Corporation. It provides a LEO mobile satellite service with duplex communication. The system has 26 satellites which operate in the Very High Frequency (VHF) band to provide service for remote users. VHF enables the use of technology at low price and low data rate in the range of 100 to 200 bytes. The spacecraft are simple compared to other MSS systems providing small delay in transmission. It has a small but reliable market.

4.3. MEO SYSTEMS The altitude of MEO systems in orbit ranges from 10 000 to 20 000 km. To obtain a global and seamless service, 10 to 20 satellites are needed in several constellations. The same diversity principle as in LEO orbit can be used to increase visibility which is in most case from good to extremely good for global service. An example of a MEO system is given below. Intermediate Circular Orbit (ICO) It is a MEO orbit system which is used for voice, data and messaging communications. Initial data rates of 4.8 kbps for voice and 2.4 kbps for data was provided but these data rates were increased afterwards. The satellite constellation has 10 satellites in orbit. The frequency bands for uplink in the service links is 1.98 to 2.01 GHz and for downlink is 2.17 to 2.2 GHz whereas the feeder links operate at 5 and 7 GHz frequencies. The ground region consists of twelve earth stations which are connected to land networks for communication services. Global coverage is offered.

4.4. HEO SYSTEMS The altitude of the HEO orbit is given in relation to the apogee and perigee which are at around 40 000 to 50 000 km and 1000 to 20 000 km respectively. Seamless coverage to a particular region is possible through the use of three to four satellites. This orbit satellite design ensures good visibility such that elevation angle to the satellite is high enough for latitude from the equator to the North and South poles. An example of a HEO system is given below. Archimedes The Archimedes constellation provides a good footprint at highly populates areas on the earth at the northern latitudes. It has a highly elliptical orbit. Six satellites are present in several 11

orbital planes. Many satellites are required for seamless coverage of the northern hemisphere but it allows a high elevation angle from stations near northern latitudes.

5. LAND AND SATELLITE MOBILE NETWORK INTEGRATION

The number of mobile users is on continuous exponential rise. Satellite-personal communication networks (S-PCN) have proven to be very important and useful when integrated with terrestrial networks. One of the requirements is the S-PCN should provide seamless interworking with the terrestrial networks which can be fixed networks (PSTN) or mobile networks (PLMN). Interoperability between the two systems is very important. Integration of S-PCN to PSTN requires the use of Signalling System No. 7 (SS7). The switching centre of the PSTN and fixed earth station providing access to the satellite network should be able to communicate in compatible formats, therefore the use of SS7. Thus, both PSTN and S-PCN subscribers can connect o each other. Integration between S-PCN and GSM networks must take into account user requirements such as call quality and services which are supported. The integration can be done at different levels at the GSM network. They are the: 1. 2. 3. 4. Um interface (mobile user to base transceiver station) Abis interface (between base transceiver station and base station controller) A interface (between base station controller and mobile switching centre) E interface (between mobile switching centres)

Since the GSM systems are currently well established and developed, it is better to perform changes for integration at the S-PCN level. Efficient handover must also be taken into account between the GSM networks and S-PCN, and vice-versa. However, the cellular network that is more in use today is the 3G network. Data communications though mobile networks have increased dramatically. Satellite networks integration can help connect remote users or offload unsynchronised data to satellite networks. Today, the drive for cellular networks has reached the fourth generation. Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks are being deployed. One of the future challenges in satellite industry will be to integrate S-PCN with the 4G networks.

6. CONCLUSION
It is important to understand that mobile satellite service systems are only part of the big telecommunications network available. However, the advantage of mobile satellite communication is obviously the coverage area. MSS systems provide mobile services to remote areas where terrestrial networks cannot serve and to locations in the maritime and aeronautical areas. They are also very useful in TV broadcasting and data services. But, propagation problems remain a challenge to tackle so that better service quality is obtained. Future trends in MSS systems will depend on advances in the telecommunications market. Integration of MSS systems with cellular, broadcast and computing networks have already 12

seen much development but new land technologies such as LTE will push research into mobile satellite services to the next level. We must also take into account that the space is becoming a precious resource. Satellite orbits are already being crowded and have much debris. The challenge will be to provide a good environment for better and innovative mobile satellite services through MSS systems.

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REFERENCES
[1] Garner, William B. (2003, Apr. 1). Priority and preemption service system for satellite related communication using central controller. United States Patent 6542739. Retrieved on 09 March 2011, available from: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6542739.html [2] Space Security 2007. (978-1-895722-58-1). Retrieved on 28 March 2011, from webpage: http://www.spacesecurity.org/SSI2007.pdf [3] The Law of Orbits. Retrieved on 10 March 2011, from webpage: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/kepler.html [4] Gunter Dirk Krebs. (2011). Inmarsat-3 F1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Retrieved on 28 March 2011, from webpage: http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/inmarsat-3.htm

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Casewell, I, E. (1999). Chapter 19: Mobile Satellite Communications. In B. G. Evans (Eds), Satellite Communications Systems. 3rd Ed. (9780852968994). Retrieved on 12 March 2011 from IET Engineering & IT Reference Library, online at: http://iee.books24x7.com/viewer.asp?bookid=3517&chunkid=0178205329 Donnan, R, Dr. Lecture Notes. Satellite Communications. ELEM026 module. Queen Mary, University of London. Ohmori, S, Wakana, H & Kawase, S. (1997). Mobile Satellite Communications. Boston, London: Artech House. (0-89006-843-7) Richharia, M. (2001). Mobile Satellite Communications, Principles and Trends. United States of America: Pearson Education. (0 201 33142 X) Sheriff, R, E, & Fun Hu, Y. (2001). Mobile Satellite Communication Networks. Great Britain: Wiley. (0471 72047 X)

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