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INTRODUCTION TO THE BROADBAND SATELLITE DATABASE In recent years the demand for high-speed networking, driven mainly by the rapid expansion of the Internet, has been growing at an exponential rate. While a wide range of wireline and wireless solutions offering broadband connectivity are or will shortly be available, communication satellites are beginning to emerge as an attractive solution in providing broadband connectivity to a variety of users. The wide area or global coverage of satellites enables service provision to a large number of dispersed users and solve the expensive "last-mile" issue without dedicating to each user cable, fiber, switching equipment ports, etc. The broadcast nature of satellites supports efficiently the transmission of the same message to a large number of stations, making satellites the natural choice for multicasting services. Satellites are also attractive for interconnection of geographically distributed high-speed networks, or for providing other multimedia services to both home and business users. Hence, while much broadband communication today is carried via terrestrial links, satellites will come to play a greater and more important role. This can be demonstrated by the increasing commercial interest in this area and the large number of systems that are currently under development. On the other hand, considerable research work is under way to overcome some of the serious shortcomings inherent in satellite-based systems, such as significant propagation delays, wireless channel quality, exposure of systems to space radiation, etc. The service focus and nature of satellite systems themselves is also changing, with revolutionary new technologies such as onboard switching, spot-beam technology, inter-satellite links and constellations of systems in a variety of orbits (LEO, MEO, GEO, or Hybrid Orbits), that represent new challenges for the satellite industry. As with any hot topic today, the World Wide Web offers a wealth of information on satellite systems and networks. In these pages we try to collect some of this information in a somewhat organized manner. We try to focus on links relevant to Broadband Satellite Systems, although we also provide links and information to related topics in the more general areas of satellite systems and communication networks. There is material here that could be useful to a satellite expert, an engineering professional who is new to this topic, or even anyone curious to find out more about satellite networks. The topics we try to provide links to are:
We will try to update this information at regular intervals. If you feel there is a link that could be included , something that you would like removed or a credit that we did not mention please feel free to send us an e-mail. Also if you would like more detailed information on any of the topics covered here or on related work under way at the Center for Satellite & Hybrid Communication Networks feel free to contact: |
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Center for Satellite & Hybrid Communication Networks ISR, A.V. Williams Building University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742, USA e-mail: michalis@isr.umd.edu |
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