A mobile satellite systems frame work for network centric applications

Commercial Satellite Communications (SATCOM) provide a range of services to network centric military applications. In addition to fixed satellite systems, a wide range of mobile satellite systems are suitable to support mobile services to emergency applications and communications on the move. The unique capabilities such as robustness, wide area coverage and broadcast/multicast capabilities make SATCOM a preferred choice for worldwide war fighter communication services. In this paper we survey current mobile satellite networks and services, encompassing recent standardization efforts and currently available and planned systems characteristics. An efficiency comparison is also presented to emphasize the impact of different design parameters in selecting a GEO or LEO based system architecture.