Communications service provision to land mobiles in northern Europe by satellites in high elevation orbits-propagation aspects

An experiment aimed at determining L-band fade statistics for future European land mobile satellite systems is described. During measurement trials, an aircraft was used to simulate a high-elevation orbit satellite whose transmissions were received by a land mobile unit. On the ground, signal-level statistics were measured as a function of two main variables: mobile environment and transmitter-to-receiver elevation angle. Results show that both factors greatly influence the dynamic and temporal nature of fading. Further, data gathered during experiments indicate clearly that, for Northern Europe, propagation problems would be alleviated considerably by using a constellation of highly elevated orbit satellites as opposed to a geostationary alternative