Personal satellite communications: traffic and capacity considerations for the mobile user link

In this paper we discuss the problem of link capacity evaluation in a personal satellite communications system. The satellites in mind are in circular orbits with an orbit height up to 36,000 km. The number of required full duplex telephone channels between a satellite and the users within its footprint is a crucial quantity since it mainly determines the necessary satellite power and thus the satellite mass and its costs. The starting point of our investigations is the satellite constellation and the traffic distribution on the earth. Based on a discussion of strategies to select a satellite for a connection and for performing handovers, the number of radio channels to mobile users is determined by means of simulations