A proposed architecture for a mobile telephone system utilizing multi-beam satellite coverage

Recent work toward direct-to-satellite mobile telephony has been pursued under the Canadian MSAT study. This paper outlines a system design utilizing a multi-beam coverage plan to meet the broad design objectives of efficient channel usage and flexible system configuration. Call routing, sharing of traffic loads amongst beams, interconnection, billing issues, and management of mobile units are discussed. Access to any voice channel from any geographic location allows a variety of call switching options and powerful loadsharing properties.