Satellites in a Wireless Revolution
- Paper number
IAC-05-B3.1.02
- Author
Mr. Neil Helm, Space and Advanced Communications Research Institute, United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
A wireless revolution is quietly taking place in global communications bought about by a new synergy of wireless technologies. The initial drivers of this synergy are primarily the low power, low cost, low interference wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks. The WiFi devices (hotspots) can be manufactured today on a single chip in the $10 dollar range, but with only increased production the cost will soon drop to less than 1 dollar. These low cost devices will be integrated – using a number of advanced wireless technologies, including smart MIMO antennas, mesh networks, and agile radios, all of them sharing breakthroughs in digital signal processing – into computer controlled wireless smart networks. These intelligent networks will be connected to millions and billions of new radio-frequency identification device (RFID) sensors. These sensors, like WiFi, are built on a low cost single chip many no larger than a grain of sand. The sensor data will be wirelessly networked to computer processing and advanced storage devices. This synergy, from the sensor chip via smart networks to the storage device, will deliver wireless-Internet-on-a-chip applications. These applications will have the capability to change the way we create things, move commerce and understand our world by monitoring and measuring it in multi-dimensions with minimal human interaction. The large numbers of RFID sensors can track quantities and qualities of materials and objects—their heat, movement and even look for probabilistic changes in things. These sensor driven networks can vary from large, sophisticated, computer controlled systems to small data gathering networks operating in the developing world. Especially in the developing world, these sensors will largely operate in wireless local area networks (WLANs) connected to simple satellite ground terminals. These sensor networks will have little or no latency requirements that will make then especially satellite friendly. This new revolution of chip-driven, wireless, low cost sensors, networks and applications will provide important new markets for communications satellites. The material in this paper is entirely new and has never been published or given in a previous paper.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-B3.1.02.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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