Scalable MultiMedia Systems (SMM)
- Paper number
IAC-05-B3.2.02
- Author
Mr. Bent Ziegler, OHB-System AG, Germany
- Coauthor
Mr. Manfred Wittig, European Space Agency (ESA)/ESTEC, The Netherlands
- Coauthor
Dr. Bernhard Neumeyer, Germany
- Coauthor
Mr. Wilhelm Milcz, Germany
- Coauthor
Mr. Martin Kassebom, OHB-System AG, Germany
- Year
2005
- Abstract
A scaled deployment of medium-sized geostationary broadband satellites offers advantages in terms of flexibility and cost-effectiveness compared to the one-shot deployment of a single large satellite for broadband provision. The so far small market for broadband provision via satellite results in a long time before financial break-even for the large investment of a large broadband satellite. Furthermore will a single satellite, once in orbit, be unable to account for large discrepancies between expected and actual user take-up for the entire satellite lifetime.
Changing towards a scaled deployment of smaller and cheaper satellites provides the solution to the drawbacks of the single bigger satellite. The lower investment for a smaller satellite requires far less users before being financially sound and can thus be based on more reliable and confident business assumptions. Furthermore the in-orbit capacity can be deployed when needed and will thus provide a more robust system towards changes in user demands and geographic take-up. Should user demand primarily grow within the coverage area of the first satellite will the second satellite extend the capacity within the coverage area of the first satellite. Should the user demand stagnate within the coverage area of the first satellite but grow elsewhere, will the second satellite extend the geographic coverage of the system.
The SMM system consists of two to three medium-sized satellites in geostationary orbit. The system is a Ka-band system and provides both star and meshed traffic. Each satellite covers 16 spots in a four colour frequency reuse pattern with a beamwidth of 0.5 degrees per spot. The dedicated broadband satellite design featuring multibeam antennas ensures high satellite bandwidth and improved link budget parameters compared to a traditional broadcast satellite. The “investment/Hz” of satellite bandwidth is improved by a factor 3 and the improved link budget allow for the implementation of DVB-S2, DVB-RCS II and Adaptive Coding Modulation thereby roughly improving the bandwidth efficiency by a factor 2. Preliminary calculations show that the SMM system will be able to reduce the cost for satellite broadband connectivity by 80
This paper outlines the elements of the SMM system, proposes a programme implementation and shows the financial basis for the derived costs.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-B3.2.02.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.