Next Generation High Data Rate Trunking Systems

Funding source: European Space Agency (ESA)
Partners: Thales Alenia Space-France (TAS-F), Thales Alenia Space-Italia (TAS-I), Analysys Mason (AM)
Principal investigator: Dr. Symeon Chatzinotas
Researchers: Dr. Bhavani Shankar, Dr. Danilo Spano, Dr. Steven Kisseleff
Duration: 06/2018 - 12/2019

The term „satellite trunking“ is referring to very different services and usages, such as broadband access, enterprise networks, cellular backhaul, communications on the move, MPLS network services, VoIP/video/data (IP) trunking, SCADA, satellite news gathering (SNG), business continuity, remote office communication, remote video-conferencing, Internet cloud services, emergency response, etc.

Satellite trunking service gathers a large quantity of SATCOM services mainly characterized by point-to-point links mostly at high data rate for professional uses. Therefore, we define the Next Generation High Data Rate (NG HDR) Trunking Systems as satellite systems to provide high speed point-to-point link (including mobile backhaul) for professional use.

In this project, the classification of service levels and their associated performance requirements to be provided by NG HDR trunking satellite systems is one of the main objectives. Different solutions (architectures and technologies) of satellite trunking systems able to provide the specified service classes will be compared and the most suitable systems will be selected for each class. Two solutions will be designed and analysed in more details.

The main performance requirements are:

• Data rate (serveral ranges of rates),
• Latency (real-time and non-real-time),
• Mobility (fixed trunking sites and mobile trunking sites, e.g. ships and airplanes),
• Coverage,
• Availability, and
• Class of the terminal

These requirements and characteristics have strong impacts on the choices of architecture, in particular (e.g. constellation topology) and technology (frequency bands, air interface). Hence, the best two architectures will be developed for each service class.

In this context, especially the mobile trunking sites are of great significance, due to the ever increasing demand for mobile backhauling. The mobile platforms that need to be served by the trunking system comprise aeronautical and maritime sites.