G. Losquadro et al., AN ADVANCED SATELLITE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA MOBILESERVICES, European transactions on telecommunications, 8(4), 1997, pp. 379-391
Provision of wideband services up to the final user anywhere is a chal
lenging task for terrestrial technologies unless the satellite is incl
uded as an essential system component. This objective is even more dif
ficult to be met if at least a limited degree of user interactivity an
d mobility is required. Satellite multimedia applications will require
wide bandwidths, high degree of flexibility on-board and intelligence
at terminal level. The combined use of Ka band (20-30 GHz) and EHF (i
n the range 40-45 GHz) can extend interactive multimedia and personal
services to ubiquitous and mobile users. This paper dis cusses the mai
n interactive multimedia services and applications that may be provide
d via satellite. Particularly, it describes a new project, the ''SECOM
S project'', that is under way in the framework of a programme of the
European Union. The paper provides some indications on the main SECOMS
assumptions and requirements, and system design elements.