An operational and performance overview of the IRIDIUM low earth orbit satellite system

Author

Pratt, S.R. ; Raines, Richard A. ; Fossa, Carl E., Jr. ; Temple, Michael A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Air Force Inst. of Technol., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA

Volume

2

Issue

2

fYear

1999

Firstpage

2

Lastpage

10

Abstract

Today, both the military and commercial sectors are placing an increased emphasis on global communications. This has prompted the development of several low earth orbit satellite systems that promise worldwide connectivity and real-time voice communications. This article provides a tutorial overview of the IRIDIUM low earth orbit satellite system and performance results obtained via simulation. First, it presents an overview of key IRIDIUM design parameters and features. Then, it examines the issues associated with routing in a dynamic network topology, focusing on network management and routing algorithm selection. Finally, it presents the results of the simulation and demonstrates that the IRIDIUM system is a robust system capable of meeting published specifications.

Keywords

satellite communication; telecommunication network management; telecommunication network routing; IRIDIUM design parameters; IRIDIUM low Earth orbit satellite system; dynamic network topology; global communication; network management; operational overview; performance overview; real-time voice communication; routing algorithm selection; worldwide connectivity; Artificial satellites; Cellular networks; Global communication; Low earth orbit satellites; Military communication; Military computing; Military satellites; Routing; Telephone sets; Telephony;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Communications Surveys, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/COMST.1999.5340513

Filename

5340513