Earth stations on moving platforms

Earth stations on moving platforms (ESOMPs) are a new generation of satellite terminals designed to provide on-the-move broadband communication services to land vehicles, aircraft, and ships. ESOMPs use very small antennas and require tracking systems to maintain accurate pointing to the target satellite. Because they operate while moving, there may be instances when antenna mispointing may produce interference to other satellites or other radio systems. To account for pointing errors and other time-varying characteristics of a network of ESOMPs, it is necessary to use statistical approaches for interference analysis. This paper provides an overview of ESOMPs, their technical and operational characteristics, statistical approaches for interference analysis, and the standards and regulatory challenges that must be addressed for their successful operation.