Service provision to land mobile radio units in northern latitudes by a satellite in a non-geostationary orbit-propagation studies

To date, systems design engineers have been hindered by a lack of information about the nature of the radio channel offered to a mobile unit at L-band by a highly inclined orbit (HIO) satellite. A research project was initiated by the radiocommunications division of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and placed with the University of Bradford as a means of obtaining the required data. The fundamental aims of the project were to provide a quantitative knowledge of channel parameters needed when developing land mobile satellite communications systems, and to use this data to compare and contrast aspects of the channel offered by satellites in highly inclined as opposed to geostationary orbits