Hubless VSAT networks

With increasingly powerful satellites now becoming available or planned, the possibility of direct VSAT to VSAT communications without a hub becomes technically feasible. The administrative functions of the traditional star network hub station can now be assigned to one (or more) designated VSAT terminal, whilst permitting direct VSAT to VSAT communications in a mesh architecture. The paper describes two proposed experimental applications for VSAT mesh networks; firstly an E-mail system operating over a single 64 kb/s satellite channel, with a specially developed satellite access protocol which adapts to traffic load; secondly a video conferencing system operating at a user rate of 384 kb/s with TDMA access to the satellite. Both experimental applications are designed to operate over the Olympus Specialised Services Payload