http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/766258711

Satellite Packet Broadcasting to Very Small Earth Stations

In this paper we analyze the thruput of an ALOHA channel when compared to that of a conventional point-to-point channel of the same average power. This analysis is of interest in the case of a satellite information system employing thousands of small earth stations. For a satellite system the fundamental limitation in the downlink is the average power available in the satellite transponder rather than the peak power. Our results show that in the limit of large numbers of small earth stations the ALOHA thruput approaches 100% of the point-to-point capacity. This the multiple access capability and the complete connectivity (in the topological sense) of an ALOHA channel can be obtained at no price in average thruput. Furthermore, since our results suggest the use of higher peak power in the satellite transponder (while the average power is kept constant) the small earth stations may use smaller antennas and simpler receivers and moderms than would be necessary in a conventional system. (Author).

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