Satellite communication takes a pioneering role in the introduction and enabling of many communication services. It became the initial enabler of transcontinental telephony. It is widely used for television broadcasting, and has significantly contributed to the introduction of digital television. Today, Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) are widely used to network company premises and to backup terrestrial connections. In all of these applications, the terminals are essentially fixed. However, an increasing number of mobile applications is emerging as well, from broadcasting, through telephony to messaging.
Communication satellites provide an indispensable infrastructure for both broadcasting, and point-to-point communications in remote areas, as well as in the maritime and aeronautical domain. Furthermore, their minimal dependence on terrestrial components makes them ideally suited for catastrophe recovery and military operations.
In the area of satellite communication the Institute of Communications and Navigation
This e.g. includes the provisioning of terrestrial personal communication standards in aeronautical, maritime or railway environments (Wireless Cabin) or the development of a new file based broadcasting service for mobile usage (Ku-Band Mobile), as well as a series of studies to improve the power efficiency of satellite communications or to increase the service experience by adequate scheduling algorithms.
The Institute leads the EU’s Network of Excellence in Satellite Communications and contributes to the standardization of DVB-S2.