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COST 272 - Packet-Oriented Service Delivery Via Satellite

The main objective of the COST 272 Action was to contribute to the identification of key requirements, analysis, performance comparison, architectural design and protocol specification of future packet-oriented satellite communication systems, with a clear focus on Internet-type system concepts, applications and protocols/techniques on the various layers.

Especially during the first year of the action, all partners agreed on trying to set up, as a further action objective, trials for validation of services based on the use of hybrid terrestrial and satellite networks. This objective has been only partially reached, but it was an important aggregation step.

The most relevant expected outcomes of the COST Action 272 were:

• Identification of technologies which support IP over satellites and which enable new services and QoS guarantees; 
• Study of suitability to implement IP switching in the sky;
• Adaptation of protocols and algorithms initially developed for the fixed and mobile terrestrial networks, to make them suitable for the use on the satellite segment; 
• Development of new algorithms, deliberately designed for the satellite segment; 
• Evaluation of the suitability of using various optical technologies in the space segment; 
• Implementation of a common communication platform by using satellite and Internet technologies for collaborative research and service demonstration. One of the objectives of this platform is to promote "by example" the added value of the daily use of Satcom technologies.

Finally COST 272 is the predecessor of the Satellite Communications Network of Excellence "SatNEx" (http://www.satnex.org/).

The Action was divided in three Working Groups (WG):

• WG 1 : Access network aspects
  • Modulation and coding techniques; terminal design
  • MAC and resource allocation techniques
  • Propagation aspects
• WG 2 : Space segment aspects
  • Payload and on-board processing issues for both GEO and LEO
  • Core/backbone network issues for ISL-based LEO
  • Optics in space segment
• WG 3 : User and service provider aspects
  • QoS support
  • Application requirements and security
  • Traffic modelling and user/service profiles

Each Working Group was coordinated by a Working Group leader ensuring that the Working Group activities contribute to the Action objectives.

The Working Group leaders were:

• For WG1: Dr Luca Simone Ronga (CNIT - Univ. of Florence, Italy)
• For WG2: Dr Markus Werner (formerly DLR, Germany, now TriaGnoSys)
• For WG3: Dr Maria Angeles Vazquez Castro (formerly ESA, now Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain).

Project Duration:

June 2001 to June 2005

Participating Institutions:

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Greece
CNES – France
CNIT – Italy
ISTI (ex CNUCE), Institute of Italian National Research Council (CNR) –
Italy
DLR – Germany
ENST – France
Institut Jozef Stefan – Slovenia
Telecom Italia Lab – Italy
Telenor – Norway
University Carlos III Madrid – Spain; later University of Barcelona - Spain
University of Bradford – United Kingdom
University of Brussels – Belgium
University of Firenze – Italy
University of Genoa – Italy
University of Kosice - Slovakia
University of Surrey – United Kingdom
University of Vigo – Spain

Project Website: http://www.tesa.prd.fr/cost272/