HNS Unveils Mobile Satellite Radio Interface Standard
Hughes Network Systems (HNS), a Germantown, MD-based supplier of mobile satellite systems gateway and user terminal equipment, has prepared a mobile satellite radio interface standard for mobile satellite telephony using geosynchronous earth orbit satellites.
The standard has been prepared in collaboration with a team that includes Hughes Space and Communication (HSC), Hughes Software Systems (HSS), Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, and Ascom.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Telecommunications Institute of America (TIA) are carrying out the standardization work simultaneously. The ETSI standard is being developed by the Geostationary Mobile Radio (GMR) interface working group, which is part of the ETSI technical committee on satellite equipment and systems (TC-SES), in collaboration with the ETSI technical committee on Global System for Mobile Communications (TC-SMG). Within these committees, the HNS implementation of GMR is referred to as GMR-1. Other geomobile operators and equipment manufacturers are invited to submit standard proposals to the two established working groups.
The proposed new GMR-1 satellite standards are based on the terrestrial GSM cellular standard, including both the voice and data services. Modifications in the GSM standard have been made to accommodate satellite- specific needs and features, particularly those relating to position determination, single-hopped terminal-to-terminal calls, optimal routing to the best gateway station and high-power paging. GPS position determination service is fully integrated into the air interface protocol to assist in emergency-call routing, billing, and location updating and in the geographical division of the service areas. Ascom's team of engineers has been particularly involved in developing and validating this set of specifications.
As a part of the HSC team, HNS is under contract to Thuraya for the supply of the ground communication network and two sources of dual-mode handheld terminals for Thuraya. The ground communication network consists of a primary gateway and provision for a number of national gateways. The handheld terminals supplied by HNS and ASCOM will be dual-mode: satellite and GSM. In satellite mode, the terminals will directly communicate via satellite to one of Thuraya's multiple gateways and provide users with services very similar to GSM features. In the GSM mode, these terminals will operate as a high-end phone and will directly communicate with the GSM network