A new digital land mobile satellite system

A description is given of the different digital services planned to be carried over existing and planned mobile satellite systems. These systems are then compared with analog services in terms of bandwidth and power efficiency. This comparison provides the rationale for the establishment of a digital land mobile satellite service (DLMSS) to use frequencies that are currently available but not yet assigned to a domestic mobile satellite system in the United States. The focus here is on the expected advantages of digital transmission techniques in accommodating additional mobile satellite systems in this portion of the spectrum, and how such techniques can fully satisfy voice, data and facsimile mobile communications requirements in a cost effective manner. A description is given of the system architecture of the DMLSS service proposed by the Geostar Messaging Corporation (GMC) and the market potential of DLMSS.