New developments for SAW channelization for mobile satellite payloads

Abstract

The use of SAW technology in mobile communication payloads is becoming widely accepted by the industry since being pioneered by Inmarsat for its third generation of satellites. This paper presents new developments in this area, including broadband processors of the Inmarsat 3 type, and the use of SAW filters at L-band. It is demonstrated that SAW processors have considerable potential for increasing the capacity of future communications payloads, while allowing fully transparent operation without any restriction on traffic type or modulation format. In addition to the evolutionary development of Inmarsat type processors, new SAW applications have also emerged recently. Therefore, despite the rapid changes in the industry, it is predicted that SAW processing has a strong future in satellite communications.