SATNET packet data transmission

The Atlantic Packet Satellite Network (SATNET), which allows packet data transmission between three INTELSAT standard A earth stations in West Virginia, U.S.A., Britain, and Sweden, employs time sharing on a single carrier in the SPADE transponder of the satellite, in a format designated as multidestinational half duplex. During the 1979-1981 final phase of the experimental period, new packet satellite program terminals were installed at the three INTELSAT stations and at a fourth, smaller station in Maryland, U.S.A., in order to provide expanded capability through additional transmission modes that allow the smaller earth station to participate in the distributed control of the demand-assigned network. New test and monitoring features were also incorporated by the new terminals, to assist in the monitoring and maintenance of the transmission links. The performance of the SATNET RF transmission links since the second quarter of 1981, when operational status was achieved, is described along with future plans for the system.