SATNET operations

Since 1975, the Atlantic Packet Satellite Network or SATNET has evolved from a testbed network for evaluating satellite channel protocols into a quasi-operational network supporting internetwork traffic and experiments. There is continuing interest in its use for satellite network development although its primary role is to provide a satellite trunking service for European members of the internetwork community. Several issues concerning SATNET are examined, including the improvement of the maintenance procedures, the support of varied traffic trunking requirements, and the addition of an alternate link access protocol.