System concept for a digital repeater intended for a future generation of German telecommunication satellites

The derivation of a system concept for the digital multi-service repeater starts from evaluating the mission profile and the antenna concept elaborated so far. Furthermore, the repeater concept is shaped by Ka-band propagation conditions, the kind of integration of a down-link TV-distribution service into the prevailing multi-beam communications mode and readily available digital technologies. It is intended to embark on a completely regenerative approach using a unified switching concept for all services accompanied by a large amount of rearrangement functions in the foreground. An attempt is made to define those network control functions and procedures to be located on-board exploiting the fact that the repeater already acts as a central switching node. The discussion of on-board digital technologies concentrates upon a multicarrier demodulator concept and a candidate solution for the baseband switch. One general boundary condition is pronounced due to uncertainties about the actual traffic scenario in the future: all repeater resources must be accessible for the most important of the services considered, i.e., the provision of satellite business services.