Channel Modelling and Characterization of Mobile Satellite Communication Systems

Reliable characterization of the propagation environment and channel modelling of mobile satellite communication systems is necessary in order to provide better quality of service and efficient design of these systems. In this paper, the channel impairments affecting the performance and an overview of the satellite channel models are presented. The statistical distributions of the received signal that can be used to characterize the dynamic nature of these propagation channels are also presented. The main modelling parameters are investigated and simulation results show that the bit error rate (BER) performance is predominantly affected by the shadowing factor. Finally, in order to further test the channel models and the effect of the propagation environment, we investigate a novel application of using satellite diversity in conjunction with compact MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) antenna array configurations in order to enhance the capacity of satellite communication links.