Adaptive coding and modulation for the forward link of broadband satellite networks

Abstract

The exploitation of adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) techniques for the forward link (satellite-to-user) of broadband communication satellites operating at Ka-band and above has been shown to theoretically provide large system capacity gains. In this article, the problem of how to accurately estimate the time variant channel and to adapt the physical layer mitigating the effects of estimator errors and propagation delays is analyzed. A comprehensive system simulator is then developed to assess the performance of the proposed solution and the impact on outage probability and system capacity due to estimation errors.