Standardization on performance objectives of satellite systems using adaptive coding and modulation

The radiocommunication part of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) establishes the standards for wireless communications. Recommendation ITU-R S.1062 specifies the performance objectives for satellite communication systems providing constant bit rate service. However, this is not applicable to most modern satellite communication systems utilizing adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) schemes to compensate for channel impairments, especially for systems operating in high frequency bands. For this reason, ITU-R recently developed Recommendation ITU-R S.2131 that is suitable for satellite systems with ACM. The developed Recommendation provides a method to determine performance objectives for satellite systems using ACM. Two possible objective parameters are presented, including packet error rate and spectral efficiency. This paper presents the standardization process, and the background used to establish new performance objectives. In addition, interpretations of the objectives are given by using estimation results for two different propagation characteristics.