An Overview of the OmniTRACS-The First Operational Two-Way Mobile Ku-Band Satellite Communications System

Allen Salmasi

Abstract:	The service features and the technical characteristics of a mobile satellite system, the OmniTRACS, operating in the 12/14 GHz Band (Ku-Band) allocated to the Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) on a primary basis are described. This system, developed by QUALCOMM, Inc., is the first operational domestic mobile Ku-band satellite service that provides two-way messaging and position reporting services to mobile users throughout the United States. QUALCOMM received a blanket authority ("license") to construct and operate a Ku-band network of mobile and transportable earth stations and a Hub earth station from the United States Federal Communications Commission (the "FCC") in February of 1989 for the application filed in December of 1987. It is expected that this system, using a pair of Ku-Band transponders on a domestic FSS satellite as described below, to be capable of serving a population of user terminals ranging between 50,000-100,000 users depending on the average length of the messages being transmitted and the frequency of transmissions. As demand for the system grows additional Ku-Band transponders can be leased from the satellite operator(s) and modularly added to the system to increase the overall capacity of the system.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1989) September 27 - 29, 1989 The Broadmoor Hotel Colorado Spring, CO
Pages:	127 - 131
Cite this article:	Salmasi, Allen, "An Overview of the OmniTRACS-The First Operational Two-Way Mobile Ku-Band Satellite Communications System," Proceedings of the 2nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1989), Colorado Spring, CO, September 1989, pp. 127-131.
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