Glossary    A Acceleration Term used to describe the specific techniques used to optimize satellite service Amplifier A device used to boost the strength of an electronic signal Analog A form of transmitting information characterized by continuously variable quantities, as opposed to digital transmission, which is characterized by discrete bits of information in numerical steps. An analog signal is responsive to changes in light, sound, heat and pressure Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC) Process of converting analog signals to a digital representation. DAC represents the reverse translation ANIK The Canadian domestic satellite system that transmits Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CSC) network feeds throughout the country. This system also carries long distance voice and data services throughout Canada as well as some trans-border service to the U.S. and Mexico Antenna The device used for transmitting and receiving radio waves. Depending on their use and operating frequency, antennas can take the form of a single piece of wire, a di-pole a grid such as a yagi array, a horn, a helix, a sophisticated parabolic-shaped dish, or a phase array of active electronic elements of virtually any flat or convoluted surface. Aperture A cross sectional area of the antenna which is exposed to the satellite signal Apogee The point in an elliptical satellite orbit which is farthest from the surface of the earth. Geosynchronous satellites which maintain circular orbits around the earth are first launched into highly elliptical orbits with apogees of 22,237 miles. When the communication satellite reaches the appropriate apogee, a rocket motor is fired to place the satellite into its permanent circular orbit of 22,237 miles Apogee Kick Motor (AKM) Rocket motor fired to circulate orbit and deploy satellite into geostationary orbit Asymmetrical Devoting more bandwidth to downstream (downloads) traffic than upstream (uploads) Attenuation The loss in power of electromagnetic signals between transmission and reception points Attitude Control The orientation of the satellite in relationship to the earth and the sun Audio Subcarrier The carrier between 5 MHz and 8 MHz containing audio (or voice) information inside of a video carrier Automatic Frequency Control (AFC) A circuit which automatically controls the frequency of a signal Automatic Gain Control (AGC) A circuit which automatically controls the gain of an amplifier so that the output signal level is virtually constant for varying input signal levels AZ/EL Mount Antenna mount that requires two separate adjustments to move from one satellite to another. (AZ: Azimuth, EL: Elevation) Azimuth The angle of rotation (horizontal) that a ground based parabolic antenna must be rotated through to point to a specific satellite in a geosynchronous orbit. The azimuth angle for any particular satellite can be determined for any point on the surface of the earth given the latitude and longitude of that point. It is defined with respect to due north as a matter of easy convenience B Backhaul A terrestrial communications channel linking an earth station to a local switching network or population center Backoff The process of reducing the input and output power levels of a traveling wave tube to obtain more linear operation Band Pass Filter An active or passive circuit which allows signals within the desired frequency band to pass through but impedes signals outside this pass band from getting through Bandwidth A measure of spectrum (frequency) use or capacity Baud The rate of data transmission based on the number of signal elements or symbols transmitted per second. Today most digital signals are characterized in bits per second Beacon Low-power carrier transmitted by a satellite which supplies the controlling engineers on the ground with a means of monitoring telemetry data, tracking the satellite, or conducting propagation experiments. This tracking beacon is usually a horn or omni antenna Beamwidth The angle or conical shape of the beam the antenna projects. Large antennas have narrower beamwidths and can pinpoint satellites in space or dense traffic areas on the earth more precisely. Tighter beamwidths thus deliver higher levels of power and thus greater communications performance Bird Slang for a communications satellite located in geosynchronous orbit Bit A single digital unit of information Bit Error Rate The fraction of a sequence of message bits that are in error. A bit error rate of 10-6 means that there is an average of one error per million bits Bit Rate The speed of a digital transmission, measured in bits per second Block Down Converter A device used to convert the 3.7 to 4.2 KHz signal down to UHF or lower frequencies (1 GHz and lower) Block Up Conductor (BUC) A microwave radio device used to Broad beam A single large circular beam that covers a large geographic area Broadcast The sending of one transmission to multiple users in a defined group (compare to unicast) Business Television Corporate communications tool involving video transmissions of information via satellite. Common uses of business television are for meetings, product introductions and training. C C Band The band between 4 and 8 GHz with the 6 and 4 GHz band being used for satellite communications. Specifically, the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz satellite communication band is used as the down link frequencies in tandem with the 5.925 to 6,425 GHz band that serves as the uplink Carrier to Noise Ratio (C/N) The ratio of the received carrier power and the noise power in a given bandwidth, expressed in dB. This figure is directly related to G/T and S/N; and in a video signal the higher the C/N, the better the received picture Carrier The basic radio, television, or telephony center of frequency transmit signal. The carrier in an analog signal is modulated by manipulating its amplitude (making it louder or softer) or its frequency (shifting it up or down) in relation to the incoming signal. Satellite carriers operating in the analog mode are usually frequency modulated Carrier Frequency The main frequency on which a voice, data, or video signal is sent. Microwave and satellite communications transmitters operate in the band from 1 to 14 GHz (a GHz is one billion cycles per second) Cassegrain Antenna The antenna principle that utilizes a subreflector at the focal point which reflects energy to or from a feed located at the apex of the main reflector CDMA Code division multiple access. Refers to a multiple-access scheme where stations use spread-spectrum modulations and orthogonal codes to avoid interfering with one another Channel A frequency band in which a specific broadcast signal is transmitted. Channel frequencies are specified in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission. Television signals require a 6 MHz frequency band to carry all the necessary picture detail CIR Committed Information Rate (CIR) is a specified amount of guaranteed bandwidth used when one wants to accomplish sending packets of information (such as voice packets) over the satellite link. CIR keeps the packets together during transmission from sender to receiver. In order to be able to accomplish this, a segment of the bandwidth must be guaranteed to carry these packets together. CIR will not be affected by latency any differently than a standard, burstable link, the only difference is that the packets of information are sent together, thus arriving at their destination at the same time, avoiding the need to be re-compiled for the final transmission. The connection to the satellite in space and back to earth is still the same, thus a 550 – 620ms delay will still be standard. When on the phone itself, this may sound similar to using a cell phone. Circular Polarization Transmission of satellite signals in a rotating corkscrew-like pattern as they are down-linked to earth. On some satellites, both right-hand rotating and left-hand rotating signals can be transmitted simultaneously on the same frequency; thereby doubling the capacity of the satellite to carry communications channels Clamp A video processing circuit that removes the energy dispersal signal component from the video waveform Clarke Orbit The circular orbit in space 22,237 miles from the surface of the earth at which geosynchronous satellites are placed. Satellites placed in these orbits, although traveling around the earth at thousands of miles an hour, appear to be stationary when viewed from a point on the earth, since the earth is rotating upon its axis at the same angular rate that the satellite is traveling around the earth C/No Carrier-to-noise ratio measured either at the Radio Frequency (RF) or Intermediate Frequency (IF) Codec Coder/decoder system for digital transmission Co-Location Ability of multiple satellites to share the same approximate geostationary orbital assignment frequently due to the fact that different frequency bands are used Common Carrier Any organization which operates communications circuits used by other people. Common carriers include the telephone companies as well as the owners of the communications satellites, RCA, Comsat, Direct Net Telecommunications, AT&T and others. Common carriers are required to file fixed tariffs for specific services Companding A noise-reduction technique that applies single compression at the transmitter and complementary expansion at the receiver Composite Baseband The unclamped and unfiltered output of the satellite receiver's demodulator circuit, containing the video information as well as all transmitted subcarriers Conus Contiguous United States., i.e., all the states in the U.S. except Hawaii and Alaska Cross Modulation A form of signal distortion in which modulation from one or more RF carrier(s) is imposed on another carrier CSU Channel service unit. A digital interface device that connects end-user equipment to the local digital telephone loop. CSU is frequently coupled with DSU (see below) as CSU/DSU C/T Carrier-to-noise-temperature ratio. D 3DES: Sometimes called Triple DES. A method of triple-securing data (encrypt-decrypt-encrypt) for ensuring privacy in satellite VSAT transmissions. Security experts went to three-way encryption to foil what are known as meet-in-the-middle cipher attacks. DAMA Demand-Assigned Multiple Access - A highly efficient means of instantaneously assigning telephony channels in a transponder according to immediate traffic demands. DBS Direct broadcast satellite. Refers to service that uses satellites to broadcast multiple channels of television programming directly to home mounted small-dish antennas. (i.e. DIRECTV - The Dish Network) dBi The dB power relative to an isotropic source. dBW The ratio of the power to one Watt expressed in decibels. Decibel (dB) The standard unit used to express the ratio of two power levels. It is used in communications to express either a gain or loss in power between the input and output devices. Declination The offset angle of an antenna from the axis of its polar mount as measured in the meridian plane between the equatorial plane and the antenna main beam. Decoder A television set-top device which enables the home subscriber to convert an electronically scrambled television picture into a viewable signal. Delay The time it takes for a signal to go from the sending station through the satellite to the receiving station. This transmission delay for a single hop satellite connection is very close on one-quarter of a second. Demodulator A satellite receiver circuit which extracts or "demodulates" the "wanted "signals from the received carrier. Deviation The modulation level of an FM signal determined by the amount of frequency shift from the frequency of the main carrier. Digital Conversion of information into bits of data for transmission through wire, fiber optic cable, satellite, or over air techniques. Method allows simultaneous transmission of voice, data or video. Digital Speech Interpolation DSI - A means of transmitting telephony. Two and One half to three times more efficiently based on the principle that people are talking only about 40% of the time. Downlink The satellite to earth half of a 2 way telecommunications satellite link. Often used to describe the recieve dish end of the link. DSU Data service unit. A device used in digital transmission that adapts the physical interface on a DTE device to a transmission facility such as T1 or E1. The DSU is also responsible for such functions as signal timing. DSU is freqnetly coupled with a CSU (see above) as CSU/DSU. DTV Digital Television Dual Spin Spacecraft design whereby the main body of the satellite is spun to provide altitude stabilization, and the antenna assembly is despun by means of a motor and bearing system in order to continually direct the antenna earthward. This dual-spin configuration thus serves to create a spin stabilized satellite. Duplex Transmission Capability for simultaneous data transmission between a sending station and a receiving station. E E1 Wide-area digital transmission facility used predominantly in Europe that carries data at a rate of 2.048 Mbit/s. E3 Wide-area digital transmission facility used predominantly in Europe that carries data at a rate of 34.368 Mbit/s. Earth Station The term used to describe the combination of antenna, low-noise amplifier (LNA), down-converter, and receiver electronics; used to transmit and receive a signal by satellite. Earth Station antennas vary in size from the 2 foot to 12 foot (65 centimeters to 3.7 meters) diameter. Echo Canceller An electronic circuit which attenuates or eliminates the echo effect on satellite telephony links. Echo cancellers are largely replacing obsolete echo suppressors. Echo Effect A time-delayed electronic reflection of a speaker's voice. This is largely eliminated by modern digital echo cancellers. Edge of Coverage Limit of a satellite's defined service area. In many cases, the EOC is defined as being 3 dB down from the signal level at beam center. However, reception may still be possible beyond the -3dB point. EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power - This term describes the strength of the signal leaving the satellite antenna or the transmitting earth station antenna, and is used in determining the C/N and S/N. The transmit power value in units of dBW is expressed by the product of the transponder output power and the gain of the satellite transmit antenna. Elevation The upward tilt to a satellite antenna measured in degrees required to aim the antenna at the communications satellite. When. aimed at the horizon, the elevation angle is zero. If it were tilted to a point directly overhead, the satellite antenna would have an elevation of 90 degrees, depending on the offset of the antenna. Encoder A device used to electronically alter a signal so that it can only be viewed on a receiver equipped with a special decoder. EOL End of Life of a satellite. Equatorial Orbit An orbit with a plane parallel to the earth's equator. ESC Engineering Service Circuit - The 300-3,400 Hertz voice plus teletype (S+DX) channel used for earth station-to-earth station and earth station-to-operations center communications for the purpose of system maintenance, coordination and general system information dissemination. In analog (FDM/FM) systems there are two S+DX channels available for this purpose in the 4,000-12,000 Hertz portion of the baseband. In digital systems there are one or two channels available which are usually convened to a 32 or 64 Kbps digital signal and combined with the earth station traffic digital bit stream. Modern ESC equipment interfaces with any mix of analog and digital satellite carriers, as well as backhaul terrestrial links to the local switching center. F F/D Ratio of antenna focal length to antenna diameter. A higher ratio means a shallower dish. FDMA Frequency division multiple access. Refers to the use of multiple carriers within the same transponder where each uplink has been assigned frequency slot and bandwidth. This is usually employed in conjunction with Frequency Modulation. Feed This term has at least two key meanings within the field of satellite communications. It is used to describe the transmission of video programming from a distribution center. It is also used to describe the feed system of an antenna. The feed system may consist of a subreflector plus a feedhorn or a feedhorn only. Focal Length Distance from the center feed to the center of the dish. Focal Point The area toward which the primary reflector dish directs and concentrates the signal received. Footprint A map of the signal strength showing the EIRP contours of equal signal strengths as they cover the earth's surface. Different satellite transponders on the same satellite will often have different footprints of the signal strength. The accuracy of EIRP footprints or contour data can improve with the operational age of the satellite. The actual EIRP levels of the satellite, however, tends to decrease slowly as the spacecraft ages. Forward Error Correction (FEC) Adds unique codes to the digital signal at the source so errors can be detected and corrected at the receiver. Frequency The number of times that an alternating current goes through its complete cycle in one second of time. One cycle per second is also referred to as one hertz; 1000 cycles per second, one kilohertz; 1,000,000 cycles per second, one megahertz: and 1,000,000,000 cycles per second, one gigahertz. Frequency Coordination A process to eliminate frequency interference between different satellite systems or between terrestrial microwave systems and satellites. In the U.S. this activity relies upon a computerized service utilizing an extensive database to analyze potential microwave interference problems that arise between organizations using the same microwave band. As the same C-band frequency spectrum is used by telephone networks and CATV companies when they are contemplating the installation of an earth station, they will often obtain a frequency coordination study to determine if any problems will exist. G Gain A measure of amplification expressed in dB. Geostationary Refers to a geosynchronous satellite angle with zero inclination. so the satellite appears to hover over one spot on the earth's equator. Geosynchronous The Clarke circular orbit above the equator. For a planet the size and mass of the earth, this point is 22,237 miles above the surface. Gigahertz (GHz) One billion cycles per second. Signals operating above 3 Gigahertz are known as microwaves. above 30 GHz they are know as millimeter waves. As one moves above the millimeter waves signals begin to take on the characteristics of Iightwaves. Global Beam An antenna down-link pattern used by the Intelsat satellites, which effectively covers one-third of the globe. Global beams are aimed at the center of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans by the respective Intelsat satellites, enabling all nations on each side of the ocean to receive the signal. Because they transmit to such a wide area, global beam transponders have significantly lower EIRP outputs at the surface of the Earth as compared to a US domestic satellite system which covers just the continental United States. Therefore, earth stations receiving global beam signals need antennas much larger in size (typically 10 meters and above (i.e.30 feet and up). G/T A figure of merit of an antenna and low noise amplifier combination expressed in dB. "G" is the net gain of the system and "T" is the noise temperature of the system. The higher the number, the better the system. H Headend Electronic control center - generally located at the antenna site of a CATV system - usually including antennas, preamplifiers, frequency converters, demodulators and other related equipment which amplify, filter and convert incoming broadcast TV signals to cable system channels. Hertz (Hz) The name given to the basic measure of radio frequency characteristics. An electromagnetic wave completes a full oscillation from its positive to its negative pole and back again in what is known as a cycle. A single Hertz is thus equal to one cycle per second. Hub The master station through which all communications to, from and between micro terminals must flow. in the future satellites with on-board processing will allow hubs to be eliminated as MESH networks are able to connect all points in a network together. I IDU (Indoor Unit The IDU is typically a modem and it converts the data, video, or voice generated by the customer application for transmission over satellite. Inclination The angle between the orbital plane of a satellite and the equatorial plane of the earth. INMARSAT The International Maritime Satellite Organization operates a network of satellites for international transmissions for all types of international mobile services including maritime, aeronautical, and land mobile. INTELSAT The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization operates a network of satellites for international transmissions. Interference Energy which tends to interfere with the reception of the desired signals, such as fading from airline flights, RF interference from adjacent channels, or ghosting from reflecting objects such as mountains and buildings. IPSec: Short for Internet Protocol Security. IPsec is a framework for a set of protocols for security at the network or at the packet processing layer of the network communication. Used in virtual private networks, one advantage of IPsec is that security arrangements can be handled without requiring changes to individual computers. IRD An integrated receiver and decoder for reception of a transmission of voice, video and data. ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network. A CCITT standard for integrated transmission of voice, video and data. Bandwidths include: Basic Rate Interface - BR (144 Kbps - 2 B & 1 D channel) and Primary Rate - PRI (1.544 and 2.048 Mbps). Isotropic Antenna A hypothetical omnidirectional point-source antenna that serves as an engineering reference for the measurement of antenna gain. ITU International Telecommunication Union. J Jammer An active electronic counter-measures (ECM) device designed to deny intelligence to unfriendly detectors or to disrupt communications. JPEG ISO Joint Picture Expert Group standard for the compression of still pictures. K Ka Band The frequency range from 18 to 31 GHz. Kbps Kilobits per second. Refers to transmission speed of 1,000 bits per second. Kelvin (K) The temperature measurement scale used in the scientific community. Zero K represents absolute zero, and corresponds to minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 273 Celsius. Thermal noise characteristics of LNA are measured in Kelvins. Kilohertz (kHz) Refers to a unit of frequency equal to 1,000 Hertz. Klystron A microwave tube which uses the interaction between an electron beam and the RF energy on microwave cavities to provide signal amplification. The klystron operates on principles of velocity modulation very similar to those in a TWT except that klystron interaction takes place at discrete locations along the electron beam. Common types of klystrons are the reflex klystron (an oscillator having only one cavity), two-cavity klystron amplifiers and oscillators, and multi-cavity klystron amplifiers. Ku Band The frequency range from 10.9 to 17 GHz. L Latency: Sometimes called "Ping Time," it refers to the number of milliseconds (ms) it takes to send a data packet and receive an acknowledgement. Latency across the Internet is generally 100ms or less. In the satellite world, even with transmission speeds approaching the speed of light, the round-trip off the satellite can create roughly 700ms - 900ms of round-trip latency. Satellite service providers use advanced techniques to minimize latency, but some applications -- most notably interactive gaming -- will perform poorly. L-Band The frequency range from 0.5 to 1.5 GHz. Also used to refer to the 950 to 1450MHz used for mobile communications. Leased Line A dedicated circuit typically supplied by the telephone company. Link Budget: The term for correctly sizing uplink and downlink paths. Factors include antenna size, satellite transmission power and potential atmospheric effects (from weather to sunspots). Lights-Out Termination of satellite carrier. Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) This is the preamplifier between the antenna and the earth station receiver. For maximum effectiveness, it must be located as near the antenna as possible, and is usually attached directly to the antenna receive port. The LNA is especially designed to contribute the least amount of thermal noise to the received signal. Low Noise Block Downconverter (LNB) A combination Low Noise Amplifier and downconverter built into one device attached to the feed. used to convert the signal gathered by the feed. M Margin The amount of signal in dB by which the satellite system exceeds the minimum levels required for operation. Megahertz (MHz) Refers to a frequency equal to one million Hertz, or cycles per second. Microwave Line-of sight, point-to-point transmission of signals at high frequency. Many CATV systems receive some television signals from a distant antenna location with the antenna and the system connected by microwave relay. Microwaves are also used for data, voice, and indeed all types of information transmission. The growth of fiber optic networks have tended to curtail the growth and use of microwave relays. Microwave Interference Interference which occurs when an earth station aimed at a distant satellite picks up a second, often stronger signal, from a local telephone terrestrial microwave relay transmitter. Microwave interference can also be produced by nearby radar transmitters as well as the sun itself. Relocating the antenna by only several feet will often completely eliminate the microwave interference. Modulation The process of manipulating the frequency or amplitude of a carrier in relation to an incoming video, voice or data signal. Modulator A device which modulates a carrier. Modulators are found as components in broadcasting transmitters and in satellite transponders. Modulators are also used by CATV companies to place a baseband video television signal onto a desired VHF or UHF channel. Home video tape recorders also have built-in modulators which enable the recorded video information to be played back using a television receiver tuned to VHF channel 3 or 4. MPEG The Motion Pictures Experts Group, the television industry's informal standards group. MPEG-2 The agreed standard covering the compression of data (coding and encoding) for digital television. MPEG-2 MP@HL Main Provile at High Level - The agreed much higher bit-rate system adopted to provide high definition television in wide screen format. Multicast Multicast is a subset of broadcast that extends the broadcast concept of one to many by allowing "the sending of one transmission to many users in a defined group, but not necessarily to all users in that group." Multiplexing Techniques that allow a number of simultaneous transmissions over a single circuit. N Noise Any unwanted and unmodulated energy that is always present to some extent within any signal. Noise Figure (NF) A term which is a figure of merit of a device, such as an LNA or receiver, expressed in dB, which compares the device with a perfect device. NTSC - National Television Standards Committee A video standard established by the United States (RCA/NBC} and adopted by numerous other countries. This is a 525-line video with 3.58-MHz chroma subcarrier and 60 cycles per second. O ODU (Outdoor Unit) ODU components include an antenna equipped with a feed system capable of receiving and transmitting, a microwave radio known as a BUC (Block-Up-Converter) and an LNB (low noise block down converter) used to convert the signal gathered by the feed. Orbital Period The time that it takes a satellite to complete one circumnavigation of its orbit. P Packet Switching Data transmission method that divides messages into standard-sized packets for greater efficiency of routing and transport through a network. Parabolic Antenna The most frequently found satellite TV antenna, it takes its name from the shape of the dish described mathematically as a parabola. The function of the parabolic shape is to focus the weak microwave signal hitting the surface of the dish into a single focal point in front of the dish. It is at this point that the feedhorn is usually located. Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) A type of electronic circuit used to demodulate satellite signals. Polarization A technique used by the satellite designer to increase the capacity of the satellite transmission channels by reusing the satellite transponder frequencies. In linear cross polarization schemes, half of the transponders beam their signals to earth in a vertically polarized mode; the other half horizontally polarize their down links. Although the two sets of frequencies overlap, they are 90 degree out of phase, and will not interfere with each other. To successfully receive and decode these signals on earth, the earth station must be outfitted with a properly polarized feedhorn to select the vertically or horizontally polarized signals as desired. In some installations, the feedhorn has the capability of receiving the vertical and horizontal transponder signals simultaneously, and routing them into separate LNAs for delivery to two or more satellite television receivers. Unlike most domestic satellites, the Intelsat series use a technique known as left-hand and right-hand circular polarization. Polarization Rotator A device that can be manually or automatically adjusted to select one of two orthogonal polarizations. Polar Mount Antenna mechanism permitting steering in both elevation and azimuth through rotation about a single axis. While an astronomer's polar mount has its axis parallel to that of the earth, satellite earth stations utilize a modified polar mount geometry that incorporates a declination offset. Polar Orbit An orbit with its plane aligned in parallel with the polar axis of the earth. PTT - Post Telephone and Telegraph Administration Refers to operating agencies directly or indirectly controlled by governments in charge of telecommunications services in most countries of the world. Pulse Code Modulation A time division modulation technique in which analog signals are sampled and quantized at periodic intervals into digital signals. The values observed are typically represented by a coded arrangement of 8 bits of which one may be for parity. Q QPSK - Quadrature Phase Shift Keying System of modulating a satellite signal. R Rain Fade Loss of signal at Ku or Ka Band frequencies due to absorption and increased sky-noise temperature caused by heavy rainfall. Receiver (Rx) An electronic device which enables a particular satellite signal to be separated from all others being received by an earth station, and converts the signal format into a format for video, voice or data. Receiver Sensitivity Expressed in dBm this tells how much power the detector must receive to achieve a specific baseband performance, such as a specified bit error rate or signal to noise ratio. Router Network layer device that determines the optimal path along which network traffic should be forwarded. Routers forward packets from one network to another based on network layer information. S Satellite A sophisticated electronic communications relay station orbiting 22,237 miles above the equator moving in a fixed orbit at the same speed and direction of the earth (about 7,000 mph east to west). Scalar Feed A type of horn antenna feed which uses a series of concentric rings to capture signals that have been reflected toward the focal point of a parabolic antenna. Scrambler A device used to electronically alter a signal so that it can only be viewed or heard on a receiver equipped with a special decoder. SFD - Stauration Flux Density The power required to achieve saturation of a single repeater channel on the satellite. Sidelobe Off-axis response of an antenna. Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N) The ratio of the signal power and noise power. A video S/N of 54 to 56 dB is considered to be an excellent S/N, that is, of broadcast quality. A video S/N of 48 to 52 dB is considered to be a good S/N at the headend for Cable TV. Simplex Transmission Capability for transmission in only one direction between sending station and receiving station. Single-Channel-Per-Carrier (SCPC) A method used to transmit a large number of signals over a single satellite transponder. Skew An adjustment that compensates for slight variance in angle between identical senses of polarity generated by two or more satellites. Slant Range The length of the path between a communications satellite and an associated earth station. Slot That longitudinal position in the geosynchronous orbit into which a communications satellite is "parked". Above the United States, communications satellites are typically positioned in slots which are based at two to three degree intervals. SNG Satellite news gathering usually with a transportable uplink truck. Solar Outage Solar outages occur when an antenna is looking at a satellite, and the sun passes behind or near the satellite and within the field of view of the antenna. This field of view is usually wider than the beamwidth. Solar outages can be exactly predicted as to the timing for each site. Spectrum The range of electromagnetic radio frequencies used in transmission of voice, data and television. Spillover Satellite signal that falls on locations outside the beam pattern's defined edge of coverage. Spin Stabilization A form of satellite stabilization and attitude control which is achieved through spinning the exterior of the spacecraft about its axis at a fixed rate. Splitter A passive device (one with no active electronic components) which distributes a television signal carried on a cable in two or more paths and sends it to a number of receivers simultaneously. Spot Beam A focused antenna pattern sent to a limited geographical area. Spot beams are used by domestic satellites to deliver certain transponder signals to geographically well defined areas such as Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico. Spread Spectrum The transmission of a signal using a much wider bandwidth and power than would normally be required. Spread spectrum also involves the use of narrower signals that are frequency hopped through various parts of the transponder. Both techniques produce low levels of interference Between the users. They also provide security in that the signals appear as though they were random noise to unauthorized earth stations. Both military and civil satellite applications have developed for spread spectrum transmissions. SSPA Solid state power amplifier. A solid state device that is gradually replacing Traveling Wave Tubes in satellite communications systems because they are lighter weight and are more reliable. Stationkeeping Minor orbital adjustments that are conducted to maintain the satellite's orbital assignment within the allocated "box" within the geostationary arc. Subcarrier A second signal "piggybacked" onto a main signal to carry additional information. In satellite television transmission, the video picture is transmitted over the main carrier. The corresponding audio is sent via an FM subcarrier. Some satellite transponders carry as many as four special audio or data subcarriers whose signals may or may not be related to the main programming. Synchronization (Sync) The process of orienting the transmitter and receiver circuits in the proper manner in order that they can be synchronized . Home television sets are synchronized by an incoming sync signal with the television cameras in the studios 60 times per second. The horizontal and vertical hold controls on the television set are used to set the receiver circuits to the approximate sync frequencies of incoming television picture and the sync pulses in the signal then fine tune the circuits to the exact frequency and phase. T T1 The transmission bit rate of 1.544 millions bits per second. This is also equivalent to the ISDN Primary Rate Interface for the U.S. The European T1 or E1 transmission rate is 2.048 million bits per second. T3 Channel (DS-3) In North America, a digital channel which communicates at 45.304 Mbps. TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. The backbone of the Internet. The IP standard controls how packets of information travel on the Internet and TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. Mentioned here because TCP/IP applications can work beautifully on a satellite. TDMA Time division multiple access. Refers to a form of multiple access where a single carrier is the shared by many users. Signals from earth stations reaching the satellite consecutively are processed in time segments without overlapping. TI - Terrestrial Interference Interference to satellite reception caused by ground based microwave transmitting stations. Transmitter An electronic device consisting of oscillator, modulator and other circuits which produce a radio or television electromagnetic wave signal for radiation into the atmosphere by an antenna. Transponder A combination receiver, frequency converter, and transmitter package, physically part of a communications satellite. Transponders have a typical output of five to ten watts, operate over a frequency band with a 36 to 72 megahertz bandwidth in the L, C, Ku, and sometimes Ka Bands or in effect typically in the microwave spectrum, except for mobile satellite communications. Communications satellites typically have between 12 and 24 onboard transponders although the INTELSAT VI at the extreme end has 50. TVRO Television Receive Only terminals that use antenna reflectors and associated electronic equipment to receive and process television and audio communications via satellite. Typically small home systems. Tweeking The process of adjusting an electronic receiver circuit to optimize its performance. TWT (Traveling-wave tube) A microwave tube of special design using a broadband circuit in which a beam of electrons interacts continuously with a guided electromagnetic field to amplify microwave frequencies. TWTA (Traveling-wave-tube amplifier) A combination of a power supply, a modulator (for pulsed systems), and a traveling-wave tube, often packaged in a common enclosure. U UDP User Datagram Protocol. Used primarily for broadcasting messages over local networks. It is a connectionless protocol and therefore cannot be accelerated for use on satellite Internet connections. Unicast A unicast application transmits a copy of every packet to every receiver. Uplink The earth station used to transmit signals to a satellite. V V.35 ITU-T standard describing a synchronous, physical layer protocol used for communications between a network access device and a packet network. V.35 is most commonly used in the United States and in Europe, and is recommended for speeds up to 48 Kbit/s. VSWR Voltage Standing Wave Ratio. A measurement of mismatch in a cable, waveguide, or antenna system. VSAT Very small aperture terminal. Refers to small earth stations, usually in the 1.2 to 2.4 meter range. Small aperture terminals under 0.5 meters are sometimes referred to Ultra Small Aperture Terminals (USAT's). W Waveguide A metallic microwave conductor, typically rectangular in shape, used to carry microwave signals into and out of microwave antennas. X X.25 A set of packet switching standards published by the CCITT.