ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a review on the progress of channel measurements for mobile satellite services (MSS) obtained from many investigators worldwide and the important milestones that have been already achieved. The MSS includes the land mobile satellite service, the maritime mobile satellite service, and the aeronautical mobile satellite service, depending on the physical locale of the mobile terminals. The transmission to/from a satellite from/ to an mobile Earth stations takes place in a complex propagation environment with a moving transmitter/receiver and a multiplicity of obstacles in the path affecting the mobile satellite channel. The chapter also presents MSS channel characterization activities performed using single-antenna systems, that is, targeting single-input single-output systems. To understand the practical technical difficulties and limitations of MSS, a detailed knowledge and characterization of the underlying radio channel, under various propagation conditions and scenarios, is crucial. Then, efficient and reliable MSS can be designed and accurately tested, before their implementation.
