Personal hand-held communications via L-band CDMA-based geostationary beamforming satellites

In recent years, the demand for wireless communications around the world has been phenomenal, as personal communications has become an integral part of modern life. In North America alone, the number of cellular users has already exceeded the projected numbers expected to be reached by the year 2000. Cellullar systems, however, are not expected to provide services for rural and suburban areas due to the potentially fewer number of subscribers compared with urban areas. Satellite communications has therefore emerged as a viable solution for personal communications in areas with low population density. The future of personal mobile satellite communications services depends critically on achieving maximum rural and suburban coverage at minimum payload cost. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of utilizing a CDMA-based, L-band, geostationary satellite to provide personal hand-held communications in sparsely populated areas. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...