DS‐SSMA capacity for a mobile satellite system

Abstract
We consider a cellular satellite system conceived to enhance the capabilities of the pan‐European terrestrial system (GSM). This adopts EHF band and highly‐inclined orbits. We present a preliminary assessment of system capacity based on asynchronous direct‐sequence spread‐spectrum multiple access (DS‐SSMA). Performance is measured in terms of error probability achieved by K users simultaneously accessing the system with a given signal‐to‐noise ratio.