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Sirius Communications is open to participate in Proposals concerning the specific programmes implementing the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (1998-2002). Sirius Communications is actively participating in MEDEA, the industry-driven research and development programme on microelectronics and its integration into selected application systems. This EUREKA project (EU 1535) focuses on the needs of the European electronics systems industry". RTD priorities: work will focus on the development and evolution of new generations of affordable terrestrial and satellite broadband wireless architectures, systems and technologies, exploiting new spectrum frontiers, for both private and public environments, supporting advanced services and maximising spectral efficiency and network performance; addressing full coverage through a multiplicity of radio systems deployed in a multi-layer, multi-dimension cell architecture; service mobility and terminal roaming across terrestrial and satellite wireless and wired networks will be a priority; software reconfigurable networks, systems and terminals, to facilitate improved network planning, interoperability and interworking; miniaturised, low-cost, low-power mobile and portable communication terminals (both hardware and software aspects); technologies, services and applications supporting interactive mobile and personal multimedia services, with regional or global coverage and integrated where appropriate with terrestrial and satellite navigation services; take-up: a key aspect will be validations and demonstrations of broadband interactive mobile multimedia technologies and services; a major effort will be dedicated to technology assessment and concertation measures to contribute to standards. Microelectronics The approach will be system-oriented and application-driven, and will aim at reinforcing strengths and exploiting technological opportunities drawing on appropriate microelectronic technology solutions best filling generic application requirements: the development, integration or customisation of advanced signal and data processing functions into sub-systems together with their associated memory and input/output functions will be a priority, together with macrocells and support tools for classes of applications;
CDMA Telecommunications Space System Successfully Launched Brussels, July 10, 1998. Today, a Belgian telecommunications space system was successfully launched from Baïkonur in Kazakhstan by a Zenit rocket. This telecommunications platform, newly developed in the LLMS (Little LEO Messaging System) project under the prime-contractorship of SAIT Systems is attached to a Russian earth observation satellite and is designed to provide a low-cost world-wide electronic mail (e-mail) service dubbed IRIS, for International Retrieval of Information via Satellite. PostmanThe satellite circles on a near polar orbit at 835 kilometers altitude and will cover any point of the earth' surface at least twice a day. As the satellite passes over the user terminals it collects and distributes e-mail, much like a postman for conventional mail. The satellite stores the e-mail messages on board and downloads them when it flies over the ground station located near the North Pole on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. At the same time the satellite downloads previously collected messages from the terminals, it also picks up waiting messages from the ground station to be distributed to the terminals on the next pass. The ground station at Spitsbergen is connected with a service centre in Belgium from where messages are distributed over the Internet. To send and receive messages, a subscriber to the service will need a small, relatively inexpensive satellite terminal. This small terminal hosts a highly integrated CDMA digital baseband processor ASIC from Sirius Communications NV.Typical target customers for this flying store and forward messaging system are organizations with personnel in remote locations, without access to terrestrial communications, who need to exchange a few messages a day at low cost, as well as entities performing automatic monitoring like environmental data collection. Modestly pricedCompared to the many more ambitious LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite systems under development in the world today, the LLMS/IRIS initiative aims at providing messaging services adapted to the needs of particular niche markets. One of its major advantages will be the modestly priced service and satellite terminals achieved through an innovative combination of unique system design, the use of advanced spread spectrum communications (CDMA) techniques, and a pragmatic implementation scheme, enabling a significant reduction in development cost.BelgiumUnder ESA's first ceiling-price turnkey contract, SAIT System undertook not only to develop, but also to launch and commercially operate LLMS/IRIS for an initial period of 3 years."For the first time, a Belgian company, SAIT Systems, has been selected as prime contractor for an entire satellite telecommunications program," said Guy Seutin, Chief Executive Officer of the SAIT-RadioHolland Group. "Furthermore, this project shows that Belgium's space industry can play a leading role in the field of spread spectrum (CDMA) technology and LEO satellite systems." |
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More information is available from www.cordis.lu/ist