Land-mobile X-band satellite measurements in Norway, experiment description and first results

Findings from a vehicular satellite communication experiment at X-band along a 5460 km route in Norway was described in this paper. The elevation angle was between 10° in the North and 20° in the South. System availability, coverage and excess attenuation on a 7.25–7.75 GHz down-link from a geostationary satellite was found by measuring a satellite beacon. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate possibilities and challenges by utilizing vehicular satellite communications. It was found that the average availability of the time was 61.4 %. The average coverage of the distance was 56.1 %. Based on map data and measured GPS positions, the calculated fraction of distance with line of sight visibility to the satellite was 84 % and the vegetation shadowing was about 28 % of the total distance. Significantly better coverage requires alternatives such as diversity of satellites providing higher elevation angles.