Terms

Analog:
Used to transmit audio, such as voice, radio, stereo, and control tones.
Antenna:
The device used to radiate or receive signals through the air, sometimes called a “dish”.
Availability:
The amount of time (generally expressed as a percentage) that a satellite signal is above threshold at a given
downlink locations, on average. Also expressed as 99.9% (“three nine” availability) or as 99.99% (“four nine”
availability). Downtime is due to rain outage per site per year on average over 5 years. (99.9% = 8 hours and 53
minutes outage per year.)
Backhaul:
Means by which audio or data is transmitted to an uplink facility, i.e. SCPC, dedicated leased line (phone line) or
video carrier.
Band:
A unit for designating a specific frequency or range of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. Satellite
communications most commonly use the C-Band (6/4 GHz) or Ku-Band (14/11 and 14/12 GHz) frequencies. Future
satellite systems will make use of bands above 20 GHz to gain additional capacity and to avoid congestion and
interference with systems operating at lower frequencies.
Bandwidth:
A means of capacity that indicates the amount of frequency spectrum required by a telecommunications service or
system. (The range of frequencies available for signaling.) Services requiring bandwidth greater than 200 KHz are
known as “broadband.” Those requiring less capacity are “narrowband”. Also, the numerical difference in Hertz
(Hz) between the highest and lowest in use.
Baud:
Unit of signaling speed. The speed in baud is the number of discrete conditions or events per second.
Broadband:
A term used to describe high bandwidth, or bit rate transmission of data signals.
C-Band:
The 3.7 to 4.2 GHz downlink and 5.925 to 6.425 GHz uplink band of frequencies at which some broadcast satellites
operate.
Caching:
The use of memory in a file server to store information so the next time the information is requested it can be
served from memory instead of from the source.
Channel:
A one-way communications link.
Circuit:
A two-way communications link.
CIT:
SpaceCom’s Network Operations Center (NOC). The Chicago International Teleport®, a $15 million redundant
uplink facility owned and operated by SpaceCom, located in Monee, IL.
Communications Satellite:
A space vehicle launched into orbit to relay audio, data or video signals as part of a telecommunications network.
Signals are transmitted to the satellite from earth station antennas, amplified and sent back to earth for reception
by other earth station antennas. Satellites are capable of linking two points, one point with many others, or multiple
locations with other multiple locations. Commonly called a “bird”.
Decibel (dB):
A measurement of transmission loss or gain in the form of a ratio between two voltages, currents, or powers.
3dB=double the power, 10dB=10 times the power. Decibels relative to one watt or milliwatt are abbreviated as dBw
and dBm, respectively. FM Cubed® is 44.3 to 48.3 dBw EIRP. Ku-Band FM Squared® is 41.3 to 45.3 dBw EIRP while
SCPC systems are typically 14 to 21 dBw and are normally restricted by the FCC to be 6 dB per 4 KHz.
Digital:
A means for encoding information in a communications signal through the use of bits (binary digits). Digital
transmission is increasingly replacing analog transmission because it provides more efficiency and flexibility for
networking.
Downlink Antenna:
 The part of the satellite communication system by which information is received from the satellite. Also the earth
station receive antenna.
DVB (digital video broadcasting):
An MPEG-2 compliant technology for digital audio and video or high bandwidth applications. SpaceCom has
launched a C-Band DVB satellite technology called FM Quad®. SpaceCom’s DVB has half rate forward error
correction (FEC) and QPSK (quadrature phase shift key) modulation.
Encryption:
The technique of modifying a known bit stream on a transmission line such that it appears to be a random sequence
of bits to an unauthorized observer.
Ethernet:
A proprietary contention bus network developed by Xerox, Digital Equipment Corporation and Intel. It formed the
basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard.
Extranet:
A virtual network tying a company to outside organizations, often through the Internet, but also through frame-
relay and other such network services.
Fiber Optics:
Transmission lines made of thin glass fibers optimized to carry light waves. It is possible to carry information on
light waves in the same way it is possible to carry information on radio waves.
Focal Length:
The distance from the center of the reflector to the feed opening.
Footprint:
The portion of the earth’s surface covered by the signal from a communications satellite; the area within which a
satellite's signal can be received.
FM Cubed®:
A Ku-Band time division multiplexing satellite technology using frequency modulation invented by SpaceCom for
digital applications. FM Cubed® has one of the strongest signal strengths and extremely high availability for
commercial satellite applications.
FM Squared®:
 A Ku-Band or C-Band frequency division multiplexing satellite technology using frequency modulation invented by
SpaceCom for analog, audio and digital applications.
FM Quad®:
A SpaceCom provided C-Band packet division multiplexing satellite technology using QPSK (quadrature phase shift
key) modulation. It is DVB MPEG-2 compliant (see also DVB).
Footprint Map:
A satellite coverage map that expresses the area of a satellite beam via a series of contours which delineate
decreasing value of antenna sizes, power flux-density (PFD) levels, EIRP, or G/T.
Frequency:
The number of cycles per second of an electromagnetic signal expressed in Hertz (Hz).
Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM):
The division of a given bandwidth into various subdivisions, with each having enough bandwidth to carry one voice
or data connection, such as FM Squared®.
Frequency Modulation (FM):
The process of changing a “carrier” wave so that the frequency of the “carrier” wave varies relative to the
information to be transmitted.
Gateway:
A network device that selects routes to a source or destination of information, such as a computer, printer, server,
router or other addressable unit, based on an address which is unique to each device.
GigaHertz (GHz):
A unit of frequency equal to one billion cycles per second.
Hertz (Hz):
A unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second. Named after the 19th century German physicist Heinrich Hertz.
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization:
An organization formed by 91 countries for managing global communications satellite systems (commonly known
as Intelsat).
Intranet:
A network linking a company’s offices and making information accessible, usually with a web browser.
IP:
Internet Protocol. A connectionless protocol used for delivering data packets from host to host across an
internetwork i.e. the Internet.
Kbps:
Kilo (one thousand) bits per second (speed)
KiloHertz (KHz):
One thousand cycles per second.
Ku-Band:
The microwave frequency band between 11.7 and 12.2 GHz receive, 14.0 to 14.5 GHz transmit. It is more susceptible
to rainfade (compared to C-Band); however, it allows substantially smaller antennas and it is much more immune
to terrestrial interference and noise.
Low Noise Block Down Converter (LNB):
Also called low noise amplifier (LNA). Down converts the whole 500 MHz satellite bandwidth to one intermediate,
usually L-Band, frequency range.
L-Band:
The frequency band between 950 to 1450 KHz.
Mbps:
Mega (one million) bits per second (speed)
MegaHertz (MHz):
A unit of frequency equal to one million cycles per second.
Microwave:
The frequency range from approximately 500 MegaHertz (MHz) to 30 GigaHertz (GHz).
Modulation:
The method by which data or audio is imprinted onto a carrier. FM Squared® and FM Cubed® use Frequency Shift
Key (FSK) modulation. Other methods of modulation are Quadrature Phase Shift Key (QPSK), Binary Phase Shift
Key (BPSK) and Minimum Shift Key (MSK).
MPEG-2:
 A public standard for video compression intended for broadcast video. It compresses a high-definition television
signal (25 MHz) into the channel allocated to broadcast television (6-MHz). (MPEG= Motion Pictures Experts
Group which developed the standard)
Multiplexing:
Combining two or more message channels for simultaneous transmission over a common path; analog systems use
frequency-division multiplexing, while digital systems employ time-division multiplexing.
Noise:
An unwanted signal which interferes with reception of the desired information. Noise is often expressed in degrees
Kelvin or decibels.
Parity Bit:
A bit that is set at “0” or “1” in a character to ensure that the total number of 1 bits in the data field is even or odd.
Used for error detection.
Polarization:
A characteristic of the electromagnetic wave. Four senses of polarization are used in satellite transmissions:
horizontal; vertical, right-hand circular; and left-hand circular. LNB’s have a polarization setting to match the
transponder orientation.
Real Time:
A telecommunications or data processing system that responds immediately, in the same time frame as the user
provides input.
Redundancy:
Capacity to ensure continuity of service through backup equipment when there is a malfunction in primary service
Satellite Antenna or earth station: The communication system (dish, receivers, transmitters and other equipment)
used to send or receive electronic signals from or to a satellite. VSAT: Very small aperture dish-shaped antenna
device – usually only 3 to 6 feet in diameter.
Satellite Receiver:
The indoors electronic component of an earth station which down converts, processes (by demultiplexing and
demodulating) and prepares satellite signals for viewing or listening.
Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC):
 A satellite system that employs a separate carrier for each channel, as opposed to frequency division multiplexing
(FM Squared®, sometimes called FM/FM) that combines many channels on a single carrier.
Space Segment:
Term which usually identifies the bandwidth and power for a satellite communications channel.
Streaming video/audio:
The result of a video/audio signal which has been digitized and compressed for Internet viewing. The higher the
compression rates, the lower the video/audio quality. Typical streaming connections vary from a low of 20 kbps for
audio only to 300+ kbps for audio and video.
Subcarriers:
An auxiliary carrier linked to the main carrier in a communications systems, which can carry audio or data
information. Subcarriers are frequently broadcast on the unused portion of video (TV) transponders. Like SCPC,
they may be used for backhaul or primary distribution.
TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol:
A connection oriented protocol designed for operation on the Internet. Considered to be a common language
between otherwise incompatible computers.
Teleport:
The name commonly given to the satellite communications uplink facility.
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM):
The division of a digital transmission channel into multiple slower speed channels by allocating a particular time
slot to the slower speed channels. FM Cubed® is a TDM system and is similar to a T-1 phone line. (e.g. customer #1
gets bit 1, 65, and 129, etc. and customer #2 gets bit 2, 66, and 130, etc.)
Transponder:
The portion of a communications satellite that receives audio, data and video signals from earth, alters their
frequency, amplifies the signals and retransmits them to earth. Satellites carry numerous transponders on board.
Two-way:
Bi-directional, upstream and downstream transmission capability.
Uplink:
The earth station electronics and antenna that transmits information to the communication satellite.
VSAT:
Very Small Aperture Terminal. Frequently used as another name for two-way satellite technology.