Meteor burst communications

The characteristics of meteor burst communications are described and compared to those of HF and satellite systems. The two generic types of MB systems, broadcast and channel-probing systems, are explained. In systems using the broadcast protocol, the transmitter knows nothing about the occurrence of bursts or trails and transmits continuously for a sufficient duration to permit all recipients to receive the message/data with the desired probability. For practical purposes, the optimum burst or block duration for such systems is around 100-200 ms, based on the characteristics of the predominant trails. Channel-probing MB systems are more common and are commercially available in several versions. Here the transmitter repeatedly sends a short (typically 5-20 ms) probe signal until it receives a similarly short message response, indicating the availability of a suitable trail. A third, intermediate type of protocol with hybrid features does not probe the channel with a short signal, but starts repeatedly transmitting the first packet, in effect using it as a probe signal. Fundamental design issues and/or parameters of specific relevance to MB communication systems are discussed. Some historical and more recent MB systems are examined.<<ETX>>

[1]  Laurence B. Milstein,et al.  Performance of Meteor-Burst Communication Channels , 1987, IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun..

[2]  A. Ince,et al.  Spatial Properties of Meteor-Burst Propagation , 1980, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[3]  J. Allen.  Recent Applications of Electron Multiplier Tubes , 1950, Proceedings of the IRE.

[4]  G. W. L. Davis,et al.  The Canadian JANET System , 1957, Proceedings of the IRE.

[5]  G. R. Sugar.  Radio propagation by reflection from meteor trails , 1964 .

[6]  G. W. Pickard.  A Note on the Relation of Meteor Showers and Radio Reception , 1931, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

[7]  C. Hines,et al.  THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SIGNAL SOURCES IN METEORIC FORWARD-SCATTERING , 1956 .

[8]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[9]  L. Manning,et al.  Radio Communication by Scattering from Meteoric Ionization , 1954, Proceedings of the IRE.

[10]  D. Menzel.  The Radio Noise Spectrum , 1960 .

[11]  Sorin Davidovici,et al.  Performance of a meteor-burst communication system using packet messages with variable data rates , 1989, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[12]  K. Kokjer,et al.  Networked meteor-burst data communications , 1986, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[13]  A. Hannum,et al.  Air-to-Ground Meteoric Scatter Communication System , 1960 .

[14]  J. Oetting.  An Analysis of Meteor Burst Communications for Military Applications , 1980, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[15]  P. Bartholome,et al.  COMET - A New Meteor-Burst System Incorporating ARQ and Diversity Reception , 1968, IEEE Transactions on Communication Technology.

[16]  W. I. Thompson,et al.  Narrowband digital voice communications over a meteor burst channel , 1987 .

[17]  Martin W. Abel.  Meteor Burst Communications: Bits per Burst Performance Bounds , 1986, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[18]  J. M. Jacobsmeyer.  Adaptive trellis coded modulation for bandlimited meteor burst channels , 1989, IEEE Military Communications Conference, 'Bridging the Gap. Interoperability, Survivability, Security'.

[19]  Laurence B. Milstein,et al.  A comparison of protocols for a meteor-burst channel based on time-varying channel model , 1989, IEEE Trans. Commun..