COFDM for broadcasting satellites in elliptical orbits

This paper analyses the performance of a coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM) based system for digital audio broadcasting using a highly inclined orbit satellite constellation. The sources of performance degradation considered are nonlinear amplification in the satellite transponder and multipath propagation for mobile reception. Despite its strong peak-to-mean amplitude variation, COFDM has been found to be very robust against nonlinear amplification. In the multipath channel, practical cases demonstrate low performance losses even in urban areas, when highly inclined elliptical orbits (HEO) are utilised.