Satellite UMTS network architecture

UMTS will allow delivery of a diverse range of communications services to people, no matter where they are. Satellite communications will feature as the preferred mode of access to rural and remote regions as well as being a means to rapidly deploy UMTS service at the initial commercial roll-out of UMTS networks. The European Race Monet project has developed a mobile network architecture capable of providing UMTS services through a wide variety of satellite networks in the same way as it provides service to a wide variety of terrestrial radio environments. This paper presents Race Monet's UMTS network architecture, concentrating on the features specific to the support of satellite access networks. It shows how this architecture is capable of supporting all the proposed terrestrial and satellite systems and those anticipated for the future.