To MIMO or Not To MIMO in Mobile Satellite Broadcasting Systems

This letter studies the potential capacity advantages of introducing a dual polarization per beam paradigm instead of the conventional single polarization per beam in mobile satellite broadcasting systems. This enables the application of MIMO techniques, not yet thoroughly investigated for mobile satellite systems. We engage in a fair system performance comparison between single polarization SISO and dual polarization non-MIMO and MIMO configurations based on the DVB-SH state-of-the-art mobile satellite standard. Along the course, the major advantages and pitfalls of a dual polarization per beam system from an interference, antenna, payload, and capacity perspective are highlighted.