UHF DAMA satellite communications network control station: capabilities, architecture, and performance

To establish context, this paper describes the history of DAMA on UHF military satellites, beginning with experimental systems built during the 1970s. The paper goes on to describe the technical features common to present-day 5-kHz and 25-kHz DAMA systems, and proceeds to take an in-depth look at capabilities unique to each of the DAMA waveforms, which were designed independently and took rather different philosophical design approaches. The variety of services which are offered (e.g., global and local voice, data, and packetized messages) are described, as are the techniques used to allow automatic adaptation to variations in load, individual terminal link qualities, and traffic priorities. In addition the various types of network configurations supported are described. The hardware and software architectures for the currently-fielded network control station sites are then presented. Recently an automated software tool set that can characterize DAMA network performance in terms of call setup times and channel usage efficiency has been developed. Performance data are presented demonstrating the general quality of service that can be delivered. Finally the paper describes evolutionary enhancements planned for the DAMA waveforms and overall system, as additional use warrants and funding becomes available.