DVB-RCS2/S2 testbed: A distributed testbed for next-generation satellite system design and validation

DVB-RCS2 is the second generation of DVB standards for the return link in interactive satellite systems, which is combined with the well consolidated DVB-S2 standard, applicable to forward links. This paper presents a DVB-S2/RCS2 testbed, able to reproduce all functionalities specified for higher and lower layers (HL and LL) of the protocol stack, down to the physical layer characteristics, which are instead accounted by means of a channel emulator for both return and forward links. The presented testbed turns out to be a formidable tool for research investigation and overall system design thanks to the implemented features and the flexible architecture, allowing easy reconfiguration and extensions of functionalities according to specific purposes. Some merit figures shown at the end of the paper also prove the possibility to plug the testbed to external systems and carry out performance monitoring/tracking tasks through regular Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agents.