Selecting Codes, Modulations, Multiple Access Schemes and Link Protocols for Future NASA Missions

NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) office has been designing an agency-wide space communication and navigation architecture to support NASA space exploration and science missions out to 2030. SCaN chartered a study in 2007 to select codes, modulations, multiple access techniques and link protocols for this architecture. The study was conducted by Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and consultants to NASA. This paper provides an overview of the study, describes the process used to carry out the study, and summarizes study results. Companion papers at this conference provide detailed technical information and analyses.