| Abstract: | The ESA on-board processing (OBP) satellite system using on-board regeneration and baseband circuit switching has been designed to provide ISDN connectivity and services to users on a Pan-European basis. It is thus seen at its periphery as a 2 Mb/s primary rate access, hence allowing for the interconnection of equipment and terminals compatible with this standard interface. Among the various possible network architectures that the system could support, the business-oriented closed networks look most promising. It has therefore been retained as a prime design driver for OBP system developments. Optionally, connectivity can be offered in an optimized manner to pure data networks, e.g. for LAN-to-LAN interconnection at rates up to 1 Mb/s. In the paper, communication services and networking capabilities offered by the system are briefly reviewed. The internal characteristics of the satellite system allowing for such capabilities are then reviewed and the corresponding performance outlined. The system is shown to be compatible with critical CCITT performance criteria. |
