Technical Committee (TC) Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES) Activity Report 2022
Chair: Daniel Tesfagaber, Inmarsat
Responsible for standardization relating to satellite communication systems, services and applications including fixed, mobile and broadcasting; satellite navigation systems and services. Covering all types of earth stations and earth station equipment, especially the radio frequency interfaces and network and/or user interfaces; and protocols implemented in earth stations and satellite systems.
The applications of satellite communications technology range from direct-to-home TV and mobile links to location services and high-speed Internet access, especially for rural and outlying regions or onboard aircraft and ships.
Our Satellite Earth Stations and Systems technical committee (TC SES) is the technical body within ETSI that is responsible for creating standards for satellite terminals (earth stations) and systems. This work notably includes the development and revision of Harmonised Standards covering all aspects of satellite earth station fixed terminals or terminals on the move, whether in an aircraft, on board a ship or in a vehicle.
The committee’s main areas of competence include:
- Satellite communication systems, services and applications including fixed, mobile and broadcasting,
- Satellite navigation systems and services,
- All types of earth stations and earth station equipment, especially the radio frequency interfaces and network and/or user interfaces,
- Protocols implemented in earth stations and satellite systems.
Throughout 2022 TC SES pursued compliance of our Harmonised Standards (ENs) with the Radio Equipment Directive, as part of the ongoing consultation process with the EC. The committee’s work thus saw regular interaction with the HAS consultant on several ENs to receive comments on compliance with RED requirements and addressing them to ensure our Harmonised Standards were better positioned to pass the ENAP procedure and achieve listing in the Official Journal of the EU.
During the year the committee issued revisions to various Harmonised European Standards for access to radio spectrum, in order to ensure that language used is consistent with requirements for citation in the OJEU. These included:
EN 303 981 V1.3.1 - Fixed and in-motion Wide Band Earth Stations communicating with non-geostationary satellite systems (WBES) in the 11 GHz to 14 GHz frequency bands – Citation in OJ anticipated Jan 2023
EN 303 981 V1.2.1 - Fixed and in-motion Wide Band Earth Stations communicating with non-geostationary satellite systems (WBES) in the 11 GHz to 14 GHz frequency bands - Cited in OJ March 2022
EN 303 980 V1.3.1 - Fixed and in-motion Earth Stations communicating with non-geostationary satellite systems (NEST) in the 11 GHz to 14 GHz frequency bands – Citation in OJ anticipated Jan 2023
EN 303 980 V1.2.1 - Fixed and in-motion Earth Stations communicating with non-geostationary satellite systems (NEST) in the 11 GHz to 14 GHz frequency bands - Cited in OJ March 2022
EN 303 413 V1.2.1 – Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers; Radio equipment operating in the 1 164 MHz to 1 300 MHz and 1 559 MHz to 1 610 MHz frequency bands - Cited in OJ March 2022
EN 303 372-2 V1.2.1 - Satellite broadcast reception equipment; Part 2: Indoor unit - Cited in OJ March 2022
EN 303 372-1 V1.2.1 - Satellite broadcast reception equipment; Part 1: Outdoor unit receiving in the 10,7 GHz to 12,75 GHz frequency band - Cited in OJ March 2022
EN 301 444 V2.2.1 - Land Mobile Earth Stations (LMES) and Maritime Mobile Earth Stations (MMES) providing voice and/or data communications, operating in the 1,5 GHz and 1,6 GHz frequency bands - Cited in OJ March 2022
During the year work progressed on the development and revision of further Harmonised Standards.
The committee’s work also continued on a technical comparison of DVB-S2x/RCS2 and 3GPP NR (New Radio) NTN (Non terrestrial networks) based systems for broadband satellite communication systems operating below and above 10 GHz.
See the full list of TC SES Work Items currently in progress here.