The DENISE project aims at designing and demonstrating, both via laboratory tests and field trials using W2A satellite, a suitable S-band interactive system capable of efficiently using the available bandwidth (15 MHz in both uplink and downlink for each of the two licensed European S-band operators) to provide:
The main objectives of the DENISE Project are:
The main challenges to be addressed by the DENISE project are the following:
The main benefits of the DENISE system can be summarised as follows:
The high level system architecture of the DENISE system is shown in the figure below. It includes all elements that will be found in the targeted system, as well as the interfaces among them, including the interfaces to existing 2G/3G and IP terrestrial networks.It is also indicated that all elements except the NCC can appear several times in the system.
The different terminals are shown as part of the user segment; the forward and return Complementary Ground Components (also referred to as repeaters and collectors) are grouped under the complementary ground segment, which also includes the so called gap fillers (GF), which are ground elements that interact with the terminal but are not managed by the service operator.
Even if the baseline design will be done considering the features of the W2A satellite, the system shall be envisaged so as to be also compliant with potential future satellites. The ground segment is composed by the hub (or hubs) together with the NCC, both interfacing the service centres. In the targeted system, all network elements (except the satellite) can have direct interfaces to 2G/3G or IP terrestrial networks.
Figure 1: High level architecture of the DENISE communications system
The DENISE Project is organised in two phases:
The project started in Autumn 2009. The Critical Design Review of Phase 1 took place in June 2010. Phase 1 was successfully concluded in November 2010. Though Phase 2 is currently on hold, the outcomes of Phase 1 have been standardised within ETSI MSS as TS 102 721: version 1.1.1 has been published in December 2011 and is available for download through the ETSI portal.