Performance evaluation of the PRMA protocol for voice and data transmissions in low Earth orbit mobile satellite systems

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) will provide multimedia services to users in whatever environment via uniform service access procedures. Efficient medium access control (MAC) protocols are needed to guarantee a high capacity. This paper deals with packet reservation multiple access (PRMA), widely considered as an efficient MAC protocol in terrestrial microcellular systems, for voice and data transmissions in a UMTS based on low Earth orbit-mobile satellite systems (LEO-MSSs). Through a suitable choice of the system parameter values, the PRMA protocol may achieve a good quality of service also in LEO-MSSs.