S band
Encyclopedia
The S band is defined by an IEEE standard for radio waves with frequencies that range from 2 to 4 GHz
, crossing the conventional boundary between UHF
and SHF
at 3.0 GHz. It is part of the microwave
band of the electromagnetic spectrum
. The S band is used by weather radar
, surface ship radar
, and some communications satellite
s, especially those used by NASA
to communicate with the Space Shuttle
and the International Space Station
. The 10-cm radar
short-band ranges roughly from 1.55 to 5.2 GHz
.
In the U.S.
, the FCC
approved Digital Audio Radio Satellite (DARS) broadcast
s in the S band from 2.31 to 2.36 GHz, currently used by Sirius XM Radio. More recently, it has approved for portions of the S band between 2.0 and 2.2 GHz the creation of Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) networks in connection with Ancillary Terrestrial Components (ATC). There are presently a number of companies attempting to deploy such networks, including ICO Satellite Management
and TerreStar.
The 2.6 GHz range is used for China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting
, a satellite radio
and mobile TV
standard which, as with proprietary
systems in the U.S., is incompatible with the open standard
s used in the rest of the world.
In May 2009, Inmarsat
and Solaris Mobile
(a joint venture between Eutelsat and Astra
) were awarded each a 2×15 MHz portion of the S band by the European Commission
. The two companies are allowed two years to start providing pan-European MSS services for 18 years. Allocated frequencies are 1.98 to 2.01 GHz for Earth to space communications, and from 2.17 to 2.2 GHz for space to Earth communications.
Eutelsat W2A
satellite launched in April, 2009 and located at 10° East is currently the unique satellite in Europe operating on S band frequencies.
In some countries, S band is used for Direct-to-Home satellite
television (unlike similar services in most countries, which use Ku band
). The frequency typically allocated for this service is 2.5 to 2.7 GHz (LOF 1.570 GHz).
Wireless network
equipment compatible with IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g standards use the 2.4 GHz section of the S band. Digital cordless telephones operate in this band too. Microwave oven
s operate at 2495 or 2450 MHz. IEEE 802.16
a and 802.16e standards utilize a part of the frequency range of S band, under WiMAX
standards most vendors are now manufacturing equipment in the range of 3.5 GHz. The exact frequency range allocated for this type of use varies between countries.
In North America
, is an ISM band
used for unlicensed spectrum devices such as cordless phones, wireless headphones, and video sender
s, among other consumer electronics
uses, including Bluetooth
which operates between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz.
Amateur radio
and amateur satellite operators have two S-band allocations, 13 cm (2.4 GHz) and 9 cm
(3.4 GHz).
GHZ
GHZ or GHz may refer to:# Gigahertz .# Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state — a quantum entanglement of three particles.# Galactic Habitable Zone — the region of a galaxy that is favorable to the formation of life....
, crossing the conventional boundary between UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
and SHF
Super high frequency
Super high frequency refers to radio frequencies in the range of 3 GHz and 30 GHz. This band of frequencies is also known as the centimetre band or centimetre wave as the wavelengths range from ten to one centimetres....
at 3.0 GHz. It is part of the microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
band of the electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
. The S band is used by weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
, surface ship radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, and some communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
s, especially those used by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
to communicate with the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
and the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. The 10-cm radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
short-band ranges roughly from 1.55 to 5.2 GHz
GHZ
GHZ or GHz may refer to:# Gigahertz .# Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state — a quantum entanglement of three particles.# Galactic Habitable Zone — the region of a galaxy that is favorable to the formation of life....
.
In the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
approved Digital Audio Radio Satellite (DARS) broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
s in the S band from 2.31 to 2.36 GHz, currently used by Sirius XM Radio. More recently, it has approved for portions of the S band between 2.0 and 2.2 GHz the creation of Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) networks in connection with Ancillary Terrestrial Components (ATC). There are presently a number of companies attempting to deploy such networks, including ICO Satellite Management
ICO Satellite Management
ICO Global Communications Limited is a mobile satellite services company based in Reston, Virginia.The company is seeking to build a hybrid satellite and terrestrial network to broadcast wireless voice, data, and/or Internet services to mobile and portable devices.In April 2008 it launched the...
and TerreStar.
The 2.6 GHz range is used for China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting
China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting
China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting is a mobile television and multimedia standard developed and specified in China by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television . It is based on the Satellite and Terrestrial Interactive Multiservice Infrastructure , developed by TiMiTech, a company...
, a satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
and mobile TV
Mobile TV
Mobile television usually means television watched on a small handheld device. It may be a pay TV service broadcast on mobile phone networks or received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations from either regular broadcast or a special mobile TV transmission format...
standard which, as with proprietary
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
systems in the U.S., is incompatible with the open standard
Open standard
An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was designed . There is no single definition and interpretations vary with usage....
s used in the rest of the world.
In May 2009, Inmarsat
Inmarsat
Inmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
and Solaris Mobile
Solaris Mobile
Solaris Mobile is a joint venture company between SES Astra and Eutelsat Communications to develop and commercialize the first geostationary satellite systems in Europe for broadcasting video, radio and data to in-vehicle receivers and to mobile devices, such as mobile phones, portable media...
(a joint venture between Eutelsat and Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
) were awarded each a 2×15 MHz portion of the S band by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. The two companies are allowed two years to start providing pan-European MSS services for 18 years. Allocated frequencies are 1.98 to 2.01 GHz for Earth to space communications, and from 2.17 to 2.2 GHz for space to Earth communications.
Eutelsat W2A
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...
satellite launched in April, 2009 and located at 10° East is currently the unique satellite in Europe operating on S band frequencies.
In some countries, S band is used for Direct-to-Home satellite
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
television (unlike similar services in most countries, which use Ku band
Ku band
The Kμ band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to —in other words, the band directly below the K-band...
). The frequency typically allocated for this service is 2.5 to 2.7 GHz (LOF 1.570 GHz).
Wireless network
Wireless network
Wireless network refers to any type of computer network that is not connected by cables of any kind. It is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment...
equipment compatible with IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g standards use the 2.4 GHz section of the S band. Digital cordless telephones operate in this band too. Microwave oven
Microwave oven
A microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...
s operate at 2495 or 2450 MHz. IEEE 802.16
IEEE 802.16
IEEE 802.16 is a series of Wireless Broadband standards authored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . The IEEE Standards Board in established a working group in 1999 to develop standards for broadband Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks...
a and 802.16e standards utilize a part of the frequency range of S band, under WiMAX
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
standards most vendors are now manufacturing equipment in the range of 3.5 GHz. The exact frequency range allocated for this type of use varies between countries.
In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, is an ISM band
ISM band
The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
used for unlicensed spectrum devices such as cordless phones, wireless headphones, and video sender
Video sender
A video sender is a device for transmitting domestic video signals wirelessly from one room to another, as for example sending the output of a satellite TV decoder located in the lounge, to a television set in the bedroom....
s, among other consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
uses, including Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
which operates between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz.
Amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
and amateur satellite operators have two S-band allocations, 13 cm (2.4 GHz) and 9 cm
9-centimeter band
The 9-centimeter band is a portion of the SHF radio spectrum internationally allocated to amateur radio and amateur satellite use. The amateur radio band, in ITU regions 1 and 2, is between 3,300 MHz and 3,500 MHz, and it is available only on a secondary basis...
(3.4 GHz).
Optical communications S band
S band is also used in optical communications to refer to the wavelength range 1460 nm to 1530 nm.See also
- Electromagnetic interference at 2.4 GHz
- ISM bandISM bandThe industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
- Unified S-BandUnified S-BandThe Unified S-band system was a tracking and communication system developed for the Apollo program by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory . It operated in the S band portion of the microwave spectrum, combining voice communications, television, telemetry, command, tracking and ranging into a...
System, an S Band communication system used in the Apollo program of manned spaceflight. - SafeTRIP an R&D project co-funded by the European Commission for a vehicular open-platform for safety and infotainment services based on S-band communication.