The integration between cellular and satellite systems permits to provide wider and more efficient area coverage. In this paper the viability of a full integration between the GSM cellular network and a satellite system (the L-band Land Mobile payload has been assumed as a reference, nevertheless the results can be extended to other payloads) is dealt with. The integration analysis focuses on the link feasibility. Full integration entails that the satellite system reuses the same channels, access technique, modulation, and coding as the GSM system. The presented results have been obtained by means of an ad hoc simulation tool developed at CSELT (Turin). The paper outlines a reference scenario for the integrated system and explains the characteristics of the satellite propagation channel, of the reference payload and of the satellite-compatible mobile station (both the RF equipment and the IF equipment main features are discussed). The simulation results are displayed for the GSM speech channels at both full rate (TCH/FS) and half rate (TCH/HS). Such results are used in order to compute the overall link budget and the satellite system capacity.
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