ion(s) AM - Amplitude Broadcast Analog FM - Frequency Broadcast PM - Phase Modems Carrier - On - Off Ham Radio PCM - Pulse Code Telephone Service Digital QPSK (Quadrature Phase, Shift Keyed) QAM (Quadrature Amplitude) Digital Cable TV PRACTICAL IP AND TELECOM FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS Free Space: Terrestrial and Satellite Wireless Transmission Satellite transmission is just another version of, or use of, the radio or wireless spectrum. Terrestrial microwave radio and satellite radio share much of the spectrum and the equipment involved comes from a lot of common technology and many of the same sources of design, development, and manufacture. Satellite transmission is depended on very heavily in the media and entertainment industry. Almost all cable programming is distributed over satellite facilities. In recent years the direct to home or DBS infrastructure has become a viable competitor to cable and terrestrial broadcast content delivery. Satellite transmission channels, or transponders, come in a range of bandwidths, including 18, 36, 54, and 72 MHz. The transponders can accommodate analog or digital transmission. Individual carriers, instead of a single analog signal or digital bitstream, can occupy the baseband in the transponder. The individual carriers can accommo- date analog or digital signal transmission. The type of signal placed on the satellite transponder is determined by a choice of uplink and downlink earth station equipment. Most major satellite carriers have interconnection facilities to and from the global communications network infrastructure. With appropriate interface, satellite links can provide access to and egress from common carrier networks. They can also extend common carrier networks and vice versa. Satel- lite transmission facilities can transport standard Internet and tele- com network traffic as well as terrestrial radio or fiber. But a light wave has many times the bandwidth as radio waves. A rough com- parison can be found in the fact that a 36-MHz transponder with 