Glossary

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) is the national trade organization representing the consumer satellite (direct broadcast satellite) industry in the United States, including the two largest service providers, DirecTV and DISH Network, manufacturers, installers, and distributors of satellite equipment.

Solar Outage - Solar outages occur when a satellite dish is looking at a satellite, and the sun passes behind the satellite and within the field of view of the dish antenna.  Solar outages occur during the spring and fall as the sun moves up and down the sky during the equinox.  The outages only last a few minutes for a few days a year.

Transponder - It is a satellite component that receives, modulates, amplifies, and re-broadcast a signal back to Earth. More than one television or audio channel can be transmitted over a signal transponder using MPEG compression.

Uplink - A signal’s path from the earth to a satellite.

Attenuation is the weakening of signal strength, analog or digital, especially when transmitted over long distances. Attenuation is expressed in dB or decibels 

Clear sky - A term describing the weather conditions encountered at the terrestrial end of an earth-space path of a satellite communication link. It is used to describe the condition where the attenuation of radio waves caused by precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, dew, etc.) is lowest (i.e., cloud-free sky and good visibility).

Dawn-to-dusk orbit (Also called a heliosynchronous orbit) An orbit where the satellite is in perpetual sunlight, allowing it to rely totally on solar panels to generate power. This orbit is used for earth observation, imaging and research satellites.

Dawn-to-dusk orbit (Also called a heliosynchronous orbit) An orbit where the satellite is in perpetual sunlight, allowing it to rely totally on solar panels to generate power. This orbit is used for earth observation, imaging, and research satellites.

See also: Heliosynchronous orbit

Downconverter  - A device for converting the frequency of a signal to a lower frequency; transceivers that take a C-, Ku-, or Ka-band signal and frequency-converts it to either 70 MHz, 140 MHz, or L-band 950–1450 MHz.

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, not-for-profit, standardization organization in the telecommunications industry (equipment makers and network operators) in Europe, headquartered in Sophia-Antipolis, France, with worldwide projection. ETSI produces globally-applicable standards for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), including fixed, mobile, radio, converged, broadcast and internet technologies.

See also: ETSI

Effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP)  - A measure of the signal strength that a satellite transmits towards the earth, or an earth station transmits towards a satellite, expressed in dBW or decibel watts.

Machine to machine (commonly abbreviated as M2M) refers to direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wireless.[1][2] Machine to machine communication can include industrial instrumentation, enabling a sensor or meter to communicate the data it records (such as temperature, inventory level, etc.) to application software that can use it (for example, adjusting an industrial process based on temperature or placing orders to replenish inventory).[3] Such communication was originally accomplished by having a remote network of machines relay information back to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into a system like a personal computer.

See also: M2M

Maritime mobile satellite service (MMSS) - A satellite service between mobile-satellite earth stations and one or more satellites.

Mobile satellite service (MSS) - A satellite service intended to provide wireless communication to any point on the globe.

Noise (Also known as Thermal Noise.) Any undesired electrical disturbance in a circuit or communication channel. When combined with a received signal, it affects the receiver’s ability to correctly reproduce the original signal.

The Kelvin scale is an absolute thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all thermal motion ceases in the classical description of thermodynamics. The kelvin (symbol: K) is the base unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI). 

See also: Kelvin scale

OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) - Founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

See also: OECD

Conflict minerals are natural resources extracted in a conflict zone and sold to perpetuate the fighting. The most prominent contemporary example has been the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the region.

The four most commonly mined conflict minerals (known as 3TGs, from their initials) are cassiterite (for tin), wolframite (for tungsten), coltan (for tantalum), and gold ore, which are extracted from the eastern Congo, and passed through a variety of intermediaries before being purchased. These minerals are essential in the manufacture of a variety of devices, including consumer electronics such as mobile phones, laptops, and MP3 players.

See also: Conflict minerals

3TG refer to conflict minerals extracted in a conflict zone and sold to perpetuate the fighting. The most prominent contemporary example has been the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the region.

The four most commonly mined conflict minerals (known as 3TGs, from their initials) are cassiterite (for tin), wolframite (for tungsten), coltan (for tantalum), and gold ore, which are extracted from the eastern Congo, and passed through a variety of intermediaries before being purchased. These minerals are essential in the manufacture of a variety of devices, including consumer electronics such as mobile phones, laptops, and MP3 players.

See also: 3TG

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 (FCPA) (15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1, et seq.) is a United States federal law known primarily for two of its main provisions: one that addresses accounting transparency requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and another concerning bribery of foreign officials. The Act was amended in 1988 and in 1998 and has been subject to continued congressional concerns, namely whether its enforcement discourages U.S. companies from investing abroad.

See also: FCPA