Space segment
1worldspace operated two satellites: AfriStar and AsiaStar. This made it available in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and parts of Europe.
The company ordered also a third satellite, AmeriStar (also known as CaribStar and later renamed AfriStar 2). This satellite was built but never launched. A fourth satellite, WorldStar 4, was also considered and some components were acquired. However, the whole WorldStar 4 satellite was never built.
Ground segment
The regional operations centers for the satellites were located in Silver Spring, Maryland for AfriStar and Melbourne, Australia for AsiaStar. These centers managed the performance and status of the satellites by controlling them and monitoring there. The system architecture is identical for each region.
Telemetry, command and ranging (TCR) ground stations consisted of an X-Band uplink command and control system and an L-Band telemetry monitoring system. A backup mode was also provided using an S-Band link from Bangalore, India. Each satellite had two TCR stations with sufficient geographic distance between them so that if natural disasters or any unforeseen events were to make one inoperable, a back-up station would be available. The TCR stations for AfriStar were located in Bangalore, India and Port Louis, Mauritius, and the ones for AsiaStar in Melbourne, Australia and Port Louis, Mauritius.
Read the full text
In addition to the TCR stations, a communications system monitoring station (CSM) was associated with each satellite to monitor continuously the quality of the downlink services. The CSM facilities were located in Libreville, Gabon and Johannesburg, South Africa for AfriStar and Melbourne, Australia for AsiaStar.
User segment
Users purchased receivers compatible with the L-Band frequency in order to access the system. The radio receiver processed, decoded and descrambled the signals to allow users to receive programming content. The company's broadcast frequency and satellites required a special receiver design incorporating either a small patch antenna measuring approximately 6 to 8 cm (2.4 to 3.2 inches) which folded neatly into the receiver unit or a similarly sized omni-directional antenna mounted on the car rooftop. Each receiver was individually addressable via a unique identifier that could be used to unlock specially coded audio or multimedia signals. This capability provided the flexibility to deliver free, subscription and/or premium services to consumers.
The currently available receivers were manually coded for subscription authorization. A password, valid for varying periods of time depending upon the length of the subscription purchased and paid for, is provided to a subscriber and entered into the receiver. Passwords were re-validated on a quarterly basis. Upon subscription renewal, a new passcode was provided and similarly entered into the receiver. As new receiver products were introduced, there were plans to provide over-the-air activation of subscriptions.
The radio sets, or receivers, which could pick up 1worldspace signals were manufactured by South Korea's AMI, India's BPL and China's Tongshi, among other corporations. Discontinued models were manufactured by JVC, Sanyo, Hitachi, and Panasonic. The radios consisted of a satellite receiver plus an antenna that has to be placed in clear view of the relevant satellite, and properly oriented to the user's geographic azimuth and elevation. A new receiver manufactured by Delphi using open standard ETSI Satellite Digital Radio technology would have been used in Europe if the company had entered the car satellite radio receiver marketplace.
Historic plans for service development
Since uninterrupted line of sight reception may be difficult in the urban areas, a need to install terrestrial repeating transmitters to rebroadcast the satellite signals in the largest metropolitan areas of intended mobile DARS markets was identified. The company had been licensed to build networks of terrestrial repeaters in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. With this addition, the system could have provided more reliable broadcast services to receivers in automobiles. 1worldspace had planned to start providing mobile radio and data services in Italy using a combination of satellite and terrestrial broadcasts in late 2009. It had signed an agreement with Fiat, an Italian automobile manufacturer, to make radios capable of receiving the signals available to car owners. Fiat had planned to make such radios available as a bookable option made prior to purchasing a car. If the service had been launched and had been a commercial success in Italy, it was then planned to make similar services available in Germany and Switzerland. 1worldspace would have used ETSI Satellite Digital Radio (SDR) open standard in the new European coverage beam. The receivers for the new markets would have been manufactured by Delphi and would have delivered a gap-free coverage to vehicles similar to that of SiriusXM Radio vehicular mobile service.
