Simobiz : simulation tool to study the impact of small satellites in mobile market
Résumé
Interest in small satellites is growing fast world-wide. Businesses, governments, universities and other organizations around the world are starting their own small satellite programs. The surveys conducted by the space agencies and universities shows a promising increase in the use of small satellites for commercial applications. More number of operators offers or plans to offer mobile phone services by satellite. With the help of cost effective small satellite, mobile operators can be able to provide the services cheaper. Hence, it is always interesting to study the effect of low cost small satellite over the mobile market. In this article, we described "Simobiz - Business Game", an industry-specific university-based simulation tool for in-depth study on telecommunication market. The main goal of this game is the exploration of the complexity found in mobile telecom markets (for example, network effects and technological transitions). The business games like this help us to analyze business constrains and its dependencies, provide strategies for possible future market and help to gain better understanding of the business. Presently, the simulation has been designed to adapt to various market conditions through specific "scenarios". In the initial versions of the simulator, we have defined only terrestrial mobile operators. The number of these operators was limited to 3 in order to be sure that all mobile operators can be profitable in most scenarios. The simulation can start with similar or different operators, from a commercial, network and operational point of view. But all operators will be strictly submitted to the same rules, compete on the same market and enjoy the same access to customers. They have a comprehensive knowledge of their own operations and a limited knowledge of the operations of their competitors. Our main focus in this work is to understand the future market of small satellite in mobile telecom network. In order to achieve this, we have integrated a new module in Simobiz, where we have implemented two operators, normal satellite operator and small (nano-satellite) operator, with specific terminals and services. We have defined specific parameters for describing the satellite and the nanosatellite networks and we also have made the necessary modifications in the Simobiz configuration files in order to analyze the impact of small satellite's mobile network over other existing mobile networks (GSM/GPRS/UMTS) in present mobile market. The purpose of the simulation was to compare different communication "technologies": GSM versus UMTS, satellite versus nanosatellite. The results obtained from the simulation show promising future for small satellite market in mobile network and also act as a foundation to provide solutions for new business strategies