TABLE OF CONTENTS Level: 2
Definition: Satellite industry lexicon for ground-based satellite receiving and/or transmitting antenna and equipment. Earth stations (also called earth segments to distinguish them from space segment satellite facilities) are usually large, fixed installations able to perform both uplink and downlink functions. But the term has also been applied to consumer backyard satellite television antennas, particularly the larger 3- to 5-foot antennas used for C-band pay-TV reception. The size of an antenna or dish is dependent on the strength of the satellite signal. Higher-power satellites and digital technology have decreased antenna size dramatically, with home dishes now only 18 inches in diameter and becoming portable. (See also DBS and DTH.)
Level: 1
Definition: Replacing the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) beginning in 1997, the government-prescribed EAS alerting system is set up to provide information to the public in bona fide emergency situations. Television and radio broadcasters, cable, and certain other multichannel providers acting in voluntary cooperation are a key part of the emergency alerting network that can quickly pass emergency information to local, state, or national regions of the country.
Level: 3
Definition: Used in digital communications to represent the influence of noise on the digital information being carried by a signal and correlates to a predictable bit error rate (BER) for a signal or channel. As a figure of merit, Eb/No is the ratio of the energy per bit in a digital signal (Eb) divided...
