Potential implications and road mapping of satellite bidirectional s-band antennas in the automotive market [antenna applications corner]

Car radios were introduced for commercial (broadcast) and professional (communications) purposes in the 1920s [1]. This novelty was just one of many innovative technologies and products that were taken into mass production in passenger cars, and vehicles in general, since then [2, 3]. Wireless communications in particular nowadays represent an important business area for the automotive market, for “infotainment” (information and entertainment), comfort, environ mental, and safety-related services. In the field of connectivity - and specifically in the context of antennas for wireless functions - the case of the European satellite technology based on S band is analyzed here. The DVB-SH standard (Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite Handheld [4]) is considered for the forward link, and the ETSI S-MIM standard (S-Band Mobile Interactive Multimedia [5, 6]) is considered for the return link. These standards can provide satellite services for mobile terminals, such as broadcasting of radio, TV, and data by using DVB-SH, and interactive services on the return link by using the ETSI S-MIM.