AbstractOne of the distinctive features of the INTELSAT TDMA system is that the role of the reference station is completely separated from the ordinary station. For this reason, the reference station (called a TDMA reference and monitor station (TRMS)) needs special facilities: reference terminal equipment (RTE) and a TDMA system monitor (TSM). NEC corporation has developed and produced the RTE/TSM facilities necessary for the INTELSAT TDMA/DSI system.In November 1984, the first RTE/TSM equipments were installed at the first two TRMS sites for the major path 2 in the Atlantic Ocean region. Since that time, several field tests have been successfully conducted.In this paper, the signal processing equipment (SPE) of the RTE is described in detail.