In this paper we propose a design of the main modulation and demodulation units of a modem compliant with the new DVB-S2 standard (Int. J. Satellite Commun. 2004; 22:249–268). A typical satellite channel model consistent with the targeted applications of the aforementioned standard is assumed. In particular, non-linear pre-compensation as well as synchronization techniques are described in detail and their performance assessed by means of analysis and computer simulations. The proposed algorithms are shown to provide a good trade-off between complexity and performance and they apply to both the broadcast and the unicast profiles, the latter allowing the exploitation of adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) (Proceedings of the 20th AIAA Satellite Communication Systems Conference, Montreal, AIAA-paper 2002-1863, May 2002). Finally, end-to-end system performances in term of BER versus the signal-to-noise ratio are shown as a result of extensive computer simulations. The whole communication chain is modelled in these simulations, including the BCH and LDPC coder, the modulator with the pre-distortion techniques, the satellite transponder model with its typical impairments, the downlink chain inclusive of the RF-front-end phase noise, the demodulator with the synchronization sub-system units and finally the LDPC and BCH decoders. Copyright # 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.