GVF ‘HTS 2013: Game Changer in Action - The London Roundtable’, to GVF ‘Connectivity 2014’ and MENASAT @ CABSAT 2014
by Martin Jarrold
London, UK, January 6, 2014--In my previous column I previewed GVF High Throughput Satellites 2013: Game-Changer in Action - The London Roundtable. I am very pleased to report that several participants in this latest program in the GVF-EMP Conference Partnership portfolio described the event as “A very successful conference, by any standard.” Here, in this contribution to the final edition of 2013, I wish to provide you, the reader, with the means to access at least some of the flavor of the series of great dialogs which took place in London on 5th and 6th December 2013. Then, as follow-on, I intend to provide you with some advance notice of upcoming events in the GVF calendar for the first quarter of 2014.
HTS - The London Roundtable
A total of 40 speakers contributed to the Roundtable, providing a range of keynote presentations and introductory briefings, many of which are now in the wider public domain, and can already be accessed through the Roundtable website at: www.uk-emp.co.uk/emp-home/current-events/hts-rtldn-2013-program/.
This web page shows the Roundtable program in full. Additionally, in due course, a detailed synopsis of the entire program will be available from this web page.
Day One of the Roundtable began with Chris Baugh, President of Northern Sky Research (NSR) delivering the Opening Keynote ‘Defining the Satellite Broadband Market Eco-System: Present & Future Trends in HTS’, and beginning with some essential explanatory points:
An HTS is any satellite or satellite payload that has at least twice (though usually many times more) the throughput of a traditional FSS satellite for the same amount of allocated frequency on orbit, with these satellites using any frequency to provision a service and almost exclusively making use of frequency reuse and multiple spot beams to increase throughput and reduce the price per bit delivered.
The advent of the O3b Networks HTS satellite constellation necessitated a further definition, that of MEO-HTS, being a medium earth orbit (MEO), low latency satellite constellation, comprising satellites that can use any frequency to provision a service and make use of frequency reuse and multiple spot beams to increase throughput and reduce the price per bit delivered.
The keynote continued with a NSR’s analysis of the evolution of the HTS market, which forecasts an aggregate demand – in respect of such applications as Broadband Access, Backhaul, VSAT, Trunking, Mobility, Government/Military, SNG, DTH, and Distribution – increasing from a level of 62.6 Gpbs back in 2012, to 451.5 Gbps in 2018, and to 918.2 Gbps in 2022. When factoring-in MEO-HTS, total demand could reach 1 Tbps by 2022. By the same year total wholesale HTS & MEO-HTS revenues are expected to exceed US$3.3 billion, though based on capacity pricing being significantly differentiated by application.
Mr. Baugh’s keynote covered many other facets of the HTS eco-system, but notably what he described as ‘Industry Bifurcation’. In the pre-HTS eco-system the C and Ku frequency bands were used for all satellite communications requirements whether for Media/Linear TV/OTT in the Consumer/Point-to-Multipoint space, for Broadband Access in the Consumer/Point-to-Point space, for Mission Critical/Network Control in the Professional/Point-to-Multipoint space, and IP Data/Backhaul in the Professional/Point-to-Point space.
With HTS, this has changed to the extent that HTS may be seen as most focused on the Consumer/Point-to-Point space of Broadband Access, though also touching on Consumer/Point-to-Multipoint and Professional/Point-to-Point applications. MEO-HTS may be seen as most focused on Professional/Point-to-Point of IP Data/Backhaul, though also touching on Professional/Point-to-Multipoint and Consumer/Point-to-Point applications.
A Satellite Operator Roundtable followed, featuring representatives of Intelsat, Inmarsat Global Xpress, Avanti Communications, O3b Networks, and Telenor. The session provided a comprehensive, wide-reaching overview of exactly what it is that high-throughput satellite operators are already providing, or planning and preparing to provide using C, Ku and Ka band solutions.
An Engineering Roundtable took as its starting point the position that new satellite communications technologies and solutions bring new engineering challenges, and new development opportunities, in both space segment and a range of ground segment environments. Speakers from Kymeta, Gilat Satellite Networks, iDirect, Brightday Engineering, Advantech Wireless, and Crystal Solutions examined both the in-orbit angle – the engineering of the high-throughput payload in terms of maximizing the potential of multi-spotbeam and frequency reuse architectures – and the ground angle – infrastructure evolution and the planning, design, deployment & managing of HTS terminals/earth stations, including antenna technology product quality and installation, HTS-enabled terminals and user expectations – as well as understanding rain fade issues, and device portability.
Contributing to the User Verticals Roundtable was C-COM Satellite Systems, Everard Solutions, Hermes Datacomms, MTN, SIS Live, Futurenautics/International Maritime Sales & Marketing Association, and Gogo. This session asked: Who are the customers for HTS? What do they want from HTS? And how is HTS positioned to provide what they want? These panelists were able to characterize the needs of broadcast video & satellite news gathering (SNG), aeronautical, maritime, oil & gas, and NGOs as users of critical communications solutions for humanitarian assistance and disaster recovery situations.
Day One concluded with a Regulatory, Licensing & Financing Roundtable. The regulatory and licensing eco-system for high throughput satellite services and technologies, and due diligence around the investment in new satellites were examined by Inmarsat, Avanti Communications, Trinity Advisers Limited, and Field Fisher Waterhouse.
Day Two of the Roundtable opened with a joint keynote from the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Norwegian Space Centre (Norsk Romsenter). Michèle Le Saux, Head of Commercial Ground Segment Section, Technical Directorate, and Alberto Ginesi, Head of Telecom and TT&C System Section, Technical Directorate, both of ESA, addressed ‘The European Market & Technology Roadmap for HTS’, covering ESA and Satcoms; Satcoms market view and trends; ARTES 1 activities; R&D Roadmaps related to HTS: Efficiency, Flexibility, Throughput, and Examples; and, Co-funded commercial development examples.
Among several key points made, they noted, in particular, that in connection with Capacity versus Revenue Growth: [a] the advent of HTS should result in more GHz leased at a lower price; [b] data-driven growth (for 3G backhaul, etc.) should support this trend; and [c] larger capacity volumes should be required to maintain revenue growth. In the period 2007-2012 the CAGR in Capacity (GHz) was just over 6%, and for Market Value was 6%, whereas, as forecast for the period 2012-2017, the rates will be in excess of 11%, and almost 7%, respectively.
Rune Sandbakken, Head of SatCom Section, Norwegian Space Centre (Norsk Romsenter) then spoke on ‘ARTES 5.1 - Ka-band Radio Characterisation for SatCom Services in Arctic and High Latitude Regions’. As had previously been explained by the representatives of ESA, 5.1 is one of the ARTES program elements which focuses on technology. The study – jointly supported by Telenor, the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, the Norwegian Defense Logistics Organization, UNIK, SITEF, assisted by Gjøvik University College and MARINTEK – amongst a number of objectives, sought to check, verify and refine propagation models and prediction methods for 20/30 GHz satellite systems (Ka-band/HTS) in high latitudes.
The OEM Roundtable which followed investigated the latest initiatives and developments from leading manufacturers of the terminal and antenna technologies that comprise the foundation of networks that facilitate access to in-orbit HTS assets. Contributing organizations included Kymeta, Comtech EF Data, Gilat Satellite Networks; and, Newtec.
Fixed & Mobile Networking Applications & VARs looked at the varying requirements of mobile environments on land and at sea, with panelists from Intelsat, UltiSat; and, GVF.
To conclude the program we featured the Ground Infrastructure Roundtable, with Inmarsat Global Xpress, C-COM Satellite Systems, Cobham SATCOM, Sematron, and SkyWare Technologies. The principal focus here was the evolutionary dynamics of products comprising the “Ground Segment”, most particularly the antenna component: Antenna Technologies; Application/Market Specific Antenna Design; and, Device Portability in the COTM/COTP space.
To reiterate, if you wish to glean a sense of the highly dynamic nature of the Roundtable dialogs, please go to www.uk-emp.co.uk/emp-home/current-events/hts-rtldn-2013-program/ to view the presentations and introductory briefings slides.
The GVF-EMP event portfolio will open its 2014 calendar with ‘Connectivity 2014’.
The Connectivity Context
Being connected to the Internet, whenever you want, wherever you are, wherever you’re going to, and however you’re getting there, with broadband data speeds, has become a universal mantra in the service delivery goals and user expectations of today’s digital telecommunications marketplace. In the metropolitan workplace and in the urban or suburban home, the multiple-tens of Mbps service has become commonplace with the deployment of fixed fiber-based infrastructures by telecoms service providers. But, increasingly, for an ever-growing proportion of an ever-more demanding user base, this is not enough, particularly as the user-to-device/terminal relationship continues its migration away from interfacing with desktop/laptop PCs with local hard drive data storage and towards interfacing with tablets and smartphones with increasing volumes of data storage in the Cloud. This is a migration which places an overwhelming emphasis on the opportunity for Internet connectivity and access to multimedia services which meet the seemingly insatiable demand for increasingly video-based enterprise and social media applications, whilst the user is entirely mobile, whether pounding the urban street, taking a country stroll, riding a train, flying on a plane, or taking a trip across the sea.
This seamless connectivity expectation, and the objective of universalizing a seamless connectivity experience which goes way beyond the practical and commercially-sustainable geographical boundaries of today’s 3G and 4G wireless networks, whether over public or private networks, is something that, at the practical deployment level, can only be achieved with a combination of different wireless telecommunications/broadband access technologies – a combination that will increasingly engage the most mobility-enhancing and nomadic communications technology of all, satellite.
‘Connectivity 2014’ will examine some of the key issues, technological developments, and market trends that feature on the path to a universal connectivity ecosystem, with particular, though not exclusive, reference to the latest developments in the satellite communications marketplace which are focused around the launch of high throughput satellite payloads into orbit. These payloads have already changed the paradigm of satellite communications capabilities in the realms of the satellite-only connectivity solution, but are also bringing a vastly enhanced dynamic to the wider realms of the satellite+terrestrial hybrid solution – solutions used in the corporate, enterprise, government, military, consumer, and other, sectors.
Future of Mobile Backhaul & Next Generation Backhaul Solutions: One key theme of the conference will center on the future of mobile backhaul. Satellite networking has always been an imperative for extending the typical service area of terrestrial cellular wireless systems, and connectivity for 2G/GSM voice and SMS applications, in many parts of the world, has been built on the foundation of backhaul over satellite. Now with those parts of the world migrating to 3G – and looking forward to 4G – we should ask, “What does 4G hold in store for mobile backhaul?”
Mobile network operators (MNOs) want new, innovative backhaul architectures that are robust and flexible enough to accommodate shifting traffic loads on cell sites without massive bandwidth over-provisioning. Importantly, MNOs are looking at the segmenting of macro-cells into smaller (femto-, pico-) cells, a trend presenting new challenges for the satellite backhaul vendor whose next-generation backhaul solutions must be more robust as well as high-speed.
Train Networks, Fleets of Aircraft and Cruise Liners: Another key theme will examine the technologies used to bring earth stations on vehicles/mobile platforms (ESVs/ESOMPs) – whether they be rail, in-flight, or at sea – and the associated practicalities of driving RoI from solution deployments across train networks, fleets of aircraft, and cruise liners.
What will the Satellite-Cloud Interface look like? ‘The Marriage of Mobility & Web 2.0’ will be a further theme to be examined in the context of asking “What will the Satellite-Cloud Interface look like?” The Cloud brings together different technologies – broadband networks, virtualization, Web 2.0 interactivity, time sharing, and browser interfaces – each of them significant advances in their own right, but all the more powerful in combination, and thus the Cloud is now fundamentally changing the way organizations use IT. The communications networks underpinning today’s distributed computing are not only fast, and not only getting faster, but the rate at which they are getting faster is itself speeding-up, creating opportunities for Cloud implementation to bring higher organizational performance, greater flexibility, and savings on costs.
Satellite and Terrestrial Wireless Technologies: So, what are the strengths and weaknesses inherent in current and developing satellite technologies as far as providing access to The Cloud is concerned? In posing this question, the conference objective is not to engage in a satellite-versus-terrestrial argument – particularly given the long-established trend of hybridized communications networks comprising satellite and terrestrial wireless technologies, as noted above. Rather the objective is to identify exactly where the unique nature of satellite communications can contribute to the greater functionality, and reliability, and ubiquity, and connectivity to the Cloud, not only for the high-density metropolis of the globe’s most developed markets, but also for the remote communities of the world’s emerging and developing economies and societies.
Machine-to-Machine: M2M communications is another key connectivity focus, and the interface and synergy of M2M communications and satellite communications will comprise part of the conference dialogue. Naturally, this dialogue must begin with at least a nod to immediate future-history, noting the longer-term significance of transitioning to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). With the ever-increasing number of devices being connected to the Internet, and the consequent need for more IP addresses than the current IPv4 protocol is able to accommodate, the use of a 128-bit IP address permits more than 7.9×1028 times as many addresses as IPv4. But, why begin with this passing mention of IPv6? Well, because it is IPv6 which will bring on the full potential of the Internet of Things (IoT), and it is the IoT which will be the ultimate realization of a future universal M2M environment which will far exceed the potential boundaries and limited scope of even the greatest reach of the present day M2M environment.
Integrating the Digital World: It is the IoT which will create a dynamic network of billions of wireless identifiable ‘things’ communicating with one another, bringing ubiquitous computing, and integrating the digital world and the physical world. More concretely, improved sensor device capabilities will facilitate business logic at the edges of networks as decision-making is based on real-time readings from sensors that are used to monitor pretty much anything and everything. Globally, satellite M2M is growing fast, and the aggregated target markets make its potential for the satellite industry very important.
Comms on the Move/Comms on the Pause: The conference program will also touch on such connectivity issues as: Merging Broadband Satellite & Wireless into a Unified Value Chain; Satellite Broadband, Wireless & the Digital Citizen; Digital Citizen to Retail Consumer & m-Payer; BYOD – Connectivity Across the Employment-Leisure Divide; Military Comms-on-the-Move/Comms-on-the-Pause.
Interference
The 2014 scheduling clash of CABSAT with the Washington DC Satellite show is certainly going to cause some degree of “interference” in the usual annual event planning of organizations in the satellite communications industry. Perhaps, for this reason, it is quite appropriate that the GVF MENASAT @ CABSAT 2014 program is entitled ‘The Satellite Interference Summit’.
The Summit will focus of various aspects of satellite interference, which has become a subject of growing concern to the satellite industry and its customers worldwide, and is an ever increasing problem across the Middle East and North Africa region. Most recently, in MENA, GVF has collaborated with the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) to develop an Action Plan to address the problem of interference, whether unintended or intentional.
This is just a single example of the fact that the satellite industry, its customers, and global and international agencies, are increasingly collaborating to address the challenges, and to identify and develop solutions, to this problem. Several solutions are already successfully in deployment, others are in preparation.
GVF, singly, or in partnership with a wide range of other interested parties, has for many years been engaged with these strategies to both prevent and mitigate various forms of satellite interference. Our collaboration has included satellite operators, the satellite service solutions provider community, manufacturers of satellite equipment, national broadcasters, and the international broadcasting community as a whole, together with national, regional, and other global organisations, such as WBU-ISOG, sIRG, the Space Data Association, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The two-day MENASAT Summit will provide all affected and interested parties with not only a thoroughly comprehensive profile of the problems that have been identified, a briefing of what these cross-sector collaborations have already achieved, and an examination of the solutions that have already been developed and deployed, but also analyse where we need to go next, continuing to bring together the partners that must be engaged to fight interference, and setting-out a blue-print for continuing and future action in the MENA region, and other regions worldwide.
Part 1 of the Summit will focus on “Proactivity”, and look at Challenges & Preventative Measures, and Part 2 will focus on “Reactivity”, and examine Challenges & Mitigation Approaches, each with the following key themes.
12th March – 13:00 to 17:00
The Satellite Interference Summit – Part 1: Challenges & Preventative Measures
- Improper Installations and Training & Certification
- Sub-Standard Equipment and Product Quality Assurance
- Wireless Interference and the Spectrum Security Initiative
- Information Sharing and Geolocation & Space Data
13th March – 13:00 to 17:00
The Satellite Interference Summit – Part 2: Challenges & Mitigation Approaches
- Deliberate Interference and The ASBU Tunis Action Plan: Implementing Solutions for MENA
- Unidentified Carriers and Carrier ID
- Dysfunctional Networks and Network Validation
More information about both ‘Connectivity 2014’, and GVF MENASAT @ CABSAT 2014 ‘The Satellite Interference Summit’, is available from me. Further coverage of these programs will appear in this column during early 2014.
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Martin Jarrold is the Chief, Internatioal Program Development, GVF. He can be reached at martin.jarrold@gvf.org
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