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Satellite solutions for Broadband connectivity

Seminar ETSI/Ministry of Health of Mexico, Tuxtla, 18-19 May 2006

Nathalie RicardTelecommunications DepartmentEuropean Space Agency

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ESA has 17 member States :

• Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

• Canada takes part in some projects under a cooperation agreement.

An inter-governmental organisation with a mission to provide and promote - for exclusively peaceful purposes - the exploitation of:• Space science, research & technology• Space applications

What is ESA?

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ESA world locations

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08/2005 - 4

All Member States participate in Space Science mandatory programmes.

• Human space flight and exploration

In addition, members chose the level of participation in optional programmes:

• Microgravity research

• Earth observation

• Telecommunications

• Satellite navigation

• Launcher development

ESA programmes

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M€ : Million of Euro

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ESA is fully independant from commercial operators

ESA is responsible for research and development of space projects.

Operational systems are transferred to new or specially established organisations:

On completion of qualification, these projects are handed over to outside bodies for the production/exploitation phase.

• Launchers : Arianespace - launcher production phase• Telecommunications : Eutelsat & Inmarsat - international communications

services via ECS/MARECS• Meteorology : Eumetsat - Meteosat weather satellites• Satellite Navigation : Galileo, Joint, Undertaking (with the E.U.)

7115 launches of ARIANE 4 for 155 satellites in total (1988-2003)

Telecom Satellites launched: 139

Others: 16

(Earth Observation + Weather + Science)

Telecom: a commercial success

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The DVB-RCS standardfor broadband access

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DVB-RCS defines a Return Channel over Satellite for broadband systems based on DVB-S

Specification initially defined by satellite operators working under the auspices of ESA

Work taken over by DVB Project, which is responsible for standard maintenance

ETSI approves its publication as EN 301 790, according to their defined procedures

Definition started in Sept 1997Editions

•1st (v1.2.2)12/00•2nd (v1.3.1) 03/03: RSAT•3rd (v1.4.1) 09/05: DVB-S2

DVB-RCS background

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Defined by group of interested companies:scrutinised, optimised, built by consensus

Based on commercial requirements

Broad range of services and applications supported

Future-proof (e.g. DVB-S2)

Based on successful DVB-S: availability of mass market low costsatellite TV receivers

Enables interoperability between products

DVB-RCS is an Open Standard

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Several system integrators

Several terminal suppliers

Different choices of options and parameters

Several generations of system implementations: cost & feature optimised

Multiple implementations of DVB-RCS

Enables interoperability between products

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• Networks accept user terminals from several suppliers• User terminal operates in different networks

Definition of interoperability

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ESA strategy for DVB-RCS

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ESA fostered the creation of the SatLabs Group to:1. Ensure interoperability between DVB-RCS terminals and

systems 2. Achieve low-cost implementations of DVB-RCS products

ESA is chairing the SatLabs Group and leads most working groups

Key developments for the implementation of interoperability verification

are carried out by ESA– Common Test Bed for interoperability testing

ESA also funds key technological developments needed to reduce cost

– Low cost Components– Low cost installation mechanisms

ESA strategy for DVB-RCS

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SatLabs Group basics

• Association set up to bring the DVB-RCS standard to large-scale adoption– Foster availability of interoperable products– Ensure availability of solutions for interoperability testing

and certification

• Membership open to all organizations worldwide interested in the DVB-RCS standard

• Main emphasis on interoperability but addressing other aspects related to DVB-RCS implementation

• Creation: October 2001

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ESA/SatLabs cooperation

Short TermInterop.Action

Compliance TestProfiles

Test Plan

Test BedDevelopment

ComponentSpecs

TechnologyDevelopments

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SatLabs Membership

Service + Access Provider

Satellite Operator

Satellite Supplier

System Supplier

Equipment Supplier

Techno Supplier

Avanti

Aramiska

FranceTelecom

MonacoTelecom

Satlynx

Eutelsat

HellasSat

Hispasat

JSAT

NewSkies

SESAstra

Telesat

Alcatel

Astrium

Alcatel

EMS

Gilat

HNS

Nera

Newtec

Pentamedia

Shiron

ViaSat

Alcatel Bell

NDSatcom

Thomson

AASKI

Invacom

Skyware

Spacebridge

STMicro

Verisat

Visiosat

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Qualification/Certification Programme status

• 1st Certificate issued in August 2005

• Since then 4 other terminal vendors obtained a certificate

• Others under preparation to start Qualification testing

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www.SatLabs.orgwww.SatLabs.org

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DVB-RCS :Evolution and Benchmarking

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Bit-rate gain (same C/N and symbol-rate) of 25-35% depending on modes and applications

Large flexibility to potentially match any transponder characteristics

Spectrum efficiencies from 0.5 to 4.5 bit/s/Hz C/N range from –2.4 to +16 dB with 1 dB granularity

DVB-S2 improvements

0.7 – 1 dB from the Shannon limit probably means that: “In the course of our lifetime we will never have

to design another system for satellite broadcasting”

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Support of Quality of Service Support of DiffServ mechanisms (ie. PHB over DVB-RCS)

Performance Enhancing Proxy Definition of a standard PEP

Harmonised Management and Control Planes Extend standard toward higher OSI layers

DVB-RCS evolution: current topics

Standardisation work is on-going: all topics discussed at SatLabs Plenary session on 10&11 May 2006

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Pilot projects for broadband connectivity

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• ESA is supporting provision of new applications with commercial potential through Pilot Projects: all activities involve a user community through a pre-operational phase of actual utilisation of the system

• Several Pilot Projects address Broadband Access Services, e.g.

Inspire Pacific Skies

Applications

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INSPIRE is a validation pilot services on a large scale (6000 users) to provide Internet access in selected non-metropolitan areas

– Provide WiFi connections to consumers

– Establish an operational 24×7 service addressing all key operational aspects such as billing, QoS, integration with terrestrial networks, installation, commissioning, maintenance etc.

– Charge end users at price comparable to xDSL.

– Collect detailed roll-out and operational information on an unprecedented scale to provide a massive “test bed” for Digital Divide hypotheses.

INSPIRE: broadband via DVB-RCS + WiFi

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INSPIRE: system architecture

Internet

Service

Provider

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• That satellite broadband can service the needs of Home Users and SMEs in Rural Areas, the driving engine behind rural development

• That broadband via satellite is viable at competitive pricing throughout Europe

• Prove the business case for system with lower capacity costs

INSPIRE: what does it prove?

• That satellite can deliver comparable performance to terrestrial services

• It will be used to provide evidence that larger scale European plans are feasible and can help solve EU policy issues

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INSPIRE: status

• Phase 1: Design and Procurement: – suppliers’ selection complete mid 2006

• Phase 2: Initial deployment– DVB-RCS hub commissioning completed May 2006– Basic Service Launch June 2006 with 100 terminals installed– Integrated quality of service support and advanced

management functions available by October 2006

• Phase 3: Large scale deployment– Interoperability between RCS terminals (at least two sources)– 600 terminals/6000 users “dense deployment” in place Q1

2007– Pilot operation until end 2007– Evaluation end 2007

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Pacific Skies: Broadband for Asia

Middle East beam

South East beam

North East beam

NSS6

HUB

INTERNET

Users:

- ISP

- SOHO

- Households

Internet Access using cost-effective DVB-RCS solution to provide broadband connectivity in Middle East and South Asian Regions

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• Premium Internet Access and Corporate Services Product

in Asia and Middle East

• New developments on the DVB-RCS platform:

- Techniques to mitigate the attenuation on Ku band due to high rainfall

- DVB-RCS network synchronisation for multi-beam satellite systems

• Shared Hub for Multi Provider access to the IP backbone- Monitoring tools and reports to assess per ISP the level of service provided

- Implementation of different topologies to optimise network performance

- Accelerated traffic / Prefetching

Pacific Skies: Broadband for Asia

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•Pilot Operations during 17 months (Dec 04 to Apr 06) with more than 100 terminals: Positive feedback from Internet Service Providers

• 3 Satellite Terminals were deployed in Aceh to support the Tsunami relief efforts in 2005, being used with WiFi access extension:

• The service is now fully ready for the commercial roll-out

Pacific Skies: Broadband for Asia

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ESA Telecom website

www.telecom.esa.int

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ESA Telecom Contact Points

Nathalie.Ricard@esa.int

Giovanni.Garofalo@esa.int

Francesco.Feliciani@esa.int

ESA - ESTEC

Telecommunications Department

Directorate of EU and Industrial Programmes