iDirect iDX 3.2 and X7 Solution Overview - Isotropic Networks · iDirect iDX 3.2 and X7 Solution Overview Advancing a Connected World - Pushing the Boundaries The visionary team at

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iDirect iDX 3.2 and X7 Solution Overview

Advancing a Connected World - www.idirect.net

iDirect iDX 3.2 and X7Solution Overview

Digital brochure produced by Satellite Evolution Group

Advancing a Connected World

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Pushing the BoundariesThe visionary team at iDirect is dedicated to transforminghow the world gets and stays connected. Since itsestablishment in 1994, the company has achieved a longlist of notable ‘firsts’ in the satellite industry, including thedevelopment of the iDirect Series 15000 Universal SatelliteHub, which was the first of its kind to point to five differentsatellites and combine multiple topologies in a single hub.Since then, it has continued to spearhead continuousinnovation.

iDirect’s commitment to Research and Development haselevated the company to its impressive status within thesatellite industry, with a reputation that is second to none.The company’s IP communications technology andIntelligent Platform enables constant connectivity for voice,video and data applications in any environment. Throughits network of global partners, customers can findbroadband access solutions to meet their specific needs.iDirect caters to the full range of market sectors fromtelecommunications carriers to enterprise customers tomilitary and government organisations. iDirect’s partnerscan utilise its Intelligent Platform to provide high-speedbroadband access anywhere in the world, supporting bothfixed and mobile connectivity across land, sea and air.

Market SectorsiDirect has noted an increase in bandwidth use across allof the company’s market segments. The demand for videocontent in enterprise and media markets has grownsignificantly. In the cellular backhaul market, demand fordata per cellphone is rising exponentially, as people usetheir mobile devices to connect to the Internet. In themilitary, bandwidth demand is soaring due to increaseduse of UAVs and ISR solutions. The mining and oil andgas sectors also require increased throughput to utilisemore sophisticated applications, and to connect no matterwhere in the world they happen to be. In addition, themaritime sector is using satellite onboard all types ofvessels, from container ships to luxury cruise liners. iDirectis dedicated to serving all of these markets and more,with a highly flexible approach that ensures that eachcustomer’s unique needs are met.

Industry TrendsToday, there are more demands being placed on satelliteground systems with the emergence of High ThroughputSatellites (HTS). Though there is still growth in the‘traditional’ satellite market, there are new architecturesemerging with these new satellite systems such as GlobalXpress, EPIC and O3b Networks.

The HTS model is making faster data rates moreaffordable, delivering capacity at a lower cost perMegabyte. However, even with the lowering of costs, thesuccessful and profitable delivery of a satellite servicecomes down to efficiency and the ability to distributesatellite capacity as widely and economically as possible,with no negative effect to customers.

The latest innovations from iDirect:The X7 Remote and iDX 3.2 SoftwareGiven the current market dynamics and the challengesthey bring, iDirect has introduced the X7 satellite router.This is the first product in a new line of high-performanceremotes. Coupled with the iDX 3.2 software, these newsolutions deliver breakthrough achievements inperformance and efficiency.

The X7 can reach up to 100Mbps of combined inboundand outbound throughput with more than 20Mbps on thereturn channel alone. These speeds are being achievedon a TDMA platform that, until now, have only beenpossible on a dedicated SCPC link.

iDX 3.2 expands on these performance gains, deliveringseveral major efficiency enhancements across the iDirectPlatform. The most significant of these is Adaptive TDMA,which improves return channel performance and increasesnetwork availability under rainfade and satellite linkdegradation.

In this digital brochure, learn more about the X7 remote,the iDX 3.2 software, its unique capabilities and the manybenefits that can be gained from its integration into yournetwork.

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Higher Demands, Higher PerformanceThe VSAT industry is surging. In nearly every verticalmarket and geography, end users are relying on satellitecommunications to do more – to run higher bandwidthapplications, scale to thousands of locations and play amore integral role in their global operations.

Take the maritime industry. Vessel operators – fromcommercial shipping to cruise lines – are demanding morefrom satellite service providers than just basic voice anddata connectivity. They want to run business applicationsthat dramatically increase information exchange andvisibility between ship and shore. And they need to providecrew and passenger amenities like high-speed connectivityto access the Internet, view streaming video and stay intouch with family and friends.

In the mobile telecom market, the story is similar. Demandfor mobile data is expanding exponentially worldwide.Cisco projects that mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold globally by 2015 from 2010 levels, with the populationof mobile-only Internet users surging from 14 million to788 million. For many developing nations, mobile servicerepresents the most affordable, and sometime the onlyaccess to high-speed Internet connectivity. This sets thestage for a greater use of satellite backhaul services,especially when combined with increasingly popular small-cell mobile infrastructure.

Fortunately, High Throughput Satellite (HTS) technologyis making faster data rates more affordable, deliveringsatellite capacity at a lower cost per MB. With HTS, markets

that are developing strongly today will hit new levels ofgrowth. And markets that have remained out of reach toservice providers will now be open to what satellite candeliver.

Yet even with HTS set to transform space segmenteconomics, delivering satellite service still comes downto efficiency. Running a profitable service business meansdistributing satellite capacity as widely and economicallyas possible – while ensuring your customers get theservice quality they expect, for any application, and underany weather or network condition.

Next-Generation Ground InfrastructureIn response to these challenges, iDirect has introducedthe first product in a new line of high-performance remotes,the X7, as well as an upgrade to its platform operatingsoftware, iDX 3.2. These new solutions deliverbreakthrough achievements in performance and efficiency.

iDX 3.2 and X7 Deliver Next-GenerationPerformance

• High performance TDMA remote to supportbandwidth heavy applications

• Adaptive TDMA on the return channel to lowerbandwidth costs and increase reliability

• Improved acquisition, roll-off factor and waveformenhancements to drive greater efficiency andavailability

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High Performance X7 RemoteThe X7 is built on a new multi-core hardware system. It isoptimized to deliver best-in-class TDMA performance andoperate with High Throughput Satellites and all frequency bands.

The X7 has four key features:• The first of these is increased throughput. Built on an

entirely new multi-core hardware system, the X7 is ableto reach 100Mbps of combined outbound and inboundthroughput. This enables service providers to deliverthe data rates needed for bandwidth-heavy businessapplications and multicast services like IP TV, distancelearning, HD broadcast, digital signage and video.

• The second key feature of the X7 is embedded GQoSwith a VLAN-aware 8-port switch. Service providerscan physically segregate multiple end user traffic

The X7 Remote

groups based on VLAN tags and customize SLAs foreach unique user group.

• The third key feature of the X7 is the choice ofembedded AC/DC power supply. Some configurationscan even power up to a 16W BUC. This is very relevantfor cellular backhaul networks where an embedded -48VDC power supply is ideal for telco equipmentsupporting large 3G/4G networks.

• The fourth key feature of the X7 is dual DVB-S2demodulators with fully independent RF chains. Withthis unique feature, service providers can support voiceand data services while receiving up to 12 shared,High-Definition multicast channels over a transponderor satellite. The dual demodulator will also make it veryeasy to transition from traditional broad beam to high-throughput spot beam satellites.

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Adaptive TDMAiDirect’s new operating system, iDX 3.2, expands on theplatform’s performance gains. iDX 3.2 will deliver severalmajor efficiency enhancements across the iDirect Platform.The most significant of these is Adaptive TDMA, whichimproves return channel performance and increasesnetwork availability under rain fade and satellite linkdegradation.

Adaptive TDMA enables an inroute group to supportcarriers with different symbol rates and MODCODs. Thenetwork dynamically adjusts to changing uplink conditionsbased on each remote’s demand and the system’s Qualityof Service configuration.

With Adaptive TDMA, service providers are able to boosttheir network throughput, increase network availability andreduce bandwidth and terminal costs or combine thesebenefits to fit their business needs. A typical fixed VSATsystem can boost by 20-40% on the return channels. Atypical mobile network can gain about twice as much withimprovements, while handling different beam contours inaddition to rain fade.

SuperburstWith the introduction of Adaptive TDMA comes also greatlyimproved acquisition, enabling up to five times fasterremote acquisitions than current software releases. The

introduction of this feature, called superburst, leads tosignificantly improved network entry times due to easierburst detection in lower C/N environments, as well as veryhigh frequency offset tolerance.

Superburst is ideal for mobility applications, such asmaritime or train applications, where the signal is frequentlyobscured and where frequent beam switching is an issue.It also allows for faster recovery when switching betweennetworks in a geo-redundant hub configuration.

Improved Roll-Off FactorOn the outbound channel, iDX 3.2 adds new roll-off factoroptions for DVB-S2 carriers. Beyond the 20% roll off thatcustomers can choose today, 15%, 10% or 5% are nowavailable. Reducing the roll-off factor from 20% to 5% fora carrier in a full 36MHz transponder yields 10Mbps gainin IP throughput. For carriers occupying less than a fulltransponder this can result in throughput gains of up to13%.

Waveform EnhancementsWith iDX 3.2, iDirect has enhanced the frequency andphase tracking of waveforms on inbound channels. Moreefficient MODCODs enables lower Signal-to-Noise Ratiofor all MODCODs while also allows for the introduction ofnew MODCODs. These two factors combined result in upto 40% bandwidth efficiency.

Adaptive TDMA delivers major efficiency gains on the return channel, enabling inroute groups to support carriers with differentsymbol rates and MODCODs.

Adaptive TDMA Carrier Selection

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5 Ways to GainThe significant performance and efficiency gains deliveredby the X7 and iDX 3.2 give service providers greaterversatility in how they support their business strategy andmeet customer needs.

1. Maximize Throughput. Service providers gain up toan 80% increase in throughput for fixed VSAT, and evenmore for mobile networks. As a result, they can deliverhigher data rates to end users eager to run bandwidth-intensive applications and critical operations over satellite.

2. Maximize Revenue. Service providers can also sellmore bandwidth to customers using their existing satellitecapacity, which creates new revenue streams. Forexample, service providers in the oil & gas market canserve an increasing number of end users who needaccess to satellite coverage – from maintenance crew onoil rigs to numerous service vessels and even onshorestaff.

3. Maximize Savings. Adaptive TDMA and waveformoptimizations combine to deliver up to 80% improvementin bandwidth efficiency for fixed remotes, and even morefor mobile remotes. Service providers can lower capacitycosts while meeting existing customer Service LevelAgreements (SLAs). And they can realize additional capexsavings by deploying smaller terminals.

4. Maximize Network Availability. Service providers canchoose to leverage performance gains to providecustomers with higher levels of availability withoutdesigning the entire link budget around worst–caseconditions. They can ensure greater protection againstrainfade and adjust for spectrum degradation, especiallyfor maritime and aviation applications. In addition, fasterremote acquisition and dual image support mean less timeout of network for customers in any market.

5. Enhance Service Differentiation. With throughputgains and enhanced availability, service providers will beable to fulfill SLAs with confidence. All existing iDirectGQoS features are fully supported with Adaptive TDMA,and hence all existing traffic prioritization is supported.Furthermore, service providers can configure how far aparticular remote under fade will be allowed to influencethe system adaptivity, allowing for another way to offerservice tiers.

With the X7, service providers can also support differentuser communities by securely segregating traffic withVLANs to specific switch ports and customizing SLAs foreach unique user group. They can offer faster two-wayservices through a single remote, simultaneouslysupporting core voice, data and video applications, whileoffering multicast services such as IPTV and remotetraining.

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13865 Sunrise Valley Drive Herndon, VA 20171 +1 703.648.8000 +1 866.345.0983www.idirect.net

Call to action, to find out more please visit idirect.net/X7

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iDirect iDX 3.2 and X7 Solution Overview - Isotropic Networks · iDirect iDX 3.2 and X7 Solution Overview Advancing a Connected World - Pushing the Boundaries The visionary team at