May/June 2017 - satelliteevolutiongroup.com · In line with the incredible developments space technology can provide, the UK Space Innovation and Growth Strategy 2010-2030 (IGS) has

May/June 2017

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www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2017 1

View From The Top

Move forwards, grow and innovateIn April, much of the UK reacted with shock when Prime Minister Theresa Maycalled a snap General Election, to be held on 8 June 2017, so soon after thetriggering of Article 50 to leave the European Union (EU) at the end of March.Many questions have been asked in the wake of the announcement, and we stilldon’t really have any idea what will happen to the UK’s space sector followingBrexit.

Towards the end of April, I attended the Westminster Business Forum Keynote Seminar: Growing the UK space economy- Strategy, Infrastructure and International Collaboration, where these topics were addressed. The attendees heard from avariety of experts, ranging from satellite manufacturers and operators, financers, MPs, European Space Agency (ESA)executives and key academics.

The UK space sector is a massive industry, and is recognised as being critical to infrastructure nationwide, despite beinglargely invisible. “A lot of ‘non-space businesses’ are now coming to be heavily reliant on the space industry for everydaytasks, even though they don’t realise it yet,” said Nick Appleyard, Head of Integrated Applications and Downstream Servicesat the ESA. From broadcast, credit and debit card payments, GPS and broadband, the space sector supports most of usevery day, whether we know it or not.

In line with the incredible developments space technology can provide, the UK Space Innovation and Growth Strategy2010-2030 (IGS) has set a target to increase the UK share of the global space economy from six percent to 10 percent by2030, growing by £40 billion each year. One of the key challenges to this goal is the need to continue to exploit newtechnologies and innovate. “We’re probably the most conservative industry since Sotheby’s started to sell antiques – weneed change,” observed Mark Hempsell, President of the British Interplanetary Society.

The industry has come a long way in the last decade. Thespace sector is increasingly being funded by private companiesand enterprises, while government funding has fallen to around14 percent. However, the government does recognise the needto innovate and enable new capabilities on our shores. “Today,the government is smoothing the way for the sector to build itsown Spaceport, whereas ten years ago, it would have been avery different matter,” said Julian McGougan, Head of Technologyat techUK.

However, everything is changing as we edge closer to leavingthe European Union (EU), with involvement in European SpaceAgency (ESA) projects uncertain. “The ESA is not the EU, butthe EU supports significant space infrastructure. Post-Brexit, wemust ensure access to the ESA programmes we’ve invested into continue to grow our sector. If we fail, we’re going to have a bigproblem with how we achieve our growth,” explained ProfessorMartin Barstow, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Strategic Science Projectsat the University of Leicester, and Director of the Leicester Instituteof Space and Earth Observation.

Richard Peckham, Business Development Director (Space)at Airbus Defence and Space, stated: “We hope that we’ll still beable to participate in EU space programmes, with easy if not freemovements of goods and people. Whatever happens in terms ofnew procedures are going to be important, and one thing we willbe calling for from the government is transitional processes.”

It’s clear that the industry is uncertain on what the UK’s spacesector is going to look like in the aftermath of Brexit, and it’sdifficult to plan in the wake of such much uncertainty. It’s key thatwe continue to move forwards, grow and innovate, and furthercollaboration with the EU and other partners could be key to oursuccess.

Editor - Amy Saunders

Photo courtesy of Inmarsat

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www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 20172

Contents

No part of this publication may betransmitted, reproduced or electronicallystored without the written permissionfrom the publisher.

DS Air Publications does not give anywarranty as to the content of the materialappearing in the magazine, its accuracy,timeliness or fitness for any particularpurpose. DS Air Publications disclaims allresponsibility for any damages or losses inthe use and dissemination of theinformation.

All editorial contentsCopyright © 2017 DS Air PublicationsAll rights reservedISSN: 1745-5502

DS Air Publications1 Langhurstwood RoadHorshamWest Sussex, RH12 4QDUnited KingdomT: +44 1403 273973F: +44 1403 273972Email: [email protected]

Printed by:Times PrintingSingapore

EditorAmy [email protected]

Circulation ManagerElizabeth George

PublisherRichard [email protected]

Managing DirectorDavid [email protected]

Photo courtesy PanasonicAvionics

1 EditorialMove forwards, grow and innovate

May/June 2017 - Vol.14. - No.3.

CEO CAMSChristopher [email protected]

Whitehill MediaSam [email protected]

4 Satellite newsNews and Views

SALES

Myth Buster - Part 1- page 8

The Future of Multiplexing- page 10

Inflight Connectivity- page 14

Exploration Networks - page 18

Maritime Security Risks- page 22

Improving Oil Industry Safety- page 26

Q&A Telesat- page 28

Contents

Satellite Interference - page 32

Q&A Telenor Satellite- page 12

6 BusinessMillennials and compensation

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News Review & Analysis

SES transfers capacity from AMC-9 satellite followingsignificant anomalySES announced that, following a significant anomaly, thecompany is in the process of transferring capacity fromits AMC-9 satellite.

The incident was noted on the morning of Saturday,17 June 2017. SES has taken immediate action incontacting all customers and is working to transferservices to alternative satellite capacity in order tominimise disruption.

AMC-9 provided Ku-band and C-band coverage overthe US and Mexico. The satellite was manufactured byAlcatel/Thales and was launched in 2003.

SES is working closely with the manufacturer toestablish the cause of the anomaly and is evaluating allsatellite recovery options. The full impact of the anomalyis still being assessed.

In the event that the spacecraft cannot be recovered,the potential impact on SES’s full year 2017 grouprevenue could be up to EUR 20 million. In this event, itwould also be expected to result in a one-off impairmentcharge of EUR 38 million.

The 300 largest cellular IoT deployments togetheraccount for 156.0 million unitsBerg Insight presents for the first time a unique databasecovering the 300 largest cellular IoT deploymentsidentified as part of the company’s world-class IoT marketresearch activities since 2004. The extensive list includesvarious types of projects and product categoriesdeployed across all types of vertical markets includingaftermarket automotive, fleet management & MRM,healthcare, OEM automotive, retail applications, smarthomes and buildings, utilities, wearables & consumerelectronics as well as industrial M2M and other. Thedatabase includes project size and geographicaldistribution by the end of 2016 as well as a five-yearforecast for each individual project.

“The projects included in the top-300 list togetheraccount for approximately 156.0 million active cellularIoT subscriptions,” said Rickard Andersson, SeniorAnalyst, Berg Insight. He adds that this corresponds toas much as 39.2 percent of the total number of cellularIoT connections worldwide at the end of 2016. The 300projects on the list are in the coming years forecasted togrow to 344.5 million units by 2021, corresponding to anoverall compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2percent. “More than 30 deployments on the list havesurpassed one million subscriptions and the top-10projects alone account for over 60 million units,”continued Mr. Andersson.

Fleet management & MRM is the largest vertical interms of the number of projects that made the top list,followed by retail applications, aftermarket automotiveand OEM automotive as well as smart homes andbuildings.

When comparing the number of active subscriptionsrepresented by each vertical for the entries in the top-300 list, OEM automotive is instead the largest vertical,accounting for 30.0 million units, ahead of utilities at closeto 27.6 million units and aftermarket automotiverepresenting 24.1 million units.

Advantech Wireless releases new wide band frontend frequency down converter to enable HTSsatellites accessAdvantech Wireless has announced the release of itsnew Wide Band Front End Frequency Down Converterdesigned to enable High Throughput Satellites access.

The Advantech Wireless ARWF-LX is a rack mounted950 – 2150 MHz RX Wide Band Front End FrequencyDown Converter that accepts an input in super extendedL-band and provides an output in a fixed L-band (1100MHz). The new unit can be used for SCPC, DAMA andTDMA as well as full transponder HDTV and traditionalanalogue TV. Spectral purity, stability, and group delaycharacteristics fully meet or exceed the requirements ofall domestic, international, and regional commercialsatellite networks.

“This innovative Satellite Down Converter is designedto overcome a potential shortcoming in existing teleportsto allow them to accommodate newer satellites’(including HTS) Wide Receive Band. The RX bandcovered by these new and powerful satellites is too largeto be handled by the legacy demodulators which typicallyhave a maximum range of 950-1700 MHz,” said CristiDamian, VP Business Development at AdvantechWireless.

“Most of the already deployed SCPC or TDMAnetworks are not able to access the full wide bandsatellite RX band, which can be up to 2.5 GHz wide,”added Mr. Damian. “This puts severe limitations onbandwidth access, and on traffic increase. Today weneed expensive additional demodulators to cover thefrequency gaps at the Hub, but there is no solution forthe remote terminals. This new wide band downconverter can receive any carrier within 950-2150 MHzand down convert it to 1100 MHz, which can be receivedby legacy demodulators. It will allow service continuityin existing networks, and access to more bandwidth withminimal upgrade cost.”

SES Networks has adopted the Heights™ NetworkPlatform for its hybrid resiliency solutionComtech EF Data has installed a Heights NetworkPlatform for SES Networks' hybrid resilience solution.SES Networks will use the Heights Network Platform todeliver high-availability services to its premiumcustomers in Asia-Pacific. The fully-managed solutionleverages the wide coverage of Geostationary EarthOrbit satellites and low latency capabilities of MediumEarth Orbit satellites to provide diverse network pathsthat are vital in the delivery of carrier-class services.When operational, this resilient solution will enable theuse of the best choice path for traffic, whether analternative path for all of the traffic, or for traffic of thehighest value. SES Networks is the newly-formed data-centric business unit of SES, the world-leading satelliteoperator.

Designed with the service provider in mind, Heightsis a scalable satellite networking platform that meetsthe evolving demands of a diverse multi-tenant end usercommunity. It addresses the needs of all major marketverticals with the most network efficient and powerfulplatform in the industry. Heights leverages a single

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News Review & Analysis

comprehensive user interface teamed with a powerfultraffic analytics engine that allows easy design,implementation, monitoring, control and optimization ofnetworks.

Different market verticals benefit from implementingHeights by resolving many of the service challenges theyface. There is the need to create service differentiationthrough supporting multiple business models on oneplatform to increase market share. Comtech EF Data'sapproach is to minimize OPEX through increasedbandwidth efficiency to create new revenue streams, offerbetter value to customers, and control CAPEX through ascalable equipment platform to maximize profits. Thecompany's solutions meet the increased market demandfor higher throughput capabilities, support increasinglycomplex satellite networks, and dynamically provide globalconnectivity where and when customers need it.

"We are happy to enable SES Networks to providedifferentiated services via purpose-built satellitenetworking solutions that provide the Quality ofExperience required across a number of demandingapplication mixes," said Andy Lucas, Senior VicePresident of Satellite Market Verticals of Comtech EF Data.Lucas further added, "We look forward to helping SESNetworks scale its end users' networks securely and growits businesses over the coming years."

Orange Central African Republic and SES Networkspartner to reinforce connectivity in countrySES and Orange Central African Republic, a leadingprovider of corporate telecommunications and one of thelargest mobile and internet services operators, haveannounced an agreement to provide connectivity servicesin the Central African Republic. Orange will be using SESNetwork’s IP Transit solution to deliver faster 3G servicesand better-quality internet connections for enterprises.

The solution will be delivered by SES Networks, usingits Medium Earth Orbit fleet and extensive groundinfrastructure. It will allow customers of Orange CentralAfrican Republic to enjoy unparalleled availability andspeed of internet services, never experienced before inthe country. With this new service, Orange Central AfricanRepublic will enhance the performance of the localtelecommunications sector, and bring seamlessconnectivity to hundreds of thousands of Central Africans.

“A satellite-based solution is ideal for a country likeCentral African Republic, with its challenging terrain andlack of terrestrial infrastructure, resulting in low internetpenetration. This new solution offers instant reach andbetter speed, allowing access to the very best of enterpriseapplications and a seamless user experience for allcustomers,” said Corinne Lozé, CEO at Orange CentralAfrican Republic. “We were the first operator to launch a3G network and are currently covering 10 cities in thecountry. We are also providing mobile data and paymentservices in four major cities through the Orange Moneyservice. We are excited about our partnership with SESNetworks, and what it will bring to further improve thetelecoms sector in the Central African Republic.”

“We are delighted to partner with Orange on thisextremely important project in the Central AfricanRepublic. It will allow us to leverage our extensive

capabilities in space and on the ground, together with thestrong position Orange has in this market,” said CaroleKamaitha, Vice President Africa at SES Networks. “Ourjoint efforts will provide opportunities for local businessesand help bridge the digital divide, bringing connectivityeven in remote areas where terrestr ial telecomsinfrastructures are not sufficient.”

CETel and Onlime sign agreement for CETel to acquireOnlime’s Managed Satellite ServicesCETel has announced the acquisition of Onlime’sManaged Satellite Services for an undisclosed amount.This acquisition is a further milestone in CETel's growthand diversification strategy alongside its continuingcustomer base expansion. The transaction allows Onlimeto concentrate on further development of their corebusiness of community software applications and its fibreand wireless based communications solutions in Africa?.After the technical migration, CETel continues operatingthe existing managed VSAT services, which include oiland gas, corporate, NGO, Government and miningcustomers, as well as international service providers.

Furthermore, both companies have entered into astrategic partnership complementing each other’s servicesfor upcoming business opportunities. Together, CETel andOnlime will focus on their individual strengths in the VSATand terrestrial environment in order to deliver the fullrequirement chain of communications needs in variousvertical markets.

“The acquisition of the Onlime managed satelliteservices further strengthens our position as a globalsolutions provider for fully managed end-to-endcommunications services. With this acquisition, CETelexpands its worldwide service portfolio and coveragewhich emphasizes its leading position to deliver world-class services and support. I'm also excited about howthe combination of CETel and Onlime will accelerate ourposition to provide hybrid communications solutions,which will become more and more significant in ourcustomer's needs. Summarizing, in addition to ourconsistent customer base expansion, this acquisition is amajor step within our growth and diversification strategy,”says CETel's Managing Director, Guido Neumann.

Paul Ziegler, CEO of Onlime states, "The spin-off ofour managed satellite services helps Onlime to fullyconcentrate on the expansion of our existing Africanfocused software and communications businesses, whichpresent a coherent value-added service to CETel'sstrength in the provision of VSAT and managed satelliteservice solutions." Paul adds, "Onlime continues tooperate its teleport facility to serve satellite operators andservice providers with enhanced teleport and data centreservices, but our future focus will definitely lie on workingtogether with CETel to serve customers in the African andMiddle East Markets offering both satellite and terrestrialsolutions. We look forward to working closely with theCETel team going forward.”

To include your news in the issue please submit to theEditor: [email protected]

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....Bert Sadtler’s Business Column


Millennials and compensation - their needs are different

Millennials are thought of as“snowflakes”, needing immediategratif ication and recipients ofparticipation ribbons for sports eventsthey entered as children.

Significant time and money havebeen spent to understand how tomarket products and services to them.

When it comes to your business,how does your company successfullyrecruit and compensate millennials?

What is unique about millennials?What isn’t unique? We are all unique.However, based upon the amount ofresearch and available data, we havemore information at our fingertips aboutmillennials than any other generation.

What is also not unique is thatemployees of every generation todayare averaging about 3-5 years in thesame job. Millennials are not jobhoppers. The employment marketplacehas changed from a 30-year stint to amuch shorter one. It is important tounderstand the changing marketplaceas much as it is to understand themembers of today’s marketplace.Remember that today’s employees areeither glued to your organization orloosely connected.

Are we over thinking this? AbsolutelyIs the massive amount of available dataabout millennials overloading our abilityto recruit and compensate thisgeneration from an objective point ofview? Why are we making this into suchan issue? It is a critical issue forbusinesses to hire the right talent,especially the next generation who willsoon become our business leaders andCEOs.

Isn’t this another classic reminderthat change is a constant part of theworld of business? With change comesthe need to re-evaluate what shouldremain the same and what needs tochange.

The Millennial Generation is simplya label given to a group of people in asimilar age range. Generations havebeen coming and going forever. There

is even a group that has been labeled“The Greatest Generation”. At sometime soon, the millennials will be dealingwith a younger generation who willmake the millennials look like boring,stable adults.

The millennials should beapplauded for not simply accepting theworld they have joined, but instead dotheir best to make it better. Anyone inthe Baby Boomer Generation was oncein their 20’s and full of idealistic thinkingand a desire for change.

To attract, hire and compensatemillennials, we first need to respectfullyappreciate their sense of urgency/immediate gratification along with theirdesire for work-life balance and theneed to make a difference.

A job for them might mean theydisconnect from work email or worktexts during non-business hours andvolunteer their free time for a socialcause. Attracting them to your companycould mean changing how you word theposition description so it is more relativeto them.

In SummaryGood business leaders recognize theimportance of communicating andmotivating their team. They view theirteam as individuals as well as teammembers. They need to speak to theiraudience with their audience in mind,which includes their customer as theiraudience or their millennial employeesas their audience.

Millennials are a critical part of abusiness’s success. However, they arealso part of a generational pattern thatwill cyclically continue.

Let’s get on with it and address thebusiness matters that matter. Changeis constant. Hiring the right talent iscr it ical. Compensating for thecompletion of goals and objectives hasproven to be timeless.

Good hunting (for critical talent).

Ber t Sadtler is the President ofBoxwood Strategies and is a thought-leader for best practices recruiting,performance-based compensation andthe shift in the changing paradigmtoward acquiring critical senior leveltalent.

Bert can be reached at:[email protected] andat BoxwoodSearch.com

Millennials are defined as being born generally between 1976and 2004. According to Pew Research, there are approximately76 million in the US. They are tomorrow’s leaders and a criticalmember of today’s workforce. How is your business recruitingand compensating millennials?

ESB Professional/Shutterstock

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Myth Buster 1st Edition

Challenging perceptionsBy Richard Swardh, Senior Vice President, MNO for Comtech EF Data

Over the following months, I will besharing a series of pieces that willaddress many of the myths that I findexist as satellite service providers lookto best team telecom networks withsatellite networking options to providecost effective solutions with carriergrade service levels. First, I look at alarge container shipping company thatwas searching for the best solution todeliver a business-critical communic-ation service globally to 400 vesselsthat were to roam between 20+ satellitebeams across the world.

Not surprisingly, the answer thatjumps immediately to most people’sminds when they hear theserequirements is “must be a TDMAsolution.” However, after diving into therequirements of the applications thatwere to be supported, evaluating thecost effectiveness of the solution interms of both CAPEX and OPEX, alongwith the flexibility and headroom forgrowth of the network, the solution thatwas best suited to this network turnedout to be a dynamically allocated SCPCsolution.

This example brings to the forefronta number of myths that we as anindustry need to re-address as we moveinto a world proliferated with highthroughput satellite (HTS) offerings,including:

• Myth 1: TDMA is the onlytechnology that supports largenetworks;

• Myth 2: TDMA is the onlytechnology for roaming networks

• Myth 3: SCPC is only applicable forhigh bandwidth solutions; and

• Myth 4: SCPC does not offerdynamic bandwidth sharing.

While in many cases, theseassumptions will be true, we owe it toourselves as an industry to dig deeperand find that best solution that fits agiven need. Often, the answers towhether these statements are true ornot are not easily answered. While itunfor tunately takes an amount ofanalysis and effort to determine theanswers to these questions, it isimperative that a service provider dothis homework before making a networkdecision that they will have to live withfor a long time.

First and foremost, what is key tounderstand in any network solutionselection is whether the underlyingtransport technology has the ability tosupport the application mix of the enduser. If the application calls for lowlatency and jitter and has a high degreeof compressible data, there is a goodchance that a high horsepower SCPCsolution is the best fit.

If the business case calls forbandwidth to be shared to achieveacceptable service price points, thisrobust data handling and on-boardprocessing can be teamed withintelligent dynamic SCPC (dSCPC) toautomatically set up carriers on demandand maximize overall network effic-iency.

In addition, if roaming betweenbeams or satellites is needed to supportvessels traversing the globe, field-proven intelligent roaming capabilitiescan be added. To maximize networkefficiencies even fur ther, dSCPC

provides the means to individuallyoptimize links to each vessel to achievethe highest possible throughput as linkbudget conditions change from beamcenter to beam edge and vessels moveinto and out of adverse weatherconditions. Lastly, and very importantlyas HTS offerings are launched andbecome operational, a network solutionthat is rolled out today must haveheadroom for growth to allow serviceproviders to unleash the potential of thenew spacecraft designs and not bethrottled. The results of the dynamicSCPC solution? This operationalnetwork is currently the world’s largestmaritime GSM/VSAT network, providingthe underlying application support thatis required while having the horsepowerto easily incorporate additional servicesbeyond the initial requirement.

For more details on this network, pleaserefer to our case study:https://goo.gl/nQ1AFj

Richard Swardh is Senior VicePresident, Mobile NetworkOperators for Comtech EF Data. Inthis role, he leads the marketdevelopment and direction for the2G/3G/LTE mobile backhaulmarket, directing long-term strat-egic initiatives and defining solutionsuites and feature sets. A mobilenetwork backhaul veteran,Swardh’s background includesstrategic and operational positionsat Ericsson with businessdevelopment, partnership manage-ment and strategy executionresponsibilities. He holds both aBachelor of Science degree inMechanical Engineering and aBachelor of Business degree inAdministration and Logistics.

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Cost-Effective Programming

Photo courtesy of Arqiva

The future of multiplexing: What’s instore?Multiplexing technology enables broadcasters to deliver most cost-effective programming bycombining up to 15 SD channels on a single multiplex. However, as more channels are deliveredon HD and 4K, multiplexing technologies must evolve to stay relevant. Mike Walsh, TechnologySpecialist at Arqiva, outlines how new advances will enable multiplexing technology to continue tobe of value in the broadcast industry going forwards.

One of the most essential pieces in the delivery of digitaltelevision content, multiplexing – like most processes in thebroadcast industry – is in a constant state of evolution as itstruggles to match demand and keep up with the latesttechnological advances.

There are now more than 80 multiplexes in the UKdelivering TV programming to homes by Direct-To-Home(DTH) satellite in a mixture of standard definition (SD) andhigh definition (HD). Per multiplex, providers like Arqiva areable to fit between ten to fifteen SD channels or around fiveHD channels – or a mix of both. Each service is then allocateda set amount of bandwidth, based on what the provider, incollaboration with its customers, believes to be suitable forits programming.

This works well, but with limitations on availablebandwidth, the challenges are inevitable. As HD contentbecomes the standard, and even higher-quality programminglurks on the horizon in the shape of 4K, also known as ultra-high definition (UHD), the multiplexing process must adapt.

So, what exactly is changing, and what can we expect forthe future of multiplexing?

Bandwidth swap shopThe first big change in the multiplexing process has alreadytaken place with the introduction of statistical multiplexing –an approach that allows the most demanding content toborrow bandwidth on a ‘time-to-time’ basis from others in thesame multiplex.

Within any programme, picture complexity (made up oftemporal, spatial and noise complexity) is constantlychanging, and so the statistical multiplexing needs to reactdynamically, frequently and rapidly. A sports programme withplenty of movement, for example, will usually require morethan a panel show, but when it reverts to a simpler image,such as a player’s face, its bandwidth can be used elsewheretemporarily. Needs dependent, channels can act as bothborrowers and lenders when necessary – with everyoneworking together for maximum efficiency and better quality

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Cost-Effective Programming

pictures. The industry’s use of statistical multiplexing willonly continue to grow as we move forward, and as long asmultiplex pools are thoughtfully and carefully loaded with anappropriate blend of channels, they should help solve manyof today’s challenges.

Channel bondingWhile statistical multiplexing should help address theadditional bandwidth requirements that come with increasedHD programming, UHD – as the next natural step – will bringwith it a host of new challenges to overcome.

Steady improvements to encoding technologies over theyears have allowed for far greater compression than waspreviously possible – but compression will only go so far withthe incredibly high resolution of a UHD picture. In the future,it’s likely to be the case that even after encoding, we’ll beunable to fit more than two UHD channels in a single multiplexwithout compromising quality through overly aggressivecompression. This then limits the usefulness of statisticalmultiplexing, which works best when there are severalchannels in the bandwidth pool, all working together tomaximise efficiency.

What we’ll need to see, therefore, is larger ‘super’multiplexes, of 100 – 200Mbps, capable of handling morechannels at one time – perhaps as many as six or more.Such rates are impossible to carry in a single transponder,and so channel bonding will also become more important;the super multiplex will be deconstructed into up to threelower-rate transport streams, each being delivered overseveral transponders, before being reconstructed within theviewer’s receiver. Viewers will be unaware of suchcomplexities, as they conventionally select the channel theywant to watch.

Channel bonding will also enable better statisticalmultiplexing for HD. Already more sophisticated than it’s everbeen, the way in which the statistical multiplex engineallocates bandwidth between channels will only become moreeffective – specifically focused on the rate at which a pooled

channel can change from being a borrower to a lender.Improvements here will be crucial to maintaining picturequality for consumers.

Harnessing the power of the cloudTo achieve all of this, the technologies the industry relies onwill need to work harder, quicker and more efficiently. Physicaladvancements will help, but the cloud is also primed to playa crucial role – much like it has already done in most othersectors.

At present, the multiplexing process happens inappliances, i.e. physical boxes, but in the future, we expectmuch more of it to take place in the cloud, leading to a numberof significant benefits.

First and foremost, providers will have access to near-unlimited computing power without the huge financialinvestment; this means more capability and better value forbroadcast customers. They’ll also save on physical space,and will no longer be required to physically configure multiplexengines, with everything being done through software andas remotely as necessary.

The cloud will also allow the industry – broadcasters inparticular – to be a lot more agile. Notably, lead times (i.e.time-to-deploy) will reduce – channels can be set up withminimal preparation, opening the door for part-time and pop-up channels to become a normal part of consumers’ viewing.

The future’s brightFor as long as multiplexing and encoding have been parts ofthe broadcast process, they have evolved to meet the needsof the industry and consumers at home, however there hasnever been a challenge quite to the scale of keeping pacewith HD and UHD.

With advancements like statistical multiplexing alreadyhelping deliver high-quality services effectively and efficiently,and a move towards cloud delivery, this evolution willundoubtedly continue, and it’s clear that everyone involvedstands to benefit.

Photo courtesy of Arqiva

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A

Q&A Telenor Satellite

Telenor Satell ite is a majorEuropean satellite provider ofbroadcast and data communicationservices for customers in thebroadcast, maritime, and oil andgas markets. Telenor Satellite ownsand operates the THOR satellitefleet, positioned at 1°West, whichprovides high-powered and high-quality satellite capacity throughoutEurope, the Middle East andAfrica.Telenor Satellite has alsostrengthened its position by movingits Thor III satellite to a new orbitallocation, 4°West, from where itoffers inclined-orbit servicesthroughout the Middle East. Withthe successful launch of THOR 7in 2015, Telenor Satell ite isincreasing its presence andexpanding its regional coverage tosupport the growth requirements ofits broadcast and enterprisecustomers.

Maritime shows greatestgrowth potentialTelenor Satellite, a major European satellite provider, has twodecades of experience in providing broadcast and broadbandservices to the media, maritime, oil and gas sectors. Its hybridnetwork comprises a satellite fleet, terrestrial fibre network, andteleports, enabling it to provide turnkey solutions throughoutEurope, the Middle East and Africa. Amy Saunders spoke withJulian Crudge, Director, Datacomms Division, Telenor Satellite,to find out more about the company’s latest activities andinnovations, and its thoughts on the future.

Julian Crudge, Director, DatacommsDivision, Telenor Satellite

Nittedal teleport


Question: What can you tell us aboutTelenor Satellite’s development, fromits founding through to where itstands today?Julian Crudge: Telenor has been activein the satellite industry since the early1970s when we were one of thepioneers in providing satellite telephonyto the developing oil industry in theNorth Sea. Since these early days, wehave branched out into analogue TVand were one of the first adopters ofdigital TV when Canal Digital wasformed to serve this market in 1997. Wehave a long history of providing satellitecommunication solutions.

Question: Telenor Satellite is a keyplayer in a range of markets. Can youprovide an overview of its presencein each sector and world region?

Julian Crudge: Telenor Satellite is aregional satellite provider and thereforegenerally provides services in our coremarkets of Northern Europe, Europe,Mediterranean and the Middle East. Ouruniqueness is being able to provideconnectivity up to 76 degrees North(Svalbard), and higher latitudes withlower availability. In these areas, weprovide satell ite communicationservices to the maritime, oil and gas andland-based sectors.

Question: In which regions andbusiness areas does Telenor Satellitesee the most room for growth?Julian Crudge: We definitely see themaritime sector as the business areawith the greatest growth potential, andwithin this sector, the ferry and cruisesub-sectors. With everyone so reliant ongood Internet connectivity, we feel thesesub-sectors are relatively poorly servedtoday, and passengers will increasinglyask for high bandwidths in future as newapplications are developed. Passengersare increasing using WhatsApp,Facetime, Skype and Viber for voice andvideo calls, and these applications willbegin to take over from GSM.

Question: We’re seeing more andmore satellite service providers turnto hybrid solutions. Do you think thisis the way forward, and whatadvantages has Telenor Satellitegained from this approach?Julian Crudge: As the industrycontinues to launch multi-spot beamhigh throughput satellites (HTS) toreplace older wide beam satellite

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technology for the data market, hybridsolutions are the way forward toefficiently capitalise on this newtechnology. These new satell itesprovide between 10 and 100 times thecapacity available on older satellitesand so the only way to effectively usethis new technology is to use hybridtechnology that includes hubinfrastructure, uplink, backbone plus arange of hosted services. Thisintegrated technology therefore enablessatellite owners to deliver the maximumbenefit from the new HTS satellitearchitecture either in terms of price perMbps or maximising the throughputavailable.

Question: In October 2016, TelenorSatellite approved C-COM’s iNetVuKa-98G Driveaway and iNetVu FLY-98G antenna systems for THOR 7.How great a role does partnering withequipment manufacturers play inTelenor Satellite’s business?Julian Crudge: Telenor Satellite has anumber of approved providers ofantennas on its platform from theantenna manufacturer noted above,which are used generally for land basedvideo contribution services to stabilisedantennas for mobility servicesmanufactures such as Cobham,Intellian and Skytech. It is therefore vitalthat we have tried and tested antennasolutions for our customers. We willtherefore continue to work with othermanufacturers to approve their productsfor our business.

Question: We’re seeing an increasingnumber of HTS coming online,specifically designed for the data andmobility markets. What is TelenorSatellite’s take on this trend?Julian Crudge: Telenor Satellite wasone of the first satellite providers toutilise this new technology when welaunched Thor 7 in 2015. As a result,we will continue to invest in thistechnology for future launches, and feelHTS is the way forward to cater for thegrowth in the high capacity data andmobility markets.

Question: As a major player in thebroadcast sector, how will the adventof 4K and virtual reality affect TelenorSatellite’s operations, and are OTTservices like Netflix and AmazonPrime a real threat?

Julian Crudge: New formats like 4K areseen as opportunities for TelenorSatellite. We are ready to transmit anddistribute 4K, and are looking forwardfor the broadcasters and DTH-distributors to be ready with content fortheir infrastructure and Set-top-boxes.

Remember that the existing pay-tvmodels have existed and developedthrough many, many years, and thereis no surprise that the pay-tv business-model will be challenged. Streamingtechnology and viewing screens havetaken extreme leaps in development inrecent years, and products like Netflixand Amazon will certainly find their wayand establish themselves as importantplatforms.

Question: What do you expectTelenor Satellite to achieve in thenext couple of years?Julian Crudge: Telenor Satellite willcontinue to promote and invest in itsexisting broadcast and data markets inthe next few years. As a result, we willbe adding new value-added servicesand products to the range of servicesoffered to our resellers. We have alsorecently launched a new web-basedcustomer portal so that customers canorder and amend services on line, andwill be officially launching a newantenna financing program shortly.

THOR 7 launched successfully, April 26, 2016

THOR 5 launch. Photo ILS

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Inflight Connectivity

Photo courtesy of Panasonic Avionics

Investing in connectivityinfrastructureInflight connectivity is one of the fastest growing satellite service segments today, so of course,we’re all reading a lot about it not just in specialist trade magazines, but in everyday news outletstoo. Access to inflight connectivity is a key differentiator between airline brands, a factor that theworld’s top airlines are becoming increasingly tuned into. Jon Norris, Senior Director ofCorporate Sales & Marketing, Panasonic Avionics Corporation, outlines the current state ofinflight connectivity, and Panasonic Avionics’ approach to delivering highly-sought after services.

In recent years, connectivity has become an essentialcontributor to national and international productivity.Residents of the world’s leading connected economies areat the heart of today’s global marketplace for air travel, andensuring they stay connected throughout the entire threadof their journeys requires a sturdy seamless network whereverthey should travel.

The world’s most advanced technology markets alsohappen to be its key travel markets: North America, Europeand Asia Pacific, according to data from the World EconomicForum’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI).

Take Singapore for example. This nation holds the highestNRI ranking and is also home to one of the world’s leadingairport hubs, Changi, which also happens to be a much-usedtransit point for travellers from Australia and New Zealand,both of which also have high NRI scores.

Meanwhile, Scandinavian countries like Finland have

developed strong air routes to Asian high-NRI markets suchas Hong Kong and Japan, and the most valued route in theworld — transatlantic — connects top-NRI countries of theUS, UK and mainland Europe.

The alignment between these popular travel routes andthe world’s most advanced technology markets sends a clearmessage: Those who fly on these routes expect high levelsof connectivity. The digital sophistication of these economiesmay raise travellers’ expectations of continuous inflightconnectivity, and make high-speed Internet on board aircraftmore than just a nice-to-have feature.

Not only do these NRI-leading economies reflect today’sforemost markets, they also represent the building blocks forgrowth in air travel demand over the coming decades.Forecasts from both Airbus and Boeing show that the top 20fastest-growing passenger flows over the next 20 years reflectair routes between top NRI countries, with accompanying

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high demand and expectations for inflight connectivity.This present and future interconnectedness reveals the

importance of truly global coverage, with broadband capacitysufficient to meet the demands of these passengers as theytravel for business around the world today, as well as atechnology roadmap that will grow the network infrastructureto fulfil increasing passenger and operational expectations.

Routes to connectivityProviders have taken a number of different routes to buildingconnectivity infrastructure. Some providers have sought tofund closed (exclusive) satellite networks, while others arebuilding connectivity networks on a region-by-region basisas passenger demand has warranted it. We have adoptedan alternative strategy, leasing satellite capacity, but doingthis on a global basis right from the outset, building layers ofadditional capacity to meet growing demand. We believe thisflexible but robust approach enables us to cater for the needsof all airlines and their passengers both now and in the future.

Our first-generation high-speed network already covers99.8 percent of commercial flight hours, with sufficientbroadband capacity to support a wide variety of passengerInternet activities on board. Our second-generation high-throughput network (HTS) will cover 86 percent of flight hours,providing additional capacity to parts of the globe where moreadvanced digital economies lead to a more frequent demand

for inflight connectivity. As World Economic Forum (WEF) datashows, there are hotspots around the world where a largerproportion of the population already have very highexpectations of bandwidth and have likely developed ‘alwayson’ habits on the ground. As these habits spread across theglobe, inflight connectivity providers need to be ready.

Some connectivity providers are addressing thesehotspots by funding additional spot satellite coverage toprovide additional capacity in certain key geographical areas.We prefer to maintain our multi-layer strategy and are cateringfor hotspot demand by planning for our third-generationnetwork layer - Extreme Throughput Satellite (XTS™) service,and also putting extended HTS Broadbeam coverage on ourroadmap. To keep pace with the rapid change in what theWEF describes as ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’ broughtabout by the rise of digital technology, we are already planningfourth- and fifth-generation XTS infrastructure as well.

The significance of AsiaThe importance of Asia, and China, in particular, to the futureof air travel and to inflight connectivity is highly significant.Six of the world’s 10 fastest growing airports in the world arein Asia. 13 of what are forecast to be the top 20 fastest-growing traffic flows over the next 20 years connect in Asia,with nine of them to, from and within China. Many of theseroutes also connect other high NRI rank countries.

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Inflight connectivity is already a critical element ofpassenger satisfaction in Asia, and as it helps fuel marketgrowth in the region, its importance will only intensify. As thereare so many individual jurisdictions in Asia, flying in to, fromand within the region has the potential to result in disruptedconnectivity, and so ensuring seamless coverage betweenthese markets is critical.

Key to achieving this has been the authorization ofconnectivity on flights into, out of and over China. We achievedthis after several years of close negotiations with the Chinesenegotiations, and other providers have followed suit.

Offering passengers seamless coverage, wherever theirtravels take them, enables connectivity providers to giveairlines a strong brand differentiator.

IATA’s most recent Global Passenger Survey (GPS) showsthat 16 percent of passengers rank inflight Wi-Fi as asignificant satisfaction factor, making it the third-highestpriority for passenger satisfaction.

Inflight connectivity also enables airlines to satisfy thetop two passenger priorities: Attentive crew and timely e-notifications of flight details. Crew equipped with connectedtablets can offer more personalised service and connectedpassenger devices can receive timely messages on the status

of their flights and baggage en route.IATA findings also indicate that free inflight Wi-Fi can get

26 percent of passengers to switch airlines. Taking theoperational benefits into consideration as part of the overallbusiness plan for connectivity, or just with the right ancillarybusiness partner model in place, airlines can offer free Wi-Fior very affordable Wi-Fi without sacrificing profits. Findingthe right balance for the connectivity business case will beone of the key tasks for the aviation community in the yearsahead.

Investing in networks is vitalIn the digital landscape of today and tomorrow, the ability toadapt to constantly changing consumer habits is what willmatter most. Just as networked readiness on the groundshows how prepared each country is to benefit from digitaltransformation, networked readiness in the sky can reflectan airline’s likelihood to benefit as well.

In the sky, as on the ground, investing in networks is vital.Access to robust global connectivity coverage is more than acompetitive advantage for airlines - having a smart, sturdy andseamless infrastructure is now a vital part of meeting thepassenger and operational needs of today and tomorrow.

Photo courtesy of Panasonic Avionics

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Exploration Networks

A tailings pond breach at British Columbia, Canada’s Mount Polley Mine on August 4, 2014 resulted in five million cubic metersof effluent contaminating the Hazeltine Creek in the Cariboo Regional District. QuickBird captured this image of thecontamination on August 5, 2014. Credit: DigitalGlobe.

Digitising mining and explorationnetworksThe mining industry is widely regarded as one of the most challenging markets in the world.Conditions are often dangerous, expensive machinery must be carefully monitored, and theft isan ongoing concern. Mining operations take place in remote locations, often many miles awayfrom population hubs, meaning that connectivity is often minimal or non-existent. Satellite,therefore, plays a major role in many mining operations, keeping remote sites connected.

Satellite connectivity is considered by many today ascritical for mining operations. Even in areas where alternativesexist, the far-reaching capabilities and always-on factor makesatellite an excellent choice for efficient, effective miningoperations. As capacity prices have fallen, satelliteconnectivity has become increasingly widespread throughoutthe mining sector, enabling capabilities ranging from aerialsurveying, connectivity between the site and the rest of theworld, the ability to remotely monitor machinery via IoTsensors, through to asset tracking over GPS.

Today, satellite connectivity can provide much more thanenhanced operational capabilities in remote mining andexploration ventures. Employee welfare is becoming anincreasingly important priority among site managerseverywhere, as it’s recognised more and more that happyemployees are more healthy, efficient and loyal. Staying intouch with loved ones at home while working away for days,

weeks, and even months at a time can make all the differenceto employee contentment, and when those employees havehighly sought-after skills, employee retention is key.

Connecting remote mining sites with MEO constellationsO3b Networks has marketed its ultra-low latency, fibre-speedsatellite network of medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites asproviding the ultimate in connectivity solutions for remote andrural locations for some time. Mining and explorationcompanies around the globe have started to take note of thesolution, and the connectivity possibilities it brings to theirsites.

In October 2016, O3b Networks announced that Guyana’sE-Networks would deliver O3b’s high-speed, low-latencyconnectivity to Guyana Goldfields’ Aurora Gold Mine. Theservice is expected to transform many aspects of miningoperations, enabling real-time HD videoconferencing, cloud

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computing and database-driven applications, among others.Guyana Goldfields has agreed to lease its own O3b terminaland dedicated bandwidth for three years to link its miningfacilities to offices in Georgetown and Canada, helping tobetter track productivity and improve overall communications.

“The implementation of O3b at the Aurora Gold Mine hasgreatly improved the Information Technology capabilities ofthe organisation,” said Rohit Tellis, CIO for Guyana Goldfields.“The performance of business-critical applications like ERP,logistics fleet tracking, Sharefile and Office 365 has improvedexponentially in turn driving our staff’s productivity. In addition,the lower latency and increased bandwidth has allowed usto implement new applications like VoIP and remoteinfrastructure monitoring, which would not have been possiblepreviously. We are now exploring a disaster recovery project.We have achieved all this while reducing our costs. Due tothe very remote location of the mine, the O3b satellite servicewas put in place as an alternative to a capital heavymicrowave project which would have taken over a decade toachieve an ROI.”

More recently in March 2017, it was announced that

Telstra had signed a five-year agreement with NewcrestMining to provide a dedicated satellite service for its Lihirgold mine in Papua New Guinea over O3b’s MEOconstellation.

Newcrest has embarked on a programme of digitaltransformation, updating the connectivity at all its remote sitesto improve operational capabilities. The solution extendsNewcrest’s Wide Area Network service from Telstra, enablingthe 2,000 mining personnel to operate corporate softwareapplications and collaboration tools to run faster, in additionto keeping the employees better connected with family andfriends, raising morale and quality of life.

“Newcrest is very proud to be the first gold miner in thesouthern hemisphere to make use of this innovative newservice to significantly improve the network experience atLihir. Any mining company claiming it wants to be a leader inthe application of digital technologies can’t be serious aboutthat, without first delivering quality network connections totheir sites, regardless of how remote they are. As well as theability to deliver better IT and digital solutions to Lihir, thenew link will have a tangible effect on the quality of life for our


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people who live and work on the island,” said Newcrest’s ChiefInformation Officer, Gavin Wood.

Improving imagery resolutionsSatellite imagery is a vital tool for planning a new mine orquarry, delivering information to aid infrastructural planning,exploration and ground access, environmental impact studiesand model generation. This imagery can characterise the locallandscape, determine economic viability, and, with infraredand thermal infrared capabilities, identify structural featuresbeneath the surface of the Earth, as well as clays, mineraloxides and soil types. Copper, silver, gold, diamonds, platinumgroup metals and uranium are all commonly mapped on acommercial basis in this way.

Of course, as the resolution of satellite imagery increases,so can the accuracy of planning. DigitalGlobe released theindustry’s first 30cm satellite imagery, with anticipatedapplications in the mining, energy, defence and intelligencesectors, in 2015. 30cm imagery was previously only availablevia aerial platforms, which can be expensive and difficult toaccess in much of the world.

DigitalGlobe’s 30cm resolution images can be gained ina matter of days or weeks rather than months, and an imagearchive is also available. The National Imagery InterpretabilityRating Scale (NIIRS), which defines and measures imagequality and imaging system performance, has confirmed, witha NIIRS rating of 5.7, that DigitalGlobe’s 30cm imagery issuitable for aerial imagery applications.

“DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 satellite data is the highestquality satellite photo data that PhotoSat has ever processed,”said Gerry Mitchell, President of PhotoSat, a satelliteelevation mapping provider for mining, energy and

engineering companies. “In one test, an elevation mappinggrid extracted from stereo WorldView-3 satellite photosmatched a highly accurate LiDAR elevation grid to better than15cm in elevation. This result takes satellite elevation mappinginto the engineering design and construction markets anddirectly competes with LiDAR and high resolution air photomapping for applications like flood plain monitoring.”

DigitalGlobe’s satellite also has unique short wave infraredcapabilities that enable the identification of minerals and man-made materials, the assessment of crop and vegetationhealth, and the ability to view through smoke and haze. Inmining, potential applications include resource assessmentprior to extraction, site management and mine rehabilitation.

“Companies should be exploiting the competitiveadvantages of the WorldView-3 data to look for potential ore-related alteration that will have been missed by the previoussatellites used for alteration mapping,” said Dan Taranik,Managing Director of Exploration Mapping Group.

The WorldView-4 satellite was launched in November2016 as DigitalGlobe’s fifth active satellite, and in February2017 completed in-orbit testing and calibration, and beganserving its first customers. WorldView-4 joins WorldView-3as the world’s only commercial satellite with 30cm resolution,more than doubling DigitalGlobe’s capacity for 30cmresolution imagery.

Pushing the boundaries of modelling techniquesWhile the use of satellite imagery for site exploration isrelatively common today, techniques are becomingincreasingly sophisticated, enabling more accuracy, reliability,and more detailed information to be collected than everbefore.

The Super Pit, shown in this 30 cm image, is the largest open pit gold mine in Australia. Satellite imagery helps mine operatorssafely and cost effectively monitor mine productivity and regulatory compliance, especially in hard-to-reach areas. Credit:DigitalGlobe.





Auracle Geospatial Science is one such company usinga combination of different techniques to further enhanceremote exploration systems. In March 2017, MaxtechVentures entered into an agreement with Auracle GeospatialScience for remote sensing and analysis programmes onmanganese targets in Brazil. The initial scope of the analysiswill be to analyse satellite imagery for mineral exploration,host system identification, map topography, and todifferentiate apparent and non-apparent geology, lithologyand structures in a highly prospective area of the EstradaCemat and Fazenda Suas Barras mines in Matto Grosso.

Auracle’s Upgraded Geology methodologies use remotelysensed data to penetrate through vegetation and beneathoverburden (unconsolidated soils, sands and sediments) tomap large areas including structure, lithology, alteration,mineralogy and bedrock surface to suppor t mineralexploration. According to the company, it is a highly cost-effective, efficient and safe method for identifying prospectivehosts, deposits, trends and areas.

Auracle’s technology uses fused radar and optical satelliteimagery to analyse geological information at or in the nearsurface, which has the ability to detect mineralisation andalteration, map geological units, structures geology, faults,fractures, lineaments and shear zones, plus model physiologyincluding terrain, bedrock, mineralogy, lithology, vegetationand water features. A 3D Bare Rock Model is generated for

an outlined area of interest, while a larger 1500km2 regionalenvelope area of interest is analysed and modelled withAuracle3D Radar Model.

“What makes our mapping suite unique is that it combinesradar and optical satellite data to penetrate vegetation groundcover, water, ice, rocks and soils,” said David McLelland,President. “Our technology works at, near and under theEarth’s surface so we can ‘see’ through things that no othertechnology can claim.”

Enhancing navigation capabilitiesGlobal Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are a vitalcomponent of mining and exploration operations the worldover. The accuracy of GNSS is a significant factor, andaugmentation techniques such as DGNSS and RTK are oftenused to increase it. In the mining sector, GNSS are used forsurveying, truck fleet management, high precision machinecontrol, hazard avoidance, and collision avoidance,significantly enhancing safety, efficiency, and reducing costsand down-time.

In February 2017, Geoscience Australia entered into acollaborative research project with Lockheed Martin to showhow augmenting signals from multiple GNSS can enhancepositioning, navigation and timing for a range of applications,including mining.

The project aims to demonstrate, for the first time, how asecond-generation satellite-based augmentation system(SBAS) testbed can use signals from both GPS and theGalileo constellation, and dual frequencies, to achieve greaterintegrity and accuracy. The testbed will validate applicationsin nine industry sectors over two years: Mining, agriculture,construction, aviation, rail, road, spatial and utilities.Ultimately, the testbed will broaden understanding of howthis technology can benefit safety, productivity, efficiency andinnovation in Australia’s industrial and research sectors.

While basic GNSS signals are sufficiently accurate formany civil, navigation and timing users, they requireaugmentation to meet higher safety-of-life navigationrequirements. The second-generation SBAS will mitigate thatissue. Once the SBAS testbed is operational, basic GNSSsignals will be monitored by widely-distributed referencestations operated by Geoscience Australia. An SBAS testbedmaster station, installed by GMV Innovating Solutions, willcollect that reference station data, compute corrections andintegrity bounds for each GNSS satellite signal, and generateaugmentation messages.

“A Lockheed Martin uplink antenna at Uralla, New SouthWales will send these augmentation messages to an SBASpayload hosted aboard a geostationary Earth orbit satellite,owned by Inmarsat,” said Rod Drury, Director, InternationalStrategy and Business Development for Lockheed MartinSpace Systems Company. “This satellite rebroadcasts theaugmentation messages containing corrections and integritydata to the end users. The whole process takes less than sixseconds.”

By augmenting signals from multiple GNSS constellations,second-generation SBAS is not dependent on just one GNSS.It will also use signals on two frequencies – the L1 and L5GPS signals, and their companion E1 and E5a Galileo signals– to provide integrity data and enhanced accuracy forindustries that need it the most.

Photo courtesy Mark Agnor/Shutterstock




Maritime Security

Inmarsat HQ

Maritime wakes up to security riskSecurity is the Achilles’ heel of connected technology. In the maritime space, cyber risks conflatewith vessel safety making a multifaceted response essential, believes Inmarsat Maritime securityhead Peter Broadhurst. Here, Broadhurst outlines the growing challenges within cyber security atsea, and presents potential solutions to keep vessels safe.

Today an estimated 30,000 vessels globally have somesort of access to always-on Internet via satellite. At the sametime, a mix of increasingly sophisticated equipment – fromelectronic navigation systems to computer-controlled engines– is finding its way on board modern tonnage. This meansships can no longer be considered protected by an air-gapfrom cyber threats.

As on land, the risks are multifaceted. Organised crimegroups, ‘hacktivists,’ former or current members of staff, andeven nation states, might all be considered malicious actorswith a motive to disrupt operations at sea. Systems can alsobe compromised in benign ways, perhaps due tocarelessness or lack of knowledge among a vessel’s crew.

Even if the networks on board are segregated between,say, systems for ship operation, crew welfare and remoteaccess to suppliers, these divisions can over time be erodedthrough ad hoc interventions by the crew or suppliers, evenwhen ostensibly acting with good intentions, such as toexpedite an urgent maintenance task. The separations canalso be compromised by manual transfer of data – a practicethat appears particularly widespread at sea.

Matters are further complicated by the fact that shippinglines operate a mix of vessels which they either own or charterfor a short period. Additionally, vessels and other key systems

often carry an analogue heritage, being built for analoguecontrol, with digital solutions grafted on later, often with onlyminimal consideration given to security issues.

“Several welcome initiatives aimed at raising cyber-crimeawareness in the maritime space and offering guidance onits prevention are underway, but there are concerns that thefragmented nature of these activities diminishes their overallimpact,” said Peter Broadhurst, Vice President Safety andSecurity at Inmarsat Maritime.

Intensifying risksIndustrial standards for maritime back-end systems are fewand far between, resulting in an IT landscape littered withcustom-built solutions, which have undergone limitedsystematic testing of cyber security issues. At the other endof the spectrum, some shipping companies, notably containerlines, have reached a stage of electronic commerce wherebusiness operations cannot be handled manually for anyextended period, making them especially vulnerable to anextended deliberate or accidental system outage.

The intrinsically global nature of the supply chain,business relationships and the diversity and complexity ofoperational activities offer another weak-spot, which adetermined intruder might be tempted to exploit.

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Maritime Security

With so many variables involved, the potentialconsequences are hard to calculate. They might amount to asimple inconvenience or extend to a missed port arrival andsignificant commercial penalty. The worst-case scenariowould be an attack that jeopardises the safety of the vesseland its crew. “Cyber-security and safety are now so entwinedthat there is a growing realisation that they must be viewedthrough the same lens,” said Broadhurst.

As the industry turns to greater automation and digitalsolutions such as the Internet of Things, Big Data etc., inpursuit of cost efficiencies and becomes more tightlyintegrated within the connected economy, these risks arelikely to intensify. “Until recently, it was relativelystraightforward to distinguish between information technologyand operational technology systems. The former processeddata to generate information, while the latter used data tocontrol or monitor physical processes. However, the Internet

of Things is beginning to blur the boundaries between thephysical world and cyber world,” explained Broadhurst.

Setting new guidelinesOf course, the industry and its regulators are not blind to thecyber threat. In early 2016, BIMCO, an industry association,issued a set of guidelines comprising high-levelrecommendations on cyber-risk management accompaniedby a selection of more practical self-help measures thatconcerned vessel owners can take immediately.

Prepared with input from a range of organisations,shipping lines, a handful of relevant manufacturers andInmarsat, these guidelines were well-received, to the extentthey were tacitly endorsed by the International MaritimeOrganization (IMO), the UN-body that oversees globalshipping, which used it as the basis for its own best-practice.

Recognising that no two organisations in the shippingindustry are the same, and that prescriptive regulations areunlikely to keep up with rate of technological change, theseguidelines take a risk management approach rather thanimpose hard and fast rules. “The risk-based approach offersgreater resilience as policies and actions can be adapted inresponse to evolving threats. It also dovetails with existingsafety and security management practices,” said Broadhurst.

The five principles at the heart of the Guidelines are:

1) To identify cyber-risks;2) To take steps to protect against these cyber-risks turning

into cyber-events;3) To detect cyber-events in a timely manner;4) To have plans to respond and get necessary systems up

and running again; and5) To have measures to recover and restore all systems

impacted by a cyber-event.

These tasks will be developed concurrently andcontinuously, rather than sequentially. They will also requireengagement from senior management, so that a culture ofcyber risk awareness can be embedded into all levels of anyorganisation.

Delivering solutionsAs a major provider of satellite connectivity services to themaritime industry, Inmarsat has a keen interest in minimisingits customers’ exposure to cyber-risk. This has grown morepressing following the market launch of its new high-throughput Fleet Xpress service, powered by the I-5constellation of Ka-band satellites, which enables much moredata to flow between ship and shore.

To that end, the company is devising specialised softwaresolutions and stepping up its involvement in industry-wideinitiatives to help vessel owners minimise the exposure tocyber-risk. It will soon introduce a unified threat management(UTM) service customised for maritime end-users. Designedto function as an integrated part of Fleet Xpress, it will provideship owners and operators a pathway for putting the BIMCOguidelines into practice.

Based on the Trustwave platform (now owned bySingaporean telco Singtel), the UTM component is continuallyupdated with incoming intelligence on new cyber-risks. Thiswill be utilised when inspecting data going to and from a

Inmarsat Maritime security head Peter Broadhurst

Photo courtesy of Inmarsat

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Maritime Security

vessel. As well as seeking out potential intrusions via thesatellite connection, it will also look for incursions stemmingelsewhere on the vessel LAN, perhaps the result of aninfected USB sticks or devices belonging to crew or visitingcontractors.

Inmarsat is also supporting the activities of a joint workinggroup set up by the International Association of ClassificationSocieties (IACS) to formulate a set of recommendationsfocused on the cyber-security. IACS is the umbrella body forthe classification societies charged with assuring the safetyof vessels and offshore structures.

“The IACS working group aims to unite industrystakeholders and bring about standardised practices. Navalarchitects often say that safety must be considered from avessel’s conceptual design stage,” commented Broadhurst.“We believe that the axiom is just as valid for cyber-securityas it is for structural integrity.”

The final dimension is to instil better awareness of cyber-risks in the people who work on ships and on shore. Themajority have not been formally educated on the risks, whichis particularly worrying as a lot of security breaches arecaused by human fallibility. “Crew don’t want to cause damageand make their own jobs more difficult, so offering training isa straightforward and effective way of lowering the risk ofmalware or virus infections, whether through phishing emailsor tainted USB drives,” continued Broadhurst.

In surveys, almost half of crew state they have sailed ona vessel that had been compromised by a cyber incident insome way. If other industries offer a yardstick, the prevalenceis likely to be under-reported for fear of embarrassment. Theproblem is not going away – in fact the opposite is true.Furthermore, a multifaceted challenge calls for a multifacetedresponse involving collective action by industry, technologicalsolutions, and better education. It is perhaps emblematic ofthe fast-changing times in which we live that having protectedseafarers’ safety for nearly 40 years, Inmarsat now wants tohelp protect their data and systems too.

Vulnerable systems on a modern ship:

• Bridge systems;• Cargo handling and management systems;• Propulsion and machinery management and power

control systems;• Access control systems;• Passenger servicing and management systems;• Passenger facing public networks;• Administrative and crew welfare systems;• Communication systems; and• Operating system updates (patches).

Core principles of cyber-risk management:

• Identify: Define personnel roles and responsibilitiesfor cyber-risk management and identify the systems,assets, data and capabilities that, when disrupted,pose risks to ship operations.

• Protect: Implement risk control processes andmeasures, and contingency planning to protectagainst a cyber-event and ensure continuity ofshipping operations.

• Detect: Develop and implement activities necessaryto detect a cyber-event in a timely manner.

• Respond: Develop and implement activities andplans to provide resilience and to restore systemsnecessary for shipping operations or servicesimpaired due to a cyber-event.

• Recover: Identify measures to back-up and restorecyber systems necessary for shipping operationsimpacted by a cyber-event.

Inmarsat I5 F4 launch

Inmarsat Network Operations Centre

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Oil and Gas Sector

VMD integrated an SOS button in the Globalstar-based asset tracking solution

Improving oil industry safety,managing costs, and safeguardingvalued staffThe oil and gas sector has had its fair share of ups and downs inrecent years. Some companies have made the decision to cut back onexploration projects, while others have chosen to enhance operationalefficiencies by upgrading networks and capabilities with Internet ofThings (IoT) based solutions. Corry Brennan, Simplex Regional SalesManager at Globalstar, explains how satellite-enabled SCADA solutionsare helping oil and gas industry players in Africa harness the power ofthe IoT to work smarter and safer.

Organisations everywhere have woken up to what’spossible when you can communicate with your mobile andfixed assets. We have seen a dramatic uptake of application-specific satellite enabled IoT solutions that can monitor assetsranging from cargo to trucks, oil pipelines, reservoirs, railtank cars, even livestock, and some of the world’s mostendangered species.

The oil and gas industries have been particularlyprogressive in their understanding and adoption of satellite-based solutions to help them improve their operations.Tracking solutions with satellite connectivity allow oil and gasorganisations, and the companies that support them, to reach

deep into remote andhostile locations, as well asmitigating against land andmobile network outages and overloading.

The business benefits of optimising the usage andmaintenance of assets is demonstrable. And being able toprovide supply chain partners rich and accurate data ondelivery times and production schedules helps to galvanisebusiness relationships and make operations more efficient.

These same systems can additionally play a valuable rolein protecting staff. For example, oil industry companiesoperating in Africa have deployed satellite-enabled asset

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Oil and Gas Sector

monitoring solutions that help manage assets and which alsodeliver critical safety support for staff and site visitors.

Deploying satellite solutionsEarly in 2016, Tunisian civil works contractor, KilaniEntreprise for Public Works, deployed Integrated VehicleMonitoring System (iVMS) developed by Globalstar’s Tunisia-based partner VMD to track its fleet of 4x4 vehicles, with thegoal of increasing the security of the staff while travelling.

But the system has the added benefit of also monitoringdriver behavior. iVMS gives Kilani Entreprise the preciselocation of every vehicle in its fleet while transmitting enginedata that indicates driver performance such as suddenbraking or unexpected acceleration.

Kilani Entreprise was already familiar with the advantagesof satellite communications because it has been usingGlobalstar’s SPOT handheld devices since 2013 as itsprimary means of safeguarding staff carrying out operationsin southern Tunisia’s vast desert.

A Ukrainian oil services company also uses the iVMSsystem to help its exploration and production customersmonitor vehicle fleets and safeguard staff in the same Africanregion. The devices monitor vehicles used for transportingheavy engineering equipment, including scientific enginesfor seismic measurement, as well as being used in vehiclesused to transport personnel.

Additionally, a local support company which provides oilproducers with equipment, transportation, site maintenanceand staff services, has deployed the iVMS satellite solution.It is using more than 50 iVMS devices to track transportersand containers carrying mechanical and oil rig equipmentused in petroleum production and refining.

VMD customised all three deployments by adding a one-touch SOS button onto the vehicles’ dashboards. If the driveror any passenger is in danger, requires emergency medicalhelp or the intervention of security forces, a single buttonpress alerts security teams and first responders can instantlyknow the precise location where help is needed. This level ofalways-on connectivity is an essential security measure in

the remote regions in which oil operations take place.One key benefit of iVMS is that the system seamlessly

switches from GSM to Globalstar’s satellite network as soonas it detects weakening GSM signal. Smart harmonious useof these two types of network yields maximum cost savings,while ensuring reliable, ubiquitous connectivity.

VMD put Globalstar’s SmartOne B simplex asset managerat the heart of its dual-technology solution because of itsdependability, long battery life and its ability to automaticallyswitch between battery and line-power as required. SmartOneuses motion sensors and comparative GPS positions togather and transmit asset status information over Globalstar’ssatellite constellation, the only complete next-generationmobile satellite network in orbit today.

“The operational challenges posed by inadequate GSMcoverage in the regions where oil is extracted arecompounded by remote, inhospitable terrain, and additionalsecurity risks,” commented Karim Chagra, Health SafetySecurity Environment (HSSE) Manager with Kilani Entreprisefor Public Works. “Thanks to the expertise and support ofVMD and Globalstar, we have a cost-effective and capabletracking and monitoring system that enables us to work moreefficiently and securely.”

An additional benefit to oil and gas providers of satellite-based IoT solutions has been improved efficiency of faultlocalisation. Operators have to ensure that pipelines spanningthousands of kilometres of desert are running smoothly andfault-free. Smart, sensor-based monitoring solutions thatharness the reach of satellites can help engineers more swiftlyzero-in on a problem that needs to be fixed. They are thusspared the onerous resource-hungry task of unnecessarilysearching for a fault or malfunction. Rather, they can morespeedily get the revenue-generating flows back on line.

Keeping personnel and assets safeIn geographies where oil and gas operations take place,including North Africa, the Nordic region and the Eurasianlandmass, mobile coverage is often non-existent. To stayconnected, satellite communications is the only option.

As exploration and production once again starts growingin Africa and other regions, oil companies, and providers oflogistics and other support services, are being called uponto work in more and more remote locations. Knowing thelocation of assets 24/7, and safeguarding personnel is vital.With satellites on hand and at the ready, businesses havethe assurance of knowing their people and assets are in safehands.Satellite view of Tunisia

“The operational challenges posed byinadequate GSM coverage in the regionswhere oil is extracted are compounded byremote, inhospitable terrain, and additionalsecurity risks,” commented Karim Chagra,

Health Safety Security Environment(HSSE) Manager with Kilani Entreprise for

Public Works.

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A

Q&A Telesat

Telesat is a leading global satelliteoperator, providing reliable andsecure satellite delivered communi-cations solutions worldwide tobroadcast, telecom, corporate andgovernment customers. Head-quartered in Ottawa, Canada, withoffices and facilities around theworld, the company’s state-of-the-art fleet consists of 15 satellitesplus the Canadian payload onViaSat-1 with two new satellitesunder construction. An additionaltwo prototype satellites are underconstruction for launch into lowear th orbit (LEO) as par t ofTelesat’s plans to develop anadvanced, global LEO satelliteconstellation offering low latency,high throughput broadband servi-ces. Telesat also manages theoperations of additional satellitesfor third parties. Privately held,Telesat’s principal shareholders areCanada’s Public Sector PensionInvestment Board and Loral Space& Communications Inc.

Leading global satelliteoperatorTelesat was established in the 1960s and is now one of thelargest and most successful satellite operators in the world.Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, the company provides videoand IP networking to broadcast, telecom, corporate andgovernment customers in over 50 countries through its globalfleet of 15 satellites. Telesat has another four satellites in theworks – two LEO scheduled to launch this year and two GEOHTS planned for launch in 2018. The company is also a leadingconsultant on technical and commercial matters related tosatellite services having advised governments, satelliteoperators, spacecraft manufacturers, and other industryparticipants in over 40 countries across six continents. AmySaunders spoke with Tom Eaton, Telesat’s Vice President,International Sales, to find out more about the company’srecent activities, market development, and coming plans.

Tom Eaton, Telesat’s Vice President,International Sales

Telesat Headquarters

Q&A Telesat

Question: Can you provide anintroduction for Telesat, from itsfounding to where it stands today?Tom Eaton: During the 1960s, earlycommunications satellites like Telstaramazed the world with their ability toinstantly connect people across oceansand continents – both with live phonecalls and live video broadcasts.Canadian government officials saw thepotential of satellite to serve their vastcountry and established Telesat in 1969.The company was given the mandateto provide satellite services to all of

Canada including remote areas whereterrestrial alternatives were unavailableor too expensive. To fulfill this mission,Telesat hired the finest engineers andtechnologists of the time and built anorganization whose breakthroughs inthe 1970s and decades to followtransformed the world of globalcommunications. A few examplesinclude:

• Anik B (1978) – Anik B was theworld’s first domesticcommunications dual-band (C andKu) satellite. With Anik B, Telesatstarted providing the world’s firstdirect-to-home (DTH) TV service,which laid the groundwork for theglobal DTH industry, which todayhas over 200 million subscribers.

• Anik F2 (2004) – At the time of itslaunch, Anik F2 was the largestcommunications satellite evercarried into space. It started theglobal boom in Ka-band andopened an important new market –consumer Ka broadband services.Within two years of its launch, AnikF2 was serving 100,000subscribers in the US for WildBlue(now ViaSat) and bringingbroadband to many homes andbusinesses for the first time. Satellitebroadband is now forecasted to

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Q&A Telesat

grow to almost seven million globalsubscribers by 2025. The uniqueKa-band spot beams of Anik F2 arealso recognized as a precursor oftoday’s high throughput satellites(HTS) that are transforming theindustry and which are expected togenerate billions of dollars in newrevenues through the next decade.

• Telstar 11N (2009) – Telstar 11Nwas the first satellite to provide Ku-band coverage of the Atlantic Oceanfrom the Arctic Circle to the equator,making it a winning solution for bothmaritime and aeronauticalbroadband. Telstar 11N, along withTelesat’s Telstar 14R, launched in2011 and Telstar 14, launched in2004, spurred demand for satellitebroadband across the oceans.Mobility applications for maritimeand aeronautical broadband arenow forecasted to be among thefastest growing markets for theglobal satcom industry.

Question: What services andcapabilities does Telesat provide, andto which end users?Tom Eaton: Telesat operates a robustglobal telepor t and terrestr ialinfrastructure that is seamlesslyintegrated with our global fleet. Bycombining our state-of-the-art assets inspace and on the ground, Telesatprovides high performingcommunications solutions – nationally,regionally and globally. North Americais our primary market and much of ourbusiness there is tied to videodistribution. Telesat also has a large andgrowing presence in Latin Americaserving telecom, corporate andgovernment customers with sixsatellites.

Mobility services is another dynamicmarket where Telesat is well positioned,both with conventional and highthroughput satellite (HTS) capacity overthe Atlantic to meet growing maritimeand aero requirements. Later thisdecade, Telesat will deploy new mobilecoverage over the Pacific with Telstar18 VANTAGE, which is planned forlaunch in mid-2018.

Telesat also offers Ku-bandcoverage over Africa with Telstar 11Nand our new Telstar 12 VANTAGEsatellite, which support the delivery ofbroadband services for enterprise andgovernment users in Afr ica and

backhaul services for African telcos.

Question: Which industries andworld regions are key to Telesat’soperations, and how has thischanged over the years?Tom Eaton: For most of our history,Telesat was focused on North America.In 2007, Telesat’s operations werecombined with the satellite operationsof Loral Skynet, a US company with astrong technical background tied to theachievements of AT&T Skynet, BellLabs and the Telstar program. As aresult, Telesat greatly expanded itscoverage and became a truly globaloperator. Today, about half of Telesat’sbusiness is broadcast services. Most ofthe remainder is data services forenterprise, government and mobilitycustomers. As mentioned, Telesat’sgrowth in mobility markets and strongposition in Latin America are two of thebiggest changes to our business overthe past decade.

Question: Where does Telesat seeitself in the market, and how does itdifferentiate itself from competitors?Tom Eaton: What makes Telesatunique, according to our manybroadcast, telecom, corporate andgovernment clients, is our ability todeliver superior technical innovationsalong with industry-leading customerservice. Telesat creates real competitiveadvantages for customers by combiningour size, resources and satellite know-how with the rapid response and highlevels of service that have becomecritical for success in today’s businessworld. People we do business with citeour outstanding technical expertise –expertise backed by an industry leadingconsultancy and R&D lab. Others valueour customer-oriented culture. Theseare key to Telesat’s value proposition,but our differentiation really centers onhow we apply these elements tocreating satellite innovations that giveour customers a better way to servetheir customers.

Question: What are Telesat’s currentsatellite plans? We understand thereare two satellites under production,as well as an additional twoprototype LEO satellites?Tom Eaton: Telesat has two GEOsatellites under construction: Telstar 19VANTAGE, which will mainly serve the

Americas, and Telstar 18 VANTAGE,which will serve the Asia-Pacific region.The Telstar VANTAGE name meansthese satellites have high throughputcapabilities. Both are scheduled tolaunch in mid-2018.

Telesat also has procured twoprototype LEO satellites for launch in2017, which will allow us to performtesting and trials to assure that Telesat’sLEO system is capable of deliveringsignificant benefits to our customers interms of higher data speeds, highcapacity and security, lower latency andother advantages that are central to thesystem’s design.

Question: What can you tell us aboutTelesat’s capabilities in Sub-SaharanAfrica (SSA), and how you arepositioning the company for successin the region?Tom Eaton: Telesat currently has twosatellites that, together, provide highpower Ku-band coverage over the wholeof SSA: Telstar 11N at 37.5 West andTelstar 12 VANTAGE at 15 West. Thesesatellites combine two powerful Ku-band beams that enable coverage of theentire SSA region, as shown in theFigure 1. Telesat’s SSA capacity cansupport:

• VSAT applications for financialservices (ATMs, bank branches),government projects and corporatenetworks;

• Video distribution for direct to home(DTH) services; and

• Cellular backhaul and otherconnectivity that allows carriers toeffectively leverage the powerfulfibre links that have becomeoperational along Africa’s coasts.

Today’s African satellite networksserve requirements within the continentitself – intra-Africa for video distributionand VSAT networks – and also supportbroadband networks between SSA andeconomic centers in Europe and theAmericas. Telesat’s Telstar 12 VANTAGEand Telstar 11N satellites excel at bothtypes of coverage – intra and inter-Africa – and are especially in demandfor broadband connectivity betweenSSA and corporate offices in Europe.The second most requestedconnectivity is between SSA andoffices/operations centers in North andCentral America.

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A

Q&A Telesat

Telesat has been serving the Africanmarket for over 15 years and has closeworking ties with satellite integratorsand other specialists in-region who havethe expertise and contacts to helpcustomers quickly and cost effectivelyimplement today’s satcom solutions.Telesat’s two powerful Ku-bandsatellites offer the advantage of satellitediversity over much of the region, whichcan improve reliability for mission-cr it ical networks that are dr ivingeconomic growth across SSA.

Question: Why should satelliteservice providers in Africa want towork with Telesat compared with themany other satellite operators in theregion?Tom Eaton: Afr ican customersappreciate Telesat’s market approach inwhich we focus on provision of spacesegment capacity to satellite serviceintegrators in SSA versus implementingend-to-end networks. This avoids theproblem of a satell ite operatorcompeting with their own SSAcustomers, which remains a challengefor many that par ticipate in thedistribution of African satellite services.And with Telesat’s global satellite fleet,our customers can readily expand tonew markets and capture new businessbeyond SSA.

Question: How would you sum upTelesat’s SSA strategy?Tom Eaton: It’s really quite simple. Telesat

is a leading global satellite operator thathas a strong presence in SSA with twopowerful Ku-band satellites that fully coverthe region. We are looking to buildrelations with local integrators and

suppliers in satcom who can benefit fromour capacity and our market approach asa space segment provider focused on thesuccess of our customers, not competingwith them.

Figure 1. Telesat currently has two satellites that, together, provide high powerKu-band coverage over the whole of SSA: Telstar 11N at 37.5 West and Telstar12 VANTAGE at 15 West. These satellites combine two powerful Ku-band beamsthat enable coverage of the entire SSA region

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Satellite Interference: Special Focus

SIECAMS® ILS is the swift solution for detection and geolocalization

Satellite interferenceInterference remains a major problem within the satellite sector today, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Most interference is unintentional, which can make it extremely difficult to overcome.However, interference costs the industry in terms of both money and reputation, rendering it avital area of focus.

Interference is a significant problem throughout thesatellite sector. Any service provider that relies on satellitecommunications, such as broadcasters, governments,defence groups, disaster response teams, banking orenterprise groups, usually picks satellite for its always-on andfar-reaching capabilities. Should a paid-for TV broadcast godown, for example, the broadcast company stands to lose agreat deal in both public opinion and financial penalties. Inthe defence sector, on the other hand, should vital informationnot be communicated to the required person in a timelyfashion, lives can be lost.

When the general public thinks about interference, mostautomatically jump to intentional interference caused bymalicious jammers. However, the actual incidence ofintentional jamming is so low that there are no accuratestatistics on volumes. In fact, in the vast majority of cases,interference stems from human error. Unintentional satelliteinterference is caused by satellite signals interfering withadjacent satell ite terminals, or terrestr ial antennastransmitting to more than just the target satellite in orbit.

Cross-polar (Xpol) and adjacent satellite interference (ASI)typically result from misaligned ground station antennas,improper ground equipment installation, or faulty equipment.

Any level of interference is a potential problem for serviceproviders. “It doesn’t really matter how much effectinterference has, because any interference is unacceptable,”commented Ruben Marentes, Director, Network OperationsCentre for Intelsat. “But it is an unfortunate reality of satellitecommunications. At Intelsat, we have invested our resourceson technology designed to reduce instances of interference.While interference still occurs, we’ve found that as ourtechnology matures, the cases of interference are resolvedin a more efficient way.”

It’s been widely acknowledged that cooperation on anindustry-wide scale is necessary to keep unintentionalinterference in check. “The satellite industry overall isincredibly reliable, but the number of services is growingrapidly, and interference will always be a problem that wehave to manage and contain. Ideally, with good tools, industrycooperation, and good interference management practices,

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the growth of interference events should be minimized, or, inthe best-case scenario, start to fall,” said Martin Coleman,Executive Director of the Satellite Interference ReductionGroup (iRG).

New technologies are a major reason why interferencehas become an increasingly significant problem in recentyears. Small, mobile VSAT terminals, high throughputsatellites (HTS), and the growing popularity of high-frequencybands have all played a role. “The rise of Ka-band bringswith it a whole new challenge. We’re starting to see differenttypes of interference, mainly due to new antennas and ASI.The small Ka-band antenna dishes have a much wider beam,and that means that interference is increased,” said Coleman.

To combat the rising interference challenge before itbecomes completely out of control, new solutions are beingdeveloped by a number of companies, while working groupsand associations like the iRG and the Global VSAT Forum(GVF) educate a growing number of members on bothproactive and reactive responses. “The best cure for satelliteinterference has been and will continue to be vigilantmonitoring by advanced sophisticated interference detectionsystems, with algorithms that determine the identity ofinterfering carriers,” said Bob Potter, Chief Technology Officerof Sat Corporation, a Kratos company.

Carrier IDCarrier ID (CID), a signal embedded into a video or datatransmission path that enables satellite operators to identifythe source of an interfering carrier, is set to be a major gamechanger in the fight against satellite interference.

The CID contains mandatory information such as a 64-bit MAC address and a vendor serial number, as well asoptional configurable data like GPS coordinates, carrier nameand user contact coordinates. The modulator at the uplinksite injects CID into the signal for transmission. The latestversion, DVB-CID, adds a lower spread of spectrum on top ofthe carrier, which means that the correct transmission needn’tbe interrupted to identify the interfering carrier. The CID canbe read by special measurement receivers installed at satelliteoperator facilities, so when interference occurs, the receiverscan read the contact information from the CID and rapidlyidentify the source of interference.

The transition to CID started on 1 January 2015, and mostof the major operators have completed the work required toadd CID to their transmissions, while 95 percent of modulatorsand more than 50 percent of DSNG encoders available onthe market have DVB-CID available now.

The Space Data Association’s (SDA) Chairman MarkRawlins told Satellite Evolution that governments around the

world are starting to make CID a requirement. The USA hasstipulated that, by 2017, all SNG units must have a CID, whichRawlins expects to see duplicated in Europe shortly. As aresult of the soon-to-be widespread implementation of CID,the SDA is putting into place a database for CIDs and theirassigned satellite operators, which will enable its membersto identify unknown signals on their networks. It will soon beavailable to all satellite operators.

GeolocationWhen it comes to VSAT interference, some of the majorproblems stem from their mobility; while it might be possibleto identify an interfering VSAT through terminal IDs and otherinformation, locating it is another matter entirely.

Geolocation tools, which can identify the source of aninterfering signal by interaction with one or two satellites, havebeen coming on in leaps and bounds in recent years.According to recent reports, as the technology has matured,it’s becoming more frequently incorporated into commercialsatellite operations to locate sources of both unintentionaland deliberate jamming.

“As long as the majority of satellite signals do not haveCID implemented, geolocation systems are often the onlychance to identify the source of the interference problem,”commented Erwin Greilinger, Product Manager at SiemensConvergence Creators. “Traditional geolocation systems havea lot of constraints like the need for two satellites, availabilityof accurate ephemeris data, etc. which makes geolocation

Crystal is a software control systems company thatdesigns and delivers network monitor ing andmanagement solutions to improve operational efficiency,analyze errors, and enhance system resiliency. Thecompany offers two products in the satellite interferencesphere.

Crystal Spectrum Monitoring and Recording (SMR)is a spectrum monitoring and recording system designedfor the satellite industry. With it, dozens of satellitecarriers can be monitored, and snapshots of spectrumsegments can be taken to retune the analyzer, allowingusers to utilize their existing equipment to monitor manydifferent carriers. Acceptable limits can be applied tocustomer systems, and in the case of an interferenceevent, Crystal SMR can record the data to enableanalysis after the event. Users are notified of interferenceevents via text message, email, on-screen message, etc.

The second interference solution is the CrystalCarrier ID detection system. With an off-the-shelf CarrierID detector from Comtech EF Data or TeamCast, thesystem looks at specific frequencies and extracts theCarrier ID, enabling users to confirm that the ID theyexpect at a certain frequency is really there. As the useof Carrier ID becomes increasingly widespread andrequired by more and more governments around theworld, systems like the Crystal Carrier ID provide satellitebroadcasters with a validation tool for their own CarrierID.

CRYSTAL

“The rise of Ka-band brings with it a wholenew challenge. We’re starting to see

different types of interference, mainly dueto new antennas and ASI. The small Ka-band antenna dishes have a much wider

beam, and that means that interference isincreased,” said Coleman.



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Integrasys was founded in 1990 to provide signalmonitoring software systems for the satellite, broadbandand telecommunications markets. The company offersa variety of interference monitoring solutions, includingVectorsat Carrier Under Carrier Interference Detection,Controlsat Carrier Spectrum Monitoring and SatmotionSNG.

Satmotion Pocket is a VSAT auto-commissioningsystem that minimizes deployment time, effort andinterference. The solution measures Copol, Xpol and ASI,feeding the data back to the installer to provide optionsfor the best VSAT installations. Key benefits include animmediate return on investment (ROI), nocommunications required between VSAT installer andNOC/hub operators, and a simple user interface availableon Apple, Android and laptop devices. Satmotion Pocketis fully scalable, and can be used for up to 10 concurrentusers.

Alusat, an automated network maintenance systemfor minimizing the maintenance time, effort, and intra-satellite interference or any service degradation, is thelatest evolution of Integrasys’ Satmotion Pocket. WithAlusat, users can virtually visit and maintain establishedVSAT networks, ensuring continued optimization ofoperations, while minimizing costs caused by servicefailures and site re-visits. In certain conditions, it caneven recover out-of-service terminals. Users candetermine Rx and Tx thresholds, as well as automaticactions to be taken in different circumstances to rectifyproblems.

INTEGRASYS

real performance and interference status of every remote fromtheir desk with a single click. We are a believer that preventionis key, and Integrasys will continue innovating based on thisstatement.”

What’s on the horizon?Satellite interference is not going to be a problem of the pastany time soon. VSAT interference, in particular, is set to be a

Kratos provides integrated end-to-end ground systemsolutions for satellite operators, telecommunicationsproviders, broadcasters, and the military sector, amongothers. It has a major collection of interference detection,geolocation and mitigation solutions, and a wide varietyof expertise boosted by its ownership of Sat Corporationand VeriSat.

The Monics product suite is a carrier monitoringsystem that uses algorithms to automatically determinethat the signal to noise ratio of a carrier is impaired,identifies the presence of an interfering carrier, andgenerates the characteristics of the interference. Ifabnormal bandwidth performance is detected, alarmsare displayed and alerts are sent to an operator.Additionally, when integrated with a service levelmonitoring system such as Neuralstar SQM, Monicsquickly alerts the operator or service provider that servicelevel agreements are impacted, and prioritises themitigation of impacted services to minimise the effecton the bottom line.

satID is Kratos’ all-in-one interference locationsolution when integrated with Monics. It uses a map-driven user interface to provide operators with the abilityto perform geolocation scenarios effectively andefficiently. With its patented Ephemeris ErrorCompensation (EEC), accuracy is dramatically improvedto within 5km of the interfering signal.

SigX Protect bridges the gap between monitoring andeliminating interference using advanced cancellationalgorithms to remove interference while protecting thedesired signal. SigX Protect is installed at the receiveend of the communications chain only, adding minimaldelay or latency, making it an ideal solution for point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and cross-beam applications.Received RF signals are passed through the SigXProtect system, where any interference is cancelled out,and delivered to existing customer hardware for normalprocessing.

SatGuard identifies VSAT terminals causing Xpol orASI by extracting the terminal ID from the operationallink bursts, synchronising the operational and interferedlink, determining the interfering bursts, and correlatingthe information to determine the terminal ID causing theinterference. This enables operators to resolve VSATinterference in a matter of minutes. VeriSat has alsodeveloped a user-friendly solution to determine GSMbase station location by decoding the GSM interferenceand extracting the country ID and unique cell ID.

KRATOS DEFENSE & SECURITY SOLUTIONS

often not possible. With the new single satellite geolocationsolution from Siemens, most of these constraints are notrelevant anymore, which increases the success rate ofgeolocation systems dramatically.”

Most of today’s geolocation systems analyse theinterfering signal on the primary affected satellite, in additionto a secondary satellite that shares the same transmitfrequency, polarisation and coverage zone. The signal, havingtravelled over two different satellite links, is down-convertedand digitised at two monitoring stations; both samples arethen correlated, and the signal origin location is calculated.Innovators like Siemens Convergence Creators are nowstarting to launch single satellite geolocation (SSG) systemsthat don’t require the cooperation of a nearby adjacentsatellite to locate an interference source, enabling fasterresponses and interference mitigations.

Not all companies view geolocation products as the bestsolution for interference management. Juan M. Martinez,Technical Director at Integrasys, told Satellite Evolution thatIntegrasys has no plans for a geolocation product right now.“We provide more effective tools for service providers toanalyse the overall network interference in an automatedmanner with Alusat. This product can geolocate the remote,and also mitigate the remote interference, something no othersystem can, and much more effectively than any geolocationsystem,” said Martinez. “Today, service providers can see the



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major issue for the foreseeable future, despite the best effortsof many in the industry.

“Interference is still an increasing problem in the satelliteindustry. Currently, we can detect several trends which couldmake the interference problem worse,” said SiemensConvergence Creators’ Greilinger. “One problem is the newHTS. With hundreds of spot beams per satellite andincreasingly smaller antennas, they provide ideal conditionsfor creating interference.”

One of the most talked-about potential challenges is thenumber of very large satellite constellations coming online.In the next few years, OneWeb, SpaceX, Boeing etc. plan tolaunch tens of thousands of small satellites in LEO, on top ofthe already-significant number in orbit from Iridium and O3bNetworks.

Roger Boddy, CEO of Global Teleports, has highlightedthe eclipse of Earth from GEO satellites by LEO satellites asa huge potential challenge for satellite operators, likening theLEO of the future to the M25 around London. “One argumentpromoted by OneWeb is that the UK look angles for theirsatellites will be 45 degrees elevation – which, they argue,doesn’t interfere with geostationary orbit look angles of 20-30 degrees elevation. This ignores the point that the OneWebconstellation will pass through the line of sight ofgeostationary satellites and will thus be a potential source ofinterference,” commented Boddy to Satellite Evolution.

The iRG’s Martin Coleman holds a similar concern.“There’s one potentially-troubling subject that’s come ontothe horizon, namely the large satellite constellations. Whatwill 720 satellites do to our system? What will 4,025 do to it?

The truth is, nobody knows for sure. There isn’t a model ofour current system onto which we can mathematically addthese new satellites to work out what’s getting to affect who,and when,” said Coleman.

Greilinger agreed: “Thousands of small satellites will orbitthe Earth to provide Internet connectivity for everyone. Noinvestigations have been conducted so far to determine thethreat that these satellites are interfering with other satellites,or even terrestrial communication networks.”

Working together to identify the threats and respondadequately will continue to be a key priority. “I think it’simportant to note that fighting interference is not a one-company job. It has to be an industry-wide effort where weall work together and openly share information with each otherto mitigate and prevent future interference cases,” saidIntelsat’s Marentes.

Siemens Convergence Creators provides turnkeysolutions and services for communications networks,service and customer management, and spacetechnology, among others. Amongst its products is theSIECAMS suite, a range of satellite interference tools,including Carrier ID detection tool SIECAMS CID.

SIECAMS CMS is a fully-automated carr iermonitoring and interference detection system that canbe operated from a single central hub. The system usesdifferent measurement modes, providing different levelsof control and different levels of measurement dataoutput. An integrated interference localization functionenables the geographic localisation of interfering signals.

Siemens Convergence Creators added to itstraditional SIECAMS ILS geolocation system in January2017 when it launched its new satellite interferencegeolocation service, SIECAMS ILS ONE, the first workingsingle-satellite geolocation system that doesn’t requirean additional adjacent satellite. SIECAMS ILS Oneanalyses signal distortions that are primarily caused bysatellite movement, atmospheric or weather influences,and other environmental factors. Using patentedquantum correlation algorithms, SIECAMS ILS ONE canidentify the precise area of an interference source bycomparing signal distortions of the interference signalwith known signals.

SIEMENS CONVERGENCE CREATORS GMBH

Glowlink offers a range of products aimed at improvingsatellite communications and mitigating interferences,spanning carr ier and spectrum monitor ing andinterference detection and geolocation, among others.

In addition to its standard, wideband and ultra-wideband DSP spectrum monitoring solutions, Glowlinkoffers the GS380S Signal Separation System, whichseparates two signals that overlap in the same frequencyusing only minimal information about the primary carrier,an ideal solution for solving major interference. TheGS308X Interference Removal System, meanwhile,effectively removes all noise and interference regardlessof type (hopping, burst, modulated, unmodulated, etc.),again armed with just minimal information about theprimary carrier.

Glowlink also has three products in its geolocationsuite. The Model 8000 Integrated Geolocation andSpectrum Monitoring System is, according to Glowlink,the only product on the market with the entire system(acquisition hardware and processing software)integrated on a single, rack-mountable chassis. It issuccessful even with challenging satellite configurations,such as distant adjacent satellites (e.g. 20 degrees),satellites in highly-inclined orbits, and satellites with verylittle motion.

Glowlink also offers a proprietary single satellitegeolocation (SSG) product, which is currently in its fourthgeneration. The SSG enables interference sources tobe located without the assistance of a second satelliteby performing the geolocation operation directly on theinterference signal itself.

Meanwhile, the GS380L Geolocation SignalEnhancement System was designed to dramaticallyimprove the performance of geolocation systems. Theproduct separately processes the signal of the primarysatellite and its side-lobe replica on the adjacent satellite,virtually cloning the interference signal and the replicaand then processing these clones to yield the requiredgeolocation results. The GS380L is compatible with boththe Model 8000 and the SSG.

GLOWLINK



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Documents

May/June 2017 - satelliteevolutiongroup.com · In line with the incredible developments space technology can provide, the UK Space Innovation and Growth Strategy 2010-2030 (IGS) has