| Satellite
Resources |
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e-sax
|
The
London Satellite Exchange (e-sax) is an online trading floor for the
satellite communications industry. |
|
COMSAT |
Provider of international satellite
communications services on the global systems of INTELSAT (International
Telecommunications Satellite Organization) and Inmarsat.
Offers ATM via Satellite services to telecommunications
carriers and multinational corporations at speeds from fractional
T1 to 8 Mbps, and at E-3 (34 Mbps) or DS-3 (45 Mbps).
Developed an ATM link enhancer (ALE) that significantly
improves the ability to maintain physical layer framing in a
burst error environment and reduces ATM cell loss probability
by several orders of magnitude |
|
NASA's Advanced Communication Technology Satellite |
A NASA satellite operating in the Ka-band (30/20 GHz) where there
is 2.5 GHz of spectrum available with a microwave switch matrix
which enables gigabit per second communication between users.
Very high-gain, multiple hopping beam antenna systems provide
smaller aperture Earth stations with interconnectivity between
users at the individual circuit level. The ACTS satellite was
built for NASA by Lockheed Martin and launched in 1993. NASA's
Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio is responsible for the
development, management and operation of ACTS
Web site provides access to demonstration projects and experiments,
operation schedules, earth stations and technical papers. |
|
ACTS Gigabit Satellite Network |
The Gigabit Satellite Network, which was developed by NASA's
Lewis Research Center and DARPA ITO, consists of a system of
four High Data-Rate (HDR) ground stations designed to be used
with ACTS. Ground stations are located at the Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in Livermore, California; Sprint Corp in Overland Park, Kansas;
and Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The system can
provide three simplex OC-12 links, twelve OC-3 links or a mix
of OC-3 and OC-12, up to an aggregate data rate of 622 Mbps on
each transponder path. Web site includes information on Systems
characteristics, Ground Stations, Experiments Program, and Technical
papers. |
|
Alcatel's SkyBridge |
A proposed constellation of 64 low-earth orbiting (LEO) satellites
supporting global broadband services capable of downstream speeds
of up to 60Mbps, with up to 2 Mbps on the return link. The
SkyBridge system will operate in the Ku-band, and employ a concept
of frequency re-use to protect existing geostationary and terrestrial
broadcasting. The project is led Alcatel Alsthom; additional
investors include Loral Space & Communication, Toshiba,
Mitsubishi Electric, Sharp, SPAR Aerospace of Canada, Aerospatiale
and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales - France. Alcatel expects
its first SkyBridge services be rolled out by the end of 2001. |
|
Teledesic |
A proposed global, broadband "Internet-in-the-Sky"
based on a constellation of 288 low-Earth-orbit satellites, plus
"spares.". Teledesic is backed by Craig McCaw,
Bill Gates and The Boeing Company, which leads the international
team to manufacture and launch the satellites. The constellation
will operate in the Ka-band and will provide up to
64 Mbps on the downlink and up to 2 Mbps on the uplink for small
dishes, and 64 Mbps bi-directionally for broadband terminals.
Design, production and deployment costs are estimated at
US$9 billion. Service launch is expected in 2002. In May 1998,
Motorola agreed to fold its proposed Celestri network into the
Teledesic network |
|
Lockheed Martin's ASTROLINK |
An independent company jointly owned
by Lockheed Martin and international network operators. The group
plans to use on-board processing and spot beam technology demonstrated
in the ACTS and intersatellite crosslinks demonstrated on Milstar,
to build a constellation of nine Ka-band satellites. Each
satellite is expected to have a capacity of 6 Gbps -- and downlink
data rates are expected to range from 384 Kbps (90 cm dish) to
9.2 Mbps (1.8 m dish). Intersatellite links will operate
at 340 Mbps using 60 GHz frequency. |
|
ATM
Via Satellite Page by Tolga Ors |
Provides an overview of work done on ATM over Satellite, as well
as links to projects, publications, and companies active in the
field |
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Sky Station |
A project to float broadband switching
equipment using "lighter than air" platforms in the
stratosphere (approximately 22 km) over a major metropolitan
area. Data services are expected to range from 2Mbps-10Mbps
using the 47 GHz frequency band (47.2-47.5 GHz stratosphere-to-earth
and 47.9-48.2 GHz earth-to-stratosphere). First deployments are
targetted for 2000. Main contractors include Lindstrand Balloons
Ltd. (LBL) for the airship, Finmeccanica S.p.A. Alenia Aerospazio
(Alenia Aerospazio) and Spar Aerospace of Canada for the communications
payload, and Thomson-CSF for the ground electronics and user
terminals. Sky Station is backed by Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.,
former Secretary of State, White House Chief of Staff, Supreme
Allied Commander of NATO. |
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IETF's TCP Over Satellite Working Group |
Internet Engineering Task Force's
TCP Over Satellite Working Group. Site includes charter,
mailing list and archive, Internet Drafts, reseach groups, meetings
info and related papers. |
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The Satellite Networks & Architectures Branch
of NASA's Lewis Research Center |
Mission includes the study of next-generation,
space-based, NII/GII architectures and hybrid satellite network
testbeds. |
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The Center for Satellite and Hybrid Communication
Networks (CSHCN) |
The Center for Satellite and Hybrid
Communications Networks at the University of Maryland is a NASA
sponsored Commercial Space Center whose mission is to form partnerships
with industry to transform concepts for hybrid networks into
profitable business ventures. |
