[Back at ya] Raytheon Demonstrates the Delivery of Broadband Multimedia Applications Over Two-Way, Ka-Band Satellite
Collaborative Applications Development Center Incorporates Raytheon's Ka-Band SatCom Customer Premise Equipment to Test Future Services with Leading Content Providers, Carriers
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 1999-- Raytheon's commercial SatCom terminal business unit today announced that it has successfully demonstrated simultaneous broadband video, high-speed LAN-to-WAN, Internet and telephony services using its one-meter dish over a live, two-way Ka-Band satellite link as part of its newly established collaborative satellite communications Applications Development Center.
This represents a significant milestone for the industry since more than $3 billion has been raised and invested in the last 15 months by market leaders to deploy next-generation, two-way satellite communications networks and services.
''Raytheon is excited to be a part of this new burgeoning market, and we're pleased to see the shared commitment to this market by leading broadband satellite system developers that have secured funding for the first phase of network development,'' said Dean Frew, leader of Raytheon's commercial SatCom terminal business unit. ''We're leveraging our strong product heritage in broadband communications to provide this commercial market with a solution to one of the toughest problems in these new wireless broadband networks -- low-cost customer premise equipment.''
Building on its leadership in terrestrial point-to-multipoint technology, Raytheon and its network of partners have devoted two years of focused development to provide low-cost broadband satellite customer premise equipment. The company's advanced antenna designs, transceivers and high-speed burst modems support a range of architectures, including outdoor and indoor units with user-friendly interfaces and a wide variety of applications for business and residential use. The company is currently seeking learning partnerships with leading multimedia content and Internet applications providers to test existing and future broadband services in its demonstration facility.
Compared to wired alternatives, such as ADSL, cable modems and fiber access, broadband satellite communications represent a cost-effective means for service providers to quickly reach large customer segments previously unreachable. A recent Pioneer Consulting study predicted that beyond 2002, this ubiquitous access technology will realize an equivalent revenue stream to its wired counterparts because of its ability to address residential and business customers equally well.
Raytheon's Applications Development Center, located in Dallas, has an established a two-way link through NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), the only non-military Ka-Band satellite currently deployed over the Western Hemisphere. This state-of-the-art demonstration series will deliver a broad array of advanced, data-intensive services including CD quality audio and video entertainment, interactive distance learning, telemedicine, e-commerce and virtual private networks for collaborative knowledge workers. In addition, Raytheon's collaborative lab will make use of video/audio streaming, video conferencing, electronic transaction processing, high speed Internet access, large data file transfers using TCP/IP protocols and advanced telephony and data services.
''Our vision for the Applications Development Center is for our learning partner teams to examine the delivery of data-intensive applications using next generation satellite communications,'' Frew added. ''We are demonstrating the numerous benefits of broadband satellite infrastructure, which will deliver these services to business and consumer users worldwide who lack affordable access, including the growing group of telecommuters that work in remote locales.''
Currently, the Applications Development Center features separate receive and transmit terminals that support DS-1 rates across the ACTS satellite. Using ATM protocols, the system simultaneously supports LAN to WAN connectivity at greater than 700 Kbps, video conferencing at 512 Kbps, ISDN at 192 Kbps and dual 64 Kbps telephony, over the Ka Band satellite. Soon the DS-1 link will be programmable with the ability to allocate bandwidth instantaneously where needed by the application. The various applications demonstrated to date include videoteleconferencing, telephony, corporate extranet broadcast, collaborative presentation development using Microsoft NetMeeting, high-speed 196 Kbps Internet downloads, along with movies and video clips.
In its product development, Raytheon employs a modular approach that permits its broadband satellite terminal solutions to be tailored to specific system needs. This provides larger volume subsystem production runs, simplified assembly and installation, and standardized upgrades, making high performance broadband access affordable for small business and consumers, as well as enterprises and larger businesses.
Raytheon's commercial SatCom terminal business leverages the company's technical heritage and expertise in broadband terrestrial wireless systems, digital signal processing and satellite communications, to develop terminal solutions that are highly scalable, reliable, future proof and flexible enough to accommodate instantaneous changes and demands required by users and satellite service providers. Raytheon currently is establishing relationships with content, network equipment and service providers that share its commitment to the development of broadband satellite market.
The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) project features a unique opportunity for U.S. companies to experiment advance high data rate concepts and internet protocols and standards through June 2000. Additional information is available at acts.grc.nasa.gov. |
