Freeband TV News

Internet to broadcast from a satellite near you

Chris Andrews

Cisco announces successful initial testing of its space-based IP router

Back in 2007, the US Defence Department commissioned Cisco and Intelsat to run a joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) – a fast track investigation into new technologies for fighting wars – looking at the potential for space-based IP routing.

Three years on, and things are looking interesting. On 23 November last year, Intelsat’s IS-14 satellite was launched, carrying a payload which could lead to a sea change in satellite communications, and eventually commercial broadband services.

This week Cisco announced that it had achieved a successful in-orbit test of that payload, its IRIS (Internet Routing in Space) technology, making it the first deployment of an IP router aboard a commercial GEO satellite. This is stirring stuff.

Cisco says that IRIS will support network services for voice, video and data communications, helping enable government agencies, military units and allied forces to communicate with one another using Internet Protocol and existing ground equipment.

Like many technologies, and GPS immediately springs to mind, this is starting life as a military application, but the plan is to eventually convert it to commercial use following the JCTD, which ends in April this year.

"This milestone is another step in our strategy to expand borderless networks into space and redefine how satellite communications are delivered,” said Steven Boutelle, Vice President, Cisco Global Government Solutions Group. “This technology can help transform satellite communications around the world by reducing latency and increasing the efficiency."

While it is, of course, very early days, the potential for IRIS is pretty exciting. The router and onboard modem software can be upgraded in orbit, and bandwidth can be allocated on a bespoke basis, which should lead to higher speeds and better performance.

The technology can route data to multiple ground receivers in a single step, eliminating the need to double-hop to a teleport. This means greatly reduced latency and increased transponder utilisation. This has obvious ramifications for communications, removing transmission delay for example, and will also make satellite broadband a much more viable option, particularly where ping time is an issue.

"The IRIS demonstration is an important first step toward making Internet routing in space a reality that could ultimately enable the Intelsat system to make more efficient use of bandwidth," said Kay Sears, President of Intelsat General Corp. "By eliminating the need for routing at a ground-based teleport, we can dramatically increase the efficiency, flexibility and data throughput of satellite links."

Cisco has said that it will be working with satellite manufacturers, systems integrators and end users to help enable them to deliver services globally to points outside traditional ground-based networks. Again, it is early days, and even if the military tests continue to be successful, as well as the commercial tests that follow, it will obviously take time to get usable coverage up and running, and to achieve the economies of scale necessary to make this affordable for consumers.

However, if IRIS moves in the right direction, there is potential here for a revolutionary change in the way broadband is delivered, particularly for those outside densely populated coverage areas, with any-time, any-where connection becoming a reality.

Latest Press Releases