When historians look back at the late 20th century, the development and subsequent improvements of Internet protocol (IP) likely will be heralded as one of the most significant developments of modern man. In a little more than a decade, IP has become the singular standard the entire world has rallied around, enabling seamless connectivity, all manner of new electronic devices and communication services, and global connectivity.

A scant 20 years ago, network architects generally fell into one of two camps: terrestrial or satellite. At the time, deploying a wide area network across hundreds or thousands of locations required all-or-nothing decisions, because it was too expensive and time consuming to develop and optimize mainframe applications for more than one network topology. Satellite solutions were considered highly specialized and well out of the mainstream.

The widespread deployment of IP networks has helped hybridize wide area networks, with network architects blending terrestrial, wireless and satellite components; using each technology’s strength where best suited. The interchangeability of different transport technologies is accelerating so quickly it begs the question: Has the era of satellite-only networks finally reached an end? If so, does that consequently mean that the era of the terrestrial-only network is over as well, and what affect will network hybridization have on the satellite industry as a whole?

Satellite-Only Networks

No company is more synonymous with VSATs than Hughes. Since the mid-1980s, the company has been a force in the networking world, rolling out scores of networks, each totaling thousands of end points, but four years ago, the company adopted a managed services approach, offering customers comprehensive solutions which included terrestrial circuits as well as satellite. But as Hughes adjusts to the changes, senior vice president Mike Cook disagrees that satellite-only networks will disappear. "There are still large numbers of customers that rely on satellite networks. We have customers that have been using satellite exclusively for over 15 years and it still does the job cost effectively and will continue to do so," he says. Cook reviewed some of the benefits a satellite-only network provides, stressing ubiquitous coverage, ease of management and low staffing requirements, which is very important to information technology departments with limited resources, but he did acknowledge that hybrid networks offered benefits in specific applications.

"One of the main drivers for a review of an enterprise network is a change in applications," says Cook. "A good example is consumers shifting away from credit cards in favor of debit cards. A debit card transaction requires online authentication. Credit card transactions on the other hand can be collected and done in batch mode at a later time should there be a network problem. This transition to debit cards has driven demand for networks with higher availability. In this case, a hybrid network is the best approach. IP enables network architects to use two different transport technologies, such as satellite and DSL, at the same location. If one fails, the traffic is automatically rerouted and the switchover is extremely fast. Utilizing a hybrid approach, customers can achieve network availability in excess of 99.9 percent," he says.

Cook also cites the inherent advantages that satellite technology still brings to the table when being compared to terrestrial options, such as it being more flexible, and, setting aside the costs of the VSAT hardware, less expensive. "The price per megabit is extremely cost-effective. Customers can select which applications, such as file transfer, to send over satellite. For instance, it is much more cost effective to send a file once over satellite than pumping it down multiple terrestrial circuits," he says. "There have been great improvements in satellite technology over the last decade. There are higher throughputs and better coding techniques. Overall, the performance of satellite networks has improved dramatically. Although hybrid networks are gaining some traction, satellite-only networks will continue for a long time."

But there still will be a decline in the number of satellite-only networks in the future, as customers seek more than just space segment, says Brendan Murray and Cathy DePeuter of Futron, a consultancy based in Bethesda, Md. "In the past, large satellite operators such as Intelsat were precluded by their charters from offering anything except satellite services. Intelsat always had the technical capability to create a hybrid network infrastructure, but prior to their privatization in 2001, they were strictly limited as to what they could sell. This forced them to promote their satellite services based on the geographical coverage of their footprints and the strength of their beams. What their customers really wanted to know was: ‘Can you get from Point A to Point B is a single step?’

"Satellite carriers are becoming more vertically integrated and it is a much better value proposition for the customer," say the analysts. "Companies that can provide end-to-end services are much better positioned for the future…. Satellite companies are now offering these types of services. Satellite-only solutions may reduce overall, but since the satellite companies are becoming more hybridized anyway, they shouldn’t fret since they’ll just be selling more services. There are worse things in life than finding new revenue streams."

A Glimpse into the Future

Gary Hale leads Cisco’s global team for Media, Satellite & Broadcast and also supports the Government Video and IP Routing in Space (IRIS) initiatives. Hale see satellite technology coexisting with other transport technologies even more closely in the future hybridized network. "IP has changed the wireless, telephone and cable markets. Now it is changing the satellite market," he says. "If you look at satellite hubs built for the enterprise, governments and consumers, they all employ very different infrastructures; but if you look at a WiMax or a telco carrier’s infrastructure, it isn’t that way. There is only one type of infrastructure with different applications and different quality of service levels for different groups of users. Every success in the telecommunications industry has been based on standards, and the satellite industry must adopt a standards-based approach. The R6 interface is a good example in the WiMax market. Standardization on this interface made the market viable, but satellite is still not there."

"One of the main drivers for a review of an enterprise network is a change in applications. […] Utilizing a hybrid approach, customers can achieve network availability in excess of 99.9 percent." — Cook, Hughes Network Systems

If a manufacturer of satellite modems were to build to the R6 standard, telecommunication carriers could control satellite modems as if the modem was in a WiMax or cellular network. "There are some big issues confronting the adoption of satellite technology. They include the provisioning and cost of equipment. In addition, each service is unique and you can’t generally operate in a mesh configuration. Plus, you require multiple types of hubs. Speed is agility. How fast can I provision and monetize services? What is the user experience on delivery? These are all challenges that must be overcome for satellite to compete with and complement other transport and access technologies."

Although he was tight lipped about the companies involved, Hale confirmed that Cisco is in discussions with different manufacturers of satellite modems regarding the adoption of the R6 interface standard. "Everyone is interested in satellite because they know it has a role, but they aren’t sure of the migration or integration process," he says. "There are a lot of satellite services that will continue to operate. The question will be: ‘How can you transition to a new service model without destroying your revenue base?’ You can’t just throw away the gold. The answer is in the value of a multiservice IP core that allows you to deliver legacy services but also support cost-effective deployment of new services across any access technology, including satellite."

The ultimate answer for consumers may be a media gateway — a platform which would connect to both satellite and fiber circuits. "The media gateway would allow simultaneous video, audio and gaming. There are discussions going on right now to determine how all the pieces will fit together," says Hale, who also trumpets the merits of Ka-band for delivering enhanced services. "Ka-band offers several advantages. One, there are spot beams which allow frequency reuse. Two, bandwidth speeds are significantly higher than Ku-band. These two points are important for satellite in the future. Then you must look at the satellite and ask how it will be part of an overall network."

Key questions will need to be answered before these systems can take hold, such as where are the services coming from, what are the best distribution points, and what would be the optimal ground system design to work with the satellite system, says Hale. "Another big hurdle for satellite is how to do mesh networking, or business-to-business connectivity without doing a double hop. If the routing was done in the satellite, the user experience is significantly better (less latency for real time and two-way services) and the operator cost is much less (half the bandwidth)."

The IRIS program, which Cisco is collaborating on with Intelsat and a team of industry players under a Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) for the U.S. Department of Defense, could help provide many answers. Under the effort, Cisco is providing the IP payload, including a space-hardened router and software which is upgradeable from the ground. The router package will be integrated on Intelsat’s IS-14 satellite, scheduled for launch this fall. The three-year program will allow the Pentagon to evaluate the benefits of extending the Internet into space, and Hale sees multiple advantages of this type of system. "First, if you eliminate the central hub you can recoup a 3-dB advantage on your space segment. With the router in space, you also get much faster provisioning, which is obviously very important in military situations. A space-based router makes it much easier for users to demand additional bandwidth when needed. Since the router is part of the IP cloud, new services can be deployed as they become available and the satellite can provide resiliency for terrestrial services. The final benefit is the ability to communicate dish-to-dish," enabling real-time and two-way collaboration.

While the IRIS project is being driven by the Department of Defense, it is easy to transpose military advantages to the commercial world, says Hale. Imagine home-to-home communications using a small dish without the need for a hub; eliminating the double hop would be significant. Quicker provisioning speeds would improve user experiences. Cisco’s internal studies suggest that broadband connectivity will promote the transition of pure voice calls to videoconferencing by consumers. "Cisco did a large study on video to understand people’s attitudes. In the future, we see people using their big screen televisions for videoconferencing. Within five years, collaborative video will be driving the services that people use," he says.

Conclusion

It is apparent that network visionaries understand the benefits satellite technology affords, but the exact role satellite will adopt is not yet clear, nor is the migration path. "Satellite is an important network technology, but there are some challenges that must be addressed," Hale says. "First and foremost, manufacturers need to use a standards-driven approach. Then we need to make satellite an integral part of the new world rather than a side part. Satellite services will ultimately need to look more like the wireless model, focusing on a good user experience. Lastly, we need to merge satellite and ground segment to optimize network performance while enhancing service options and resiliency."

The prescient and perceptive all admit to satellite’s grander role in networks of the future. Some have summarized the industry enjoying a smaller piece of a bigger pie, which sounds good on the surface, but there will be both winners and losers as satellite technology continues to hybridize with terrestrial and wireless offerings. The era of satellite-only networks is not over, but the days of satellite being an exclusive networking technology are dwindling quickly.