[Satellite TODAY 12-09-10] Cisco completed a VoIP call using its Internet Router in Space (IRIS) and also made the first software upgrade of an Internet Protocol (IP) router aboard a commercial satellite while in orbit, the company announced Dec. 7.
    The VoIP call, completed without the use of any terrestrial infrastructure, was the first use of Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express to make a VoIP phone call via a router in space. Benefits of such capability include the ability to route voice, data and video traffic between users over a single IP network more efficiently and with greater cost effectiveness, Cisco said.
    Cisco also updated the IOS software in the router to enable a variety of capabilities for enhanced management that already are available for Cisco’s terrestrial products. The upgrade also enables additional security features, including hardware-based encryption.
    IRIS was launched in November 2009 aboard Intelsat’s IS-14 satellite as part of a
a U.S. Department of Defense test for use of next-generation satellite-based IP services and communications from space. Since completing its Pentagon mission, IRIS has been used to perform commercial communications test. In October, Cisco and Astrium demonstrated IRIS services such as multicasting, which enables the delivery of information to a group of destination computers simultaneously in a single transmission.