Innovative Satellite Networking Solutions to Support Growing End User Demands Oil and Gas. September 2015

Transcription

1 Innovative Satellite Networking Solutions to Support Growing End User Demands Oil and Gas September 2015

2 Introduction The dynamic evolution of advanced technology in the oil and gas industry is continuing to enable geophysical assessment, drilling, exploration and production. The connectivity requirements in this market are also changing and companies are demanding more throughput to support bandwidth-rich applications, such as live video monitoring, file transfer, seismic data transmission, voice, data and video conferencing, telemedicine, system automation and vessel management applications. The ever-increasing demand for higher throughput to support real-time data helps in proper decision making, leading to improved efficiencies which in turn can provide real competitive advantage. Beyond rig operations, production crew morale and welfare are significantly improved by the provision of broadband applications that are part of their daily life and even more so during long periods away from home. Online training can be enhanced in real-time with the ability to hold video conferencing and access to online training courses. This growing demand puts a pressure on service providers as they have to balance the need for higher throughput to support these applications, to meet the stringent Service Level Agreements (SLAs) inherent to this market and to provide the flexibility to grow a network gracefully as demand increases all while minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). To achieve this, service providers need to choose the most net efficient, reliable and scalable satellite networking solutions supporting the throughput needed today and tomorrow. The selection of the right ground equipment technology is critical to support end users dynamic operations and to provide the highest possible performance and differentiation of service that ultimately will increase the quality of the end user s experience. Today s Main Market Challenges in the Oil & Gas Market In today's oil and gas operations, a high-performance communications network that can scale with emerging higher bandwidth applications has become a critical requirement. Service providers in this market need a comprehensive business model and an overall strategy to provide differentiated services. The main objective is to keep headquarters connected to exploration, production and drilling operations, to ensure their end users operational integrity and provide seamless coverage to remote areas across the globe. But, there is a set of high-pressure challenges that service providers face. Challenge 1: Create Service Differentiation through Multiple Business Models to increase market share and quickly adapt to changing business requirements. Service providers must have the ability to manage their satellite resources and network components as part of a complex network management system. At the same time, they need to create opportunities for automation, user satisfaction, and additional business revenue opportunities, while maintaining contracted SLAs. Challenge 2: Minimize OPEX through Increased Bandwidth Efficiency to Create New Revenue Streams and Better Value to Customers. The key is to be able to fit more data into the available satellite bandwidth, both to increase the bits per second per Hertz, and to lower the cost per bit per second. Challenge 3: Control CAPEX through Scalable Equipment Platform to Maximize Profits which entails finding a cost efficient platform that provides an entry-level, low-cost hub configuration with the flexibility to expand as the business grows and more remote terminals are deployed in the field. Challenge 4: Meet the Increased Demand for Higher Throughput Capabilities due to bandwidth-intensive applications such as real-time drilling data management, seismic information, live video monitoring and surveillance, and other geophysical applications, telemedicine and full corporate network access. 2

3 Challenge 5: Support Increasingly Complex Satellite Networks and Future-proofing Satellite Network Infrastructure New satellite designs bring new technical complexity. This is the case for high throughput satellites (HTS) where the combination of spectrum efficiency and performance of spot-beam antennas with ultra-wideband transponders enables unprecedented levels of bandwidth and throughput. Challenge 6: Provide Global Connectivity Where and When Customers Need it Dynamically It is critical to provide global connectivity to oil and gas operations in some of the most remote and harsh environments. For users in the oil and gas market segment, the need to dynamically maintain vessel connectivity on-the-move with minimal service interruptions is paramount. Market Demand Drivers and Applications The telecommunications needs of the oil and gas industry have increased significantly over the last few years and rely on robust satellite platforms, even more so given the challenging (remote) areas around the world where they are installed. Oil and gas companies communication systems must support not only regular business applications but also exploration and production facilities in far remote locations. Satellite-based networks have become the infrastructure of choice for offshore oil and gas applications due to advancements in stabilized antenna systems, technologies for optimizing bandwidth and methods of sharing bandwidth capacity. While each organization is unique, there are common market drivers for oil and gas communications: The immediate, highly reliable and cost-effective connectivity from exploration vessels, workboats, production platforms and tankers to offices onshore The increasing quality of drilling operations video to allow for quick decision making The increasing crew morale and welfare to minimize churn and on-board costs The continuous remote monitoring and measurement The dynamic bandwidth allocation to support customer s changing operations The simplified configuration and network management for deepwater facilities and vessels where specialized communications staff may not be on site Figure 1: Applications Driving Demands in Oil and Gas Market Comtech EF Data understands the challenges service providers face in oil and gas. More than ever, with the fast pace of technology advancement a service provider must innovate to elevate their services and stay ahead of market demands in order to run a sustainably profitable business. 3

4 With a client portfolio of well-known service providers in the oil and gas market, Comtech EF Data has extensive expertise with a deep understanding of the applications and challenges inherent to this market. This enables us to offer high-performance satellite-based communications solutions that can scale with a fast growing business. These solutions are specifically designed to address today s requirements and future challenges in a cost-effective manner. The way we are tackling these challenges and addressing the oil and gas market needs is with our extensive range of products that incorporate the latest advanced technologies and provide: Robust intelligence to maximize the Quality of Experience (QoE) of the end user Groundbreaking, industry-leading bandwidth efficiency and network optimization to control costs Unparalleled horsepower to support ever-increasing end user traffic demand Comtech EF Data Product Positioning and Suitability for Oil and Gas Comtech EF Data has a number of products, the Heights Networking Platform, the CDM-625A and the CDM- 570A modems, each tailored to address different aspects of the oil and gas market. The Heights Networking Platform is the best option for a larger network (20+ sites). The Heights is well suited to address the amount of throughput required to support bandwidth-intensive applications on an onshore oil rig or an offshore oil platform. The entry-level model, the CDM-570A Satellite Modem can be used for point-to-point networks or point-tomultipoint (hub-and-spoke) networks. For hub-and-spoke topology, this modem can address smaller networks between 5 to sites with low throughput requirement, typically less than 1 Mbps inbound data rate for each. The CDM-625A is best suited for point-to-point networks with data rate greater than 2 Mbps. Supplemental to this and certainly enhancing our modems and networking platforms are our RF products. Any of our RF products, in any band and any power levels can be managed by our NetVue Integrated Management System. Figure 2 below provides a graphic representation of how we position our products for oil and gas. 4

5 Figure 2: Product Positioning Facing Future Challenges - Comtech EF Data Product Suite Comtech EF Data offers reliable, flexible and cost-effective solutions for your satellite-based network infrastructure. Our extensive range of networking platforms, RF products, satellite modems, bandwidth and network operations management systems are designed to solve the communication challenges between onshore offices and your geographically dispersed rigs and vessels. Heights Networking Platform Solution Designed to address the market challenges and meet the evolving demands of a diverse multi-tenant end user community, Heights is a scalable networking platform that utilizes a fully managed platform with seamless integration into a service provider s network. The most net efficient, flexible and powerful platform in the industry, Heights leverages a single comprehensive user interface teamed with a powerful traffic analytics engine that allows customers to easily design, implement, monitor, control and optimize their network. The result is an elevated QoE for users. Equipped to support the most demanding networks on traditional wide beams, new HTS spot beams or a combination of both, users can increase market share and grow revenues while controlling costs. The intelligence, horsepower and efficiency of this platform as outlined in Figure 3 provide unmatched performance while minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership. Heights Key Differentiators Comprehensive and dynamic bandwidth management Bandwidth efficiency Compression mechanisms Highest link availability with bidirectional Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) Advanced multi-level Quality of Service (QoS) True layer 2 operation Low latency and jitter High throughput and packets per second processing capacity 5

6 Figure 3: Heights Attributes CDM-570A Point-to-Point or Point-to-Multipoint (Hub-and-Spoke) Modem Comtech EF Data has been a thought leader in the high-end satellite ground equipment market for decades, providing users and service providers in oil and gas the most cost-effective satellite networking solutions. The CDM-570A Satellite Modem (Figure 4) has industry-leading performance and flexibility in a 1 RU package at a very competitive price. With support for VersaFEC low latency LDPC Forward Error Correction (FEC), the revolutionary DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier bandwidth compression, and optimized transmit filter rolloffs, the CDM-570A provides significant bandwidth savings. This entry-level modem is perfectly positioned to provide the most efficient solution to best support low data rate point-to-point links, while also powering the point-to-multipoint shared satellite networking market for small to medium networks. Figure 4: CDM-570A Modem CDM-625A Point-to-Point Modem The CDM-625A (Figure 5) Advanced Satellite Modem builds on our legacy of providing the most efficient and reliable satellite modems. It is best suited for point-to-point networks. With support for VersaFEC Forward Error Correction (FEC), DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier, tight rolloffs and advanced packet processing, the CDM-625A provides significant savings under all conditions. This combination of advanced technologies enables multidimensional optimization, allowing end users to: Minimize operating expenses (OPEX) Maximize throughput without using additional transponder resources Maximize availability (margin) without using additional transponder resources Minimize capital expenses (CAPEX) by allowing a smaller BUC/HPA and/or antenna or a combination to meet specific business needs 6

7 Figure 5: CDM-625A Modem RF Products Our LPOD-R family of Outdoor Amplifiers / Block up Converters (BUCs) deliver rated power, guaranteed, to the transmit waveguide flange at the 1 db compression point. There are three LPOD-R models available PS.5, PS 1 and PS 1.5. Each LPOD-R consists of a SSPA module with the Monitor/Control Processor (MCP), a power supply and a fan assembly. To ensure the maximum usable output power with stable operation over a wide range of environmental conditions, the units feature a low loss combining technique and MCP-based temperature-versus-gain compensation. The LPOD-R units are compact in size and weight and overcome the real estate constraints due to the limited size of the rigs platforms. Figure 6 shows our range of LPOD-R BUCs. Figure 6: Family of LPOD-R BUCs Comtech EF Data Product Matrix for Oil and Gas Market Table 1 below provides a feature summary of the different products and where each fits. Features Heights CDM-570A CDM-625A Point-to-point Network Topology Hub-and-spoke Mesh network support Point-to-point (any size) < 2 Mbps / link > 2 Mbps / link Hub-and-spoke Network Topology / Network Size / Small network, < 5 Mbps outbound Data Rate Small network, < 512 kbps return Medium network,> 5 Mbps outbound Medium network, > 512 Kbps return Large network Point-to-point VLAN support/layer 2 operation Hub-and-spoke QoS Single layer Multi layer DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier Point-to-point Bi-directional ACM Point-to-point Hub-and-spoke Data encryption (Future) (3xDES) (AES) Sync EIA- Sync EIA- 422/530, V.35, Data interfaces 422/530, V.35, G.703 Gigabit EIA-232, G.703 T1/E1/T2/E2, Ethernet T1/E1, Quad G /100Base T E1, ASI, HSSI, 10/100Base T Table 1: Product Matrix for Oil and Gas 7

8 Improve Customer Satisfaction Focus on Quality of Experience (QoE) There are a multitude of vendors claiming the best optimization available. However, we believe that for a successful business model, oil and gas service providers must place a focus on QoE. QoE is a necessary benchmark, which provides a true end-to-end view of offered services, even though it is subjective and based on end-users perceptual feedback. Any limitations in QoE can immediately lead to unsatisfactory user experience, decreased productivity, revenue loss and customers churn. Figure 7 summarizes the key attributes needed in order to deliver the best QoE to end users. Let s delve into what Quality of Experience means for you in this market. Figure 7: Main attributes for a maximized QoE Robust Intelligence Managing large-scale and geographically distributed oil and gas facilities is extremely difficult, especially with sites that do not have technical personnel. Service providers must be able to monitor and control remote sites anytime, and from anywhere. Throughout the life of a network, a great deal of intelligence is required to ensure your end users are delivered a maximized QoE. The ability to acquire and apply knowledge, to gather network information, and to dynamically manage bandwidth operations are key issues faced by service providers. Comtech EF Data s solution to these issues is our NetVue Integrated Management System with dynamic bandwidth management. NetVue leverages a single intuitive graphical user interface teamed with a powerful traffic analytics engine that acts as a user-friendly front-end to monitor and control network 8

9 equipment and allows simplified design, implementation, monitor, control and network optimization for an elevated QoE. It is comprehensive network management that allows users to intelligently maximize resources, ensure network uptime and provides the elevated levels of service that are required to support fixed and remote sites. NetVue is coupled with a dynamic bandwidth manager to provide scalable, dynamic satellite capacity management that facilitates bandwidth-sharing, automates space segment allocation and manages pools of available bandwidth. This feature provides the architecture to dynamically manage bandwidth operations without requiring dedicated bandwidth for each remote location. Customers can remotely modify bandwidth allocations as requirements change automatically by the type of traffic or the traffic load, or manually, without requiring costly upgrades or site visits. Unlike MF-TDMA systems, return traffic packets are not fragmented to meet the burst length criteria, which in those systems impose additional overhead management traffic. Using NetVue for network provisioning, monitoring and control reduces NOC personnel workloads and data duplication through operations optimization and automation. It also reduces CAPEX and TCO through increased efficiency of network usage, and it improves QoE through error minimization, proactive troubleshooting and trouble ticket prioritization. Support of Multiple Business Models How can service providers support multiple business models in a cost-effective manner and create service differentiation? Our solution resides in our Heights Networking Platform. Heights is a robust carrier-class solution that supports multiple business models simultaneously, from full hub ownership, to collocation at a third party teleport facility to Virtual Network Operator (VNO) operations. The Heights platform comes with two hub configurations each seamlessly enabling connectivity with existing IP infrastructure and capable of providing user IP throughputs of up to 450 Mbps per outbound. Heights Solo Designed to support a single private network with one shared outbound and shared bandwidth pool for inbound connections. Heights VNO Designed to support the hosting of multiple VNO networks simultaneously, it provides multiple outbound carriers along with multiple bandwidth pools for inbound connections. The VNO capability is implemented with Heights to support multiple service providers over the same platform and create virtual customer networks based on secured access policies defined by the Host Network Operator (HNO). Three VNO models are supported. Model 1: Each VNO has separate hardware and a separate outbound/inbound bandwidth pool VNOs only share the NetVue IMS with bandwidth manager and the rack This model can meet the needs of a customer wanting to operate its own dedicated network in the service provider s teleport using the service provider s RF and antenna(s) Model 2: The VNOs share the outbound bandwidth, but have a separate inbound bandwidth pool In addition to sharing the NetVue IMS with bandwidth manager and the rack, the VNOs also share the hub modulator, traffic optimizer and hub multi-channel receiver The outbound bandwidth is shared among VNOs using multi-tier QoS bandwidth management Customers of a VNO share their VNO s dedicated inbound bandwidth pool Model 3: The VNOs share outbound and inbound bandwidth pools All the hub equipment is shared The outbound bandwidth is shared among VNOs using multi-tier QoS bandwidth management The Inbound bandwidth pools are shared among VNOs The ultimate benefit for service providers is to tie your costs to revenues via a gradual network expansion, quickly adapting to changing business requirements and having the ability to manage the network components as part of a complex network management system. At the same time, providing full end-to-end class-based monitoring will create opportunities for automation, user satisfaction, and additional business revenue 9

10 opportunities. The scalability and flexibility of Heights removes the traditional barriers to entry in the satellite market. Minimize Latency & Jitter Citrix & similar business applications are sensitive to latency. Timeouts cause unnecessary retransmissions further straining the satellite network or even terminating connections. This leads to unsatisfactory user experience, decreased productivity with negative impacts on your bottom line. Real-time applications such as VoIP and videoconferencing require minimal jitter. If packets are not received with near-constant time variation, tight jitter thresholds are surpassed for many business applications, causing connections to terminate. On the same token, a variable packet reception reduces perceived voice and twoway video quality, thus lowering the QoE. The way we tackle this issue is by combining our multi-level group QoS with our technology efficiencies while providing the levels of horsepower in the remote equipment required for faster packet processing. With Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM), group QoS is an important feature to improve bandwidth management while meeting and maintaining desired SLAs. It enables service providers to seamlessly share the outbound and inbound among multiple customers for differentiated services with a focus on Quality of Experience. Another powerful feature is our next generation, inbound VersaFEC-2 high-performance LDPC Forward Error Correction (FEC) waveform with short-block, suitable for applications requiring minimal latency and jitter. VersaFEC-2 short block was designed for low to medium throughput. It is one of the two operational modes and provides 36 MODCODs (BPSK to 32-ARY) with better performance than the industry-proven VersaFEC at similar or better data latencies. VersaFEC-2 High Rate, designed for higher throughput provides 38 MODCODs (BPSK to 32-ARY) with coding gain and spectral efficiencies better than DVB-S2 and on par with DVB-S2x at approximately 1/8 the data latency of these two standards. Coupled with Group QoS and VersaFEC-2 are the Heights Remote Gateways. These powerful tiered Remote Gateways are designed to meet the specific needs of the oil and gas end users with inbound user IP throughput of up to 64 Mbps and packet processing from 35,000 packets per second (pps) up to 140,000 pps with all optimization features such as compression enabled. With these performance levels, the Heights Remote Gateways have the most powerful IP packet processing engines in the market. They provide the best support for high throughput and simultaneous high definition drilling video sessions working in tandem with high data rate mission-critical business applications, Internet access and voice connections. With Group QoS, VersaFEC-2 short block and our powerful remote equipment, you will ensure your end users most latency and jitter sensitive applications operate properly to maximize productivity and ensure the lowest overhead with highest bits/hz ratios while minimizing oil rigs and above-deck real estate requirements. Traffic Shaping To maximize user experience, it is critical to segregate bandwidth by real-time versus non real-time applications across shared satellite bandwidth, or to prioritize critical monitoring functions to take precedence over non-critical applications such as . The challenge is to ensure priority for real-time applications (VoIP, video conference) services with a pre-defined SLA. Our multi-level QoS feature sets Comtech EF Data apart and leverages a powerful classification and traffic shaping engine that ensures the highest value traffic is prioritized, the most important services are uninterrupted and business applications continue to function properly. A key feature for traffic shaping is compression. Our header compression technique looks inside the IP headers and examines the data flow to determine what we can remove as unimportant data before we send that information over the satellite, and then intelligently reinserts that data on the receiving end. In addition, there is a lot of redundancy in data streams, some of which can be removed before transmission over the satellite. If a stream of data has been transmitted in the past, a much smaller representative set of data is sent 10

11 along with a lookup location of past bit streams. By removing this unnecessary data, users can realize additional savings, increasing net efficiency even further. With lossless compression, Comtech EF Data ensures the accuracy of each bit on the remote end of the link, a key consideration for your end user s mission-critical applications. This type of accuracy requires significant horsepower on-board the platform to be able to process this data at tens or hundreds of Mbps, which is what our Remote Gateways provide. The result of leveraging these intelligent compression techniques is the conversion of a given number of router bits (those packets delivered to our units) into the least satellite bits (those transmitted through the spacecraft). Our equipment does all of this while providing the proper application-based and protocoldependent Quality of Service throughout the network. Availability and Reliability The oil and gas industry demands efficient and reliable connectivity 24/7, even during the most adverse weather conditions. As terrestrial infrastructure is often lacking in the remote and harsh environments where companies operate, end users are increasingly depending on satellite communications that can support the required throughputs. In addition, at-sea remotes are complicated and expensive to reach. Our Heights Networking Platform addresses these issues. Bi-directional ACM embedded in the Heights Networking Platform provides a unique and important feature to provide high availability and reliability. With the ability to maximize throughput under all conditions rain fade, inclined orbit satellite operation, interference and other impairments bi-directional ACM allows for automatic change in modulation and coding (MODCOD) in response to link conditions in both directions. Each remote can achieve maximum throughput thereby maximizing network efficiency and availability. An average throughput gain of 100% (or more) can be realized, when compared to using traditional rain fade margins. Integrated in Heights with advanced QoS and other optimization technologies, bi-directional ACM maximizes network efficiency and availability to maintain desired service levels. Higher Throughput and Packet Performance In exploration and production environments, large amounts of data are collected that must be transmitted to a central data processing site for assessment. Huge files need to arrive quickly, error free, and with no lost packets or truncation. Our remote equipment meets the unique, vertical-specific needs of end users. Each remote in the network is assigned bandwidth on-demand from a shared bandwidth pool by the dynamic bandwidth management engine (dscpc) and leverages its own optimal modulation and coding method. The dynamic bandwidth allocation is ideal for these bulk file transfers since bandwidth is dynamically assigned where needed. Our Remote Gateway s processors are capable of supporting high packets per second (pps), from 35,000 pps up to 140,000 pps with all multi-layer optimization features enabled, thus overcoming the packet processing limitation found in other products on the market. These performance levels enable the Heights Remote Gateway suite to support the most demanding traffic mixes in a single unit, and provide the headroom required to grow your business. We leverage an extensive combination of modulation and coding for maximum efficiencies to provide the ability to transmit the high throughput that your end users demand. Roaming and Beam Switching For roaming vessels, global connectivity and seamless coverage are main concerns as customers demand the same user experience as any fixed networks without the geographic constraints. Providing global coverage requires a seamless operation of several beams, different satellite footprints, multiple hubs and teleports. The way we are addressing these concerns is with our Global IP roaming implementation. The Heights Networking Platform uses a mobility controller embedded in the Remote Gateway on-board vessels. This onboard mobility controller interfaces to the Antenna Control Unit (ACU) and maintains satellite footprint maps, initiates beam switching and handoff as the Remote Gateway moves through satellite footprints. It offers a 11

12 common management interface for the mobility server and the ACU by providing a set of commands, information, interfaces and status queries. In networks with a competitor s platform, the mobile location information is stored at the hub. Issues with hubbased information arise during times when communications may be lost between the hub and the remote(s). In these cases, no location or switching information is received from the hub and the remote may disengage from the network. With our Global IP roaming implementation, the remote does not need to be connected to the hub to handover from one satellite to another. Because the intelligence is on-board the vessels, the handover decisions and parameters are intelligently performed, thus minimizing automatic beam switching times and guaranteeing that connectivity is dynamically maintained on the move. Capitalizing on High Throughput Satellites (HTS) As bandwidth demand increases, service providers in the oil and gas market are facing pressure from their customers to deliver even faster, more efficient networks that provide higher availability and more throughput to support bandwidth-rich applications. High Throughput Satellites will definitely address this increasing need for more capacity. For service providers, in order to capitalize on HTS, they will need a service delivery infrastructure to meet user experience expectations and to monetize differentiated service offerings. They will have to adjust to the new value chain and develop new business models to bring HTS capacity into market. At Comtech EF Data, we challenged ourselves to be part of the value chain. We provide purpose-built and future-proof HTS-optimized solutions that allow users to unleash the potential to deliver new levels of services. This entails providing a scalable, powerful and future-ready satellite networking platform to support multiple business models (for a lower cost of service entry), with the capability to transmit multiple contiguous outbound carriers, one to each spot beam and to share demod banks across spot beams (low OPEX and low hub CAPEX solution) while addressing the need to transmit higher throughput with powerful and faster remotes. Use Cases Use Case 1: More User IP Throughput with Heights In the following scenario, we look at a 20-site network in Ku-band and compare Comtech EF Data s Heights inbound performance against a TDMA option for a given satellite bandwidth. The antenna and BUC sizes for both Heights and the TDMA option are 1.2m/4W. As shown below in Table 2 and Figure 8, Heights provides 23.1 Mbps additional inbound user IP throughput for a given satellite bandwidth of 12 MHz; a 231% increase over the TDMA option. Comtech TDMA Option Heights Transmit ROF 5% 20% Satellite Space Segment 12 MHz 12 MHz Symbol Rate 11.4 Msps 10 Msps Modulation & FEC VersaFEC D-16S ARY ACM 8PSK, 2/3 TPC Bits/symbol 2.2 bps/sps 1.4 bps/sps Information Rate (Satellite) 25 Mbps 14.1 Mbps Information Rate Efficiency 2.1 bps/hz 1.2 bps/hz Encapsulation & Framing Overhead -2% -25% IP Rate (Satellite) 24.5 Mbps 10.6 Mbps IP Rate Efficiency 2 bps/hz 0.9 bps/hz Savings from IP Header & Payload Compression +35% -5% IP Rate (LAN) 33.1 Mbps 10 Mbps IP Rate Efficiency (Satellite) 2.8 bps/hz 0.8 bps/hz 12

13 Heights Additional User IP Throughput over TDMA Option Heights Additional User IP Throughput over TDMA Option 23.1 Mbps 231% Table 2: Inbound Network Performance - More User IP Throughput with Heights Figure 8: Inbound User IP Throughput Heights vs. TDMA Option Use Case 2: Smaller Remote Kit Size with Heights In this scenario, we compare the remote kit configuration (antenna and BUC) required by a site with Comtech EF Data s Heights against a TDMA option for the same user IP throughput (User IP throughput as observed on the LAN) of 2.8 Mbps. As shown below in Table 3 below, a site in a Heights network requires a 1.2m antenna and 4W BUC compared to 2.4m antenna and 8W with the TDMA option for the same user IP throughput. Comtech Heights TDMA Option User IP Throughput 2.8 Mbps 2.8 Mbps Modulation & FEC VersaFEC-2 2D-16S 8-ARY PSK, 4/5 TPC Required Satellite Space Segment 1.1MHz 2.5 MHz Spectral Efficiency 2.2 bps/hz 1.77 bps/hz Information Rate (Satellite) 2 Mbps 4Mbps Encapsulation & Framing Overhead -2% -25% Savings from IP Header & Payload Compression +35% -5% Remote Kit Configuration 1.2m/4W 2.4m/8W Table 3: Smaller Remote Kit Size with Heights 13

14 Both use cases clearly demonstrate the benefits of Heights over a TDMA option. The increase in user IP throughput, the decrease in required satellite bandwidth and the smaller remote kit are mainly achieved due to the combination of our advanced technologies embedded in Heights such as expanded and efficient MODCODs, 5% optimized roll off factor, VersaFEC-2, IP encapsulation, lossless payload and header compression. The increased performance levels of Heights directly affect your bottom line and provide you with the opportunity to grow your business through a differentiated level of service. This is due to the fact that either: The additional user IP throughput (Mbps) will result in an increase in revenue stream with a given OPEX cost structure Less satellite resource (MHz) would be required for a given throughput (Mbps), resulting in a decrease in OPEX cost structure for a given revenue stream The smaller remote kit configuration for a given throughput results in a decrease in CAPEX Conclusion Is your satellite networking infrastructure ready to meet tomorrow s market demands? To achieve your business growth goals, you need a powerful, dynamic networking platform that outperforms the rest and guarantees optimal levels of service beyond a one- or two-year business case. Comtech EF Data s extensive range of satellite networking platforms, satellite modems, RF products and dynamic bandwidth management tools will provide you with the solution to address the Oil and Gas market demands. Our newest networking platform, Heights is future-proof, flexible, scalable and HTS-ready with minimal site intervention. It is designed to provide a higher QoE per user, at a lower cost per delivered bit, letting you increase your market penetration, expand your addressable markets, operate with better margins and minimize end-customer churn. Heights is a fully managed platform focused on the intelligence to enable dynamic allocation of bandwidth when and where it is needed, on efficiency and horsepower to maximize the QoE, all while minimizing the TCO, and meeting stringent SLAs and tighter regulations. For additional information, please contact us. sales@comtechefdata.com Voice: Fax: Web: 14