Satelliet communicatie, wereldomvattend: ook voor klein bedrijf als Castor Networks Castor Networks Edwin Cras, MD Presentatie voor KIVI 21-11-2017
Introduction Castor Networks Management buy-out 2004 from Stratos which acquired business from KPN. (Inmarsat acquired Stratos later on) At start only Broadcasting : distributing commercial radio channels to FM/cable head-ends. Started with 5 FTE in 2005, now almost 60 employees in 7 countries Started data communication in 2005 to diversify- major VSAT platform investment in 2008 and 3 big C-band dishes ( 9and 16 meter) to be able to deliver C-band. Headquarter in De Meern, the Netherlands Operates two Teleports in The Netherlands: Hilversum Teleport: Broadcasting services Burum Teleport: Wholesale and VSAT Services 11/22/17 Page 2
Castor Networks: one of top 5 teleports in Europe AMSX (IP peering Tier 1) Castor IP backbone Burum Amsterdam Hilversum Teleport Burum Teleport Hilversum Page 3
Castor is using the Burum Teleport operated by Inmarsat but has its own infrastructure
Castor operates 2 business lines: Fixed and Maritime Maritime Services CAR SA VSAT services Sierra Leone Ltd. VSAT services South Sudan Ltd. VSAT/IT services South Africa Ltd VSAT services RDC SARL VSAT/IT services Page 5
Why we use VSAT? VSAT is means a Very Small Aperture Terminal, a 2 way satellite ground station (also Maritime). Size 60 cm up to 2.4 meter dishes Used in undeveloped countries where Fiber and other terrestrial connectivity are not available or at sea. The VSAT service is provided and controlled by a satellite Teleport operator (like Castor) use the satellite as a transmitter to provide local internet service to last mile customers. VSAT internet services are normally expensive and slow compared to what people have in advanced countries. 11/22/17 Page 6
What is a geostationary satellite? Clark belt at 36,000 km above equator Orbital slots (and related frequency bands) are valuable commodities Satellite act like a mirror reflecting the signal as it receives and transmits back Satellite lifetime is between 15-20 years A satellite consists of like 36 to 54 transmitters, called transponders, each having 36-72 MHz Transponders can be C, Ku or Ka band A satellite has different beams, antenna pointing and shape create size and shape of a beam. 11/22/17 Page 7
VSAT network overview (based on idirect) SCPC Connection SCPC Topology Castor Networks Teleport in The Netherlands idirect Broadband VSAT Hub Star Connection Star Topology Point to MultiPoint Mesh Connection WWW Internet idirect Satellite Router Star/Mesh Topology Page 8
VSAT Components (Ku Band example) 1.2m Ku band Tx/Rx BUC Ku band LNB Ku band idirect X3 modem RG6 Cables (approx 30 m per site) F-Type Connectors (approx 5 per site) 11/22/17 Page 9
C-band Satellites Oldest VSAT technology & widely used in Africa. Uplink 6 Ghz, downlink 4 Ghz Has a wide coverage resulting the power to be spread throughout a bigger coverage (beam) causing the need on a bigger RX Antenna. The middle of the beam is always the strongest signal measure by dbw (called center beam EIRP). Immune to any weather condition so high service ` availability. To calculate if a VSAT link can work at a given location and determine size antenna/buc a so-called Link Budget Analysis is made 11/22/17 Page 10
Ku band satellites Ku band became popular after C-band in the 90 s. Initially for TV reception over Europe, Dish size: 1.2 meter for VSAT Up 14 Ghz, down 10-12 Ghz The beam on Ku band focus on a limited area or zone to give more power thus can manage with smaller antenna size. The middle of the beam is always a strong signal measure by dbw. Ku band can be affected by weather condition such as heavy rain, snow, storms, etc. 11/22/17 Page 11
Ka band Ka band is very high frequency, 28-30 Ghz Ka band is provided in smaller footprints as it needs more power (like 250-500 km radius) frequency reuse Smaller antenna s (60-90 cm) > frequent beam switching for maritime Requires high accuracy towards satellite Inmarsat first to roll out global Ka-band Ka-band has more rain attenuation but with Advanced Code Modulation reliabilty is OK 11/22/17 Page 12
The what and how of a satellite footprint : the relation between antenna size, EIRP and G/T C-band over Africa : AM-6 @ 53 East >1.8 mtr Ku band Africa : T12V >1.2 meter Ka band South Sudan: Yahsat 2 > 74 cm of C-band over Africa : AM-6 @ 53 East 11/22/17 Page 13
What is shared and dedicated on VSAT service? Shared pizza Sharing ratio 1:10 Dedicated pizza Sharing ratio 1:1 One site eats all bandwidth 11/22/17 Page 14
Who are the satellite operators? Geostationary - Intelsat (Public ) - SES (Public) - Eutelsat (Public) - Telesat (Public) - Telenor (Public) - Inmarsat (Public) - Arabsat - RSCC - Gazprom - Asia: ABS. JSAT, Chinasat - Measat - Many countries have their own satellite (Hispasat, Angola, Argentina etc etc) LEO/MEO - Thuraya - Iridium - O3B Quite a few new initiatiaves including nano satellites for IoT
LEO and MEO satellites These are satellites in a lower orbit: - Lower Earth Orbit - Medium Earth Orbit As a result of this lower Orbit they move faster than the earth, so you may a need a moving antenna to receive the signal, depending on frequency band - O3B : works in Ka band (30 GHz), to have continous signal you need 2 moving antenna s that do a handover O3b, 2.4 meter dual set - Iridium : because it works in L-band ( 2 Ghz ) you can use omdirectional antenna s (compare GSM/4G) Iridium Hotspot
Geostationary satellite can impossibly cover the Arctic regions but LEO can Iridium: offers true arctic coverage Elevation : 5 degrees Reliabe Ku is advised to have elevation >10 degrees Since the satellies are over the Equator the elevation At Svalbord is between 5 and 0 degrees In practive reception was working, provided there was Line of Sight Above 67.5 degrees there is no coverage at all
Iridium next generation: CERTUS
Next big thing HTS: high throughput satellites A high throughput satellite has 10x more capacity than a traditional satellite. Inmarsat launches 4, Intelsat launches 7 in 2016/2017/2018, SES launches 3 in 2017. An Intelsat EPIC satellites has 3x more throughput than an Inmarsat GX satellite. Next generation High Throughput Satellites: satellites with Ku or Ka-band spotbeams have become available in 2016/2017: Inmarsat Global Xpress /GX (Ka-band), 2016 Intelsat EPIC (Ku-band), Q2 2016 SES GoBlue (Ku-band), Q2 2016 The spot beams on these satellite enable frequency re-use and higher throughput resulting in lower cost-price per Mbps These new satellites are bringing a disruptive amount of extra capacity to the market 19
Key features Inmarsat GX 89 Ka-band spotbeams 50Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload per spotbeam Requires replacing Ku-band equipment onboard Ka-band (28GHz) is very sensitive to rain/ weather resulting in lower availability than Ku-band (14Ghz) GX is bundled with Fleetbroadband (L-band at 2 GHz) as back-up. L-band is well protected against rain, but throughput on L-band will be much lower (max. 432 kbps) then when on Ka-band Inmarsat is itself the service provider offering a plain vanilla service with very limited room for specific customer requirements. Our view Customers signing-up will commit themselves stuck to one provider/ satellite system Low throughput per spot & satellite compared to Intelsat EPIC/ SES New hardware required, while customers with Kuband hardware have more suppliers to choose from 20
Intelsat EPIC Key features EPIC satellites have Ku-band spotbeams operating in the same frequencies as current Ku-band networks The EPIC spotbeams are complementary, they bring more Ku-band capacity to high demand areas Intelsat launches IntelsatOne network a seamless combination of EPIC satellites with traditional satellites in Q2 2016 IntelsatOne is an open architecture based on idirect: Intelsat 29 e and Intelsat 33 e satellites Our view Intelsat open architecture allows service providers to design/ tailor services to specific customer requirements Customers can use existing Ku-band hardware Customers have more suppliers to choose from Satellite service providers can hopefully use the IntelsatOne network complementary to their existing Kuband network as long as they use idirect IntelsatOne network including EPIC 21
SES goblue Key features SES goblue satellites have Ku-band spotbeams operating in the same frequencies as current Kuband networks, no need to change hardware onboard The spotbeams are complementary, they bring more Ku-band capacity to high demand areas SES goblue phase-1 will be launched Q2 2015 SES goblue offers an open architecture based on idirect: satellite service providers can use the goblue network complementary to their existing Ku-band network Our view SES goblue doesn t offer a plain vanilla service, its open architecture allowing service providers to design/ tailor services to specific customer requirements Customers can use existing Ku-band hardware SES goblue coverage phase 1 SES goblue coverage phase 2 22
KYMETA : maritime Terminal Type 1: One panel, regional usage One panel solution: Benefits One flat panel, mounted Low cost solution horizontally No moving parts Regional connectivity in Capable of higher proximity to equator +/- 50 throughput than FBB and degrees latitude lower terminal cost than (Mediterranean, Caribbean, VSAT Atlantic crossing, Southern Lower monthly costs Europe, South America, compared to FBB Africa) Easier and more scalable than VSAT Hand carry onboard Self-install (auto acquisition/provisioning Carry a spare / self-replace 2017 Kymeta Corporation. Kymeta Proprietary and Confidential
The satellite value chain Satellite operators Teleport operators Satellite Service providers Distributors/ resellers End customers Owners of satellites: Owners of antennas clustered in a Teleport: Owners of platforms which enable services: Distributing/ reselling services: End- customer requiring the service Leasing of satellite capacity in transponders to customers Provide up/downlink services on large antennas Provide endto-end services sold to end customers (direct or indirect) Buy services wholesale and sell them to endcustomers in specific niche segments with local support Business, Media company, Government, Military or NGO organization 24
Castor has fixed and maritime business
VSAT in Africa has the best opportunities in underveloped countries...but it takes some guts Castor VSAT at Terrain Lodge (July 2016)
Maritime Ku-band coverage 27