These same SATCOM and COMSATCOM services are essential for military personnel in theater, where terrestrial networks and cellular infrastructure simply isn’t available.

However, there is a problem when it comes to utilizing mobile, portable COMSATCOM and SATCOM kits in these situations. The latency from satellite connections reduce the speed of communication and even lead to some IP capabilities being throttled back. This results in first responders and warfighters that are getting connectivity that is just a fraction of the throughput and capacity that the federal government is paying for.

Luckily, there’s an answer to this challenge, in the form of acceleration hardware and software solutions. To learn more about how these solutions work, we sat down to interview Jack Waters, the CEO of a company that makes some of the most advanced acceleration solutions on the market today – XipLink.

During our discussion, Jack discussed the reasons why the military and other federal agencies have embraced acceleration, and the advanced capabilities that accelerators are enabling out in the field. Here is what Jack had to say:

GovSat Report: Can you tell our readers about XipLink and its technologies? What do XipLink’s solutions do? How would you describe the difference between a satellite connection utilizing XipLink and one that doesn’t utilize XipLink?

Jack Waters: At our core, XipLink is a TCP acceleration company. Without utilizing TCP acceleration, COMSATCOM users would get about 30-35 percent throughput on a satellite link. So, if a government decision maker contracts for a satellite connection with a particular throughput and capacity, they may only receive 35 percent of that speed due to a number of different reasons.

Utilizing TCP acceleration solutions – such as those provided by XipLink – that 35 percent can be bumped up to 95 percent. This has become so important that most satellite modems today have accelerators built in.

XipLink’s solutions offer another important feature for the federal government user. Most government’s data is encrypted prior to transmission so even built-in acceleration in the modem can’t “see” the traffic. This means that the government user needs to accelerate data traffic at their facility prior to encryption and transmission. XipLink and others offer standalone or virtual accelerator solutions that can be utilized for this purpose.

In addition to acceleration, XipLink’s solutions can also add optimization – functions such as data compression, header compression and link balancing/bonding. All of these are value-adds on top of acceleration that can deliver more data throughput than the link capacity allows. The link balancing/bonding features allow more diversity, capacity and up-time by enabling two or more physical links to be logically combined into a single logical link.

Ultimately, optimization is the amalgamation of acceleration, compression, link balancing and other data reductions into one service. Stated another way, TCP acceleration fills the pipe efficiently and optimization allows you to exceed capacity of the pipe.

GovSat Report: What are the use cases for XipLink’s solutions in the federal government? How do XipLink’s technologies help the federal government get the most out of its COMSATCOM investment?

Jack Waters: One use of our solutions is in theater with special operations forces. They need communications kits in small, lightweight form factors – the smaller and more mobile their equipment, the better. We’ve been able to incorporate acceleration solutions into their terminals as software – eliminating the need to carry extra hardware.

Mobile communications for the warfighter is by far the number one use of our solutions. Communications have moved to IP (Internet Protocol), and it’s essential that IP communications solutions are portable, with high speed and capacity. Users don’t want to lose capacity just because they’re mobile. XipLink allows them to achieve the highest capacity they can on the mobile link.

Another application for the federal government is disaster recovery and backup. In these situations, they need another connection in case the primary link goes bad or isn’t available. In the military, they’ll have a three prong or four prong hierarchy of connectivity to ensure they’re always connected. XipLink and satellites serve to provide that backup and emergency connectivity.

GovSat Report: What role does SATCOM play in disaster response and recovery? How can XipLink’s solutions – in conjunction with COMSATCOM services – help keep first responders connected? What kind of capabilities does the combination of COMSATCOM services and XipLink’s solutions deliver to first responders?

Jack Waters: Our technologies are used widely across first response and disaster response organizations.

In the past, emergency organizations primarily utilized one or two analog radio channels for low quality voice communications only. With significantly more bandwidth available today and the intrinsic need to utilize Internet protocols for high-quality combined Voice/Video/Data the first responder community has adopted satellite connectivity for essential communications. In this case accelerators and optimizers provide additional bandwidth capacity, keeping operating costs reasonable as well as prioritizing critical communications over less essential traffic on the network.

In this situation, you can get a combination of today’s video and data at speeds close to what people are used to in the office, coupled with high quality voice.

The ability to create a Wi-Fi hotspot also expedites communications and makes set-up easier. It’s something people are used to. It doesn’t take a special effort to connect the devices anymore – which used to take hours. Things are easier to connect, which enables faster communication.

GovSat Report: How can the combination of COMSATCOM services and XipLink technologies benefit the military in theater? What kinds of data and what capabilities can a COMSATCOM connection with XipLink bring to the warfighter in theater?

Jack Waters: There’s obviously going to be many similarities for why and how first responders and military personnel use these technologies. However, the main difference between the first responder and military is physical size.

First responders have trucks and vehicles that have their equipment mounted inside them, much like they would be in a datacenter. For the military, there’s more of a need for mobile, lightweight, more easily transported solutions that are quickly deployable and capable of being carried by the warfighter. In many cases, they need accelerators as software that’s installed on a device.

Ultimately, the functionality is the same – delivering voice, data and video to the forward operating base at the highest possible capacity.

Throughput and capacity is especially important for the military. The GEOINT, mapping and logistics applications that they use – applications capable of tracking enemy combatants, or locating where friendly alliance troops are located – require significantly higher speeds and bandwidth. It’s essential to have a quality, high bandwidth connection if you want a more connected, informed warfighter in theater.

Additional Resources:
• To find learn more about bandwidth accelerators, click here.
• Stay tuned for our XipLink Video which will be released next month. Subscribe for the alert via the subscription box on the top right.

The post Embracing the government’s need for speed – how accelerators deliver the throughput and capacity that the military and first responders need appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

The use of these UAS and RPA vehicles is one of the reasons why commercial satellite communications (COMSATCOM) is so essential in the military today. Unfortunately, the COMSATCOM services needed to operate these remote vehicles can get expensive – especially considering the way the military currently acquires COMSATCOM services.

With an eye towards cost savings, the federal government and America’s military have taken steps to dial back spending. Travel restrictions, hiring freezes and other initiatives have been put in place.

But what if there was another way to cut costs that really had very little to no impact on accomplishing the government’s mission? The COMSATCOM being purchased to operate vehicles such as UAS and RPA could be one of the things that the military easily saves money on. Here’s how…

The government traditionally purchases geostationary (GEO) satellite capacity from COMSATCOM providers to enable operations with UAS and RPA vehicles, as well as to provide connectivity to ships at sea and other mobile operations. When communications are needed on the move, GEO satellites are providing them. However, simply switching from GEO satellites to inclined satellites could save the military 30-50 percent on the cost of these COMSATCOM services.

What’s the difference between GEO and inclined satellite orbit? Very little, to be honest.

Inclined satellites are GEO satellites that are approaching the later stages of their lives. GEO satellites sit above the Equator at all times. When these satellites get older – to save their limited fuel – operators reduce station-keeping adjustments and extend the life by allowing the spacecraft to drift in the north/south direction. The square box that GEO satellites usually sit in becomes a rectangle, and the satellite drifts in an elongated figure eight pattern within it.

To connect to inclined satellites, a tracking antenna is necessary that can move and follow the satellite along its figure eight flight pattern. Luckily for the military, most UAS and RPA vehicles already have these types of antennas since they’re needed to stay connected to GEO satellites while they’re moving. The same can be said for ships at sea and any other “comms on the move” device. This means that there is no cost and effort needed to move from GEO satellites to inclined satellites – the equipment is the same.

However, there is one area where some minor investment will be needed – training.

Military personnel are going to need some new skills, and will have to do some more work when communicating with inclined satellites in contract to GEO satellites. Since GEO satellites don’t move, they stay in the same location above the Equator, satellite operators don’t need to frequently update ephemeris data. Since inclined satellites do move in a figure eight pattern, the personnel at the ground station will have to frequently update the ephemeris data as the position of the satellite changes.

The sheer savings that inclined satellites can deliver clearly outweigh the inconvenience of retraining satellite personnel. Since these inclined satellites require tracking antennas, there are only so many different applications they can be used for. This means that they often have a significant amount of capacity available. With capacity readily available aboard these satellites, the military not only gets low pricing, they also don’t have to compete for bandwidth.

At a time when the military and the federal government are looking for any way possible to trim costs and save money, continuing the use of GEO satellites for comms on the move, remote vehicles and ships at sea when cheaper, inclined satellites are available is hard to justify. With some additional training and just a little more work, the military personnel that operate satellites can get up to speed, and the hardware necessary to use these satellites is already in hand.

For more information about inclined satellites and what they can do for the military, click on the links below:

Pentagon plans to boost drone flights by 50 percent

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Flies First Long Duration Test Using Repurposed Satellite

I.O. Satellites for UAVs? USAF Reaping Savings

The post Inclined satellites – how agencies can achieve major savings appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

It was this demand for more bandwidth and higher speeds that made the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation of COMSATCOM provider, O3b, one of the hottest topics of discussion at both SATELLITE 2015 and this year’s Space Symposium.

O3b’s MEO satellite constellation has the ability to deliver fiber-like throughputs and – thanks to its closer proximity to Earth – vastly improved latency, making O3b extremely attractive to COMSATCOM customers from both the public and private sectors.

We recently had an opportunity to record a podcast with two titans of the commercial satellite communications industry – SES Space and Defense CEO, Pete Hoene, and O3b CEO, Steve Collar. During our discussion, we talked about the benefits of MEO satellites, the different use cases for O3b in the federal government and the relationship between the two companies.

Here is what Pete and Steve had to say:

For additional information about MEO satellites and how they can help reduce latency and deliver fiber-like connectivity to the edge, download the whitepaper, “Fiber-Like Satellite Communications for U.S. Government Applications,” by clicking HERE.

The post PODCAST: Pete Hoene and Steve Collar on the government use cases of MEO satellites appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Ultimately, military personnel and senior decision makers have come to expect access to advanced network functionality, applications and capabilities from wherever they’re stationed across the globe. Frankly, they expect the same user experience they have when sitting behind their desk at a home station, but layered with more applications – some specifically designed to aid in the fight.

With a lack of fiber networks and links available in the regions where today’s warfighters are deployed – or likely to be deployed, provisioning of these fiber networks requiring years to implement and some unfriendly and not-so-friendly nations standing in the way, satellite becomes the best – and only – option to deliver these services.

However, there is a problem that arises when data is sent across traditional satellite networks utilizing geostationary satellites – latency.

Many of today’s applications were created for the local area network. These programs want a response back quickly and they usually get it in traditional office environments because they’re operating on a high speed, local area network.

With geostationary satellites, the data that would traditionally be passing over a high speed, local area network or fiber connection is traveling to and from the satellite, which is at an extremely high altitude. This takes time and creates latency. Subsequently, web pages take minutes to download, and Sharepoint, portals and other solutions that we use at the office become intolerable in the warzone.

The only option is to architect a network heavy with “local resources” so you don’t have to rely on Wide Area Network connectivity. The result is a lot more boxes and a lot more people to sustain in an austere environment.

What if you could get that fiber-like performance from satellite service and move large amounts of information quickly without resorting to strategies that endeavor to get fiber like capability? That’s exactly what a new commercial satellite technology can deliver to the military today.

There is a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation now available to the military through select commercial satellite service providers that is capable of delivering fiber-like speeds and throughput. These satellites operate closer to the Earth than geostationary satellites, reducing the distance data needs to travel, eliminating latency and delivering the information, communication, collaboration and capabilities the military needs into a warzone effectively, efficiently and affordably.

To see MEO satellites in action, and how they can drastically cut down on latency, watch this recent demonstration by satellite service provider, O3B.

[gdlr_video url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVMSp8DkWIA” ]

For additional information about MEO satellites and how they can help reduce latency and deliver fiber-like connectivity to the edge, download the whitepaper, “Fiber-Like Satellite Communications for U.S. Government Applications,” by clicking HERE.

The post Latency – the other enemy on the battlefield appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Military intelligence relies on video footage from unmanned aircraft for information about enemy movements, weather and geography. Decision makers back at home connect face-to-face with leaders in the field via video collaboration for real time information gathering and to expedite decision making. And the same capabilities and applications that are available on a desktop at Fort Hood are expected to be available in a command center in theater.

Networks and information technology are now essential across all branches of the military to ensure that requisite data, applications and capabilities are available to all personnel and warfighters at all times. Unfortunately, this is a task that becomes increasingly difficult depending on where military personnel, employees and warfighters are stationed.

Bringing today’s advanced networks and the capabilities they deliver to the tip of the spear can be a challenge because there are simply no fiber optic links or networks in many of the locations where U.S. troops are currently deployed – such as Afghanistan and the Middle East.

These networks could be created by the military. However, establishing the networks that have the available bandwidth for today’s advanced IT capabilities could take years to implement. Also, this would often require running fiber through nations that aren’t necessarily friendly to the United States and its military interests. This raises questions about security and feasibility, and ultimately makes the implementation of physical networks downright impossible in some locations.

It’s for this reason that satellite communication (SATCOM) provided by commercial satellite service providers is becoming as essential to the military as the bandwidth it provides and data it delivers.

Commercial SATCOM services carry the signals from unmanned aircraft back to military decision makers. They empower video collaboration between deployed personnel and leaders in the field. They deliver the capabilities, applications and bandwidth that today’s military expects on base, out in the field.

But, they’re not without limitations.

In my next post on the GovSat Report, I’m going to delve into latency – an issue that impacts communication over geostationary satellites – how it impacts military operations in theater and how advanced technologies could soon make it a thing of the past.

The post The case for commercial SatCom in today’s military appeared first on SES Space and Defense.