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.

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As witnessed by Hurricane Sandy, Katrina and other natural disasters, responding to a disaster situation and working to rescue American citizens can be just as dangerous as being on the ground during a disaster, itself. To keep first responders connected and safe – whether they are local emergency personnel, FEMA or even the National Guard – they require communications back to headquarters or senior leaders that are coordinating rescue efforts.

Unfortunately, communication services aren’t always easy to come by in the aftermath of a disaster.

In the wake of 9/11, a massive wave of cellphone calls, text messages and other communications both into and out of New York City overwhelmed cellular networks and made it nearly impossible for people to use their cell phones. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, cellular and other communications infrastructures were so badly damaged or destroyed that they simply weren’t available for residents or first responders.

When responding to emergencies and disasters, it’s essential that personnel stay coordinated. Sending new orders to personnel in the field in a timely and effective manner can literally mean the difference between a civilian life that is saved and one that is lost. Keeping lines of communication open between first responders and their senior leaders is necessary should they be in distress. None of this is possible when communications infrastructure is overloaded or destroyed.

This is why satellites play such an important role in disaster response and recovery.

Utilizing today’s advanced COMSATCOM services, disaster response and recovery personnel can be connected almost immediately. Thanks to advancements in satellite technologies – more advanced, higher-bandwidth connectivity can be rolled out as the response activities are underway to provider advanced capabilities to responders.

When disaster first strikes and emergency responders are on the scene, they can utilize satellite phones and other devices that function on the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN). This allows for almost immediate voice calls and connectivity when cellular networks and other communications infrastructures are down.

Unfortunately, BGAN terminals and other equipment offer low bandwidth and high latency. They’re good for getting voice connectivity to first responders for basic voice and data connectivity, but they struggle to effectively provide more advanced functionality – such as video collaboration with senior leaders or the ability to download high-quality, high resolution maps and images without exorbitant cost. Ultimately, they’re fast, mobile, easily-deployable solutions that can enable voice connectivity into the field immediately when no other option is available.

Satellite acceleration products like the ones provided by XipLink build a VAT (Virtual Accelerated Tunnel) that emulates the properties of terrestrial networks so Internet (or private terrestrial network) resources think that they are dealing with another terrestrial node – rather than one connected via satellite. The end result is that data of any kind (including Voice Over IP) is sent more efficiently, increasing the throughput of the satellite link and reducing the amount of data needed to accomplish communications.

When a much more efficient and expedited response to a disaster is paramount, technologies with the ability to deliver higher throughputs and more advanced capabilities can be brought to the disaster response and recovery site to enable communications.

First, there’s the Cell on Wheels (COW), which provides robust, deployable communications infrastructure with a set-up time from a stowed configuration to operations within minutes and will support multiple and simultaneous voice, video, VTC, and other IP-based data streams. These devices are capable of delivering access to GEO satellite constellations that can deliver higher-bandwidth and higher quality communications to the first responder and senior leaders in the field.

However, these solutions still can’t offer fiber-like connectivity, and that’s where Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites play a role in disaster response.

In disaster situations, a beam from a MEO satellite – such as those utilized by satellite provider, O3b – could be directed to the disaster site. Smaller spot beams and the proximity of the MEO satellite to the Earth enables it to deliver throughput and latency that are significantly superior to any GEO satellite, enabling first responders, senior leaders, emergency operations centers and other facilities to have connectivity on-par with a fiber connection.

This means that emergency operations centers can stay connected and coordinated via VTC, senior leaders can receive HD video, high quality images and other visual intelligence from the impacted area to help them make informed decisions and the actual first-responder in the field can stay in touch and receive all necessary information that they need to keep themselves safe and find their way to those in need of assistance in the most effective and efficient manner. Local communications operators can even use the MEO connection to re-establish broadband internet and 3G or 4G services to the impacted population at large.

MEO satellites have proven capabilities, and should be included in any coordinated disaster response and emergency preparedness plans. The technology is groundbreaking, and transportable satellite dishes and infrastructure necessary to connect with these MEO constellations—such as the AvL 85 cm flyaway antenna which can be set up and online in under 90 minutes—are available today. As more emergency response organizations see the impressive connections speeds and almost imperceptible latency of MEO satellite constellations – such as those offered by O3b – they’ll quickly take steps to acquire the necessary terrestrial hardware to make these satellites a part of their disaster response and recovery plans moving forward.

For additional information on the role that satellites can play in disaster response, download the White Paper on the SES emergency.lu platform by clicking HERE. For more information on MEO satellites, download the O3b White Paper, “Fiber-Like Satellite Communications for U.S. Government Applications,” by clicking HERE.

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