Figure 1 Digital payload of the Intelsat EpicNG satellite.
Editor’s Note: The global demand for bandwidth, which shows no sign of plateauing, has service providers and internet companies scrambling to add capacity, whether by evolving existing network technologies (e.g., hybrid fiber coax) or developing greenfield approaches (e.g., high altitude balloons). Among the mix, existing satellite players and new entrants are developing the next generation of satellites to blanket the globe with 10s of Gbps of capacity. Microwave Journal asked Intelsat, the company that launched Intelsat 1 in 1965 and now operates the world’s largest satellite services business, to describe their strategy for high bandwidth satellites.
For a typical mobile network operator (MNO), increasing demand for connectivity around the globe offers an enormous opportunity. Operators are racing to deploy more capable networks and expand their geographic reach to capture new subscribers and grow revenues. The challenge these operators face remains finding a fast, cost-efficient means to evolve their networks in a financial environment that limits available resources.
A typical network today consists of cell sites connected to the network using microwave links developed to support voice traffic. Yet the demands of the end user are shifting away from voice, toward high volumes of data traffic, as well as taking networks further from metro areas. Expanding via the build-out of conventional towers can mean fixed capital expenditures (capex), heavy equipment and limited options once the new node is in place. New solutions are emerging with potentially more attractive economics for MNOs: high throughput satellite (HTS) technology is entering the marketplace and will quickly dispel those constraints and see satellites serving as an integral part of the hybrid wireless networks of the future.
HTS THE TIPPING POINT
If done correctly, HTS technology delivers major breakthroughs in performance, economics and access, and this will impact multiple sectors. These new satellites will have the throughput, quality, flexibility, security, adaptability and scalability needed to deliver broadband everywhere. They will be a significant enabler in changing the way MNOs approach their networks.
For example, the Intelsat EpicNG platform will deliver 25 to 60 Gbps per satellite, 10× the throughput of traditional satellites, and operate at C-, Ku- and Ka-Bands. This cost-effective, readily available infrastructure will enable network operators to upgrade and expand without huge capex investments. To accomplish this, Intelsat developed a platform based on an open architecture and backward compatibility, so network operators can upgrade their infrastructures using existing hardware investments. Intelsat EpicNG is fully integrated with Intelsat’s globalized network, which combines the world’s largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture. All of these efforts help operators improve the performance and reach of their networks in the most costs-efficient manner. By reducing the amount of capex often required with network upgrades, customers can focus on expanding into new regions and identifying new applications to drive growth.
Figure 2 Intelsat 29e HTS prior to launch. The satellite is now providing service over the Americas, Caribbean and the North Atlantic.
The heart of the Intelsat EpicNG platform — one of many design features that provide the performance needed to take advantage of future opportunities — is the digital payload (see Figure 1). This technology allows for connectivity in any bandwidth increment and from any beam to any beam. For customers integrating high throughput capacity into their operations, uplinks and downlinks can be connected regardless of location within the footprint. The combination of these capabilities provides the coverage of a large hemi-style beam with the power of high performance Ku-Band. This eliminates the need for a network to have multiple hubs and allows customers to configure their network topologies to leverage existing ground hardware and operate using multiple spectrum bands. For example:
- A communications provider with an established, successful C-Band business can integrate high power Ku-Band spot beams from the existing C-Band hub to maintain promised service quality for customers in areas of high demand.
- A wireless carrier operating a network in a heavy rain region can use a mix of C- and Ku-Band connectivity running off a single hub, which will keep operational costs down, expand capabilities and provide quicker service recovery in the event of weather-related interruptions.
Intelsat has introduced the IntelsatOne Flex service, a global managed service designed to deliver an enterprise grade, wholesale Mbps service with tiered committed information rate (CIR) plans. This simplifies the aggregation of HTS and traditional wide beam capacity into a single product and optimizes bandwidth allocations. Surges and geographic shifts in demand can be addressed to ensure the delivery of bandwidth where and when it is needed. IntelsatOne Flex is scalable, making it easier for customers to meet growing broadband requirements and stay competitive over the long term.
The first Intelsat EpicNG satellite, Intelsat 29e (see Figure 2), was launched into geostationary orbit in January 2016 and has started service over the Americas, Caribbean and North Atlantic route. Intelsat 33e (see Figure 3) is on track for launch in the third quarter of 2016 and will provide services in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The launch of Horizons 3e, scheduled for the second half of 2018, will complete the global footprint with coverage of the Pacific Ocean region. By 2020, seven Intelsat EpicNG satellites will be in geostationary orbit, ensuring enough capacity to serve regions of high demand around the globe (see Figure 4).
Figure 3 Intelsat 33e, scheduled for launch in August 2016, will provide service over Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Each new Intelsat EpicNG satellite will introduce more innovations, evolving the technology with new flexibility that will take this new generation of HTS towards fully software-defined satellite missions. Every characteristic of spacecraft performance will be adaptable and can be modified by simple commands sent from the ground. Customers will have the most powerful and consistent space infrastructure built, with the ability to adapt, modify and improve the infrastructure as the market demands.
ACCESSIBLE FOR NETWORK EXPANSION
While Intelsat has made tremendous strides in satellite performance, the story is more than building high throughput, high performance satellites. The in-orbit advancements have been paired with parallel efforts to innovate throughout the satellite ecosystem and make it easier for network operators to integrate satellite solutions into their networks and tap into the power that HTS delivers. For example, one of the biggest hurdles to expanding the reach of wireless networks to rural and remote populations is the investment required to build and maintain base stations on the edge. The receiving equipment is costly to transport and install, the installation of the satellite dish often requires a specially trained technician and site power requirements may be dramatically out of sync with the local environment.
To fully optimize the performance of the Intelsat EpicNG fleet and simplify access to the technology, Intelsat has made strategic investments in antenna technology with two providers, Kymeta and Phasor, to develop antennas and terminal products optimized for Intelsat EpicNG. Initially, both of these developments will result in thin, light and low cost Ku-Band satellite tracking antennas for the mobility sector. In the future, they will benefit the wireless sector, specifically improving capabilities for rural network operations. As these technologies mature into second- and third-generation designs and production volumes rise, this small, electronically steerable antenna technology can aid MNOs that are expanding operations along the network edge. With smaller equipment, base stations can be set up more quickly and easily and, by cutting the amount of power required for operations, maintenance cost will be reduced — possibly nearly eliminated through the use of solar power. The smaller size also enables the equipment to be relocated to a more opportunistic site without a major reinvestment of labor, if the base station is not meeting expected revenue.
Future generations of the technology have the potential for customers to offer new services and address new market demands, such as satellite-connected
- Picocells: a small cellular base station that adds network capacity in areas with high bandwidth requirements, such as stadiums and high traffic suburban areas
- Femtocells: a small, low power station that extends services inside homes and small businesses.
Although Intelsat has an extensive fleet of geostationary satellites that covers the globe several times and reaches fixed and mobile users in most regions of the world, the company invested in the OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation in June 2015 (see OneWeb Chooses LEO highlight above). Intelsat’s agreement with OneWeb calls for OneWeb to be interoperable with Intelsat’s network, including Intelsat EpicNG. This investment reflects Intelsat’s strategy to enable innovation that complements and expands the company’s space infrastructure, adding polar region access for the international routes of Intelsat’s mobility customers and providing higher elevation angles in urban areas.
Figure 4 Planned coverage of the Intelsat EpicNG fleet.
OneWeb Chooses LEO
Commercial communications satellites have historically been placed into geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO), where they remain “stationary” over a given portion of the Earth — key to maintaining links with the fixed antennas on the ground. More accurately, a GEO satellite orbits the Earth at the same rate as the Earth rotates, which requires that the satellite orbit 26,199 miles from the Earth’s center or 22,236 miles above mean sea level. In addition to the advantage of being stationary, only three GEO satellites are needed to cover the globe, a modest investment in expensive satellites. The disadvantage of the GEO satellite is the latency or transit time from Earth to satellite and back: a minimum of approximately 240 ms for links at the equator. For many applications this is not a disadvantage; however, for voice communications and internet applications, the latency is noticeable and may limit the services that can be provided (e.g., achieving the proposed 5G latency targets).
Seeing an opportunity to provide global, low latency, internet access and communications, Greg Wyler founded OneWeb in 2012. OneWeb proposes to launch a LEO constellation of 648 “micro” satellites, weighing some 300 lb each, that will orbit at 1,200 km. The OneWeb network design supports a total latency of 30 ms, with each satellite having a capacity of 50 Mbps. The satellites will use the Ku-Band spectrum previously allocated for Skybridge, a satellite constellation proposed in the 1990s but never launched. Small and low cost ground terminals — some solar powered — will link to the OneWeb satellites at Ku-Band and convert the data to standard cellular and Wi-Fi frequencies. The ground terminal will act as a base station or access point, so users won’t need special equipment.
OneWeb’s business model is to extend the communications network of existing operators, rather than competing with them. Use cases include cellular and internet access for developing and rural regions, emergency communications following natural disasters and in-flight connectivity for airlines, business and military aviation. In June 2015, OneWeb raised $500 million from strategic investors, including Intelsat, and plans to launch satellites beginning in 2018, completing by the end of 2019. OneWeb’s board includes Paul Jacobs, executive chairman of Qualcomm, Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, and Thomas Enders, CEO of Airbus Group.
COST-EFFICIENT OPTIONS FOR MNOs
Given the enormous demand for connectivity, no single technology will provide all the answers for network operators. Intelsat believes operators will benefit from the combination of the bandwidth advantages of microwave and the ubiquity and reach of satellites. By making it simpler and more cost-effective to integrate satellite services, network operators can balance the demands of voice and data traffic in a cost-efficient manner. They can combine delivery methods to better serve subscribers on the metro edge and in suburban areas, where traffic demand may not be sufficient to support the cost of full time, fixed bandwidth. Satellites can add capacity in times of high demand and to meet burst requirements that are driven by data and video traffic.
Throughout its history, the satellite sector has played a valuable role in the delivery of entertainment, services and critical communications around the globe. Intelsat’s work in the past few years shows the exciting potential to expand the role of satellite as the world becomes more connected. With innovation in space, matched by new developments on the ground, the satellite sector, working closely with the vast array of communications technologies available today, can solve the challenges facing network operators and deliver the benefits of connectivity to a broader audience.
