ADVANCED SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS

SVC OVER SATELLITE PROJECT

The SVC Over Satellite project is a project within the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Artes 5.2 programme and its goal is to study and validate a solution for broadcasting high-quality content via satellite based on SVC (Scalable Video Coding) + DVB-S2 VCM (Variable Coding and Modulation). This solution allows for transmission and reception of the same content with scaled qualities adapted to different user reception conditions.

Among the advantages of these new coding and scalable modulation systems is efficiency in bandwidth which, according to the first results obtained from the project, is around 20%.

In 2014, the project was redefined, eliminating the use of SVC and focusing rather on the use of the new and more efficient coding standard HEVC together with VCM. Groundwork has been laid for the validation scenarios so that in 2015 tests can be run to evaluate the viability of this solution for HISPASAT clients.

HISPASAT collaborates on the project with Fraunhofer HHI and FTA Inverto, all led and coordinated by Airbus.

ICT2020 PROJECT

The ICT2020 project, started in 2011, is positioned within the Avanza Competitividad R&D subprogram of the Plan Avanza2, a program of the Spanish Ministry of Industry Tourism and Commerce. ICT2020’s goal is to do research on new systems and services associated with new regulations on Common Telecommunications Infrastructures (ICT in its Spanish acronym) and possible evolution of this infrastructure by the year 2020.

ICT2020 analyses problems with network access convergence and distribution from buildings into homes, as well as the total number of auxiliary networks available, especially wireless. It will analyse infrastructures for network access and distribution to guarantee the launch of new multimedia services in ICT networks and ensure necessary backward compatibility.

In 2014, a final demonstration of the project was carried out in which satellite services were integrated into fibre-optic, coaxial, PLC (Power Line Communication) and Ethernet networks, demonstrating the powerful applications these technologies have and their possible integration with the access network via satellite. The project has been declared a success by the Spanish government, within the Avanza Competitividad R&D programme.

HISPASAT leads and coordinates the ICT 2020 project, whose participants are Promax, Televés, Fenitel and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.