Technological Innovation
The telecommunications via satellite sector is immersed in a process of transformation in response to changes in demand, the appearance of disruptive innovation and increased competition. Given this state of affairs, technological innovation has become a key factor in generating new applications that foster space capacity demand and make it possible to open a competitive advantage.
HISPASAT understands innovation as a continuous and key process for company business continuity in the future. Internally, innovation is approached from a transversal perspective, in which the professional teams from different company areas take part in multi-disciplinary teams on a project-by-project basis, thus putting their satellite know-how, telecommunications networks and applications at the service our new projects. Externally, HISPASAT collaborates closely with the main satellite and sector equipment manufacturers, telecommunications operators and with benchmark investigation centres such as UPM and CTTC. Moreover, HISPASAT is also a regular participant in consortiums that embark on large-scale R&D&I projects financed by initiatives such as Horizon 2020.
Thematically speaking the company classifies its innovation projects into two big blocks:
INNOVATION IN SERVICES AND BUSINESS MODEL:
This block covers all those projects geared towards innovating in services and applications provided via satellite. Projects related to the video market (work on 4K and HDR for instance), mobility (high speed trains) and telecommunications (participation in R&D products related to the role of satellite in 5G) all fall into this category.
INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE:
This area encompasses all those projects related to infrastructure, space and ground that HISPASAT uses to provide its connectivity services. This area covers innovation projects in GEO satellites (such as H36W-1 novelties), R&D projects related to other infrastructure (such as new types of satellites and HAPS-High Altitude Pseudo Satellites) and innovation in antenna technology (like alliances announced with PHASOR and HiSky).
SATELLITES
HISPASAT 36W-1
The putting into orbit of the Hispasat 36W-1 (H36W-1) satellite concludes an international project aimed at developing, validating and putting into orbit an innovative satellite platform capable of meeting the most demanding communications requirements.
The Hispasat 36W-1 also carries a regenerative payload, REDSAT, which has a reconfigurable antenna and an on-board processor that regenerates signals received, thus complying with the DVB-S standard. This Ku band payload will enable HISPASAT to leverage the satellite’s potential flexibly and efficiently, thus endowing it with the adaptability to cope with market changes.
AMAZONAS 5 AND HISPASAT 30W-6
Attesting to its commitment to innovative development, HISPASAT has supported the carrying of demonstrators with photonic technology on its Amazonas 5 and Hispasat 30W-6 satellites.
The Amazonas 5 carried a demonstrator with a power distributor based on photonic technology for the first time. This new concept has several advantages:
- Mass and volume reduction,
- Improvement in isolation attributes between transmission and reception
- Reduction of complexity in the satellite input section with multi-beam missions requiring hundreds of frequency conversions, that in the future could be performed by this single component, which would distribute signals to each receiver. Likewise, this would lead to a reduction in satellite mass and volume and would improve isolation between signal transmission and reception.
Moreover, in the case of the Hispasat 30W-6, there are plans that it carries an extended Ka band receiver demonstrator for the first time based on photonic technology. This unit comprises of four modules: an optical frequency local oscillator, an optical frequency converter, a power converter and a low-noise amplifier operating on the extended Ka band.
The attributes of the aforementioned receiver resemble those of the current microwave receivers on the market. In the future they will make it possible to significantly reduce mass and volume in the input section on reducing the number of units required by existing technology.
PROJECTS
VIDEO SOLUTIONS
In 2017, HISPASAT remained true to its commitment to bring Ultra High Definition (UHDTV or 4K) to end users by undertaking several initiatives to promote this technology. Indeed, HISPASAT has a specific 4K channel in Europe and North America, which is distributed over Hispasat 30W-5 and Amazonas 3, respectively, the purpose of which is to act as a technological demonstrator available to the industry.
At the same time it has been working to showcase the use of the High Dynamic Range (HDR) as a complement to the 4K channel to improve image quality along with HVEC coding; the foregoing all on native 4K content.
With a view to promoting this technology and the progress made by HISPASAT in 2017, several events were held such as the Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival; not to mention the collaboration with Spanish national TV, RTVE, to digitise the National Film Archive into 4K. Moreover 4K content has been made available through the RTVE “red button” application.
HISPASAT also contributed to the transmission of live events using UHD technology, such as the first live broadcast in Spain with 4K HDR technology of the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Madrid or the live broadcasting via satellite of Madame Butterfly from the Opera Week at the Teatro Real to numerous public squares, museums and cultural centres in over 200 Spanish towns and cities.
Moreover, smart TV has become an added feature to many homes, thus bringing about a drastic change in TV consumption by families. HISPASAT continues to drive the SAT>IP system, as reflected by the growth of the SAT>IP Alliance in 2017 that saw new members join and the signing of a cooperation agreement with the DVB alliance.
NEW APPLICATIONS
As part of the new applications’ initiatives being developed by HISPASAT, the commitment to the new 5G communications standards and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been marked out as lines of particular interest.
As far as 5G is concerned, HISPASAT is collaborating on different national and European-wide initiatives. Specifically, HISPASAT is taking part in the European Commission NRG5 project within the framework of Horizon 2020. Led by the Italian company, Engineering-Ingegneria Informática SPA, this project is being developed by a consortium of 20 European organisations, among which Thales and British Telecom, as well Pierre and Marie Curie University research centres (France) particularly stand out. Its main goal is to improve the energy management efficiency by using 5G environment features. A beginning was made in 2017 to describe the use cases to be verified in the project and to define the architecture system.
Two initiatives in the field of 5G were also submitted to the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop this technology for satellites, one for mobility and another for fixed environments; both have already reached a second final proposal phase for acceptance and development.
With respect to the IoT, HISPASAT is working with the manufacturer hiSky to offer affordable voice and data services together with low capacity IoT. By using a small size, flat antenna with phased-array technology developed by hiSky, these types of services can be provided to homes in remote areas and for mobile resources, such as ships, trains and connected cars.
NEW NETWORK DESIGN TOOL
HISPASAT, along with members of the Higher Technical School of Telecommunications Engineering of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and GMV, continued to participate in the development of an automated IT tool to create more precise and automated network designs, with features facilitating the adaptation of designs to meet any customer requirement. The tool is mounted on a web application and therefore access is immediate once the user is validated. Moreover, it has a profiling system which enables its distribution on different levels, both inside and outside the company.
The line developed in 2017 was the improvement in representing results based on public geographic maps which enable installers to carry a verification tool for features in their own smartphone and compare them to with the measures taking place in real time.
Likewise, the tool was opened to use by HISPASAT clients to enable them do their own analyses based on satellite fleet features and the terrestrial segment available to the client, thus facilitating development, deployment and implementation work on the connectivity needs of company clients.
MOBILITY
As regards the mobility sector, HISPASAT continued in 2017 to incorporate improvements into the service it provides to Renfe AVE trains.
In the course of the year, HISPASAT collaborated with Aicox and Indra in developing the new antenna carried by the AVE, which is not only compatible with all types of its high-speed trains, but comes with features characteristics that allow for greater service efficiency and availability. At present, practically all those trains that use the service provided by HISPASAT have had the new antenna fitted in the course of 2017.
On foot of these improvements, the consortium that came up with the connectivity solution for AVE trains, and which was led by RENFE, was selected at the IBC tradeshow held every year in Amsterdam as a contender for the “IBC2017 Innovation Award” in its “Content Everywhere” section, managing to reach one of the four finalist spots.
Moreover, the company continues to forge ahead with its efforts in the connectivity via satellite field for cars. Accordingly, the company is participating in the Sat2Car project, along with companies such as PSA Peugeot Citroën, Egatel Altia and Quobis. The main project objective is to develop and validate an integral system of mobile services and applications for vehicles via satellite through the development of an end-to-end technological platform which allows for one-way and two-way broadband applications with high added value, enabling the exchange of real time information and communication between vehicles and service providers. Studies were ongoing in 2017, while definitions of the technological elements and services required to establish this link were completed.
SATELLITE TRIPLE PLAY
This year, HISPASAT continued work on developing technology to allow their clients to maintain a complete package of Internet, telephone and television services in all potential business areas, including those which do not have proper land infrastructure. The driving idea behind this is to enable HISPASAT to offer a competitor-distinguishing service to all its clients, both for direct-to-home ones as well as for those who provide internet access, while at the same time promoting the services of those operators that transmit with HISPASAT.
Accordingly, in 2017 HISPASAT signed a collaboration and development agreement with one of the biggest antenna manufacturers in the world with a view to implementing the hybrid Ka/Ku video and data solution, in turn based on a solution that uses dual reflectors on both frequency bands. Development work has now been completed which has already resulted in a new product, albeit as yet in its prototype version. Final product testing and the commercial launch of the product are planned for 2018.