Regenerative satellite mesh system for realtime multi-party multimedia traffic

Abstract

Regenerative satellites with on-board packet processing can provide full-mesh, single-hop connectivity between two or among many terminals without requiring a terrestrial Hub for traffic routing and control. By implementing resource allocation and packet replication in the payload, these satellites can extend the single-hop benefits to a multi-site, real-time collaborative environment. This paper summarizes the key features of the ETSI and TIA Regenerative Satellite Mesh A (RSM-A) standards and enumerates the capabilities of a pioneering implementation, the Hughes SPACEWAY® 3 satellite system, which was launched into commercial service over North America in April 2008. Capabilities such as spot beam forming, dynamic satellite communication hardware to beam mapping, and adaptive resource control enable a responsive transport system for inelastic packet streams associated with high data-rate video and audio traffic for real-time interactions. It also describes an IP multicasting architecture over RSM-A, aligned with H.323 and SIP standards, for managing real-time, point-to-point and multiparty video conferencing applications. (9 pages)