SSPI Announces Honorees of the 2010 Industry Innovators Awards
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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Posted by: Orly Konig-Lopez
New York City (February 10, 2010) – The Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) announced today the recipients of its 2010 Industry Innovators Awards. The Industry Innovators Awards, introduced in 1993, identifies and recognizes outstanding new contributions to the field of satellite communications by both private-sector and public-sector organizations. Honorees are chosen by a committee of industry experts for accomplishments ranging across a broad spectrum of advanced satellite technology and business applications.
The 2010 Industry Innovators Awards will be presented at a ceremony, sponsored by Booz & Co., on March 16, immediately prior to SSPI's annual Gala. Held on the opening day of the annual SATELLITE conference, the Industry Innovators Awards and Gala will take place at the Gaylord Hotel & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland.
SERVICE DEVELOPMENT & APPLICATIONS
The US Broadcast Networks: In the for-profit sector, SSPI honors the four US terrestrial broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX – for successful completion of a nationwide conversion from analog to digital over-the-air broadcasting. In addition to meeting a Federal Communications Commission mandate, the US broadcast networks also took the digital conversion as an opportunity to re-invent their satellite-based program distribution networks. While all four networks completed their conversion by the deadline, CBS also cut over nearly 200 affiliate stations to an all HD distribution platform using 8PSK and DVB-S2 modulation that provided more efficient use of satellite bandwidth to accommodate the more demanding HD program format. ABC migrated to a completely new compression, multiplexing, modulation and satellite delivery system in the same month.
Télécom sans Frontiéres: In the non-profit sector, SSPI honors Télécom sans Frontiéres, or Telecommunications Without Borders, a relief organization in southern France founded by Monique Lanne-Petit and Jean-Francois Cazenave. Funded by the UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation as well as corporate partners including AT&T and Inmarsat, the group provides satellite phone service and Internet connections to relief workers and governments in the heart of any disaster within 24 hours. Through satellite uplinks, they provide free three-minute calls for people desperate to reach family to let them know they have survived. TSF also advises governments on the role of communications in disaster preparedness, and establishes satellite-based telecom centers in developing nations to improve people’s lives.
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT & APPLICATIONS
Inmarsat-4 Spacecraft: In the for-profit sector, SSPI honors Inmarsat as the creative innovator and EADS Astrium as systems engineer and project manager for the complex, multi-year effort to develop and launch the Inmarsat-4 system of spacecraft. Serving about 98% of the global population, the I-4 satellites use onboard processors to adapt to changes in traffic across the globe, and can generate nearly 256 spot beams for users on earth while dynamically allocating bandwidth based on demand. A unique feature of the I-4s is the ability to generate beams of variable size to adjust the performance of the link with user terminals of different size and capability. The main technical challenges faced in developing the six-ton I-4s were design and manufacture of the digital processor, plasma propulsion system, payload engineering and system engineering by EADS Astrium in the UK and France; the L-band reflector by Astro Space (Northrup Grumman, USA); and the L-band feed by EMS (now MDA, Canada).
Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group and WBU-ISOG: In the non-profit sector, SSPI honors the Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG) and the World Broadcasting Union – International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) for leadership over many years in the effort to reduce the impact of satellite radio frequency interference (RFI). Interference in the satellite network disrupts transmission, reduces quality of service and threatens the economic fundamentals of the world’s most successful space business. SUIRG has surveyed the industry in order to establish a baseline for interference measurement, tested interference from WiMax devices, and developed recommendations for access and uplink procedures and a universal carrier ID system for faster identification of interference sources. This work has dovetailed with that of WBU-ISOG, whose Rogue Carriers Working Group has won the support of equipment manufacturers , satellite operators and end-users to include a WBU-ISOG Carrier ID standard in all new models and, where possible, in software upgrades for older models. The award also honors other organizations for their contributions, including the Global VSAT Forum, CASBAA, SIA and WTA, and major global and regional satellite operators led by Intelsat and SES.
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT & APPLICATIONS
Cisco Systems Internet Router in Space: In the for-profit sector, SSPI honors Cisco Systems for developing and placing into operation a hosted satellite payload offering the ability to route IP traffic on the satellite, which eliminates the need to send the data to and from an extra ground station to implement the circuit-switched function. Routing IP traffic on the satellite with the router’s built-in software can increase throughput, reduce latency and enable flexible bandwidth-on-demand applications between users in different geographic regions without static configuration. IRIS provides an end-to-end IP service leveraging open standards that allows faster integration and converges with the US government’s service-oriented-architecture approach. SSPI also acknowledges that the IRIS payload offers proof-of-concept for the hosted payload approach to deploying government communications capability aboard commercial satellites, and as such, establishes a new model of collaboration between government customers and commercial operators of satellite fleets.
NASA Innovations in Space Communications and Robotic Operations Related to the Deep Space Network, Mars Exploration and the Hubble Space Telescope: In the non-profit sector, SSPI honors the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for innovations in deep space communications and robotics in support of Mars exploration programs and the reconditioned Hubble Space Telescope. Through improved cryogenic amplifiers and advanced electronics, the Deep Space Network now allows NASA to relay many gigabytes of video imaging and scientific data from the Mars rovers across two hundred million kilometers of space. These state of the art communications systems – both on Earth and in space – have contributed to a new level of understanding of Earth’s sister planet and its surface makeup, its atmosphere and its potential for sustaining life. SSPI also recognizes the spectacular improvement in performance of the reconditioned Hubble Space Telescope through an augmented gyro, remote positioning system, robotics control system and communications system. SSPI believes that the latest control, positioning, robotic and telecommunications technologies introduced by NASA are likely to benefit the development of the commercial satellite industry for decades to come.
About SSPI The Society of Satellite Professionals International is a nonprofit member-benefit society that serves satellite professionals throughout their working lives. With chapters in the Americas, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, SSPI works to attract new talent to the industry, helps satellite professionals advance in their careers, works to increase the professional standing of members and honors extraordinary achievement by satellite professionals and the companies they work for.
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