Why Satellite for Broadband Access?

The satellite communications industry is a mature and stable one. For decades, satellites have been
used to transport analog voice and video signals around the globe, providing excellent quality and
reliability. Reliability of the actual satellites once placed in operation approaches 100%. Failures have
almost always occurred during launch or prior to deployment of services. In addition to voice and
video signals, satellites have been successfully used to transport data for many years. Everyone has
seen the dishes on top of gas stations and convenience stores that are used for low-speed
transactions such as credit card approvals. With the advent of the Internet, satellite technology
companies have added broadband IP support making it possible for even the most remote locations to
participate in the World Wide Web.
Most legacy broadband satellite solutions have been built by piggybacking IP on top of DVB satellite
technology, which was designed for television video. These solutions are inefficient and sluggish, and
generally provide poor uplink performance and lack support for applications such as VoIP. New
technology from iDirect, developed from the ground up to support IP over satellite, has had the effect
of upgrading performance in a manner that is similar to the upgrade from a shared Ethernet hub to a
switch. The resulting solution provides enterprise class quality and reliability.
iDirect Technology Discussion
Legacy Satellite Solutions
The broadband satellite industry is undergoing an evolution similar to that experienced by wireline
services in the early 90s. At that time, most companies who wished to network their remote locations
at speeds that exceeded dial up capability were required to install point-to-point leased lines, using
either DDS circuits or very expensive T-1 lines. With the introduction of shared resource
technologies such as Frame Relay, SMDS, and ATM it became possible to share infrastructure costs
and to share bandwidth between multiple locations. In particular, the popularity of Frame Relay made
it possible for the first time, for companies to network their remote sites with relatively high-speed
connections at affordable prices. This capability in turn made it possible for software application
developers to deliver company-wide applications that could be deployed across the entire company,
improving communications and productivity, and eliminating duplicate administrative functions at each
branch office. Of course, with the advent of the Internet and broadband services, applications grew in
functionality and bandwidth requirements. Now it can be argued that roll-out of new Internet-enabled
applications are stalled due to the lack of ubiquitous, affordable broadband service for all remote sites
regardless of location.
In the satellite industry, data services were initially delivered over dedicated point-to-point circuits
known as SCPC that are very similar to point-to-point leased lines. Because bandwidth and
communication resources are not shared, this is an expensive undertaking. Similar to the
technological advances that took place in the wireline industry in the early 90s, shared resource
solutions are now becoming available in the satellite industry, driving down the costs for connecting
remote sites to the Internet and/or to corporate headquarters.
Many of the shared broadband satellite solutions that are available today are based on technology
called TDMA, and like Frame Relay, they take advantage of the fact that IP traffic is very bursty in
nature. Most applications require short bursts of information requesting data, followed by the
download of the requested information, then a period of inactivity as that information is reviewed and
worked with. This creates a great deal of idle or wasted bandwidth on a dedicated SCPC circuit. As the
diagrams below illustrate, IP traffic tends to be asymmetric, with anywhere from 4 to 8 times as much
download traffic as upload traffic in typical applications. The bursty nature of IP makes it possible to
share bandwidth among multiple users, effectively reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

Most legacy broadband satellite services were developed primarily by piggybacking IP on top of the
existing technology used by satellites for delivering analog voice and data called DVB. DVB is used to
transport television signals from companies such as DirecTV and Dish Network. To transport IP
packets, these solutions simply encapsulate the IP traffic in MPEG video frames that are transported
by DVB as though they are voice/video. The good news is that DVB/MPEG is a mature technology and
the chip-sets to provide this service are relatively inexpensive. The bad news is that this is not an
optimum solution for transporting IP traffic as there is a great deal of inefficiency and unnecessary
overhead. The download of IP traffic to remote sites is actually the easy part. The uplink or return
path is the most difficult to design for maximum efficiency and performance, balanced by cost.
Today there are any number of broadband satellite solutions available that provide marginal
broadband service for customers, but many have deficiencies that have resulted in slow acceptance of
broadband satellite as a mainstream solution for business users. We will now take a closer look at
some of these critical issues and discuss how the new iDirect technology has resolved them.
TCP/IP over Satellite
A significant difficulty encountered in supporting TCP/IP applications over satellite has to do with the
inherent latency or delay of satellite systems. Because satellites are 23,000 miles above the earth, the
time it takes for a signal to go from the ground to the satellite and back to the ground is just over 1/4
second. The TCP/IP protocol was designed for guaranteed transport. A server or PC sending data will
begin by sending a few packets and then waiting for an acknowledgment that the data was received
before sending any more. If the data is successfully received and acknowledged, the sending device
will send more packets at a faster rate. It will continue to speed up until acknowledgments are lost.
This tells the sending device what the speed or bandwidth capability of the transport services is, and it
will send remaining data at that rate. Unfortunately, satellite latency appears to the sending TCP/IP
device as a very slow or congested circuit. It expects an acknowledgment within a short time period
and when it doesnt get it, it throttles back and retries. Satellite vendors circumvented this problem by
using TCP acceleration techniques sometimes called spoofing. This is based on the same techniques
that were used to solve similar problems with IBM SNA/SDLC and other older protocols in the past.
Many satellite solutions require an external device to provide TCP acceleration. Almost all legacy
solutions accelerate TCP in only one direction. Many of the solutions are based on spoofing the
TCP/IP protocol. The problem here is that there is no end-to-end management of the TCP session, so
if a packet is dropped midway through transferring a large file, the file must be retransmitted from the
beginning. iDirect provides bi-directional TCP acceleration, built into the satellite router and hub
equipment at both the remote site and teleport hub equipment. Further, the data transmission is
tracked and buffered and occasional acknowledgments are sent end-to-end so that if an error does
occur, only the corrupted portion need be retransmitted.

Another related issue is TCP Session Setup. This can be seen when pulling up a web page that has
multiple links on it for content. Each one of these links must go through a connection/acknowledgment
process that must be performed sequentially and is directly affected by satellite latency. iDirect
provides HTTP or Web Acceleration that works in both directions. It dramatically improves web
response by eliminating the need for the acknowledgment packets to traverse the satellite link. This
results in downloading pages smoothly and quickly as though on a terrestrial link.

Reliability and Rain Fade
Everyone who has ever used DirecTV or Dish Network video television service is aware of the fact that
service can be degraded or lost during a bad storm. This interference is especially troubling for IP
traffic. TCP/IP requires very low bit error rates (10-9 BER) to deliver data at full speed. With
increasing error rates, packets must be retransmitted, resulting in a significant reduction in
throughput. On an IP satellite service, when the Bit Error Rate degrades to 10-7 BER, IP throughput
drops to about 5%. Satellite vendors have incorporated forward error correction (FEC) technology that
works to correct errors in an effort to avoid retransmission. The challenge is to find a balance between
the overhead of the FEC technology and the gain in performance by mitigating errors and retransmits.
The most common FEC today is called Reed Solomon Viterbi (RSV). This FEC technology has been
incorporated into many of the chip-sets that use DVB/MPEG to deliver data. The primary limitation of
RSV is that the higher the level of desired reliability, the greater the amount of FEC overhead, at great
cost to bandwidth efficiency.
There is a newer and far superior technology called Turbo Product Codes (TPC) that works using a
reiterative process much like a turbo on a car engine. It essentially corrects some of the errors, and
then sends the data through the process again, attempting to correct any packet corruption that might
have occurred during transmission. It does this using a minimum of FEC overhead. Turbo Product
Coding, reduces the amount of power required for antennas to transmit signals to a satellite while
maintaining high error correction performance. As a result, customers can use smaller, less expensive
antennas, thereby enabling voice, data and Internet applications to be supported more cost-
effectively. According to industry experts, Turbo Product Codes, or TPC, offers the best coding
performance of any common FEC technology implemented to date. In communications engineering
you rarely get something for nothing. Generally technology that improves information reliability comes
at the cost of either time or bandwidth. TPC is as close to something for nothing as you can get today.

iDirect is the first satellite technology provider to implement this new technology in their product, and
the only one (at this time) to utilize it in both directions.
Note, that some vendors have begun to implement Turbo Codes which is not the same thing as
Turbo Product Codes and does not deliver the same degree of efficiency and reliability. There are
actually two different implementations of Turbo Codes: Turbo Convolutional Codes, or TCC, and Turbo
Product Codes or TPC. According to the experts, the most promising current implementation is Turbo
Product Codes, or TPC, as it provides a significant advantage in terms of reliability and increased
performance. TCCs typically have a noise floor that limits the maximum bit error rate achievable.
Along with the forward error correction, VSAT transmission power is an important factor in punching
through inclement weather. On satellite transponders, it is power, not bandwidth that is the critical
factor. Satellite providers have rules regarding how much power can be directed at the satellite. Most
VSATs have a fixed amount of power they can use to transmit a signal. As the weather degrades there
will come a point where the transmission power is insufficient to reach the transponder without
significant errors occurring, which drastically reduces IP throughput to the point where it may fail.
The iDirect solution addresses rain fade in two ways: first of all, the use of TPC forward error
correction technology means that significantly less power is required to deliver the same bandwidth as
a legacy system using RSV.

Secondly, the iDirect solution incorporates automatic power control that automatically boosts transmit
power as the signal degrades due to inclement weather. The additional power margin provided by TPC
forward error correction can be used to boost the signal without exceeding the power limits imposed
by the satellite vendor on their transponder. The hub equipment located at the teleport constantly
monitors the signal from each remote site. As bad weather moves into a particular area, the remote
VSAT(s) in that area are remotely and automatically commanded to boost their transmission power.
As the weather clears, the transmission power is throttled back.
Performance Issues
Downloading (outbound) on a broadband satellite system is not overly difficult. The transmission is
basically a broadcast that is sent to all remote VSATs. In the case of the iDirect solution, each satellite
router has a burned in MAC address and it can only receive data that is specifically sent to it. iDirect
uses a proprietary TDM frame format that is approximately 60% more efficient than most DVB
systems, otherwise the operation is very similar. The difficulty comes on the uplink or inbound link.
Bandwidth contention
Multiple remote VSATs must contend for bandwidth in order to transmit or uplink their data. Some
legacy broadband satellite systems contend for bandwidth, leveraging technology that works much
like shared Ethernet. As more users are added to the system there are collisions that result when
multiple users request bandwidth at the same time. As the load increases, this can create a snowball
effect until all the bandwidth is chewed up just handling the contention. Thus it is very important that
the network not be highly over-subscribed or service may be seriously impacted.
Once a VSAT has contended for access, the hub will assign bandwidth on the same frequency or
channel (TDMA) or on multiple frequencies or channels (MF-TDMA). This bandwidth assignment will
be made based on some sort of fair access algorithm and the active bandwidth request from the
remote VSATs. Unfortunately the access is inconsistent because collisions may occur when multiple
VSATs request a connection and bandwidth at the same time, and must back off and retransmit. This
causes slow startup times and adds jitter which affects applications like VoIP and Video/IP.
Most of these systems
(which are based on the
DVB/RCS specification)
allocate bandwidth in 8
or 16 Kbps chunks for
pre-configured amounts
of time, frequently
measured in seconds. As
the time period expires,
if the remote VSAT isnt
using the bandwidth or if
a higher priority request
is made, then the
bandwidth is released
and may be reassigned.
Unfortunately this
method of allocating
bandwidth can be very
wasteful and inefficient,
and is very difficult to
optimize for best
performance. Internet or
web based traffic is very
bursty. Transmission
times are generally very
short and random in
nature. Since bandwidth
is generally allocated for
a minimum of several
seconds, all the idle time
in which a VSAT holds
assigned bandwidth, but
is not actively
transmitting is wasted
transmission capacity.

The iDirect system minimizes the connect time by assigning a small amount of dedicated bandwidth
or CIR (Committed Information Rate) to each satellite router, so a VSAT never has to contend for
access. It always has a connection to the hub. An additional pool of shared bandwidth is dynamically
allocated to each remote site up to 8 times/second using a fair access algorithm to prevent high
usage sites from starving other sites. Bandwidth, or timeslots are never held by VSATs, but are
constantly assigned and allocated in real time, taking maximum advantage of available bandwidth and
distributing it between users in real time. Bandwidth efficiency increases from 10 to 20% for most
legacy systems, to over 95% on an iDirect system.


The iDirect solution is excellent for VoIP and Video/IP for several reasons. Because of the dedicated
bandwidth, there is no contention required to begin a transmission, managing jitter for these sensitive
applications. Additionally, allocated bandwidth for a VSAT is feathered or spread out across entire
frames, creating a smooth even data flow, rather than the jerky delivery experienced with many other
systems.

The hub dynamically allocates bandwidth to each site based on configured rate limits, QoS, CIR and
current queue depths. In some ways, this technology can be thought of as upgrading from a shared
Ethernet hub to a smart Ethernet switch, with all of the resultant performance benefits provided by
that solution.
Frame Size
Many legacy systems use a 250ms frame size. That means sampling at only 4 times/second which
yields a sluggish web response and very poor voice quality. The iDirect frame size is variable
depending on the application, but is generally set at 125ms which means sampling 8 times/second.
This yields a crisp user web response and business class quality VoIP service. Of equal importance is
the ability mentioned above, to feather or spread out the transmission data smoothly and evenly
across the transport frames for a consistent low-jitter service.
Quality of Service (QoS)
Application QoS based on Class Based Queuing, found in leading QoS engines like Lucents Access
Point router, Sitara, etc. allows the administrator to allocate a percentage of bandwidth to specific
applications or protocols and to set the priority level (basically the queue depth) in order to deliver the
desired quality. QoS works in both directions, so a VoIP call wont be stepped on by another VSATs
large download file. When the prioritized application is idle, the bandwidth is available for general use.
A further advantage and unique capability of the iDirect solution is the ability to do fragmentation and
interleaving. This eliminates the case where the system has started to transmit a large data packet
and a small voice packet comes behind and is delayed (even though it is prioritized in the queue).
When large packets are fragmented, then the voice packet only has to wait for one slot.
Traffic prioritization may be performed on:
Destination IP
Address
Source IP Address
Source TCP Port
Number
Diffserv and ToS
Bits
Protocol (TCP, FTP,
UDP, RTP, ICMP)

The QoS feature can also be used to filter out or discard unwanted data based on the same criteria,
basically by assigning zero (0%) bandwidth allocation for the undesirable application or protocol. For
example, an organization might want to block gaming, or MP-3 downloads or Kazaa file sharing, or
restrict the amount of bandwidth available for these and other applications.
Rate Limiting
The amount of upstream and downstream bandwidth for each individual site is controlled and
managed using rate limiting. In this way, a business pays only for the amount of bandwidth they
require on a per site basis. A site can use all the bandwidth available up to the point that it is rate
limited.
Committed Information Rate (CIR)
As indicated above, each iDirect remote VSAT satellite router is assigned a small amount of dedicated
bandwidth, eliminating the need to contend for an opportunity to transmit, and guaranteeing that no
matter how busy the network, at least that basic amount of bandwidth will always be available.
Additional CIR bandwidth can be permanently dedicated or dynamically allocated on a per site basis to
support specific requirements for an additional cost. Dedicated CIR is bandwidth time slots
permanently assigned to specific remotes that cannot be used by any other VSAT. Dynamic CIR is
allocated to specific sites when they have data to send, otherwise the bandwidth time slots are put
back in the shared pool for general use among all VSATs. A key differentiator is the speed with which
dynamic CIR can be assigned. Most systems that provide a CIR capability will take 10s of seconds to
establish the dedicated bandwidth capacity, while the iDirect system will make it available in sub-
second time.
Security
Many companies desire the use of satellite broadband for private IP networking instead of, or in
addition to Internet access. This is easily accomplished. Traffic from remote sites lands at the teleport,
where Internet traffic is directed to a firewall and dropped with no intermediate hops onto a Tier One
ISP backbone at very high speeds. Private IP traffic is directed to a Frame Relay, T-1, VPN or other
wireline link that terminates back at the companys headquarters location. The connection is private in
all regards, similar to a Frame Relay network. For additional security, most iDirect-enabled Network
Operators support iDirects optional 3DES encrypted service across the satellite link. Everything to and
from the remote VSAT is encrypted across the satellite link. The benefits of TCP and web acceleration
are maintained. The customer can decide whether to encrypt links to some or all of their remote
offices. The 3DES encryption is provided by the Hifn chipset that is found in VPN appliances and
routers from many vendors. The performance hit for 3DES encryption is less than 1%.
Some organizations have specific requirements for security, and satellite latency can create some
interesting challenges for VPNs. Business Satellite Solutions fully understands these limitations and
can provide consulting and advice for a range of security solutions that work over satellite such as:
SSL-based VPNs that are easy to deploy because no client software is required.
They ride on top of TCP, so TCP Acceleration continues to operate.
SLE or Selective Layer Encryption solutions that encrypt data but leave the TCP
control information alone so that TCP Acceleration can work properly.
Encapsulation techniques that wrap an IPSec VPN packet in a new TCP header that
can be accelerated.
Integrated Solution
Many satellite systems require that you convert a PC into a router in order to share the connection.
Others provide a dedicated PC or device that delivers a proxy service to share the connection with
multiple users. The iDirect solution uses a small hardware box with no moving parts, that includes
standard routing features such as Static IP, RIP2, IGMPv2, DHCP, NAT, DNS caching, VLAN tagging,
GRE Tunnel Acceleration, etc. It delivers a 'hot' 10/100 Ethernet port to connect to your networking
gear. The satellite modem, router, TCP acceleration, and QoS engine are all in a single, reliable,
integrated package.


Service Delivery Options
Most legacy systems require that the service provider procure a large chunk of space segment,
typically an entire transponder. This means that they must design their service offering for a mass
market, with an eye to servicing and supporting as many subscribers as possible on a network. The
iDirect solution supports the ability to economically engineer smaller, customized service offerings to
meet specific customer demands. There are generally three types of service offerings available that we
shall refer to as Enterprise, Carrier/Premium, and Private Network. Not network operators offer all
three service types. Due to the flexibility of the iDirect solution for a network operator to engineer a
service offering to specifically address specific markets, there is variance in the offerings from
different providers. Business Satellite Solutions will work with you to determine which service offering
is best for your requirements.
Enterprise Service
With this solution, a service provider will generally configure a service that provides an a la carte
menu of bandwidth offerings. This is similar to typical business broadband solutions like DSL and Fixed
Wireless that are shared by multiple companies at reasonably conservative sharing or subscription
ratios. Typical generic service offerings range from 128 Kbps x 64 Kbps up to 4 Mbps x 512 Kbps. This
is a good solution for the enterprise with just a few remote sites. Bandwidth levels can be upgraded on
a per site basis as requirements increase.
Carrier or Premium Services
These services are generally intended to be used for Internet Cafs, ISP backhaul service or very high
volume business use. They are also appropriate for solutions that have a high volume of concurrent
VoIP or Video/IP transmissions. Generally some percentage of the service offering has a built in CIR to
ensure sufficient dedicated bandwidth to meet the saturated data throughput requirements for these
heavy use applications. Additional CIR may be available for additional cost to meet the specific
requirements of the situation.
Private Network Service
An enterprise that has many remote sites may opt to procure a
private network service in which bandwidth is shared only by that
companys remote sites. The service can be customized and
designed with sharing ratios to meet specific business
requirements. A business may opt to increase the sharing or
subscription ratio in order to reduce the cost per site. They may opt
to select bandwidth rates that are higher than a generic service
offering and install the appropriate dish and transmission
equipment to support the higher rates. The iDirect solution
supports up to a maximum of 9Mbps x 4 Mbps. Companies with
many sites across multiple time zones may distribute them across
multiple carriers in order to split the traffic load by time of day.
Business Satellite Solutions uses an iDirect-provided segment
analysis tool to help determine the correct sharing, CIR and other
parameters to meet the specific business requirement.
Transportable Solutions
In addition to fixed installations, the iDirect solution is excellent for mobile or transportable satellite
solutions that can be assembled and commissioned in a matter of a couple hours, then packed up and
moved to a new site as needed. With this solution, a company might arrive on site, set up and point
the dish, use a GPS to enter the location coordinates for the dish and bring the system online quickly.
With a couple of VoIP phones and a small switch or hub, a remote site can have extensions off the
corporate PBX, and be connected to the Internet and/or headquarters in no time.