In addition to its GPS navigation system, it is packed with a host of multimedia tools that include a Dolby surround audio system, radio, TV, DVD player and VHS video recorder, as well as four PC's, three monitors and three webcams. Every seat except the driver's is equipped with its own screen, wireless keyboard, camera and headphones, allowing full Internet access.
With the ESA-developed W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) modems on-board, data can be downlinked from the satellite at up to 384 kilobits per second. The uplink data rate from van to satellite can be as high as 128 kilobits per second. This means that full multimedia services are available simultaneously to up to three users sitting in the van.
A built-in wireless LAN (Local Area Network) also allows the provision of services to laptop users located within a few tens of metres of the van itself.
In addition to these connection-oriented services, the van also offers reliable packet-mode multicasting services, using evolved upper-layer protocols. Reliable multicasting allows the provision of multimedia content to a large user community over a very wide area.
Information caching in the van makes local retrieval of user-customized audio, video and data possible.
