Cygni

Competitiveness & Growth

Status

Completed
Status date

2023-07-17
Activity Code

6B.078

Objectives

The activity aims to extend ST Engineering iDirect (Europe) product portfolio for the Broadcast and for the IP Trunking market with two main products:

The Next Generation Broadcast (NGB) platform
The MDM5010 Stand Alone (SA) Modem

The NGB platform shall implement a flexible slotted architecture that will support IP based wideband and multi-carrier modems, and will be ready for Over-the-Top (OTT) integration.

The MDM5010SA will operate either as a high-end VSAT modem in a Dialog network, or as a new standalone DVBS2x Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) modem.

Challenges

Density and scalability of broadcast modulators, combined with high operational availability, is a key challenge for the broadcast market.

Another challenge is the flexibility of operations of high-end contribution modem capability. At the one hand operating with End-to-End multimedia integrated solutions, and on the other hand with a point-to-point stand-alone operations.

Benefits

As successor of the Polaris-platform, the NextGen Broadcast is a multi-functional platform which can be easily customized to the functional needs. The dense solution and possibility of build-in redundancy reduces the Total Cost of Ownership. The interactive documentation and integrated Help-function in the GUI reduces furthermore the installation-effort.

Features

Reducing Total Cost of Ownership by use of

Dense modulator capabilities
High throughput – High modulation support
Hot swappable modulator cards
Dual homed operation possible
Fully redundant
High value broadcast feature set
Optimized GUI with interactive help-function to reduce training and installation effort.

System Architecture

In the dense platform (1U), full build-in redundancy can be achieved for power-supplies as well for modem-cards. Main parts can be exchanged during operation to secure continuity of service.

Plan

Preparation for project started at the end of 2019.The plan comprises Preliminary design review, where the architecture is defined (mainly hardware-setup and mechanics), followed by Baseline design review. In total 6 months duration till detailed product-definition. Crucial point for the dense architecture is possibility to exchange modules safely during operation by the customer. Further development and industrialization through Mid Term review, Test readiness and Final Review target to release the device by mid July 2023.

Current status

The CYGNI activity is completed in July 2023.

The main achievements of this Product phase activity are:

MCX8000 – Next Gen Broadcast:

Upgraded configuration flexibility by adding or removing modules and loading the appropriate software licenses
Future-proof design combining video and IP multiservice capabilities, supports transport of today’s and tomorrow’s services
Multi-stream reception and transmission (16 streams in modulator)
User friendly GUI with embedded manual

MDM5010 Satellite Modem