Projects

In the Web-RM2 study new visualisation concepts for ESA's Mission Control system SCOS-2000 are developed.

The goal of Indra's project is to investigate how providing cross-layer information may help upper layers to take full advantage of this innovative physical layer solution.

The bypass Removal project aims to improve battery reliability, reduce its total price by at least 30 %, reduce significant weight/volume at battery level and shorten the battery manufacturing lead time.

Sat-n-Surf aims to take the results of
Sat@Once, a previous ARTES 3 project, and enhance it
with additional tools and means to become a full-sized
new broadcasting medium, on a par with popular radio
or television. Through the Casablanca technology, Sat-n-
Surf exploits the broadcasting capability of the satellite
to transmit the same information to all listeners. This
approach is the opposite to the familiar point-to-point
approach (unicast) of the Internet, where data goes
from one source to only one destination. Sat-n-Surf acts
as a "virtual matchmaker". On the local PC of the user
the application, a "Magic Mirror" runs that matches
together the personal interests of any given user and
profiles of the content that is sent by satellite. The
Magic Mirror "catches" all the information of the day that
may be of interest to his master.

The Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (SDMB) System intends to implement a multicast layer over unicast terrestrial 3G UMTS.

NAVCOM is the development and demonstration of an Integrated Navigation / Mobile Communication User Terminal .

Some main objectives of developing the bypass switch are to avoid US export licenses, limit inspection costs and shorten the procurement lead time by having a European manufacturer.

The main objective of this study by CNES is to determine if satellite based systems could be considered as economically viable solutions for safety aeronautical communication services.

The scope of the proposed activity is to investigate the commercial and technical feasibility of a higher capacity system for Aeronautical services. Such a system would provide business class passengers' connections up to 2 Mb/s.

The objective of this study is to formally capture the history and lessons learnt from the ARTEMIS electric propulsion experience, from the Platform Prime and Spacecraft Operator perspective.

The purpose of this work is to study and quantify the properties, advantages and limitations provided by a shaped dual reflector equipped with a reconfigurable surface when applied to a realistic mission scenario in Ku band.

ERA's new low profile antenna is the first array based design to operate in both the Ku-Band RX and Ku-Band TX bands using a single aperture capable of scanning up to 70º off boresight.

The main objective of the program was the qualification of a very high power C-band low pass filter for telecom or TT&C application, with high rejection up to Ku band and compact design construction.

The main objective of the program was the qualification of a low mass and very high power corrugated feed for C-band telecom applications.

This project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of the Advanced In-Orbit Testing concept based on the following objectives of: in-orbit test time reduction, accuracy, spin off and drift orbit.

The aim of Alcatel's program is to fill their frequency converters portfolio with competitive and flexible Ka-band designs matched with customers most current needs in terms of frequency ranges, performance, and unit functionality. Created on 14 September 2006

The main objective of Space Engineering SpA is to in-depth analyze possible techniques for adapting DVB-S2 / DVB-RCS standards to mobile systems operating at Ku- or Ka-bands whilst retaining, as much as possible, backward compatibility with current version of the standards.

The objective of this project is to define the best cooled LNA thermal control design and accommodation for Alphabus.

The NGM SatSys project aims to develop improved throughput satellite telecommunications networks.

The aim of the project is to develop a Switch Matrix with Fibre Optical Interface which fits in the multimedia ground terminal as a central unit. Receive signals are collected from all the antennas with Low Noise Block Converters (LNC) and distributed free on demand to numerous outputs.

The ILS project aims to integrate the SIECAMS interference detection technology with state-of-the-art geo-location techniques to support the satellite communications market in terms of rapidly detecting satellite operator interference.

SpaceForScience aims to facilitate the
scientific cooperation in Europe, especially in Southern
and Eastern Europe, by providing virtual, collaborative
working and education applications for research
institutions, via either fast academic networks or bidirectional
satellite links. The goal of SpaceForScience is
to enable distant centres all over Europe to connect,
meet, work, teach and learn wherever their
geographical position, thus enabling isolated institutes
to enter into the cooperative research, education and
technology transfer networks.

Phase 3 of the REMSAT II program
expands the capabilities of the system developed and
deployed under the preceding REMSAT II program
phases. The primary area of development is the
monitoring and surveillance capabilities required for
checking rivers that are prone to flooding. The system
consists of a portable weather station, a system for flow
monitoring and a series of surveillance cameras
deployed along the river to monitor the rise. The current
methods of measuring snow pack melt rates and snow
cover will be further developed using satellite images to
improve prediction of potential flood prone areas.

The objective of the project is to provide a
reporting system which will enable the in-flight reporting
of airline operational data over satellite communication
systems. The reporting system will provide the Flight
Crew and Cabin staff with the ability to issue reports
during all phases of flight. A ground based server will
make the reports available to authorised personnel and
legacy airline systems in real time over the Internet.
The ability to transfer important data en route means
the aircraft turnaround cycle will be performed more
efficiently.

The project aims at the development of a
unique software tool, based on INNOVIS' BizSmart"
workflow and Enterprise Application Integration platform
and utilising satellite communication technologies. The
new tool allows the execution of tasks and process steps
anywhere in the world, irrespective of the
communications device the task assignee has access to.
The BizSmart SAT system will be targeted at large
corporations and organisations, willing to set-up their
own workflow and integration suite and will practically
allow them to 'satellite-enable' all of their existing
software applications.

Under this project access technologies
using cost-effective broadband IP-based communications
services are developed to establish asymmetrical
broadband communications to ships. The project
envisages the development and validation of two
possible product/service configurations that would allow
the use of higher frequency bands and their associated
increased bandwidth to enable broadband
communications, TV access and telephone service.

The project objective is to upgrade the
Web-Sat interactive satellite system for IP access to the
DVB-S2 standard to allow a more efficient use of
satellite bandwidth and significantly improve the
commercial position of Web-Sat in the marketplace. The
project includes a pilot phase with integration of existing
services with a set of services developed under the
specific scope of this project.

ESEMAR is a system providing one and
two-way satellite interconnectivity and associated
applications for on-board and on-shore solutions for
maritime travel and tourism. ESEMAR offers a suite of
multimedia networking services such as Fast Internet,
Thematic Interactive Channel, Multimedia Content
Delivery, Symmetric Conference and Telephone/fax over
IP. Two principal market segments are being considered:
cruise liners and ferry lines.

The GigaManPack project aims to provide
a more highly integrated terminal than currently
available by taking advantage of MPEG-4 video and
MPEG-2 audio encoding techniques. It either transmits
directly via satellite using a DVB transport stream,
including encryption, or uses locally available
telecommunications connections. The terminal also
incorporates electronic hardware to provide antenna
control with auto-pointing and auto-acquisition software.
It incorporates a communication modem to provide
remote order wire capability and talkback facilities if
desired.

The "Multi-PID" project has developed and
demonstrated a state-of-the-art, fully automated system to allow multiple DVB broadcast satellite channels to be
filtered, processed and monitored in order to supply
content playout information to be reported back to the
content owners. The Multi-PID platform provides a
comprehensive and cost-effective method of monitoring
all of the main European broadcast channels, which is
far more efficient than a pan-European terrestrial
monitoring network.

eWave VideoServer is an interactive telelearning
system based on MHP. It is especially designed
to educate operators of highly complex technical
equipment. Operators will be able to work with the
technical equipment by using the simulated user
interface on the TV. A high quality video image provides
a detailed view of the equipment. Direct connection of
sensors allows visualisation of the main parameters on
the TV screen. Through the standard IP return channel
it is possible to interact with the equipment and to
simulate failure situations, enable failure identification
and perform recovery actions.

The SatServ project aims to provide a real
time chart updating service, including new chart
editions; access to maritime navigational information,
such as weather and tidal information; and required
input for the weather routing system. With this system,
C-MAP aims to become a one-stop shop for all nautical
information necessary for the mariner. The SatServ project intends to enable C-MAP to improve online
access to navigational information via a single
communication terminal. The project aims to make use
of customers' already installed Satcom platform, to
reduce costs and to avoid any need for extra
equipment.

The GWVAS project is dedicated to
developing and operating on a trial basis a Value-Added
Application Server which will meet both current and
future application needs employing the GlobalWave
wireless system. GlobalWave is an end-to-end satellitebased
packet data system, which operates with a
variety of existing L-band geostationary satellites, and
provides tracking, monitoring and control and short
message services to a wide variety of fixed and mobile
assets.

This project provides end-users who have
standard UMTS terminals with new exciting services
through satellite based multicasting of multimedia
content to Base Stations of cellular networks. The
integration between UMTS access technology and
satellite IP broadcasting requires the insertion, in each
base station necessary for UMTS coverage, of a
parabolic satellite antenna and an equipment box able
to adapt satellite transmission stream to the suitable
UMTS channel. The box is interconnected through the
appropriate open UMTS interfaces to the network, in
order to allow the UMTS operator to manage the offered
services.

The EODIS network and services are
being developed with the aim to disseminate the large
amount of EO products coming from the Ground
Segments of several Acquisition Stations. This will
establish a complete end-to-end data distribution
service over a satellite link complemented by a
terrestrial network (Internet) used to transfer protocol
control messages.

Wired Ocean's objective is to significantly
improve the availability of internet access from ships at
sea. Compared to existing systems the Wired Ocean
system has the potential to increase internet access
speeds by a factor of ten and to reduce costs by 70% to
90%. The chosen technology is a 'hybrid' of broadband
Ku-band satellites for the downlink and narrowband
mobile satellites (or cellular) for the uplink. A specialised
client server is developed (the Wired Ocean Satellite
Broadband Server) to manage the communications
sessions at the ship end. The server interfaces to a
tracking TV receive only (TVRO) antenna to receive the
downlink and to a narrowband terminal for the uplink.

The IHT Lift Channel system enables
multimedia clips for any purpose to be assembled and
then simultaneously transmitted via satellite to any
number of remote locations across Europe. The content,
distributed via satellite, is then presented on screens
within the client building. This may include a lift
compartment. Any kind of media can be displayed from
moving video with audio, to still pictures and graphics.
The system can be used for advertising purposes and
many different applications such as information sharing,
the provision of safety information and topical news
relevant to a particular organisation.

The purpose of the Cast4All Content
Conductor software suite developed in this project is to
create a complete turnkey solution for satellite-based
content distribution management in general, and digital
cinema networks in particular. The system provides a
fully integrated solution for the operation of such
networks, including reliable and secure transmission,
and also network management, distributed content
management, dynamic scheduling, and allocation of
resources. It also implies a distributed system with
zero-administration effort at the remote sites.

EDIBS® is a DVB-compliant technology of
embedded content transmission, partly based on MHP. It
works with most MHP-compliant set-top boxes equipped
with a hard disk without any hard- or software
adaptations. The combination of embedded content
enables broadcasters to embed additional video clips of
an unlimited size and in broadcast quality into their TV
programme without requiring additional transmission
bandwidth. Once additional content is transmitted, it is
received and managed by the MHP-compliant EDIBS
client application. The broadcaster defines the criteria
for viewers to be able to make use of this additional
content.

The Healthtrack Professional Service
(HPS) is a satellite based broadband network connecting
medical General Practitioners (GPs), hospital consultants
and pharmacies with the pharmaceutical industry and
other service providers in the sector. The service
provides a high-speed channel for the parties to send
and receive large quantities of media rich information in
the form of text, pictures, video and interactive
educational packages.