Projects

CollaBOD is an integrated Bandwidth-on-Demand management system developed to control satellite circuits in real time and fill a gap betwen users.

The objective of the Trapeze project is to
build a satellite tele-education service showcase for
travelling people like those in bargee, circus or
fairground communities. Due to their mobility, these
communities do not have access to fixed communication
lines. The satellite tele-education service showcase is
intended to convince organisations in the EU involved in
the education of travelling communities of the value of
integrating such services into their existing teaching
practices.

Cost-effective satellite communications by more efficient use of bandwidth is the goal of the IMPSAT project.

The SMART Project targets the development and demonstration of a low cost satellite access provision service using GEO satellite parked in inclined orbit on both Single Channel per Carrier and Multi Channel per Carrier access schemes.

SEDNET is dedicated to the development
of an interactive retail TV experience with satellite
broadcast in the forward channel and SMS as the tool
for response, ordering and marketing. The SEDNET
product will enable NetCast customers to receive
dynamic, interactive media broadcasts over one-way
satellite communications.

A DVB-RCS platform with shared hub for multiple service providers.

SkyNurse intends to develop an operating
centre for the delivery of distance education and
residential courses directed at nursing personnel in non-
EU countries in order to employ the trained personnel in
EU hospitals and health care centres. SkyNurse also
aims to improve nursing practice throughout the EU
developing standard distance learning models suitable
for national and international use and preparing learning
materials that will offer uniform education, cultivate a
harmonious professional background and promote
standardized nursing procedures. The project has been
piloted with an actual group of nursing staff in Romania
prior to their recruitment in the Italian healthcare
system.

The key-objective of the project was to design and to develop a multifunctional "black box" that consists of an intelligent user terminal router and provides interfaces to multiple communication systems.

VERDI is a solution for the provision of
broadband corporate services exploiting Virtual Reality
environment for eLearning and eMarketing. The VERDI
project aimed at delivering a comprehensive solution,
demonstrating the added value brought to corporate
applications and working on the improvement of both
the cost-effectiveness of the service provision and the
perceived quality of the service.

The STICK Project aims at providing broadband communications capabilities to the Public Protection and Disaster Relief sector.
STICK will be a service that can be easily deployed by minimally trained operators, providing a mobile broadband shared network that can be simultaneously accessed by multiple users with multiple applications fully independent from public networks which may collapse when disaster strikes.

This study will determine the causes of the current problematic situation regarding Conditional Access Systems (CAS). It will detail how the lessons learnt should impact the development of new CAS for broadcast services.

Through the MIST concept, isolated and
mobile sites like ambulances and ferries can benefit
from teleconsulting. The Wireless Sickbay element of
the project developed, tested and implemented a
telemedicine solution that can be fitted to a vessel (in
this case the Marine Atlantic super ferry The Joseph and
Clara Smallwood) to allow quick responses to medical
problems from the RCST/IEMN network site in Port aux
Basques, Newfoundland. MIST was dedicated to the
creation of a technology, application, and human
systems model that can be custom fitted to a vessel to
meet its specific requirements.

The REACH project aims to create a cost
effective, commercially viable, medical home care
solution which will include videoconference, remote vital
sign monitoring, and satellite telecommunications
technologies applied to the field of Tele-Psychiatry. The
project makes available a solution that meets the
treatment needs of Assertive Community Treatment
(ACT) teams in Canada and their patients/clients,
determines whether the solution can substantially
reduce the treatment costs of ACT teams by enabling
the teams to substitute many "travel visits" by "virtual
visits". The project aims to assess the solution by
establishing a pilot project that treats 20 real patients.

The Peruse Project will develop a Wireless
Personal Alarm (WPA) solution which will be carried by
or worn on a person and allows the user to signal for
help at the touch of a button. Upon activation of an SOS
alarm, the WPA will be capable of transmitting a low
power signal to a satellite communications handset,
which will forward a message to an authorised number,
including the identity of the person in distress, as well
as their current location. The WPA will also have the
potential to transmit the user's current state of health
and local environmental parameters.

The objectives of the project are the
integration and trial of a communications system that
exploits the unique features of two wireless
technologies, namely DVB-RCS and terrestrial wireless
802.11x. The system is expected to be particularly
relevant to some rural communities, which are suffering,
when compared with urban communities, from a lack of
broadband communications. The new system will
provide a broadband system that is easy and quick to
install. The system can be shared by end users making
it cost effective.

TRACKS provides an extension of a GSM
cellular network using satellite links in combination with
a transportable Base Stations for developing countries
and crisis management. A GSM micro switch is
interfaced to the EADS Astrium telephone network (and
thereby to the Public Switched Telephone Network) by
the transportable VSAT terminal through the
multiservices router functions.

The primary scope of activities to be undertaken within this project is service evaluation of a combined TDMA/DVB satellite network for Internet/Intranet services.

The WGStargate Gateway developed in
this project will enable Internet Access for public use
and private enterprise communications combining
Satcom with terrestrial technology such as
UMTS/HSDPA/WIMAX/EvDo. The WGStargate system
will enable cruise liners, public transportation vehicles,
etc. to have high speed Internet access on the move
and in remote places and to provide the Internet service
to their clients through an intelligent bandwidth
management algorithm that limits the bandwidth used
by the clients and that assures bandwidth availability for
enterprise communication at all times.

The ADMiNiSTRA project is addressed at
developing an integrated communication system and
associated applications allowing public institutions to
receive as well as to transmit their multimedia contents
- through satellite - towards their own end
users/citizens. The result will be the setting up of a
satellite network called "ADMiNiSTRA Business
Television" dedicated to the Public Administration.

The REACT project proposes to address the limitation of the current dependence on mobile technology by developing a hybrid solution for emergency services that intelligently combines the usage of mobile and satellite communication for the transmission of information. The system will be designed for use not only in rural areas where standard mobile communication may be limited or unavailable but also during a major crisis when standard networks are overloaded.

The AeroFleet system is a solution for
operators of small and medium sized aircraft and
helicopter fleets providing digital air-to-ground
communication for efficient fleet management. The
AeroFleet system consists of a cockpit display allowing
the creation of messages over the satellite
communication link and the presentation of data sent
from ground to the crew in a graphical way (e.g.
weather information, mission dependent area of
operation) and associated dispatch software. The display
will interface with the airborne part of the Satcom
equipment to provide further communication functions
without flight crew involvement.

The project " Broadband Satellite
Information and e-Learning Channel for Manufacturers
and Service Companies (SiLC)", intends to deploy
broadband IP services via satellite to provide a new type
of high quality and professional service channel. It will
enable the electronic-hardware manufacturing industry
as well as the consumer electronics industry to
introduce their products to the trade and market
professionals and also to the end consumer.

T@HIS is a telemedical network connecting
physicians and hospitals over a new-generation satellite
network based on the recently launched AmerHis
payload on the AMAZONAS satellite. Within the project
three remote clinics in Amazonas, Para states in Brazil
have been connected to a referral hospital in Porto
Alegre. The dominant type of images transferred over
the system is ultrasound images, acquired from portable
or stationary ultrasound devices.

The CCN#3 "Open eTraining Network for the Millennium Development Goals" to SatElections is a pilot project dedicated to the development of a broadband satellite network in support to both the training (eTraining service) and the electoral needs (Electoral Data Transmission) of the Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (IEC-DRC).

The objective of the project was to develop Forsway´s one-way Internet over satellite gateway, Mímir, into a carrier grade solution for operators of all sized.

This project aims to set-up and
demonstrate the "modus operandi" for designing and
providing effective distance learning applications that
exploit the SkyPlexNet satellite technology available,
integrate satellite and terrestrial telecom infrastructures
and prepare for commercial sustainability.

The objective of this project is to
implement a dual use network (commercial and
emergency management uses) which is ready at all
times to immediately respond to the requirements of a
crisis or failure of terrestrial connections. A number of
specific hardware and software features will be
developed, typical user configurations built and a pilot
network operated.

DISaV's objective is the design of a
platform to deliver multimedia content to a distributed
audience and to manage the whole content lifecycle.
DISaV meets the requirements of the new advertising
market allowing the distribution of rich multimedia
messages (with videos, audios and images) to a wide
territory. The added-value of the platform is the
possibility of sending audio-video material and data to
screens distributed throughout the territory so as to
have a dynamic grouping of the reception points.

A satellite based alarm and surveillance
system for security applications. The system is designed
to provide connectivity via satellite between alarm and
surveillance systems on one side and security centres
and other receivers, for example to protect the owners
of the property. The system will comply with the highest
performance classification of alarm transmission systems
in accordance with the relevant system directives, in
particular EN 50136 and VdS 2471 and will provide a
transparent link between any 3rd party alarm
transmitter and receiver systems conforming to EN
50131 (Intruder Alarm Systems) and EN 50132 (CCTV
Systems) and the applicable VdS directives.

SatElections is a pilot project dedicated to
the realisation of a satellite based system and
associated applications of E-Training and voting data
transmission in support of the programme of effective
electoral assistance sponsored by the task force on
electoral assistance set up by UNDP, the EC and the
international organisation IDEA. The project is executed
in partnership with the Independent Electoral
Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

VideoSat for Distance Learning (V4DL) aims to exploit satellite broadband and broadcast
capabilities, providing Value Added Services for
Continuing Medical Education and Medical Scientific TV
via Satellite. V4DL carries two major innovations: a
distance learning methodology that binds emotional and
narrative learning theory with video simulation
technology (Edufiction), and an optimised user
experience thanks to a specific Set Top Box capable of
executing the specific eLearning application, managing
the GUI and all data transmission functionalities.

ABARIS enables consumers to order a
wide range of music products from an easily accessible
World Wide Website. Following payment and copyright
clearance these products are multicast to consumers,
using the ASTRA-NET satellite communications service.
ABARIS multicasts music products to customers who are
equipped with a computer connected to a standard
satellite TV dish. Following reception, each track may be
played using a multimedia PC or written to a CD for use
in a standard home or car hi-fi system. The music
encryption scheme employed by ABARIS will protect
artists' and composers' rights by preventing
unauthorised performances or recordings.

The HOST programme focused on the
development of the Hellas Sat commercial offering in
end-to-end satellite telecommunication services for
supporting the delivery of bidirectional, broadband
applications in Greece, the Balkans, SE Europe, and the
Middle East. The project intends to trial end-to-end
satellite telecommunication service provision to a variety
of potential customers for applications and generic
services in the area of e-Government, e-Business, e-
Inclusion/Digital Divide.

MeCA provides a cost-effective and flexible
technology and service model that will allow marine
service operators to deploy and operate a range of IP
enabled services on their vessels, and will actively
commercialise the service. MeCA will develop and
validate a range of services in the Canadian East Coast
environment, including High-speed Internet access,
Tourism services, Banking (ATM, debit and credit card
services), Remote data collection and management and
Distance Education for the crew.

EUROMEDNET provides tele-medicine
services co-ordinated by the Tele-medicine Operational Centre (TOC). The development of EuroMedNet is aimed to create: the physical facilities used to collect, distribute, store, process, and display voice, data and medical images; the applications and data engineering tools, methods, and processes to build and maintain the software that allows the Telemedicine Operations Centre and the Telemedicine Users Client to access and manipulate, organize clinical and medical information; the people and assets which provide the integrating design, management and operation of the EuroMedNet, develop the applications and services, and train others in EuroMedNet capabilities and use.

The IMSATV (Immersive Satellite TV)
project intends to implement and deploy a precompetitive
Satcom Application pilot service based on
an enhanced / highly Immersive TV platform, for an
extended range of TV programmes, and optimised for
satellite bi-directional access. An advanced MHP
immersive platform will be realised and advanced
immersive TV content will be produced in order to run a
pre-operational pilot.

The TESEO project is dedicated to
realising a system of multimedia narrow casting via
satellite. The different multimedia elements (video,
audio, graphics and text) are distributed to receiving
sites situated in different geographical areas and
assembled to form a local information channel branded
for the specific user group. In the pilot phase of TESEO,
the channel is used by hotel facilities to realise a local
information channel distributed via the analogue cable
TV system into each room, providing the hotel's guests
with geographically tailored information.

ESMEE provides a satellite based
eLearning multimedia platform providing real-time audio
and video streaming of university lessons and Internet
based synchronous interaction.

The aim of the Fusion Studio project is to explore the creation and enablement of compelling and commercially attractive content for Multimedia TV.

SENSIBLE (Satellite Enhanced Network System for flexIBLE bandwidth management) is a project aimed at the creation of a system to optimise the satellite bandwidth usage and, at the same time, to guarantee user's critical services such as VOIP, tele-conference, GSM, etc.
The core of the system is the detection of the users´ active services and the dynamic bandwidth allocation to the terminals included in the same administrative domain.