I was inspired to submit content in order to explore the
potential for integration of NOP into current revised standards for transmission
of SS7 over IP over satellite.
If this content is deemed too commercial for this readership
kindly advise or direct me towards a more appropriate audience; a brief
overview of the concept is included in the text below related to a joint
development successfully completed with ESA (European Space Agency): The complete
article is covered in the attached link, and a separate .xls file includes calculation
parameters for NOP benefits over SIP and H323.
“WTL has an
excellent track record in providing equipment for voice services using
satellite trunking and has over 100 systems deployed around the world. The
company’s key strength in this area has always been the superior
bandwidth-saving capability of WTL’s patented NOP (Network Optimisation
Protocol).
The Artes 4 contract provided joint funding
for a series of developments designed to make WTL equipment perform an even
better job for telecom operators wishing to use these emerging low cost
satellite services. One aspect of the ESA
project was to modify NOP to operate efficiently over DVB-RCS services. The
lower price point of DVB-RCS equipment and space segment means that this is of
great interest to operators, particularly in the developing world.”
Regards,
Rubin
Rose
International
Account Manager
Changing the way the World
Communicates ............
World Telecom Labs
Diegemstraat
42
B-1930
Zaventem
Belgium
Telephone
+32 2 722 7200
Fax
+32 2 725 6006
Web http://www.wtl.be
Email
rubin.rose@xxxxxx
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--- Begin Message ---
Subject: ESA Telecommunications: ESA Funded VoIP over Satellite Development helps African telecoms
From: <Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 7>
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:39:56 +0200
Title: ESA Telecommunications: ESA Funded VoIP over Satellite Development helps African telecoms
ESA Funded VoIP over Satellite Development helps African
telecoms
01 Jul 2008
Telecom operators across Africa and the Middle
East can now benefit from new technology developed with the
assistance of the European Space Agency.
World Telecom Labs, a Belgian-based developer of Voice over IP
(VoIP) equipment for telecom operators, developed this technology
through ESA’s Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES)
program. The project’s objective was to address the difficulties of
carrying VoIP traffic over shared satellite services, primarily
DVB-RCS, to result in a commercially saleable device allowing
telecom operators to deploy a range of satellite-based commercial
services.
The platform used for this development was WTL's existing IPNx
switch. Modifications needed to be made in order for it to become
suitable for satcom operators by adapting WTL's patented Network
Optimisation Protocol (NOP). Using WTL’s NOP bandwidth-saving
technology will typically cut the cost of satellite bandwidth in
half without sacrificing quality. Simply put, this technique packs
multiple VoIP voice samples into a single IP packet. Because the
samples are not modified, quality is unaffected but, on
multi-call links, significant savings are made on the packet
overhead. Also, since single samples are taken from each active call
rather than queuing multiple samples from the same call, delay is
not increased.
As the focus of the project was to create commercial benefits, a
live customer network was to be installed and tested. The
client chosen for this pilot was Xplorium, an international
wholesale VoIP carrier with a presence in Europe, the Americas, the
Middle East and Africa. Xplorium's specialities include
carrying the international traffic of Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) operators. In a number of locations the traffic
is carried via satellite and this has given rise to concerns about
the voice quality and the efficiency of transmission.
The first operational link used for the pilot was between Gambia
and the client’s NOC in Paris with a capacity for 360 optimised VoIP
calls (equivalent to 12 E1s). The trial was successful by
demonstrating high voice quality and confirming that significant
bandwidth savings were actually achieved. As a result the pilot was
soon followed by deployments in a number of other African locations,
with the traffic again being sent to the Paris hub.
Simon Pearson, WTL’s Business Development Director says; “For
this installation we have been able to draw on the improvements that
we made to NOP in the ESA funded project. This allows us almost to
do the impossible – in some cases we can save bandwidth and improve
the voice quality of VoIP over satellite. We have added features
specifically to counteract the common problems of satellite
transmission of VoIP, namely variable delay or jitter, long delay
and packet loss in busy contended services.”
Frank Zeppenfeldt, Communications Engineer with ESA's
Telecommunications and Integrated Applications department
says; "In this project ESA offered its technical DVB-RCS
assets to support WTL in testing the performance of voice codecs in
a satellite environment. This is a typical example of a development
supported by the ARTES 4 program of ESA Telecommunications, in which
a new product is developed that is close to the market and allows
the enhancement of voice services over satellite."
ESA supports a wide range of projects, which encourage adoption
of the DVB-RCS standard, providing positive benefits for all.
DVB-RCS is an open standard for bi-directional or two-way
transmission of digital data. It employs satellite
transmission using combinations of C, Ku and Ka bands with
return bandwidth up to 2 Mbit/s. Such projects stimulate growth and
keep Europe on the forefront of the telecommunications industry.
For more information, see the links located in the top right
corner of this page.
