2016 SPECIAL
Foxcom continues to deliver for the satellite industry
Jon Matthews , CEO of Foxcom
2015 has been a year of growth and change for Foxcom following its acquisition by the Global Invacom Group . From the outset , we made a strategic decision to dedicate more R & D resources to further develop and enhance our traditional RF-over-Fibre Interfacility Links ( IFLs ) to maintain and bolster our position as the supplier of choice in the industry .
Foxcom earned its outstanding reputation in the Asia-Pacific region by focusing on the unique needs of its broadcast customers , by providing high-quality signal transmission with minimal signal loss at reduced costs .
It would be fair to say that , thanks to Foxcom ’ s dedication to the industry over the past two decades , RF-over-fibre is widely embraced today as the technology of choice by major broadcasters and teleport operators throughout the world .
Gone are the days of convincing operators about the many benefits of deploying fibre IFLs . In fact , we are seeing more and more cases of RF optical links becoming the de facto standard in new uplink facilities . In other words , our customers are deploying Foxcom links from day one , regardless of the distance between their antennas and control room .
Foxcom is proud to be the trendsetter when offering a complete and comprehensive range of fibre-optic IFLs . Our products are designed from the ground up , based on the valuable feedback we get from customers with strong operational experience . Our customers know they can always count on Foxcom to provide the most comprehensive range of links and accessories with minimal investment .
One of the highlights of 2015 was meeting the challenge to provide site diversity to Ka-band teleport operators . We achieved this by transmitting multiple L-band signals over single-mode fibre at a distance of 120km . The solution included optical amplifiers , DWDM ( dense wavelength division multiplexing ) multiplexers and switches .
Foxcom ’ s next-generation Sat- Light Platinum series was deployed along with a host of accessories to meet the stringent needs of our customers . With a team of dedicated system engineers and designers , Foxcom once again demonstrated its ability to provide an all-inclusive optical solution delivering unprecedented performance under the most demanding conditions .
Looking forward , we are witnessing an increasing trend in the satellite industry to deploy long distance fibre links for Ka-band earth station site diversity . We are anticipating these challenges as we embark on the New Year and are already developing new and improved solutions to meet these expected demands in the market .
Foxcom continues to make the development and enhancement of its RF-over-Fibre Interfacility Links ( IFLs ) a priority , including the company ’ s flagship Sat-Light Platinum series .
‘ Push the envelope ’ in 2016 and stay on top of a changing satellite industry
By Karl K Rossiter
T
he Asia-Pacific satellite sector is facing a number of challenges , upheavals , and even game-changers . All of which add pressures on Capex and Opex , and the need for new business models .
Right across Asia-Pacific , the traditional widebeam Fixed Satellite Service ( FSS ) is being challenged . This challenge is being led by the new geostationary high throughput satellites ( HTS ), with their multiple , polarisation / frequency diverse , contiguous , narrow spot beams with both Ka-band and Ku-band footprints . The first of these is Global Xpress .
Also in the immediate challenge is the Medium Earth Orbit ( MEO ) constellation O3B with its 12 HTS-style MEOs operating across Asia-Pacific . These provide a lower latency broadband service for both fixed and mobile markets . Future years will see other MEO and Low Earth Orbit ( LEO ) constellations , including Iridium , enter the mainstream .
In parallel , ground-segment transmission technology is progressing the drive for more bits per second per Hertz . New satellite modems , advanced Adaptive Coding Modulation ( ACM ) and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation ( QAM ), refined Forward Error Correction ( FEC ) codes , the DVB-S2X transmission protocol , automatic uplink power control , and spectral efficiencies approaching 10bps / 1Hz are all ‘ pushing the envelope ’, as witnessed by recent precision DVB-S2X transmissions of 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) television by SNG across Tokyo using 256 APSK ( 8bps / Hz ).
Because of spectral limitations and licencing regimes , HTS services across Asia-Pacific are being provisioned in either Ku-band or Ka-band . The downside is expensive ground-segment hubs at multiple gateway sites to counter the complexities and effects of rain fade . Traditional FSS wide-beam broadcast distribution at C-band will remain relatively unaffected in the near term .
HTS with its multiple spot beams may be the current game changer in Asia-Pacific , but the concept is not new . Thaicom ’ s IPSTAR was the pioneer , with its use of Kaband gateway links , while customers access Ku-band spot beams . HTS was initially seen as an enabling technology for delivery of consumer broadband , but HTS can be applied equally to enterprise and wholesale connectivity services .
The major operators bringing HTS payloads into Asia-Pacific over the next two years include Eutelsat 172B at 172 O E ; SES-12 at 95 O E ; Intelsat EPIC 33e at 60 O E ; and Inmarsat 5 at 180 O E . The first of these , Inmarsat 5 Global Xpress , is part of a global network which completed inorbit testing at the end of 2015 and came into service on 1 January 2016 .
The next few years will see services that benefit from low latency start to migrate from traditional FSS to the
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