August 19, 2013
Comtech EF Data Corp., received a $3.2 million equipment order from Globecomm Systems, Inc. (Globecomm), a leading global communications solutions provider. Globecomm will utilize the equipment to support the upgrade of a major U.S. broadcaster’s existing affiliate exchange network to accommodate the future newsgathering needs of its news division and affiliate stations.
The order included Advanced VSAT Solutions, a portfolio of managed high-performance, satellite-based communication solutions designed to provide premium services with industry-leading spectral efficiency for minimizing the total cost of ownership. It incorporates advanced FEC, ACM/VCM, header and lossless payload compression, RAN and WAN optimization, multi-level advanced Quality of Service (QoS) and dynamic bandwidth management to reduce OPEX by minimizing leased bandwidth and power consumption and minimize CAPEX by reducing antenna and BUC size. When used with VMS, the dSCPC capability enables dynamic allocation and sharing of bandwidth. When a node in the satellite network detects a change in required capacity, it automatically requests that change from the VMS. VMS manages the satellite resource allocations and automatically creates a new frequency plan, power level, data rate, FEC, and modulation schemes.
“We selected Comtech’s combination of Advanced VSAT Solutions and dynamic SCPC architecture over other VSAT technologies based on multiple factors. For this application, the solution provides the highest throughput and most spectrally efficient transfer of IP-based video content. In addition, VMS also allows for the space segment’s management for optimal utilization over multiple transponders,” commented Gerard Johnston, Vice President, Americas for Globecomm Systems.
The broadcaster needed an automated broadcast contribution and distribution solution to service their geographically dispersed hubs and affiliate stations. Utilizing the Advanced VSAT in conjunction with VMS will enable the automation of both linear and non-linear (file-based) video content feeds. By employing the dSCPC functionality, the bandwidth across multiple satellite transponders will be treated as a single resource, and will be dynamically allocated as needed. The network will tie seamlessly into schedule-based programming to ensure that scheduled content distribution has sufficient satellite capacity. By making use of the Advanced VSAT’s QoS functionality, a priority-based hierarchy can be assigned to guarantee that DVB-based linear and critical IP-based video feeds are transmitted over the satellite links even during peak or congested periods.
Fred Kornberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp., commented on the order, “We are honored to be selected to support this state-of the-art network upgrade that will enable the transport of live and stored news content from affiliate stations and news bureaus to this broadcaster’s news headquarters. By utilizing our market-leading technologies, this customer will be poised to reduce CAPEX and OPEX associated with satellite communications.”