As we head towards this year’s long-awaited IBC in Amsterdam, the Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG) has been busy preparing for the show. For many people, this is the first trade show for several years so we’re looking forward to meeting as many people as possible. We will be co-hosting a champagne networking event on Sunday 11th September at 4.30pm on the ETL booth 1.B40. We really hope you can join us.
As one of the key events in the calendar for the broadcast industry, IBC is a great opportunity to show attendees what SIG does and why its work is so important. As well as promoting what we do as a membership group, SIG Directors are also looking forward to meeting up with SIG members, some of whom will be exhibiting or attending the show. IBC is a great opportunity to demonstrate and launch new products so we’re looking forward to seeing what our members are offering on the show floor. Here is a taster of what you can expect to find at IBC this year from SIG members.
Ground Segment Solutions
Getting the ground segment right is absolutely critical to ensuring satellite services can continue to operate seamlessly. A number of our members will be highlighting the latest innovations:
ETL systems (stand 1.B40) will be launching its next generation StingRay RF over Fibre range for loss-less RF signal transfer over distances. The range covers short (<10km) and medium (<50km) distance transfer. It is housed in its modular RF distribution chassis, offering versatility and operational efficiency. ETL will also be demonstrating its Falcon Frequency Converters in 1+1 redundant configuration, providing converter density and redundancy within the same 1U chassis. The mature range now covers 7 frequency bands, including Ka, Ku, K, C, X, L and IF-band.
ViaLite Communications (stand 1.D20) will be demonstrating its System Designer Tool developed to assist users with the design of complex RF over fibre satellite communications systems. It analyses performance, cost, space and budget of a communications system tailored to meet individual business needs.
Work Microwave (stand 1.A59) will showcase its satellite ground segment solution, Virtual Ground Station (VGS) which is based on digitized RF signals over IP in accordance with the DIFI standard and wideband signal processing on a cloud platform by a virtualized software modem. It will also be demonstrating its Digital Optical Ground Station (DOG) suite of products designed to overcome bandwidth limits and RF spectrum regulatory challenges with free space optical communication.
End to end satellite services
The role of satellite operators is evolving due to a shift in the satellite ecosystem. While satellite operators face a number of challenges, such as competition from other communication methods and the huge scale of LEO launches, it is clear that those that pivot to enable new innovations will remain relevant even as the industry evolves. Many of our members have already begun this transition and we have seen an onslaught of interesting announcements from many of the major players over recent months. This includes the news that SES will join forces with Vodafone PNG to Deliver 4G and Future 5G Services via Satellite to Papua New Guinea. Of course we also recently saw that Eutelsat and OneWeb will combine in an all-share transaction.
Es’hailSat (booth 1.F68) which has a fleet of 2 satellites, is currently expanding its services to support the rapid growth of Qatari customers. The services delivered from its teleport in Doha will be extended to include playout and cloud technologies. It is working on incorporating into its portfolio the latest advancements in technology across playout services, mobility and telecommunication services, OTT and Content Delivery Networks and at IBC, it will be showcasing its capabilities on these fronts.
Keeping Spectrum Clean
Although we are now the Satcoms Innovation Group, interference remains an important part of our remit and a challenge for the industry. A number of our members have solutions that help reduce these errors.
Integrasys will be launching the latest version of its Beam Budget, which enables accurate link budget calculations inter-satellite. It will also be on hand at IBC to discuss its interference cancellation system, CLEANRF.
QuadSAT’s drone-based antenna verification solution is making it easier and more cost-effective to enable accurate testing, helping operators to reduce the risk of downtime on their networks.
Other Members at IBC
We are fortunate to have a membership full of innovative and interesting companies you should definitely check out. Here is the list of members exhibiting at IBC. If you are a member and not on this list but exhibiting, please let us know:
Arabsat – 1.B37
Atos – BS5
Es’hailsat – 1.F68
ETL Systems – 1.B40
Eutelsat – 1.D59
Intelsat – 1.C71
Kratos – 1.A01
SES – BS10, BS11
Telenor – 1.C40
Vialite – 1.D20
Work Microwave – 1.A59
Meet with us
We are available for meetings during the event. If you’d like to arrange a meeting with either Helen Weedon or a member of the SIG team, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We will be at IBC from Friday 9th September – Monday 12th September.
Hope to see you in Amsterdam for IBC 2022.