Reacting to the Internet of Things

The ever-increasing demand for 4K broadcasts means that satellite signals have to carry more capacity, which has pushed the growth in HTS (High Throughput Satellites) launches, and the investment in satellite ground station infrastructure to handle these signals. 

This growth has driven us to develop new products which are compatible for Ka-band applications, extending the performance of our ground segment RF equipment, which has a wider operating frequency range – up to 2.5GHz and beyond.

With the need for greater signal capacity and the increase in HTS operations with wider bandwidths, satellite ground infrastructure can benefit from our new ultra-wide dynamic range of RF over fibre-optics links which have been designed especially for HTS applications with high linearity and fixed parameters.

We understand that each customer’s requirements are different and pride ourselves on being able to offer a tailored solution for each individual RF requirement. 

As the broadcast industry rapidly advances, technology must progress at the same rate as the changes. One of the major drivers is the continued rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), with a predicted increase in the number of consumer devices to go online in the next few years.

Cisco, for example, forecasts that by 2020 there will be an estimated 50 billion internet connected devices worldwide.

In its recently released M2M (Machine-To-Machine) and IoT via Satellite Fifth Edition study, NSR found that by 2023, there are estimated to be 5.8 million satellite M2M and IoT connections globally.

The continued growth of IoT and M2M technology will require increased bandwidth and signal carrying capacity and is something that we will need to be ready for in the near future. 

This content was first published at IBC2016

The views expressed are those of the author.