The Digital Interface Standards Working Group (DIS), in support of Communications & Power Industries (CPI), DataPath, Datum Systems, Gilat Satellite Networks, SES, ST Engineering iDirect, and Wavestream, invites the satellite communications (SATCOM) community to collaborate on the development of an open interoperability standard for the SATCOM industry.
Focusing on interoperability and standardization, DIS will oversee the creation of the new standard that will enable all manufacturers to build interoperable technologies that work in both open and closed network topologies, delivering the most advantages at the lowest cost.
There are various requirements driving the need for an open standard such as the demand for higher throughput and the availability of more satellite bandwidth; the need to deploy and manage networks on a much larger scale; more flexible utilization of bandwidth and the use of higher-order modulations to improve bandwidth efficiency.
The traditional analog L-Band modem to RF interface is currently impeding these goals. Hence, by digitizing the interface between modem and RF components using the new open standard, the industry will be able to leverage the latest virtualization, cloud computing, and network function virtualization technologies as well as greatly improve the performance and scale of satellite hub, gateway, and modem equipment.
In an open letter to the SATCOM industry, the DIS has detailed the work that has already been completed towards an open standard and opens up participation to the wider SATCOM industry. The open letter may be viewed here.