Aero satellite communications supplier EMS Satcom (booth 5211) has just won the first Inmarsat type approval for a terminal designed to work with the satellite operator’s new SwiftBroadband 432kbit/sec service.
Highlighting the power of the Ottawa-based company’s technology here is movie super-spy Austin Powers, who’s being convincingly impersonated at the EMS booth every day. Visitors are invited to come along and pick up some industrial intelligence about the SwiftBroadband-capable HSD-400 satellite terminal. The first 40 people to attend a 10min primer on the system will win a groovy prize - a martini set fit for an international man of mystery.
Due for commercial launch at the end of next month, SwiftBroadband is designed to support IP data communications and high-quality digital phone calling. The EMS HSD-400 supports both background and streaming-class services.
“Always-on” background-class is ideal for internet access and email, with the user paying by the megabit. Streaming-class service is suited to videoconferencing and other real-time applications and provides guaranteed 32-224kbit/sec data rates in return for a per-minute charge. A single channel of SwiftBroadband can support simultaneous email, internet access, voice and videoconferencing.
“HSD-400 already has more than 400h of flight testing on two Boeing Business Jets under its belt,” says EMS Satcom general manager Gary Hebb. The terminal’s ability to support SwiftBroadband has been tested this year during take-off and landing and through 40° bank turns, and performance assessed at satellite elevation angles below 10°. Typical data throughput averaged 300kbit/sec per channel, with peaks of up to 475kbit/sec.
Applications successfully tried out included VPN access, email (internet and Microsoft Office Outlook), FTP, streaming video, Instant Messenger, and upload of weather information to an electronic flight bag.
Source: Flight Daily News
