The VISAT project was focused on via-satellite broadband services based on DVB-RCS, including sub-optimal terminal elements (prone to service degradation), which are appropriate due to its low cost to offer services at reasonable price to a wide user community.

The project was presented in the "cooperation" mode, proposed by INTEGRASYS S.A. as coordinator and HISPASAT S.A. as participant, guided by the existing need to extend current knowledge and concepts in network management.

The project takes as starting point a preliminar approach that combines (applying correlation techniques) the existing knowledge in different control center systems with spectrum monitoring and measurement techniques to determine the status of interactive terminals and recover out-of-service or degraded terminals.

Objectives

The strategic objectives targeted by the VISAT project are the following:

The fundamental scientific objective is defining the procedures for optimal management of the via-satellite broadband service, and to present them to standardisation processes at international organisations.
The main technological objective is preparing a new product, implementing and automating the procedures of an automated control system for the via-satellite broadband service.
The project economic objective, through the inclusion of new management procedures and the automated control system, is service optimisation in order to (a) minimise the operational costs derived from service failures and (b) maximise the network availability and user satisfaction.

Project Structure

During the project lifetime the following milestones and deliverables were defined:

Milestone 1, at the end of month 6:
- Specification of new automatic control procedures for the via-satellite broadband service. Functional requirements to fulfil by the new system.
Milestone 2, at the end of month 12:
- Deliverable D01: "Functional Design of the new system".
Milestone 3, at the end of month 22:
- Procedures, methods, modules and system software components, developed and integrated.
- Deliverable D02: "System Development and Integration Report".
Milestone 4, at the end of month 22:
- System validation
- Deliverable D03: "System Validation and Tests Report".
- HISPASAT assesment on used technologies, conclussions and improvements, and future trends.

Project Results

Milestone 1: Specification of new network management procedures and techniques

The first work package coordinated by INTEGRASYS, but under the responsibility of HISPASAT, consisted on the formal specification of the work to perform, establishing the technical objectives and the features that the final product must meet, the procedures to automate, the knowledge to acquire and the new techniques to develop with the aim to automate the management and control of the via-satellite broadband platform.

As it was formerly comented, the task schedulle in this initial phase included multiple brainstorming meetings to foster acquisition of new ideas, knowledge and experiences of the staff involved in manual service management and control operations, with the aim to further determining optimal procedures that could be later generalised and implemented.

HISPASAT worked on the specification of new procedures, providing documentation, operation diagrams and workflow diagrams.
INTEGRASYS delimited the procedures specification and oriented them to use cases to facilitate their software implementation.

Milestone 2: Analysis and Design Phase, logic of the new automatic procedures.

The second work package started in April 2006 and ended in December 2006.

This work package, under the responsibility of INTEGRASYS, involved analysing and designing the logic for the new procedures, taking as imput the functional specifications of the previous phase, together with the capacities of the different technologies, systems and tools to use in the development to specify the functional design of the new application.

As a result of the new phase, the document D01: "Functional System Design" was produced, including the general system design and the particular design for each procedure, module and component, establishing the foundations for its subsequent software implementation.

Milestone 5: Project Management and Patent application

Project management tasks, under INTEGRASYS responsibility, aimed an efficient and economic project control, with the required reactive capacity to tackle any incident affecting project course.

Result Dissemination and Commercial Activities

INTEGRASYS and HISPASAT are collaborating in project result dissemination to other network operators, service providers and RCST equipment manufacturers, following two approaches:

Technically, through the active participation in international standardisation technical recommendation organisations (Satlabs and ASMS), with the aim to disseminate obtained results as well as estabilising the new procedures. In this sense, possibly the most important VISAT achievement is in line with the European Space Agency, promoting the DVB-RCS technology as recommended by the Satlabs group. Additionally, the relavant participation of INTEGRASYS and HISPASAT in the national (eISI) and international (SATCOM, NEM, NESI) technology platforms ensure a leadership position in aspects related to via-satellite broadband network control.
Commercially, attending major satellite and audiovisual events both national and international, such as Satellite 2005, where Integrasys and Hispasat were represented, as well as the european IBC 2006, where Integrasys presented different dissemination material.
It is worth mentioning also the activities performed at MATELEC 2006, where HISPASAT participated, with a full day dedicated to Broadband Services with two specific sessions oriented to terminal installation using the tool developed in VISAT.

The materials produced for these activities have been:

Autoinstallable CD with interactive presentation
Press releases, published in specialised media
Dissemination activities presented during exhibitions

Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce under the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation (1/2006).