by Naveen Verma
naveen.verma@tachyon.com

Director, Sales Engineering
Tachyon Networks, Inc

The USA has ended the war in Iraq, but the war against terror is absolutely in full force and will remain in full force for the unforeseeable future. As the world’s geopolitical realities become more fluid and complex, one thing that is very critical to fighting the war against terror is our manned or unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission capability. My sense is that unmanned missions in particular are going to be more prevalent in the future to minimize any human casualties. We all heard about President Obama’s plans for defense cuts, and following is what Leon Panetta, Defense Secretary also said in his speech: “…as we reduce the overall defense budget, we will protect our investments in special operations forces, new technologies like ISR and unmanned systems, space and cyberspace capabilities and our capacity to quickly mobilize. These investments will help the military retain and continue to refine and institutionalize the expertise and capabilities that have been gained at such great cost over the last decade…” That’s right! ISR and unmanned systems are indeed critical to the current and future US military.

One of the key elements to an ISR mission is Satellite Communications-On-The-Move (SOTM) technology especially in underdeveloped areas of the world. SOTM technology is fast, reliable, rugged and secure to meet all of ISR’s challenges. Whether one needs real-time video transmission while performing air surveillance, or Internet access from a ship in international waters, or communication access for the mobile command center, satellite communications service is guaranteed to work, particularly for Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) communication. Currently, SOTM technology can provide return speeds of many megabits per second to upload content whether it’s real-time HD video or any stored data or video from the aircraft.  Whether an ISR mission requires manned or unmanned, rotor blade or fixed wing aircraft, advanced BLOS communications technologies are essential to the timely dissemination of information from in-theater locations back to command centers.

So as many areas of military investment are reduced in the coming years, I expect to see continuous investment into SOTM technologies as a vital enabler for the US Military’s technological superiority.

For years the SATCOM industry has worked to provide high-speed satellite based BLOS (Beyond Line of Sight) solutions for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and other applications for both commercial and military markets with Full Motion Video (FMV) requirements. Thanks to advanced solutions in operation today such as Tachyon’s aXiom 9300, which can deliver multi-megabit speeds in both forward and return directions, this FMV capability exists for fixed wing aircraft.  Multi-megabit satellite network services have greatly enhanced the US Military’s ability to perform advanced ISR missions in the field. But unmet demand remains for a satellite broadband communications solution that can deliver BLOS FMV from a rotary wing aircraft.

So far, industry attempts to achieve the 768 Kbps or faster speeds necessary for high quality ISR video, have failed to overcome signal degradations due to shading by helicopter rotor blades.  In addition, proposed solutions often require significant aircraft modifications, costing time and money. To date, the fastest solution industry has to offer achieves link speeds of only a few hundred Kbps.

I believe we can do better than that.  The technologies exist to meet key requirements of today’s rotor blade customers, including:

• Ka, Ku, X and/or L band support.
• Operational while hovering or in full speed flight
• Communications techniques designed to mitigate the channel effects imposed by rotor blades
• Reliable real-time video transmission (from helicopter to ground station)
• High quality video imaging with high efficiency image encoding H.264
• Very small aperture antennas with excellent performance
• SWaP of less than 50 lbs. and 380 Watts
• Fully automated operation
• Auto tracking of satellite and polarization
• High antenna pointing accuracy under helicopter motion conditions of roll, pitch and yaw
• Interactive voice communication during video transmission
• FCC/ITU-compliance for commercial satellites and ARSTRAAT certification for WGS satellites
• Secure broadband IP network access
• Advanced network management

A technology-agnostic approach using best of breed products and platforms must be employed to build a system that meets the above requirements.  Various waveforms should be evaluated to gauge how effective they are in penetrating variable speed, spinning rotor blades.  Airborne antennas in multiple sizes and form factors must be considered to achieve the optimal balance between link performance and aircraft SWaP constraints.

Once a solution is designed and built to achieve the above requirements, testing the solution is no small feat.  Aircraft terminal performance testing must be performed at various link speeds and orientations to the rotor. Among other tests, transmission and reception of the SATCOM IP data rate must be measured, as well as RF link performance and efficiency.

Tachyon is tackling these challenges and will be testing systems in the coming months.  Stay tuned to Tachyon In Touch to find out what we learn and what kind of performance is available to our customers with rotary wing aircraft.

Given the recent discussions regarding federal budget cutbacks, I was struck by the Bloomberg Article by Roxana Tiron, Sept 6, 2011 http://about.bgov.com/2011/09/06/top-bloomberg-government-stories-107/.

In this article, Tiron provides an overview of Pentagon intentions to boost funding in select strategic areas, including:

Radars and Sensors: The electronics market will grow cumulatively to a total of about $45 billion by 2020, from $37 billion this year, according to Teal Group analyst David Rockwell. The Pentagon is buying electronic jamming devices and cloud-penetrating radar systems as well as sensors, networks and computers, the central nervous system for military platforms.
Unmanned Aircraft: The global market for drones is set almost to double over the next decade, to $11.3 billion, according to Teal Group’s Philip Finnegan. The analyst expects U.S. spending on research and development and procurement for unmanned aircraft to increase from $4.3 billion to $7.8 billion. The Pentagon plans to more than triple its inventory of strike and surveillance drones provided by such manufacturers as San Diego-based General Atomics and Northrop Grumman Corp. of Falls Church, Virginia.

Based upon this article, it is clear Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions are strategic and will continue to grow globally for the next decade. What is essential for satellite networking companies delivering equipment into this market is a deep understanding of the most mission-essential SWaP (size, weight, power) design factors when considering installation of a satellite BLOS/OTH data backhaul system. As requirements evolve for both fixed and rotor-wing, manned and unmanned ISR platforms, it is essential to have a flexible COTS hardware portfolio that can be quickly deployed to meet the needs of programs. Flexibility means the ability to use multiple hardware platforms including:
• Modems of varying form factors and data rates
• Antennas including both phased array and parabolic
• Housing and enclosures for both air and convection cooling needs
• A software platform that can tie the equipment from various manufacturers together

At Tachyon Networks we have addressed each SWaP design aspect head-on and continue investigating ways to improve system performance to aggregate and distribute actionable intelligence to the warfighter and homeland defenses. The complete aXiom 7300 Integrated Airborne Network Solution achieves the highest Mb transmission capability per system pound than any other COTS airborne satellite backhaul system available on the market. With our flexible agnostic and modular approach to antenna, ACU, IRU, and modem technologies, Tachyon Networks can provide you the right SWaP combination- just let us know what factor is most important to your mission.

As a Sales Engineer at Tachyon Networks specializing in supporting fortune 1000 Enterprise customers, I am often asked if we have the capability to deploy a number of temporary remote sites in less than 30 days and deliver VoIP, data, email and mission critical enterprise application support. Each remote site often needs to communicate through a secure VPN tunnel to the corporate head quarter.

I’m happy to say that Tachyon most certainly can help! We can meet and exceed your requirements by deploying a remote auto/quick deploy or fixed antenna system and modem in conjunction with a colocated router at the Tachyon data center. And we have many customers utilizing this topology now with various Cisco or Polycom VoIP handsets.

Tachyon’s Remote Rapid Deploy System is specifically designed to be rapidly deployed and support VoIP, data, email and enterprise applications for remote offices locations. The Tachyon solution consists of the following:

1. Rapidly deployed and durable VSAT Antenna

2. Satellite modem/router

3. Upto 3mbps x 1mbps service (shared or dedicated)

4. VoIP prioritized for high quality phone calls

 1.2M Auto Deploy

Tachyon Colocated solution supports the secure VPN connection requirement between your remote sites and corporate head quarter. The solution is rapidly deployed, secure and scaleable to meet the rollout schedule for the remote sites. Traffic between the remote sites and the colocated router is sent in the clear and the traffic between the colocataed router and HQs is encrypted to meet your corporate security policy. Only one router is needed to support all remote sites thus the solution is scaleable and simple to manage via the central colocated router. Support for end-to-end encryption from remote to corporate headquaters is also available.

The Tachyon solution utilizes .96m and larger antennas and satellite links are designed to provide extra link margin to combat rain fade and provide a high quality user experience. In extreme locations where there is a potential for snow and or ice, Tachyon provides a satellite dish with an active de-icing system. Tachyon Network Operations provides 24 x 7 customer support and Tachyon’s services delivery is 100% financially backed. Tachyon satellite modem supports transparent acceleration to the data packets to support TCP acceleration for efficient data transfer. Web pre-fetch to support faster web browsing and a secure administrative web page accessible via the local LAN or satellite WAN link.

Tachyon Networks

It is not just that we delivered the aXiom 7300 end-to-end airborne network, nor that this system has been supporting the US Military in Afghanistan for several months (replacing the legacy solution from a much larger and entrenched VSAT company!!!) that has us so excited. More noteworthy is the reaction of our customers, the end users, and the platform we have developed to cement the future growth of our products and services to the ISR and Airborne markets.

Yes, our customer is happy with the aXiom 7300, and they like it better than the legacy system, but more importantly, they trust us and we have earned credibility in demonstrating that we do what we say we do and have agreed to do, we deliver it in a timely manner, we stand behind our products and services, we continue to grow, learn and develop newer and better products, and we care!

If you have been watching what is going on in the market space where Aerospace & Defense and Satellite are converging, you know that the US Military and their contractors have a real need for satellite bandwidth for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaisance (ISR) applications. Tachyon’s aXiom 7300 has improved  performance, and at the end of the day, has allowed mission critical data to flow more efficiently and seemlessly, however, more importantly, we have committed to understanding and developing solutions in a technology agnostic way.  The best technology for the job wins, and we invite and will include legacy systems as well.

Yes, video delivered off planes in real time using the aXiom 7300 Ku band satellite solution is better quality than any other BLOS system in the field today, allowing for more accurate ISR and delivering that mission critical data and video to NetOps and forward deployed troops on the ground.

After working on this program for the last few years I have learned that the successful delivery of an end-to-end airborne communicaitons network relies on an unwavering focus on every aspect of the network, including

• hardware systems – antenna, modem, IRU, ACU;
• software systems;
• managed network services which include customer access to real time and historical data;
• space segment acquisition and management;
• designing, building and operating ground stations; the list goes on.

Because we are a small company, and because of the complexity and the varying skill sets needed to deliver airborne networks, every person at Tachyon has had a part in delivering this solution, even while delivering many other programs at the same time.

At Tachyon, we know our aXiom 7300 customers’ jobs are to build planes and to run successful missions.  Our job is to assess our customers’ needs and design, build and manage the best possibile networks to meet their needs.  When we do this and we deliver an airborne satellite network that meets these customers’ needs, it is because we have listened to requirements and worked tirelessly to deliver them.

The best part of this week is that  we are ready for the future.  Ready to deliver the same level of excellence across the spectrum of airborne program requirements that we are seeing  coming from our customers every day, from UAV’s to helicopters to commercial and business aircraft.

So the work continues on cementing our upwards of 20 – 60 Mbps airborne  solutions to the world, and emanates in pure good old fashioned American ingenuity here at Tachyon. We’ll keep blogging about our efforts to leverage the best industry technology to deliver data, voice and video for ISR and other airborne applications.  Stay  tuned.

-Dan Negroni

aXiom 7300 Airborne Network Diagram

 Tachyon’s aXiom 9300 Terminal Router

Tachyon has been an innovator in the field of satellite broadband communications since the company was founded in 1997. Tachyon is headquartered in San Diego, California from where we operate our world class Network Operations Center. We were the first 100% TCP/IP standards-compliant, carrier-grade true satellite broadband network for the enterprise and government markets. Tachyon is internationally recognized as one of the top managed network solutions providers for customers who require their applications to perform flawlessly, regardless of climate, location and operating environment. Through our 13+ years in the business, we have amassed a significant amount of engineering and operational expertise in delivering end-to-end satellite broadband communications solutions. We hold dozens of patents and maintain an important ongoing commitment to research and development.

Tachyon serves its customers in two primary market segments, Enterprise and Government. On the enterprise side, we provide reliable and ruggedized satellite communications services to oil and gas, alternative energy, construction, mining, and special events customers. On the government side, we deliver secure, reliable, ruggedized, Comms-on-the-Move (COTM) solutions utilizing rapidly deployable VSAT infrastructure in some of the world’s harshest and most remote environments.

So whether you need to upload mission-critical airborne ISR footage in Afghanistan, or monitor an unmanned oil rig off the equatorial coast of Africa, or bring a disaster-struck area back online, Tachyon is uniquely qualified to address the most complex and demanding satellite broadband requirements of the Fortune 500, the U.S. military, and government agencies worldwide.

Tachyon’s end-to-end solutions include management and operations of satellite capacity, teleport facilities, network services, terminal equipment and advanced tracking antenna management for COTM applications

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