24 September 2000

Satcoms

Asiasat 4 Ordered
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Ltd (AsiaSat) has ordered Asiasat 4 at a total cost of US$ 220 million including construction and launch costs.

Asiasat 4 will be built by Hughes Space and Communications International Inc and will be launched by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services' Atlas III rocket in the first half of 2002.

It will be based on the Hughes HS 601 HP bus, and will carry 28 C band and 20 Ku band transponders with an operational life of 15 years. The C band payload will have a similar footprint to AsiaSat 2 and AsiaSat 3S. The Ku band payload, with 16 Ku-band transponders operating in the FSS (Fixed Satellite Service) frequency band and four operating in the BSS (Broadcast Satellite Service) frequency band will provide high power coverage and spot beams for selected areas.

The satellite will be funded from the company's internal resources and bank borrowings.

Ball Aerospace and Primex Team for Airborne Services
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp is teaming with Primex Aerospace Company to seamlessly bring voice, Internet connectivity and broadband data services to aircraft and directly to the passenger.

Ball Aerospace's Airlink HSD system brings this information to the aircraft via existing Inmarsat satellites and antenna equipment, and the Primex Emport system, a high-speed aircraft data network for personal electronic devices, carries the information to passengers at their seats.

Airlink HSD will carry voice, Internet connectivity and broadband data services to aircraft in flight over land and over oceans. The system will utilise the new Inmarsat Aero-HSD service, existing Inmarsat satellites and Aero H/H+ equipment to provide a dramatic improvement in communications capacity over current capabilities. The Airlink HSD avionics are easily integrated with most existing Aero-H/H+ Satcom antennas, including the Airlink High Gain Antenna System, an Aero-H Satcom product that Ball Aerospace has been delivering for more than 10 years. Aero H/H+ antennas are already installed on 76% of modern, long haul, wide-bodied aircraft, and hundreds of General Aviation and Government/Military aircraft.

With the addition of the Ball Aerospace Airlink Multimedia Unit, the Airlink HSD infrastructure will be able to receive Airia's live television services. The Primex Emport system is an aircraft cabin distribution system made up of a high-speed network and low power consumption, lightweight system that is simple to integrate into all single and twin aisle aircraft types. The Emport system hosts third-party software applications. The network is distributed throughout the aircraft over copper wire on several 400 Mbit IEEE 1394 "Firewire" networks. This high-speed network allows more than 200 passengers to use the system simultaneously. Users connect to the network via a USB connection from their PCs to the seat, and can then connect to air-to-ground communications systems installed on the aircraft to transfer e-mail and data.

Comlabs Introduces Emergency Management Service
Communications Laboratories Inc has introduced their Emergency Management Network product, which uses Microspace's Velocity File Forward service to deliver critical messaging services to the emergency management community.

Comlabs EMnet system is a robust emergency messaging system designed for the dissemination of warnings and emergency alerts including: attack warning, weather warnings, earthquake warnings, radiological warnings, and a host of other applications. Typical users of the service would be the FEMA Warnings Centers, The Center for Disease Control, State and County Emergency Operation Centers, Command Centers and Nuclear Power Plants.

The EMnet system provides rapid and simultaneous delivery via satellite of warnings and alerts to the emergency management community.

Velocity is a full-time, MPEG-2/DVB high-speed data, video, and audio satellite broadcasting service that allows organisations to distribute data or video programs to multiple locations economically.

Comsat Mobile and inflightonline to Provide Internet to Air Passengers
Comsat Mobile Communications (CMC), a business unit of Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT), has signed a three-year satellite service agreement with inflightonline.com Inc.

The agreement enables inflightonline to use the CMC air-to-ground communications network to offer passengers access to real-time Internet and Intranet content and to send and receive e-mail to home and office using their laptop and hand-held computers while in-flight.

inflightonline's software product enables website updates to occur while in-flight so that passengers can easily enjoy real-time access to e-mail and Internet services. The system offers enhancements such as sending and retrieving secure e-mail with attachments, real-time e-commerce transactions and up-to-date news, sports and financial information.

Comsat Mobile Communications, in collaboration with inflightonline, will facilitate the transfer of e-mail and Web services to and from commercial aircraft operating in-flight worldwide.

inflightonline's products and services include secure in-flight e-mail capability, hotel and flight reservation services, streaming audio and video with the capability of managing thousands of movie/audio titles, access to real-time news, weather and sports, as well as financial information and on-line shopping.

inflightonline's system is "platform independent," meaning that the company can manage its software and Internet services through any of the hardware systems on the market.

Comsat Mobile's aeronautical services are transmitted over the Inmarsat-3 series of geostationary satellites to the CMC ground earth stations in Southbury and Santa Paula. From there, communications are transmitted over terrestrial routes to their destination.

Digital Cinema Becomes Reality
National Cinema Network (NCN) will debut its Digital Theatre Distribution System (DTDS) this autumn, beaming entertainment and advertising content via satellite in an initial roll-out to 82 movie screens in three locations across the USA.

Developed and field tested by NCN's technical operations team over the last two years, DTDS is made up of digital video servers, placed in each cinema, and digital projectors, deployed on all screens in a complex. The video servers have the additional capability to manage all digital content that is to be distributed throughout the entire cinema, including alternative programming (i.e., live events, distance learning, closed circuit meetings) and, ultimately, full-length feature presentation. Digital pre-feature entertainment and advertising are sent via satellite from NCN's network operations centre in Kansas City.

DTDS streamlines the digital delivery of in-theatre advertising, simplifying cinema operations. It also opens additional advertising opportunities, enabling advertisers to target audiences on specific movie screens, as well as digital video monitors, kiosks, plasma screens and other display devices throughout the cinema.

Girne University's Virtual Campus
Girne American University (part of The American Educational Consortium), based in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has teamed with the National American University from South Dakota USA and the Fantastic Corporation to launch a programme of distance learning courses to be distributed by satellite from BT Tower in London.

The trans-continental alliance will use Fantastic's broadband technology, initially to enable 5000 distance learning BBA students to received high quality interactive materials across Turkey, but in future students may be drawn from countries such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

English language course material for the Girne American University BBA is being supplied by the National American University of South Dakota, USA. Academics at GAU tailor this to their own needs and then BBA modules are transferred via an ISDN line to the BT Tower in London from the University Campus in Northern Cyprus. At a scheduled time, these modules are downloaded via satellite to students at speeds of up to 4 Mb/s. This means that the data on a 300 Mb CD can be transferred, on average, in ten minutes by satellite. As course units range from 20 Mb up to 500 Mb. massive savings in download times will be achieved.

Globalstar Introduces Services in Saudi Arabia
Global mobile telephone service operator, Globalstar has introduced commercial service in Saudi Arabia, bringing telecommunications service to virtually every corner of the country.

Saudi Globalstar has been offering the service on a limited basis to select customer and corporations since June of this year. With the successful completion of all system testing, Saudi Globalstar formally launched commercial service last week, making it available across Saudi Arabia through authorised dealers and retailers. Currently, Saudi Arabia has terrestrial cellular coverage over less than 10% of its area.

Saudi Globalstar is initially offering mobile voice communications service, with data capability to be introduced next year. Saudi Globalstar will also soon offer Globalstar Fixed Access Units (FAU), which can serve as public phones for remote communities as well as business phones for industries such as petroleum exploration which regularly operate out of reach of terrestrial telephone networks.

Intelsat Type Approval for Channel Master Antennas
Channel Master LLC has been awarded Intelsat approval of its 0.96 m Receive-Transmit Offset antenna system in Classes I and II and also its 1.2 m Receive-Transmit Offset antenna system in Classes I, II, and III.

All of these antenna types have been approved under Intelsat's Standard G for Ku band applications.

Channel Master offers a diverse range of VSAT antenna products which are available in three classifications, all incorporating a one-piece thermoset moulded reflector, pre-assembled Az/El mount, and tri-leg feed support.

Class I models are suitable for use with Ku band transceivers weighing up to 2.7 kg. Class II includes a longer focal length, additional bracing and models are suitable for use with Ku band transceivers weighing up to 5.4 kg for the 0.96 m system or 7.3 kg. for the 1.2 m system. The Class III systems are manufactured for use with transceivers weighing up to 11.3 kg.

International Datacasting to Build Broadband Network Emulation Lab for Space Systems/Loral
Space Systems/Loral (SSL) has selected International Datacasting Corporation to design, develop and install their new Broadband Network Emulation Laboratory (BNEL).

This contract represents the first-phase of a three-phase project, with the first-phase having a value of more than Cdn$ 1.25 million. Space Systems/Loral will use the BNEL to simulate next generation broadband satellite networks. The data gathered from these simulations will be used by SS/L to develop and specify improvements and advances in both ground segment equipment and satellites. This will lead to next generation products and new applications in Ka band, two-way broadband satellite communications, caching, compression and streaming media.

For IDC, the lab's development will provide an unsurpassed view of the complex interaction of satellite IP broadcasting equipment and will contribute significantly to the development of IDC's next generation products.

Internet Orders for Radyne Comstream Top US$ 10 Million
Radyne ComStream has announced the receipt of an additional US$ 750,000 order for satellite equipment to carry Internet traffic to an Asian country. This year to date, Radyne ComStream has received over US$ 10 million in orders for IP-based satellite equipment used for transporting Internet traffic to China, Myanmar, and other Asian countries as well as Latin American countries.

The US$ 10 million in orders are from seven different customers. It represents an increase of 500% over the approximately US$ 2 million of orders last year.

This award is a follow-on to the master hub terminal and pilot remote terminals already provided. The contract calls for deployment of sixty remote terminals in the Asia Pacific region for carrying Internet traffic to and from multiple dwelling units such as apartment complexes, corporate facilities, etc. This is the first phase of a system with potential expansion to several thousand terminals.

Signa Engineering Adopts AMCI's VisTrac Asset Tracking Solution
American Millennium Corporation Inc has announced the sale of thirty units of its new VisTrac product to Signa Engineering Corp.

The VisTrac satellite-based mobile asset tracking system will be used by Signa to track oil field drilling rigs throughout North America. Signa has completed a test phase of VisTrac on their equipment for several weeks and anticipates a roll out of approximately 1,500 units for the US and Canada.

The core product consists of a completely self-contained VisTrac terminal device, which is attached to the asset and is based on Vistar Datacom's GlobalWave modems and satellite communications solution, and AMCI's Internet-based Sat-Trac tracking and monitoring package.

Telenor Buys Transponders on Intelsat 10-02
Telenor has purchased a quarter of the capacity available on the Intelsat 10-02 satellite that is to be launched in 2003

The purchase, totalling more than US$ 100 million, gives Telenor Satellite Services - a part of Telenor Broadband Services - the rights to the use of two spot beams that will cover Europe from the new Intelsat 10-02 satellite. The satellite, which is to operate from 1° W, will make it possible for Telenor to transmit about 100 digital TV and radio channels.

Under the agreement, Telenor will have access to a total of 10 high-power Ku band transponders on the two spot beams, ensuring Telenor stable satellite capacity at 1° W for the future. Telenor has been leasing Ku band and C band capacity on Intelsat satellites at the 1° W location since 1986, and currently leases nearly all available broadcast capacity on the Intelsat 707, which is located at 1° W. This satellite will be moved once Intelsat 10-02 is in operation.

Tenzing's Broadband Comms for Airlines to Use Ball Aerospace and EMS Avionics
Tenzing Communications Inc has announced its intention to use Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp and EMS Technologies Inc as providers of airborne equipment for the introduction of high-speed email and Internet services to passengers via the Inmarsat 64 kb/s Global Area Network (GAN).

Tenzing has recently expanded its alliance with SITA to offer these high-speed services.

Currently undergoing flight trials with Air Canada, Tenzing's service, to be marketed as Tenzing Global, will be deployed commercially in the first quarter of 2001. Tenzing has already signed Memorandums of Understanding with six major airlines for trials or installations, several of which will start this year.

Tenzing will use Ball Aerospace's Airlink HSD avionics to upgrade existing satcom installations or to equip new aircraft to offer the Inmarsat 64 kb/s services. The Airlink HSD avionics are easily integrated with most existing Aero-H/H+ satcom antennas, including the Airlink High Gain Antenna System, an Aero-H Satcom product that Ball Aerospace has been delivering for more than 10 years. Initial Airlink HSD installations could happen in early 2001.

Additionally, the equipment from Ball Aerospace will be upgradeable to offer 432 kb/s to the aircraft when the Inmarsat 4 satellites are launched in 2004 utilising the antennas currently installed on approximately 1400 aircraft worldwide. Future evolutions of the service offering will expand into even higher data rates that will utilise Ball Aerospace expertise in developing Ku band antenna systems.

The combination of the Tenzing Onboard services and the EMS ADT-1000 Satcom Transceiver will provide passengers with access to their e-mail and Internet from suitably equipped aircraft anywhere in the world. The ADT-1000 will provide up to 128 kb/s data rates on and off the aircraft, nearly 20 times faster than previously available.

Designed to operate either in conjunction with existing Satcom installations or as a stand alone system, the ADT-1000 will provide two 64 kb/s data channels, either circuit switched or packet switched, offering the user unrivalled performance and flexibility.

TRW Begins Production of Astrolink Ground-to-Space Interface
TRW has begun production of the Space Applications Interface (SAI), a key ground-to-space interface for the Astrolink global broadband telecom system.

The go-ahead follows the successful, on-schedule conclusion of the SAI's critical design review, or CDR, which verified that TRW's SAI design meets Astrolink's requirements.

Astrolink satellites will provide Internet, multimedia and data network services to businesses and consumers beginning in 2003. TRW is developing the digital-switching, bandwidth-on-demand communications payloads for the Astrolink satellites. The SAIs, which TRW is building under a separate contract to Astrolink International LLC, will function as part of Astrolink's four regional network control centres, providing the crucial ground interface for controlling and managing the orbiting satellite payloads.

Earth Observation

Datron Completes Kompsat Ground Station
Datron/Transco Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Datron Systems Incorporated, has received final acceptance for the Kompsat-I satellite Receiving and Processing Station (KRPS) from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

The ground station included a Datron 13 meter antenna and Datron's Open 2000 Ground Station system hardware and software for mission planning, data acquisition and recording, image archive and catalogue, radiometric and geometric imagery correction, and product output.

The KRPS facility is Datron's fourth complete ground station, which includes integration of the Open 2000 system software, incorporation of the ground station hardware, and the actual installation.

Military Space

Lockheed Martin Awarded US$ 1.5 Billion NORAD/USSPACECOM Contract
The US Air Force has selected the Lockheed Martin team to modernise its air, missile and space command and control (C2) systems in a program valued at approximately US$ 1.5 billion.

Under the 15-year, Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2) program, Lockheed Martin and its team-mates will integrate approximately 40 systems into a common, interoperable C2 information technology infrastructure, giving commanders at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Space Command (USSPACECOM) and new flexibility to handle growing mission responsibilities. ISC2 will be a "virtual command centre," providing warfighters a common operational picture of the global battlefield derived from shared, real-time data, that is available anytime and to any location in the world for specified users.

The ISC2 modernisation replaces the Air Force's collection of older, stand-alone systems, which function well individually, but are not seamlessly co-ordinated to give users comprehensive C2 capabilities and access to information. ISC2 will dramatically improve interoperability among air, missile and space defence systems, allowing information and data to be shared among those and other C2 systems. Commanders will have enhanced capability that synchronises their C2 operations, providing for faster response to enemy actions and improved strategic and tactical co-ordination among forces.

One of the key program challenges will be to migrate existing defence systems to the new ISC2 architecture without any disruption to Air Force operations at Cheyenne Mountain, where most of the NORAD and USSPACECOM systems are located. Over its 15-year cycle, the ISC2 program will also provide operations and maintenance services.

Under ISC2's competitive migration demonstration contract phase, the Lockheed Martin team has refined its architecture approach and planned the program's implementation.

The Lockheed Martin Team for ISC consists of the following team-mates, technology partners and B2B experts: ACS Defenses Inc (Betac Corporation); Aegis Research Corp.; Aerojet; AT&T Technical Services; Autometric Inc; BEA Systems Inc; BAE Systems (Marconi); BBN Corp. (GTE); The Boeing Company; BTG; Cisco Systems Inc; Computer Sciences Corp. (Nichols Research); DynCorp; FGM Inc.; Frontier Technology Inc; General Dynamics; GRC International Inc. (AT&T); Federated Software Group; Jaycor Inc.; Logicon/INRI; Lockheed Martin Mission Systems; Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company -- Astronautics Operations; Master Solutions; Microsoft Corp. Federal Systems; Neon Systems Inc; Oracle Corp.; Scitor Tech. Corp.; Sterling Software; Trawick & Associates; Veridian Trident Data Systems; Wang Government Services Inc -- A Getronics Company; Xon Tech Inc; Zel Technologies LLC.

Science

ASCA Confirmed Lost
Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) has confirmed that efforts to restore control of the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) X-ray observatory had failed, and that it is unlikely that control of the spacecraft can be restored before the spacecraft re-enters the Earth's atmosphere next year.

The 417-kg ASCA, which was launched in February 1993, went into safe mode on 15 July 2000 following a solar flare. It is thought that the increased solar activity caused an increase in atmospheric drag. The uneven drag forces applied a torque to the satellite causing it to rotate once every three minutes. With the loss of attitude control, the solar arrays were no longer aligned to the sun and were not able to charge the spacecraft's batteries which lost charge, disabling the satellite.

NASA Announces Grants for Research into Microgravity Combustion Science
NASA has selected 28 researchers to receive grants totalling approximately US$ 10 million over four years to conduct microgravity combustion research on Earth and in space.

This research will seek knowledge leading to innovative applications in space-based life support systems, crew safety and Earth-based energy conversion.

Sponsored by NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Science and Applications, the research offers investigators the advantage of a low-gravity environment to enhance understanding of fundamental physical and chemical processes associated with combustion.

Researchers will use NASA's microgravity research facilities such as drop-tubes, drop-towers, aircraft flying parabolic trajectories, and sounding rockets. Flight-definition investigators will work toward experiments on a space-flight test bed, such as the International Space Station and Space Shuttle.

Twenty-six of the grants are to conduct ground-based research, while the remaining two are flight-definition efforts. Four of these grants are to continue work currently being funded by NASA, but the majority (24) are new research efforts.

Manned Space

MirCorp Funds Third Progress Launch
MirCorp has funded the launch of a new Progress unmanned cargo spacecraft to the Mir space station, ensuring the station will remain operational for continued commercial use for the time being.

The Progress spacecraft is now being readied for a mid-October launch from Baikonur, Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

This will be the third time MirCorp has arranged for the private funding of a resupply mission to Mir. The new Progress will bring fuel, air and power to Mir, allowing the large station to be fully controlled and operated in Earth orbit.

Launches

NOAA-L

Launched: 21 September 2000
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Launcher: Titan II
Orbit: LEO, polar
Orbit: LEO (sun synchronous), apogee: 870 km, perigee: 870 km: inclination: 98.744°
International Number: 2000-055A
Name: NOAA-L (NOAA-12)
Owner: NOAA
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space

The US$ 267 million meteorological satellite, NOAA-L, is a Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) with a SARSAT search and rescue package. It has a lifetime of 12 years. Once safely in orbit it will be renamed NOAA-12.

It will track atmospheric variables and provide atmospheric data and cloud images, visible and infrared radiometer data for imaging purposes, radiation measurements, as well as temperature and moisture profiles. Its ultraviolet sensors also measure ozone levels in the atmosphere and are able to detect the ozone hole over Antarctica from mid-September to mid-November.

Business

Eutelsat Opens South American Office
Eutelsat, the leading European satellite operator, has officially opened its first subsidiary in Latin America (headquartered in Rio de Janeiro) with the name Eutelsat do Brasil Ltda.

Eutelsat has already begun the procedures to obtain an operating licence in Brazil, which will be added to those already granted in the USA and Canada. In February, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted licenses that will allow Eutelsat to fulfil the transatlantic link requirements for North American clients looking to directly access the European market for corporate and consumer communications.

The new Brazilian subsidiary will allow Eutelsat to compete in one of the world's fastest-growing telecommunications markets.

Eutelsat currently satisfies bandwidth demands for Internet backbone connections and transatlantic TV links through 16 Ku band transponders on a Eutelsat II satellite at 12.5° W and the Telstar 12 satellite at 15° W on which it commercialises four Ku band transponders. The main customers on this capacity are Belgacom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Teleglobe Canada, D-Telekom.

Globalstar to Raise US$ 105 Million in Stock Sale
Globalstar Telecommunications Limited has entered into a purchase agreement with Bear Stearns, under which Bear Stearns has agreed to purchase, subject to certain conditions and over several tranches, up to US$ 105 million of shares of GTL common stock.

Bear Stearns will sell the shares of common stock it purchases directly to certain investors or in the market. The purchases will be made at prices based upon the market prices at the time of each tranche.

Globalstar Telecommunications Limited will use the proceeds from the sales to purchase partnership interests in Globalstar LP, which, in turn, will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes including capital expenditures, operations (including marketing and distribution of phones and services) and interest expense.

Massive Losses Reported at NEW ICO/Teledesic
Teledesic and New ICO, which are to merge later this year, have together spent nearly US$ 1 billion since their inception and are still years away from launching their satellite based services.

New ICO, formerly ICO Global Telecommunications, has lost a total of US$ 592.6 million since it was founded in 1995.

Teledesic, founded in 1990, has lost US$ 392.7 million.

New ICO still needs to raise a further US$ 2.8 billion to launch its system of 12 satellites (10 working satellites and two in-orbit spares) and 12 ground stations. The satellites are expected to be in orbit by mid 2002 with services scheduled to commence in 2003. New ICO will provide mobile telephone and Internet service at 144 kb/s.

Teledesic gives every impression of being in reverse. Network and satellite design appears to be in a constant state of flux, with plans becoming less definite as time progresses. The original 840 satellite system evolved into a 288 satellite constellation which is now rumoured to have shrunk to 100 satellites. Boeing has been dropped as the prime contractor for the satellites and will not be replaced until some time next year.

Organisational Changes at Intelsat Prepare for Privatisation
Intelsat has announced a new organisational structure intended to prepare the organisation for privatisation next year..

Intelsat, currently a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation with 143 member countries, is scheduled to become a private company in April 2001.

The most significant organisational changes involve the creation of a separate Strategy and Business Development Division, as well as aligning all the company's technical operations and engineering functions into a single centre of excellence entitled Global Operations.

Ramu Potarazu, currently Vice President of Commercial Restructuring, will oversee Global Operations as Vice President and Chief Technical Officer. As part of the company reorganisation, David Meltzer was named Vice President and General Counsel, and Dewey Arnold was named Vice President, Audit.

Saab Ericsson Aerospace Opens Los Angeles Office
Saab Ericsson Space, the leading space equipment supplier in Scandinavia, has opened a second US office, located in the Los Angeles area.

Michael E Miller has been appointed general manager of both the Los Angeles and Washington DC Offices.

He will be responsible for the overall management operations including new business development, customer and partner relations, product engineering, sales and marketing activities.

Saab Ericsson Space is an independent supplier of space equipment. The company develops and manufactures computers, antenna systems, microwave electronics, guidance and separation systems for launch vehicles, satellites and other spacecraft.

Smiths Industries and TI Propose Merger
The Boards of Smiths Industries plc and TI Group plc have agreed the terms of a merger of their two companies.

The Merger will create a new force in specialist engineering with a pro forma combined market capitalisation of approximately £4.5 billion (based on the London Stock Exchange closing market prices for the two companies on September 15, 2000). Smiths Industries and TI Group Shareholders will hold approximately 57.6% and 42.4%, respectively of the enlarged issued ordinary share capital of Smiths Industries following completion of the Merger.

Under the terms of the Merger, TI Group Shareholders will receive 0.46 of a new Smiths Industries Share for every TI Group Share. In addition, subject to the Merger becoming effective, TI Group Shareholders will be entitled to receive a special interim dividend of 12p per TI Group Share payable by TI Group for the year ending December 31, 2000.

Products and Services

AMCI Upgrades Its VisTrac Tracking Solution for Oil and Gas Industries
American Millennium Corporation Inc has announced that it has upgraded the electronic circuitry of its new VisTrac satellite transceiver.

The new VisTrac unit incorporates a microcontroller board equipped with software that now allows remote monitoring at oil and gas wells that are outfitted with the latest automated hardware and protocols.

AMCI has completed three months of field testing this technology. The company's VisTrac units have been installed for four oil and gas operating companies, whose customers include Chevron, Western Gas, Finley Oil, Samedan Oil, and Texaco.

Intellicom Introduces Internet Access Services
Intellicom has unveiled SkyPOP and K.I.D.S., two new turnkey solutions that make reliable Internet service available and affordable for end users in areas that are currently unserved or under-served by landline data communications systems.

Intellicom is a leading provider of two-way satellite-based Internet services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunications carriers, corporations and schools.

SkyPOP is a complete turnkey solution that provides an instant Internet backbone complete with an intelligent IP gateway and Web-casting capabilities. SkyPOP is configured with services specifically tailored to ISPs, corporations and businesses to enable them to offer their customers a wide range of Internet and private data communications services, including: Web hosting, Web content, routing, e-mail, User Database Authentication and Accounting, Domain Name Service (DNS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Telnet.

SkyPOP optimizes the IP gateway by caching the majority of the Web's most popular sites, bypassing Internet backbone congestion. Using the Intellicom EdgeConnector, SkyPOP eliminates redundant data by moving a substantial amount of the Web, FTP, and NNTP traffic from the Internet backbone to the "network edge" via a local cache system at the VSAT site. By caching the most frequently accessed Web sites, Intellicom dramatically improves the speed at which the user downloads information. In addition to providing caching capabilities, the EdgeConnector also serves as a multicast receiver, providing users with access to a multicast content portal and enabling the transport of content on one file transfer to multiple recipients.

K.I.D.S. (K-12 Internet Delivery System) is a turnkey solution that allows students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community to enhance communications, exchange knowledge, and obtain distance-learning content that can be effectively customised and readily updated for specific grade levels or types of schools.

K.I.D.S. is easily provisioned at the school site and can be customised to the school's needs within a matter of hours. For even the most remotely located educational facilities, K.I.D.S. delivers a complete Internet gateway service that provides one-hop access to the US Internet backbone. In addition to providing high-speed satellite-based connectivity, K.I.D.S. provides advanced, customisable Internet and Intranet services to students, teachers, and administrators, which are available to them at school or at home. By having online access to informational databases on classroom activities, schedules, specific assignments, and resources, students gain advantages critical to their academic development. School administrators also reap the benefits of secure centralised database capabilities, which enable them to consolidate multiple databases that are currently maintained and recorded manually.

K.I.D.S. also includes Intellicom's EdgeConnector caching and multicasting capabilities. This access to multicast content enables K.I.D.S. customers to maximise the benefits of the Internet by allowing access to a multimedia instructional database and expanded distance learning opportunities.

The SkyPOP and K.I.D.S. solutions include a satellite modem, router, server, and software - all packaged in a slim cabinet with an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) built in. Intellicom provides the satellite bandwidth and connection to the Internet backbone at speeds comparable to a terrestrial T1 or E1 connection, including a 2 Mb/s downlink and a scalable 19.2 to 256 kb/s uplink.

PhoenixNet Prepares to Launch Asian IP Services
PhoenixNet Ltd of Hong Kong will launch its IP satellite services, for ISPs wanting to stream multimedia applications, on 24 October throughout Asia.

PhoenixNet's SpeedCast service will use the existing satellite capabilities of AsiaSat Communications and Tech Systems Ltd to bypass the congested Asian IP backbone and offer direct access free of charge.

PhoenixNet Ltd is a joint venture between AsiaSat Communications Co Ltd and Tech Systems Ltd, and has Yahoo! as a strategic partner and minority investor.

TriQuint Semiconductor Introduces High Power MMICs
TriQuint Semiconductor Inc has announced the introduction of two millimetre-wave, high power amplifier MMIC products covering the 18 to 32 GHz frequency band.

Through the use of advanced 0.25-micron gate length pHEMT GaAs production process technology, these devices both provide the smallest available physical size per watt output power and lowest costs per watt of output power in this frequency range.

These devices, designated the TGA1135B and TGA1172, provide equipment designers with an efficient, one-watt source of millimetre wave power for use in wireless communications products such as point-to-point or point-to-multipoint radios, satellite communication earth stations, and spacecraft payloads. Frequency bands covered include the 18, 23, and 26 GHz microwave radio bands, 24, 28 and 31 GHz Local Multipoint Distribution System (LMDS) bands, as well as the 18 and 30 GHz (Ka Band) satellite communications bands.

The TGA1135B is a two-stage amplifier providing one watt of output power (at the 1 dB compression point) and 14 dB of small signal gain. The output third order intermodulation intercept point (OTOI) is +37 dBm. Its frequency range of 18 to 27.5 GHz makes is suitable for satcom and terrestrial digital radio applications. The MMIC also offers an on-chip power detector for output power level monitoring. Excellent input and output return losses (15 dB) allow use with no external RF matching circuitry.

The TGA1172 amplifier is a three-stage design providing 0.8 watt of output power (at the 1 dB compression point) and 18 dB of small signal gain. The output third order intermodulation intercept point is +37 dBm. LMDS, satcom, and terrestrial broadband radio applications are appropriate for this device. Input and output return losses are typically 10 dB. The TGA1135B and TGA1172 draw 460 mA and 630 mA respectively from a +5V to +7V supply. Both devices require a separate negative voltage supply for gate biasing.

People

New CEO at Tandberg TV
Tandberg Television has announced the appointment of Gwyn Pugh as Chief Operating Officer.

Gwyn Pugh will be based in Southampton in the UK, where Tandberg Television
has a significant research and development, manufacturing operation and
marketing presence, employing 450 people.

New Sales Manager at Channel Master International
Channel Master LLC has named Martin Pfrommer, Sales Manager for Channel Master International located in Pforzheim, Germany.

As Sales Manager, Mr Pfrommer will be providing sales support to Channel Master commercial wireless customers throughout the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Asia-Pacific and South America.

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