Really Rocket Science

We have discussed the necessity of satellite broadband in remote regions and developing countries with weak infrastructures. That doesn’t bring to mind one of the most industrial countries on the planet—Germany.

SES ASTRA2Connect is "a fully satellite-based solution for broadband access that delivers dual- and triple-play services without any terrestrial support." Reaching maximum download speeds of 1024 kbit/s, ASTRA requires no infrastructure investment and is priced at flat-rate monthly fees. The company just signed a contract with H3 Netservice in Germany to market its product to end-users:

H3 Netservice will market ASTRA2Connect through retail partners to end consumers, reaching several thousands of affiliated outlets in Germany. H3 Netservice intends to offer ASTRA2Connect in three service packages. All the necessary hardware – a satellite dish with an interactive device, as well as a low-cost and easy-to-install modem – will be made available through H3 or retailers.

ASTRA2Connect is a fully satellite-based solution for broadband access that delivers dual- and triple-play services without any terrestrial support. This purely satellite-based DSL infrastructure offers a unique possibility for regions without terrestrial broadband access to use high-speed DSL-internet. According to official data from the German Ministry of Economy and Technology, at least 2.9 million German households still do not have any access to Broadband internet. SES ASTRA is offering ASTRA2Connect on a wholesale basis to large service providers such as telecommunication operators, internet service providers and broadband operators across Europe who will market it to their respective end customers.

ASTRA2Connect will help answer a question that remains in one of the most "connected" places on Earth—how do we bridge the European broadband gap? The European Union held a conference on this subject in May. Among the findings: while broadband penetration is growing, there still exists a "double gap" — between some countries in Europe and inside some countries (rural vs. urban). For more info, watch the video or read the powerpoint.

Yeah, I should have warned you yesterday. This isn’t meant as a cruel joke — honestly. NASA has the details:

As August draws to an end, watchers of the night sky will be in for a treat. In the early morning hours of August 28, sky watchers across much of the world can look on as the Moon crosses in to the shadow of the Earth, becoming completely immersed for one-hour and 30 minutes, a period of time much longer than most typical lunar eclipses. In fact, this eclipse will be the deepest and longest in 7 years.

The event begins [began] 54 minutes past midnight PDT (3:54 a.m. EDT) on August 28. At first, there is little change. The outskirts of Earth’s shadow are as pale as the Moon itself; an onlooker might not even realize anything is happening. But as the Moon penetrates deeper in to the Earth’s shadow, a startling metamorphosis occurs. Around 2:52 a.m. PDT (5:52 a.m. EDT) the color of the Moon changes from moondust-gray to sunset-red. This is totality, and it lasts for almost 90 minutes.

With the Sun blocked, you might expect utter darkness, but instead the ground at your feet appears to be aglow. Why? Look back up at Earth. The rim of the planet seems to be on fire. Around the Earth’s circumference you will witness every sunrise and sunset in the world—all at once. This incredible, colorful light beams into the heart of Earth’s shadow, transforming the Moon into a landscape of copper moondust and golden hills. The eclipse will be visible from Australia, parts of Asia and most of the Americas, but not from Africa or Europe. The view is different from each location on the planet. Here in the United States, Pacific observers are favored. For them the entire eclipse will unfold high in the post-midnight sky. However, on the East Coast, totality will be cut off early by sunrise.

It didn’t disappoint. As viewed from Katana, ON (link):

From Manchester, NH (link):

What used to be just a science-fiction plot-line is quickly becoming reality.

Wired profiles what it calls "The World’s Most Advanced Bionic Arm" — a new design by Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).

Jonathan Kuniholm’s right arm terminates in a carbon-fiber sleeve trailing cables connected to a PC. He has no right hand, unless you count the virtual one on a display in front of him. The CG hand, programmed to look like silvery stainless steel, moves through a sequence of motions: spherical grasp, cylindrical grasp, thumb to forefinger — all in response to signals from Kuniholm’s muscles picked up by electrodes in the sleeve.

One of the largest challenges in this field is mimicing the strength of the human arm. This is where rockets come into play (link):

Mechanical engineers at Vanderbilt University are showing off a working prototype of a prosthetic arm whose "monopropellant rocket motor system" allows it to lift up to 25 pounds, more than three times as much as today’s prosthetic limbs.

The device, whose research and design was funded by the Defense Department, runs on a miniature version of the same motor system used to maneuver the Space Shuttle in orbit; the system works by mixing a chemical catalyst with hydrogen peroxide, producing steam, which is then pushed through a series of valves to cause the arm to move.

The researchers say their fuel system is superior to the traditional method of powering prostheses, batteries. Batteries are heavy relative to the power they produce; the rocket-powered arm, says Michael Goldfarb, the professor who led the team, produces more power with less weight than limbs that use other power sources.

The prototype also produces more natural movement that conventional prosthetic arms. Instead of two joints — typical arms only move at the elbow and at the "claw" — the new device has fingers that can open and close independently of each other, and a wrist that twists and bends.

But who wants a rocket attached to their body? What about the heat? The Vanderbilt team figured it out:

One of their immediate concerns was protecting the wearer and others in close proximity from the heat generated by the device. They covered the hottest part, the catalyst pack, with a millimeter-thick coating of a special insulating plastic that reduced the surface temperature enough so it was safe to touch. The hot steam exhaust was also a problem, which they decided to handle in as natural a fashion as possible: by venting it through a porous cover, where it condenses and turns into water droplets. “The amount of water involved is about the same as a person would normally sweat from their arm in a warm day,” Goldfarb says.

To allow for thermal expansion, the engineers replaced the arm’s nine valves with a set machined to a slightly lower tolerance, approximately 100 millionths of an inch. But when they began operating the rebuilt arm, they found that it hissed and leaked. At first, they thought that the arm had only a single leak, and spent several weeks trying to track it down. Finally, they realized that the noise and leakage were coming from all the valves. Replacing the high-precision valve set solved the problem. “We were astonished at by the difference between 50-millionths and 100-millionths: It made all the difference in the world,” says Goldfarb.

Their biggest problem operating with hot gas turned out to be finding belt material that was strong enough and could withstand the high temperatures involved. They tried silk surgical sutures, but found that silk wasn’t strong enough. They tried nylon monofilament, which is stronger than steel, but it couldn’t take the heat. Finally, after a long process of trial and error, they found a material that works: the engineering thermoplastic polyether ether ketone.

A video on the project is available here.

Telecommunications has always been a struggle in Nigeria. Outside of Abuja, the nation’s young capital, Nigeria’s infrastructure is "unpredictable," at best. Nigeria’s power supply is insufficient, forcing many hotels, businesses, and homes to own multiple generators. Within this context, it is no surprise that, like many other third world countries, Nigeria’s telecommunications is largely confined to mobile phone networks (1.25 million landline phones versus over 30 million mobile subscribers).

Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges are equally daunting in expanding Internet service throughout the country. Yet, a number of ISP’s are entering this rapidly growing market.

One company, Netcom Africa Ltd, is making especially noticable strides. First it raked in two big awards:

Netcom Africa has emerged as a winner of the ‘Best ISP of the year’ and also won the recognition award for ‘Best Broadband Company of the Year’ at the annual Nigeria Telecom Awards organised by Nigeria Telecom Magazine in Lagos.

Other Internet Service Providers nominated for best ISP of the year award included Swift Networks and Direct on PC.

The Nigeria Telecoms Award recognises leadership, innovation and excellence in services. "We are delighted to be recognised by the industry and receive not one, but two additional prestigious awards this year," stated Lolade Shonubi, Netcom’s marketing manager.

She continues: "As an IP communications provider of satellite and wireless products, Netcom is determined to continue to lead the market with innovative solutions that meet the challenging criteria of our customers, the public and judges."

And now Netcom has acquired one of its main rivals:

Netcom Africa has acquired rival ISP Accelon Africa for an undisclosed price. South Africa’s Dimension Data also made a bid to buy Accelon but was beaten to the punch by Chinese-backed Netcom, which offers satellite broadband services in Nigeria under the MyNetcom banner. Accelon, set up by South African investors in 2002, has operations in Nigeria and Ghana.

In remote areas with no reliable wired telephone services, deploying a voice over internet protocol system over satellite may be the best voice option. This can be problematic, however, mainly because of satellite latency:

Latency is the term that describes the time it takes to get a packet to its destination. It is usually expressed in milliseconds, or ms. Since the satellites are located 23,000 miles above the equator, and satellite signals travel at the speed of light, this journey takes approximately 540 ms. You then add on the latency of the various Internet hops and servers plus the VoIP provider’s network to end with a total latency in the range of 650 ms to 700ms or more depending on the state of the Internet itself. Another contributing factor could be the quality of your satellite signal which may cause packets to be resent. This latency is heard as a delay between the sender and the receiving ear. Users of VoIP over satellite need to learn how to communicate with this inherent latency much like the older press-to-talk radio phones. Further, the delay requires the users to be patient and refrain from interrupting the caller.

This excerpt comes from an informative white paper produced by Galaxy Broadband (below).

The recently released, DTECH WHISPER V0IP System hopes to solve some of these latency issues:

The integration of the WHISPER system with the iDirect line of satellite hubs and remotes can provide end users with up to a 600 percent increase in V0IP call capacity over a single remote iDirect satellite link. The system can also reduce the amount of bandwidth required to support standard V0IP traffic by more than 30 percent.

With its reliance on large numbers of small, delay sensitive packets, V0IP traffic can quickly stress the resources of a remote satellite link. The WHISPER V0IP System, based on DTECH’s small-footprint, high-performance integrated hardware platform, is powered by VX Software from Network Equipment Technologies to deliver greater network efficiency through packet consolidation, header compression, and call consolidation.

This feature set reduces the number of packets and overhead required to support a V0IP call. A 1.5 Mbps iDirect satellite link can support more than 150 simultaneous V0IP calls, while a 3 Mbps remote link can support more than 250 simultaneous V0IP calls. The combined increase in calls per packet with the reduced bandwidth required allows network operators to utilize the same space segment they currently lease to provide a more robust voice network and greater capacity for data traffic.

A months ago, we discussed Ukraine’s new space program — including its plan to independently launch three new satellites. While we are not seeing a new space race, the list of minor players (beyond the usual U.S.-Russian dominance) is expanding rapidly. The European Space Agency is implementing a number of new programs, from the Galileo positioning system, to the Herschel Space Observatory, to the ExoMars mission.

Now, India plans to join only the U.S., Russia, and China in sending humans into Orbit. Russian news-agency, ITAR-TASS explains:

India will invest within the coming five years some 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in the development of a set of technologies to carry out a manned space flight by 2015. Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) ManhaVan Nair said that most of the designing, research and technical jobs would be completed already within the current five-year period – up to 2012.

According to the ISRO-endorsed project, an autonomous orbital reusable space apparatus is to be developed to carry out the first such Indian mission. It is to be launched by means of an Indian-made GSI.V rocket. Nair admitted in his interview, published here on Monday, that Indian experts were yet lacking the necessary experience to build vehicles guaranteeing human safety on board. It is also necessary to increase the dependability of the booster rocket, which was earlier develop to place heavy satellites on a geosynchronic orbit.

ISRO is hatching some other ambitious plans, too. "The leading global space powers have already announced their preparations to set up manned bases on the Moon in 2020," Nair noted. "We believe India should not lag behind them," he added.

The "Chandrayan-1" project, envisaging the launching of an unmanned space vehicle to explore the Earth’s satellite, will be the first step "towards the moon" approximately a year later, stipulated by the Indian space program. The exploration vehicle with a net weight of 560 kilograms is to be lifted by a PSI.V booster from the national launching ground on Shriharikota Island, which is off the coast of the southern state of Andhra-Pradesh. Placed on a round-the-moon, it will take photographs of its surface. The experiment is expected to last about two years. It was earlier reported that the Russian Roskosmos Agency, as well as NASA and the European Space Agency, were invited to take part in the preparation of the Chandrayan-1 project. According to ISRO sources, the preparatory work is proceeding according to schedule. Several of the Chandrayan-1 components are already being tested.

Earlier this year, GE launched its CARESCAPE portfolio, "an integrated suite of patient monitoring devices, communications networks and IT systems designed to transform traditional patient monitoring data into clinical intelligence." GE argues this platform gives providers an integrated suite of technology and communications devices to increase patient care.

As GE explains in its announcement earlier this week, there was a potential problem :

Historically, the use of mobile phones in hospitals has been limited due to unreliable wireless support and the risk of interference between wireless phones and medical equipment.

The solution: partner with Sprint to deliver a seamless, integrated in-hospital communications network:

The new in-building cellular communications network from GE Healthcare and Sprint’s Custom Network Solution (CNS) team leverages GE’s CARESCAPE™ Enterprise Access™, a single, universal wireless platform powered by MobileAccess, and includes Sprint handsets. This solution will provide hospitals with a comprehensive platform for voice and data communications over secure cellular, Wi-Fi and telemetry infrastructure that requires only one installation. Using the combined offering, clinicians, patients and hospital visitors can communicate more efficiently and with ease.

“Sprint CNS provides scalable coverage and a high-capacity platform for wireless voice and data services on the Sprint National Network and Nextel National Network, enhancing the mobility and productivity of staff at hospitals and other businesses,” says Darlene Braunschweig, vice president of CNS at Sprint. “We are very excited to partner with GE Healthcare to provide differentiated and innovative mobile solutions that are critical for every business. This new solution facilitates constant communication of secure information amongst hospital staff; an aspect very critical to patient care.”

This is another layer in GE’s hospital communications drive. GE, in partnership with NBC and AMERICOM, has been offering the Patient Channel to subscribing hospitals, delivering medical and patient care programming for years. Now, GE, in partnership with iVillage.com, has launched the Newborn Channel.

Have an old, extra satellite dish? We’ve put them to good use in the past, consructing a wifi directional antenna and, better yet, a solar cooker. But where are you going to point the antenna and enjoy the BBQ (if that’s what you call a solar-baked entree)?

How about a satellite gazebo? These DIY’ers converted a vintage satellite dish (or a "BUD," big-ugly-dish, as they described it) into a surprisingly attractive gazebo.

The plan: Remove the satellite base, dig 2ft holes for six (or four or eight) 4×4 uprights, secure with concrete, mount dish with nails and wire, then nail lattice sides. The result:

Not bad. Not bad, at all.

With a huge subscriber base and plenty of existing HD content, DirecTV has been a major force in bringing HD to millions of people through various programming offerings. And it’s about to get even bigger.

About a month ago, DirecTV launched a new satellite to allow them to expand their HD content. So far it’s "going well" and they are on track to rollout a 70-plus HD channel package by the end of 3Q 2007 and build to 100 HD channels by the end of the year, according to notes from a recent investor call. Combined with the lowering costs of HD DVRs also mentioned on the call, the end of 2007 is shaping up to be the beginning of a new HD era for DirecTV.

A large factor driving DirecTV’s current HD success is its "NFL Sunday Ticket" package. DirecTV offers fans the chance to watch every single NFL game live, many in High Definition, making for very busy Sundays in the fall for many NFL fans. With the launch of the "Superfan" package in 2005, fans have been able to watch up to 9 games in HD and can watch games online over a broadband connection and see highlights and clips on their video-enable mobile phones. DirecTV’s new satellite launch and significant HD expansion will make the service even better, possibly increasing the number of available HD games and increasing the available bandwidth to deliver NFL content.

"NFL Sunday Ticket" has no doubt been a huge success for DirecTV. It currently has over 2 million subscribers and has successfully won over many DirecTV subscribers in areas where basic cable fails to meet the demands of NFL fans. The big takeaway here though is that DirecTV’s programming has pushed the industry as a whole to offer more HD content. As Scott Greczkowski from Multichannel News explains:

…I still feel that DirecTV deserves credit for waking up the industry, which is helping to accelerate the rollout of many new high definition channels on all providers. No matter who your cable or satellite provider is ultimately you can thank DirecTV for all the new HD content you will be seeing this fall.

More HD programming means better options for consumers. And in this area, DirecTV is clearly leading the way.

Stay tuned for more on NFL satellite programming later this week. Also, download the MP3 attached to this post for a quick football fix from our favorite sports song.

No, not my grandmother. I tried the "computer experiment" with her — huge failure. In Europe, things may be a bit different: "According to a study by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), 68 per cent of the over 55s now connect to the net through broadband access, while internet adoption among this age group is growing faster than within any other."

Now, one Swedish Grandma sports the world’s fastest residential connection (link):

A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has been thrust into the IT history books – with the world’s fastest internet connection.

Sigbritt Löthberg’s home has been supplied with a blistering 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.

But Sigbritt, who had never had a computer until now, is no ordinary 75 year old. She is the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg who, along with Karlstad Stadsnät, the local council’s network arm, has arranged the connection.

"This is more than just a demonstration," said network boss Hafsteinn Jonsson.

"As a network owner we’re trying to persuade internet operators to invest in faster connections. And Peter Löthberg wanted to show how you can build a low price, high capacity line over long distances," he told The Local.

Sigbritt will now be able to enjoy 1,500 high definition HDTV channels simultaneously. Or, if there is nothing worth watching there, she will be able to download a full high definition DVD in just two seconds.

The secret behind Sigbritt’s ultra-fast connection is a new modulation technique which allows data to be transferred directly between two routers up to 2,000 kilometres apart, with no intermediary transponders.

According to Karlstad Stadsnät the distance is, in theory, unlimited – there is no data loss as long as the fibre is in place.

"I want to show that there are other methods than the old fashioned ways such as copper wires and radio, which lack the possibilities that fibre has," said Peter Löthberg, who now works at Cisco.

Cisco contributed to the project but the point, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, is that fibre technology makes such high speed connections technically and commercially viable.

Other than providing his grandma with speedy reruns of Matlock (if she is anything like my Grandma), Peter Löthberg is trying to make a point: why are our connection speeds not faster? But it is America that should be complaining: according to a report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Sweden’s average speed is 18.2 mbps, while the United States crawls at 4.8mbps (Japan averages a whopping 61.0 mbps). It is about time the States starts surfing like Japan (or, better yet, Grandma Löthberg).