GROUND NETWORK ARCHITECTURES FOR FUTURE SPACE OPERATIONS

1
GROUND NETWORK ARCHITECTURES FOR FUTURE SPACE
OPERATIONS

• David R Beering
• Infinite Global Infrastructures, LLC
• Wheaton, IL
• Edward M Burns
• Space Operations Management Office
• NASA JSC
• Daniel R Heimerdinger, PhD
• VALADOR
• Denver, Colorado
• Jon M Smith
• SOMO Special Projects Office
• NASA JSC

2
Six Principles for Ground Networks for Future
Space Operations

• Employ Commercial Service Providers wherever
  possible.  
• Use a mesh network of stations to achieve a high
  availability.  
• Use the fewest number of earth stations possible.
  
• Locate the earth stations on the nodes of the
  Terrestrial Internet backbone.  
• Employ Internet command and control of Space
  Assets.
• Anticipate the inevitable space based Internet.

3
Agenda

• Advanced Communications Technology Satellite
  (ACTS) refresher
• NASA 30 year vision
• ACTS space network
• Inevitables and lessons learned
• ACTS ground networks
• Inevitables and lessons learned
• Ground network architectures for future space
  operations based on lessons learned from ACTS

4
ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE
(ACTS)

• WHAT IS ACTS?
• Experimental Ka-Band system sponsored by NASA to
  pave the way for next generation communication
  satellites for Space Networks
• National research facility available for use by
  US organizations and US-sponsored organizations
  to test and demonstrate the advanced technologies
  developed

5
ACTS for Space NetworksTwelve Satellites in One
Reaching 30 Years Into the Future
6
ACTS Spot Beams
7
The ACTS Experiments Program
8
STRONG COMMERCIAL INVOLVEMENT

• Hughes, Lockheed Martin, Comsat, Harris, BBN,
  Baylor, Mayo, Krug, OSB, Intelsat, Inmarsat,
  Boeing, ConEdison, 30 others.
• 150 organizations involved in 100 experiments
  80 demonstrations to various audiences.
• HEAVY involvement of US Telecom Industry
• SN Providers
• GN Providers
• Terrestrial, shipboard, and aeronautical mobile
  services
• Full motion compressed video, fractional T1 to
  users premises
• ISDN telephony and videoconferencing
• ATM Networks
• Transmission at OC-12 rates (622 Mbps) with full
  fiber connectivity
• Asymmetrical link connections

9
(No Transcript)
10
A Common Interface Architecture
11
TechSat21 Vision
12
ACTS Twelve Satellites in One12 Future Space
Network Payloads
Technologies Ka Band, DAMA, Rain Fade
Compensation, Processing, Switching, Mesh
Connectivity, Switch Matrix, High Gain Hopping,
Fixed Steerable Spot Beams
12 Configurations KaBBPHSB KaBBPHSBRFC
KaBBPHSBDAMA KABBPHSBDAMARFC KaBBPFSB Ka
BBPFSBRFC KaBBPFSBDAMA KaBBPFSBDAMARFC
KaMSMFSB KaMSMFSBRFC KaMSMFSBDAMA KaMSM
FSBDAMARFC
RECEIVERS
TRANSMITTERS
Technology Controls
13
ACTS Ground Networks
15 VSAT Terminals

• USAT LESSONS LEARNED
• Hub network
• Started _at_ 9.6kbps end _at_ 45mbps over three years
• Industry was the technology driver
• Came in many forms
• VSAT LESSONS LEARNED
• Star Architecture
• Mesh network demonstrated
• DAMA
• Rain Fade Required
• Easily linked to Internet
• Transportable to meet changing demand
• HDRT LESSONS LEARNED
• Locate on the nodes of the Internet
• Transportable to meet changing demand
• 1.8gbps possible thru satellite
• Bent Pipe Best Sat Configuration

10 USAT Terminals
5 High Data Rate Terminals
14
HDRT Architecture Details
15
Mobile Terminals

• LESSONS LEARNED
• Many mobile markets emerging
• Many architectures for many applications
• Civil Applications
• Science Applications
• Military Applications
• Wideband mobile applications are inevitable.

16
Virtual Network Architectures

• Lessons learned
• Many-in-one Networks
• Prompt Connectivity
• Prompt Accommodations
• Many Applications
• Civil
• Science
• Military
• Many Networks
• State of the practice for terrestrial networks

17
System Level Lessons Learned from ACTS

• ACTS taught us that users drive the
  communications evolution (entropy) to
  increasingly complex systems and architectures. 
  In the future, there will be no simple
  architecture but rather a matrix of complex
  interactive SN and GN elements.  There will be no
  more simple architectures that have simple
  names but rather complexes of SN and GN
  elements named by the functions (users and
  markets) they serve.  
• A well crafted "architecture for the future" is a
  matrix of communications system elements that can
  be switched to look like a buss or a star or a
  hub or a ring or a spiral or "whatever"
  because the system will be ever changing
  depending on the users and their applications.

18
InevitablesFuture ComSat Systems

• Future Space Networks will be similar to the
  ACTS.
• They will be located at GEO, MEO and LEO.
• These networks will employ many-in-one
  satellites that will be continually reconfigured.
  
• The Ground Networks will employ many-in-one earth
  stations that will be continually reconfigured.
• Satellite distribution to mobile users will
  employ both RF and lasers com.
• Terrestrial distribution will employ many-in-one
  virtual networks.
• Space distribution will employ Laser
  intersatellite links and onboard switching
  systems.

19
Six Principles for Ground Networks for Future
Space Operations

• Given the NASA mission requirements, the
  inevitables, and the lessons learned from the
  ACTS, we can formulate principles to apply to
  ground network development for future space
  operations.
• Employ Commercial Service Providers wherever
  possible. They represent the state of the
  practice in innovative space communications.  
• Use a mesh network of stations to achieve high
  network availability using individual stations
  operating at modest availability.  
• Use the fewest number of earth stations to
  achieve the lowest cost network with a maximum of
  utilization.  
• Locate the earth stations on the nodes of the
  terrestrial Internet backbone to assure wideband
  access to all users of the networks and provide
  for future growth with the Internet.  
• Employ Internet command and control of Space
  Assets to enable mesh networks of space assets
  for prompt, reliable communications for science,
  commercial and military space applications.  
• Anticipate the inevitable space based Internet
  and configure to benefit from its architecture to
  support mobile applications.