Hughes Network Systems Announces Enhanced IP Service Capabilities for 3G Cellular Operators
Virtual LAN (VLAN) Release Now Available on AIReach Broadband Wireless System
GERMANTOWN, Md., Sept. 13 /-- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HNS), today announced that a new system release with advanced VLAN and IP services support has been successfully deployed by cellular operators in Europe and North America utilizing its advanced 26-28 GHz AIReach point-to- multi-point broadband wireless system.
"AIReach Release 9.1 enables 3G cellular operators to maximize the delivery of high bandwidth IP data services to defined customer groups, by exploiting the power of VLANs to manage subnetworks and quality of service," said Thomas Hsu, senior vice president and general manager for the HNS Broadband Carrier Networks business unit. "In addition, fixed network service providers can deploy these same VLAN capabilities to deliver multiple classes of IP services to multiple tenants in a shared office building."
For 3G data applications, the AIReach remote terminal applies a VLAN ID tag to un-tagged Ethernet frames from a 3G/UMTS Node B base station, allowing upstream switches to route traffic and apply quality-of-service parameters based on the VLAN tag. Release 9.1 also incorporates HNS' patented multi- modulation technique (U.S. Patent 6,836,515) which enables a common hub or base station radio to communicate with remote radios employing different modulation modes.
"Our multi-modulation technique enables both mobile and fixed network operators to optimize the system range and capacity by using higher level modulation modes for remote sites with good signal strength, and lower level, more robust modulation modes for sites with inferior signal strength," explained John Corrigan, HNS' senior vice president of engineering, who contributed to the invention. "The operator can readily optimize availability and capacity parameters for each remote site based on the link characteristics."
"Cellular operators using our product in Europe and the U.S. are squeezing more capacity out of each hub radio by using highly efficient 16-QAM modulation for sites 2-3 kilometers from the hub station, while supporting other remote sites 5-6 kilometers away using more robust QPSK modulation," added Hsu. "This is a unique capability we bring to mobile cellular carriers using wireless backhaul."
Multi-modulation technology also will be used in HNS' satellite network products. "A satellite network operator will be able to use a robust 4PSK modulation mode for satellite terminals located in a heavy rain zone, while getting more capacity out of the same transponder using 8PSK or higher level modulation for terminals in moderate rain zones," Corrigan said.
About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HNS) is the world's leading provider of broadband satellite network solutions for businesses and consumers, with more than 800,000 systems ordered or shipped to customers in 85 countries. HNS pioneered the development of high-speed satellite Internet access services and IP-based networks, which it markets globally under the DIRECWAY(R) brand. DIRECWAY terminals are based on the IPoS (IP over Satellite) global standard, approved by the TIA, ETSI, and ITU standards organizations.
Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, HNS maintains sales and support offices worldwide. SkyTerra Communications, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: SKYT) and The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (NYSE:DTV) each own 50% of HNS. SkyTerra is its managing member. For additional information, please visit http://www.hns.com/.
AIReach is a trademark of Hughes Network Systems, LLC. DIRECWAY is a registered trademark of The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
CONTACT: Judy Blake of Hughes Network Systems, LLC, 301-601-7330, jblake@hns.com
