[SatNews] By incorporating this technology, efficiency and stablity and scalability are the expectations...

iDirect, Inc. has announced that the University of the South Pacific (USP), a regional institution owned by the governments of 12 countries, has switched its VSAT service to iDirect’s Evolution platform. With Evolution, USP is equipped to improve the efficiency, stability and scalability of its network, which provides Internet access, course management applications, and video and audio conferencing services to its campuses.  USP has purchased an iDirect 5IF satellite hub as well as Evolution X3 and X5 remote routers.

Since 2000, USP has owned and operated USPNet, its regional satellite network that keeps its 12 campuses across the South Pacific connected. As USPNet grew, several stability and efficiency issues began to affect its performance. During high-congestion periods, for example, the quality of individual services suffered, including Internet, video conferencing and the course management system relied on by students and faculty. This, coupled with the network’s limited bandwidth capacity, prevented USPNet from effectively expanding or meeting the needs of its users. By implementing iDirect’s Evolution platform, USP has been able to improve its network stability and efficiency. Evolution’s built-in Group Quality of Service feature has allowed USP to avoid service degradation by effectively controlling how available bandwidth resources are allocated to each application running on the network. As Evolution is based on the next-generation DVB-S2 transmission standard with Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM), USP has been able to improve its bandwidth efficiency by 10 Mbps while increasing overall network capacity.

With the efficiency gains provided by Evolution, USP will use the extra bandwidth to also launch a new Ku-band network later this year. The Ku-band network will extend the reach of USPNet beyond the existing C-band service, providing connectivity to sub-campuses located on remote islands of its member countries. Using Evolution’s built-in ACM, USP will be able to overcome potential rain or solar fade issues, which typically affect Ku-band services in tropical locations.