[SatNews] PolarSat Inc. has successfully demonstrated their Mesh Adaptive Coding and Modulation (Mesh-ACM(tm)) for its VSATPlus(r)3 product.

Mesh-ACM™ provides optimized bandwidth utilization combined with high availability. While Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) has been widely deployed in DVB-S2 based star systems, it has proved too difficult to implement in mesh systems until now.  The VSATPlus®3 modem adjusts the modulation and coding to any other node in the network dynamically to support changing channel characteristics.
 
This new feature not only further increases the VSATPlus®3 overall bandwidth efficiency but also improves the link and network availability in both fixed and mobile terminal environments.  The technological breakthrough is the ability of the modem to switch modulation and coding (MODCOD) in under 10 nano seconds combined with the closed link network control algorithms to optimally determine when to do so.  This allows the modem to switch to the most efficient MODCOD for each burst it sends to each destination in the network.   Mesh-ACM can deliver bandwidth efficiency gains of greater than 40 to 50 percent, as compared to other mesh systems without Mesh-ACM™.  The performance improvement is achieved by allowing each individual station to operate at the most efficient Coding and Modulation dependent on the antenna size, satellite contour and weather conditions.
 
"The VSATPlus®3 continues to push the envelope of modem technology so we can deliver greater availability and bandwidth efficiency all while improving overall network reliability.  It does not matter if your terminal is operating on a mobile platform or you just have different size antennas, Mesh-ACM™ will get the most throughput between all sites." said Ron Mankarious, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for PolarSat.  
 
For mobile applications such as Oil & Gas, Disaster Response, Satellite News Gathering (SNG), C3/C4ISR applications (such as COTM, COTP, SOTM, and ship-to-ship marine communication) this features allows all remote terminal to communicate to the large gateway station and other small mobile terminals concurrently using different MODCODs to get the maximum throughput.  Combined with the support of auto tracking antennas GPS position input, the VSATPlus®3 terminal delivers full mesh communication’s capability to mobility-centric applications.
 
For fixed site applications such as Cellular Backhaul (2G/3G/4G), Air Traffic Control, Oil and Gas, Banking, and Mining,  Mesh-ACM™ allows sites of varying size within a single network to communicate full mesh using the optimal MODCOD for each site.  This greatly reduces equipment cost by optimizing the link performance based on the site’s location and antenna size vs having to make all sites have larger antennas to support connectivity to a few sites that are located on a weaker contour of the satellite footprint.   Mesh-ACM™ combined with PolarSat’s bandwidth allocation and QOS technology, as well as its TCP performance improvements and data compression, delivers high performance connectivity over networks that often have limited bandwidth.
 
The VSATPlus® family of terminals provides hubless mesh connectivity that is easy to expand.  The VSATPlus® family continues PolarSat’s 25+ years of satellite modem experience in providing a robust and reliable MF-TDMA, full mesh, hubless product.  Mesh-ACM™ on the VSATPlus 3® will be on display at the PolarSat booth #9021 throughout the Satellite 2014 conference and Exhibition, in Washington DC, to be held from March 10-13, 2014.

For additional information on Mesh-ACM™ on the VSATPlus®  MF-TDMA product line, please visit PolarSat at http://www.polarsat.com/