TABLE OF CONTENTS Over the past decade, practically all aspects of modern commerce have become heavily reliant on communication technology. Business networks using VSATs are among the fastest-growing applications of communication satellites. VSAT networks in the early 1990s were arranged in a star configuration, with all traffic routed through a central hub earth station. This arrangement necessitated a double hop to the satellite for VSAT-to-VSAT traffic. For voice applications, a double hop through a geostationary satellite is unacceptable because of the undesirable, long transmission delay. Using ACTS technology with high-gain antennas and the capability to perform onboard switching double hop is eliminated, and single hop, VSAT-to-VSAT is accommodated. [1]
From the federal response perspective, there are functional requirements, outlined and managed by the National Communications Systems (NCS), to restore services for emergency operations in case of natural or man-made disasters. One of the main functions of the NCS is to provide restoration of low-data-rate (T1) communication during these disasters, and the NCS sees satellite communication as the chief means of aiding in this cause.
To this end, NCS, NASA, Mitre Corporation, and JPL planned and executed a series of simulated communication restorations using ACTS T1-VSATs [74]. In performing the tests, terrestrial T1 connectivity between Reston, Virginia, and Pasadena, California, was initially established and then disrupted. Using special software, connectivity was manually reestablished via two T1-VSATs. For operational restoration systems, software would be developed to automatically reestablish the severed connection. The ease of implementation and the effectiveness of such a...
