[Satellite News 01-13-12] Many of the brightest minds in the satellite industry are looking to get their heads around the issue of satellite interference, which costs operators millions of dollars each year. One organization leading the fight is the Satellite Interference Reduction Group (sIRG).

   Late last year, the organization held a conference with many of the industry’s top satellite operators to tackle the issue and determine the direction that research and development on solutions should take in the future.

   In a roundtable interview conducted in the aftermath of the event, Satellite News spoke with Inmarsat Senior Director of Network Operations and Engineering Howard Feldman, Intelsat RF Operations Center Director Patty Constantino and SES Senior Manager of Customer Service Delivery Steven Smith about a possible consensus on a carrier ID solution that may have come out of the sIRG meetings.

 

Feldman: There are three elements that Inmarsat supports and we have support from the other operators as well. We’ll make great strides if we can get broad acceptance and take-up of the carrier-ID, quality assurance and user training initiatives. It will take a couple of years.

 

Constantino: All of the efforts Intelsat is working on will help with the issue of interference — carrier ID, training and certification and the Space Data Association. Everyone in the industry is working on this, and every step is an improvement.

 

Smith: The main action plan will be for the implementation of carrier ID. Initially, the focus will be to have carrier ID on video carriers for the 2012 Olympics event, and we have the support of major satellite operators and customers to achieve this. However, there is no single solution that can effectively eliminate interference.

 

Feldman: Standardizing a carrier ID system has proved to be a difficult problem. At this point I have confidence, as we have considerable momentum among the operators, users and equipment manufacturers. The trick now is to get all stakeholders pulling in the same direction. I’m confident we’ll succeed.

 

Constantino: Carrier ID quickly identifies an interference source. The goal is that, at any given monitoring location, a single system can extract the carrier ID for all carrier types where carrier ID insertion has been provided. This will allow satellite operators to communicate directly with the interference source to resolve the incident. Cooperation throughout the satellite sector would minimize the time of an interference event by quickly identifying the offending uplink, and it is important for everyone to support this effort.

 

Smith: Yes, I believe we can achieve a wide industry adoption for carrier ID. This is one of the first interference-fighting initiatives that have gained interest from all parts of the industry — satellite operators, customers and vendors, as we see it as a positive action that will produce real benefits. For implementation, there is a significant amount of planning that is required by each satellite operator and their customers, and also industry-wide coordination with vendors and interested groups, to make this happen. The sIRG organization can take a lead in coordinating and promoting the implementation. While the initial actions we take to start carrier ID may not provide major benefits in eliminating interference, it will be an important step for wider adoption of this initiative, which should reap rewards in the longer term.

 

Feldman: We have to address the problem in the broadest sense — not just agree ID transmission standards, but the carrier ID database as well. The database brings commercial and legal implications as well. And with all sides of the issue — technical, financial, legal and commercial — the devil is in the details that need agreement across the industry. We’re now starting to articulate goals and setting short-term targets, which is getting everyone focused and in gear.

 

Smith: There are multiple things that can and should be done, including enhanced training and certification of system installers and technicians, adoption of best operational practices, improving the quality of satellite equipment and its type-approval, sharing of critical operational data and the implementation of innovative solutions and techniques such as carrier ID. Together, all of these initiatives have a role in minimizing the number of interference events and their speedier resolution.

 

Constantino: In order for carrier ID transmissions to be a successful tool in the battle against RFI, equipment vendors and manufacturers need to deliver: customer name, contact telephone number, geo-coordinates, latitude, longitude, modem manufacturer name and modem serial number. This will quickly identify the interference source. Companies are working on both hardware and software options for providing this information.