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A hybrid satellite/terrestrial network linking Europe and North America

✍ Scribed by Hamilton, J. B. ;Pike, C. ;Reinhart, R. C. ;Savoie, J. M.


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
1999
Tongue
English
Weight
199 KB
Volume
17
Category
Article
ISSN
0737-2884

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✦ Synopsis


The principal objective was to illustrate interoperability over a complex hybrid satellite and terrestrial Asynchronous Transport Mode (ATM) network. The network linked Ka-band satellites in Europe and in North America, via the European JAMES Research and Development (R#D) Network, and the CANTAT-3 trans-Atlantic submarine "bre. The ISABEL application facilitated Computer Supported Collaborative Workspace (CSCW) among locations in Canada, Italy and the U.S.A. The demonstration consisted of the presentation of one full conference session from Italy to observers in Canada and the U.S.A., with the opportunity for the remote, as well as the local audiences, to interact with presenters during the &Question and Answer' periods. There were also short presentations from the Communications Research Centre (Canada), and NASA Lewis Research Centre (U.S.A.).

The ISABEL application required two virtual networks, one to handle unicast signals for control and monitoring, etc., the other to distribute multicast tra$c. They shared a common star topology over point to point symmetrical Virtual Paths (VPs) through the interconnected ATM networks. The three participating locations were connected to a Network Node at the Communications Research Centre (CRC), Ottawa, Canada over full duplex E1 (2)048 Mbps) circuits. The application tra$c from each ISABEL workstation was directed to the Network Node, where it was combined. The Control Workstation, at the Conference Centre, Sorrento, Italy, allocated window sizes in the combined image, selected local inputs, and switched presentation material as required. The combined image was multicast from the Network Node to the three networked locations.

The overall network included the Italsat-2 satellite and the U.S.