A university student in Malaysia who went out on a limb to ensure she had a good internet connection to sit her exams online has impressed many with her resourcefulness.
Eighteen-year-old Veveonah Mosibin lives in Sabanalang Pitas vallage, in a remote part of the eastern state of Sabah, where broadband services are limited.
The Stifling Of Growth Due to Poor Internet Connectivity
Scenario
- Low Speed (High Latency) in Data Transmission of Network
- Expensive and Time Consuming in Building and Maintenance of Network Equipments
- How to ensure the Security Standard & Privacy in the Digital Safety of Data User adter Network Upgrade?
- Rural communities don't have access to skilled tech workers in aid for network installation unlike the wide population base in urban areas
- Deployment of network availabity is slow depending on the number of labor and workforce
- Due to the current economic largely affected by COVID-19 pandemic, service providers are reluctant to invest in upgrading networks
- High Costs Expenditure in Upgrading and Installation of Network Equipments
- Unconducive areas such as hills and mountains suffer from network availability and stability
- How to expand area of network to areas that are difficult to reach such as the uneven geographical terrain in the Borneo Island and in Indonesia whilst maintaining network stability?
- How to reduce the cost of hiring additional workforce when the demand for network availability is high?
SOLUTION: Why Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEO)?
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are miniaturized, orbiting versions that operate between 500 and 2000 kilometers above Earth's surface and weigh under 500kgDue to its low orbit, latency is significantly reduced as the satellite is better positioned to quickly receive and transmit data. LEO satellites continuously hand off communication signals and traffic across a constellation of satellites.
This ensures seamless, wide-scale coverage over a pre-defined geographical area. Not only is the inter-satellite solution providing better latency performance, it also guarantees a much better level of security by avoiding ground stations.
Better Spectrum
LEO mainly use Ka band and some V band as well. These frequencies enable higher data rates, smaller antennas, narrower beams, greater security and less vulnerable to weather and rain fade. In addition to better use of spectrum, the advancement of active antennas and processing have raised throughput per individual satellite and increasing constellation capacity.
Better Tracking & Network Access
As there will be large numbers of satellites, LEO are better compatible with antennas Electronically Scanned Apertures (ESAs), also called Electronically Steerable Antennas, which can shift beams and track and access large number of satellites without physical movement as opposed to the traditional parabolic-dish antennas.
Better Management
By level aging the advancement of analytics, combined with improved computing power and artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithms, response times and operating costs can be reduced.
Likewise, the throughput increase by Intersatellite Link (ISL) also reduces backhaul costs, improve satellite control and network latency.
Combining these elements would promote the autonomous and semiautonomous control and management of spacecraft, thereby reducing staffing requirements.