satelite
internet
The Beginning of Satellite Internet Communication
As technology has
steadily improved with the centuries, the world is becoming more
and more connected, affirming Marshall McLuhan’s view of the
“global village”. Society has made the transition from
communicating only in person to being able to carry a
conversation with someone thousands of miles away. As
information technology becomes increasingly sophisticated,
physical distance has become negligible. With the implementation
of the Internet, information placed on a server could be made
accessible to anyone, anywhere and at anytime. How did this all
begin? Why was such a system designed? Let’s investigate the
origin of the Internet.
Why did the
Internet first come about?
The idea of the Internet
was actually the brainchild of the United States. More
specifically, it was designed by the United States Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 1973. They wanted
to investigate new techniques for linking networks of
information to each other. Their main goal was to develop an
efficient protocol for all computers in a particular network to
be able to share information and communicate efficiently. They
called this their “Internetting” project and the integrated
network of computer systems that resulted from this work is now
colloquially referred to as the Internet.
Who has been influential in making the
Internet accessible to all?
By 1983, the bulk of the Internet research had transferred hands
from the U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. National Science
Foundation (NSF). They became the backbone of Internet
communication services in the eighties with additional backing
from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
and the U.S. Department of Energy. Together, these
government-funded organizations made the Internet, as we know it
accessible to many people.
As the popularity of the Internet increased with the general
public, the commercial sector began to have a profound interest
in the concept. By the late eighties, the explosion in the
population of Internet users created a large market for private
networking facilities. Today, the bulk of networking facilities
is educational and research institutions and private businesses.
The First Internet Connections
The first networking systems made use of telephone wires for
connection. It was easy to make use of the existing bandwidth on
these wires as telephone poles were already in place in all
urban areas and Internet users did not need to buy too much
additional hardware. However, with telephone wires, establishing
an online connection could be rather slow and inconvenient.
Internet users sometimes had to wait a long time to dial up the
Internet, or they might face a busy signal and cannot get
through. It was inconvenient as well because using the Internet
meant that their phone line was tied up and they could not
receive any phone calls.
Cable Internet helped solve some of those problems. This type of
networking system ensured a permanent connection to the
Internet. Using the same wires that enable television, a
connection to the World Wide Web could be established. This
system got rid of annoying waiting times and increased the
convenience of using the net significantly.
Satellite Internet Makes its Debut
But what happens when you live in a place that does not have
telephone access and cable wires? If you happen to live in the
North Pole or perhaps aboard a ship, does that mean that you
will not be able to have an Internet connection? This problem
can now be addressed with the advent of satellite Internet. This
amazing technology is made possible with the geostationary
satellite. This is a type of satellite that orbits the Earth
around the equator. From its name, you can guess that it remains
stationary with respect to the Earth. The speed of the satellite
ensures that it will not fall out of orbit and crash into the
Earth. At the same time, the satellite’s speed is sufficient to
give it a rotation of one day on Earth.
Twenty-two thousand miles above the equator is where most of the
world’s Geostationary satellites reside. This belt of satellites
is referred to as “Clarke’s Constellation”. The belt is named
after the famous science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, who
first came up with the idea of using satellites for
communication. After the launching of Sputnik I in 1957, people
started to seriously consider the benefits and profits
associated with satellite communications.
The first major attempt at a geosynchronous satellite was the
United States’ Department of Defense’s ADVENT satellite. It was
stabilized by three axes rather and had an antenna that directed
its radio energy towards the Earth. It was eventually cancelled
because the satellite was large and unwieldy, making it very
difficult to launch into space. A lot of the technology that
makes satellite communication possible existed in the
nineteen-sixties, but they would be greatly improved with time.
One of the most influential improvements was in the antennas
used. In the sixties, capturing the energy required extremely
large and costly reflector plates that were a hundred feet in
diameter! Now, reflector plates that are merely one and a half
foot in diameter are capable of doing the job. The main
communications device in the satellite is known as the
travelling-wave-tube (TWT). This has been greatly improved as
well over the years. When it was first used, it only had a power
output of about one watt. Now it has an output of fifty to three
hundred watts.
The reason why satellites can be used for Internet connection in
areas without wires and cables is because their line of vision
extends great distances. They can “see” and be seen over vast
expanses of land and water. However, because any transmitted
information must travel twenty thousand miles to get to the
receiver, there is about a half-second delay in receiving the
information. For most purposes, this delay is negligible. For
example, if you want to download files and read the news online,
you will not notice this slight delay. However, if you want to
play games online that function with real time or carry out
video conferencing, the half-second delay may become
significant.
There are currently six major companies that provide satellite
communications to the United States: AT&T, COMSAT, GTE, Alascom,
GE Americom, and Hughes Communication. Altogether, they operate
with thirty-six satellites valued at four billion dollars. The
numerous ground stations are estimated to have a similar value,
making the satellite communications business a multi-billion
dollar industry. Every year, about ten more communications
satellites are launched around the world, each with an estimated
value of about seventy-five million dollars.
Satellite Internet is today’s most practical way for people in
rural and remote communities to transmit and receive
information. Using satellites, the people in these communities
are not limited to local information transfer but they have
access to the global repository of information that is available
on the World Wide Web. Although it is currently the most
expensive form of Internet communication, it is also one of the
most versatile forms. As it continues to increase in popularity
and as the number of satellite Internet providers goes up, the
technology should become less expensive and more efficient,
making it even more accessible to people all over the world.
Arthur C. Clarke would be pleased to know that his vision has
come true.
