The Modern University of Humanities (MUH), Eurasias largest open university with 170,000 students, provides higher education to 830 towns and cities that include some of the most remote regions in Russia. Gilats SkyEdge, through the companys Teleport Services, provides the communication network that powers MUH satellite e-learning applications.
Teleport Service realized Gilat could provide:
1. Common outbound for multiplexed video and data transmission
2. High performance broadband network, supports video conferencing, e-learning applications, the Internet and more
3. Excellent Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) takes into account satellite capacity, operations as well as the equipment costs
4. Reliability and availability for remote regions
– Tele-lectures that can be viewed both online and recorded
– Electronic text books
– Training applications and computer simulations
– Q&A applications allowing students to receive assistance from remote teachers
– Access to databases and an electronic library
All of these applications need to be provided to MUHs
education centers.
The Challenge
Providing distance education to the huge student body of MUH, dispersed throughout the largest country in the world, is a challenging task. MUH needed a communication network that would deliver broadband rates as well as cost efficient.
MUHs communication requirements also mandated interactive learningnot only did the network need to provide high throughput and efficient broadcast, it also had to provide connectivity from remote sites back to the center. Applications such as Internet, training applications, network-based simulations and others needed to be supported by the network.
Lastly, MUH wanted a communication network that, cost effectively, enabled reliable services in and outside Russia. Terrestrial networks depended on interconnectivity with other national carriers, which would have complicated the network and increased the operational costs. Reliability was also an important issue, as support in remote regions, especially in the more distant locations within Russia, can be quite difficult.
MUH already operated a mix of one-way and two-way satellite solutionsbased on Gilats 360e platform, together with standard PCI DVB-S receivers.
The DVB-S receivers were installed in PCs and used for broadcasts while the 360e VSATs were used for interactive services. While MUH was happy with these solutions, the newer educational programs and network, called Platon, required higher performance and more capabilities.
The Solution
MUH decided that satellite technology was the best choice for their complex and diverse needs. They are now using SkyEdge VSATs for the communication network. A SkyEdge network provides efficient broadcast and multicast servicestransmitting content only once, to be received by all the remote sites.
In addition, satellites provide coverage outside of Russia and can be used for international sites as well. Due to the huge size of Russia, two satellites are required to provide complete coverage.
In order to operate the satellite network, MUH established Teleport Services as a satellite-based communication service provider. Teleport Services can then focus on its expertise in satellite communication, delivering the highest quality communication services at the most competitive cost.
Following a detailed market survey, Gilats SkyEdge was found to be the best available platform for MUHs needs. Gilats SkyEdge network enables MUH to operate all applications for broadcast and interactive requirements on one platform, benefit from the reliability of satellite technology and provide for future expansion. In addition, SkyEdges efficiencies meant that the operating expenses of the network would be minimized.
SkyEdges high inbound data rates allowed the addition of video conferencing capabilities to the remote sites. While most of the interactive sessions are based on VoIP, the ability to see the students at the remote sites improves the learning experience tremendously.
In order to make this real-time applications function well, an advanced QoS solution integrated with the inbound access scheme is required. SkyEdges QoS is based on the full DiffServ definition, and ensures that real-time applications receive the required throughput. Latency and jitter are minimized and other less time-sensitive traffic does not interfere with the real-time applications.
Teleport Services has already deployed a SkyEdge hub, installed the SkyEdge VSATs in MUHs facilities, and the network is now operational.
About the author
David Leichner is the Vice President of Marketing for Gilat
Satellite Networks.