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An experimental demonstration of Network Coding for satellite networks

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Abstract

While Network Coding has been extensively studied from a theoretical point of view, the number of practical implementations is still very limited. We have performed an actual demonstration of this technique in a real satellite network, where Network Coding was applied on the streams of a videoconference between two terminals. The design challenges are analyzed along with the main ideas that enabled the proposed protocol to achieve more than 90% of the theoretical gains.

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Notes

  1. In the remainder of this paper, the terms "central node", "relay" or "satellite" will be used interchangeably. The same holds for the terms "end-user terminals", "ground stations" or "ground terminals".

  2. We remark that the header includes a 16 bit CRC to check the header integrity (see Fig. 4). This CRC has nothing to with the CRC discussed in Sect. 3.C: the former has the purpose to verify the NETCOP header integrity, whereas the latter identifies which packets are coded together.

Abbreviations

3GPP:

3rd Generation Partnership Project for a 3G Mobile System

CRC:

Cyclic Redundancy Check

DLR:

German Aerospace Center

DVB-RCS:

Digital Video Broadcasting – Return Channel via Satellite

DVB-RCS2:

DVB-RCS – Second Generation

DVB-S2:

Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation

EIRP:

Effective Isotropic Radiated Power

GSE:

Generic Stream Encapsulation

IP:

Internet Protocol

LTE:

3GPP Long Term Evolution

MAC:

Medium Access Control

Modcod:

Modulation and Coding (Format)

NC PC:

Network Coding Personal Computer

NC:

Network Coding

NETCOP:

NETwork COding Protocol

OBP:

On-Board Processing

RLE:

Return Link Encapsulation

TETRA:

Terrestrial Trunked Radio

UDP:

User Datagram Protocol

WiMAX:

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

References

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Correspondence to Hermann Bischl.

Additional information

This work was supported in part by the Raumfahrt-Agentur of the German Aerospace Center and the German Ministry for Economy and Technology under the Contract 50 YB 0905. The authors want to thank the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) and the colleagues at the Institute for Communications and Navigation for their support in the development of this demonstration.

This paper is based on a presentation at the German Aerospace Congress, September 27–29, 2011, Bremen, Germany.

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Bischl, H., Brandt, H. & Rossetto, F. An experimental demonstration of Network Coding for satellite networks. CEAS Space J 2, 75–83 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-011-0009-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-011-0009-7

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