Inmarsat has announced plans to develop a new hyper-intelligent Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) alongside mobile satellite communications with UK company Livewire Digital.
This latest feat will bring new, additional connectivity capabilities for mobility businesses worldwide, as part of Inmarsat’s global ORCHESTRA network. ORCHESTRA will integrate Inmarsat’s existing geosynchronous (GEO) networks with terrestrial 5G and a new, targeted low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite deployment.
This SD-WAN solution offers a network of networks to route data intelligently and dynamically via the most efficient and relevant paths, depending on the nature of the information. Multiple pathways will be available via ORCHESTRA, from existing networks in Ka-band with Global Xpress or in L-band via ELERA, as well as in the future via 5G terrestrial connectivity and LEO satellites.
Within the maritime industry, SD-WAN can help identify and separate traffic securely between users – from shipowner, to operator, to manager, to crew, to charterers, to application providers – and ensure ultra-high resiliency for mission critical traffic or life-critical live applications, such as Medicare or autonomous shipping. It will also enhance the user experience thanks to direct cloud connections and help users make the most of the available networks by using dynamic bandwidth management.
Peter Hadinger, chief technology officer at Inmarsat, said: “Every ORCHESTRA needs a conductor and this new offering from Inmarsat performs that role, choosing the best routes for information on our network to take, depending on the class or priority of the information in question. SD-WAN uses flexible and defined policies to segregate traffic and route it accordingly and intelligently. Different types of data may start and finish at common points but can take entirely different routes to arrive to optimise their journeys.”
“When driving years ago you would use a paper map, but this could not tell you about congestion, traffic jams, accidents, road works and the like,” Hadinger continued. “Now your satellite navigation unit advises you the best route in real time based on many different factors. SD-WAN offers something similar for communications data. It takes into account any issues on a network automatically, finding better routes for data and it can offer other paths en route as conditions on the network change. With our growing geostationary satellite fleet and a number of frequency bands at our disposal, we have multiple pathways that can be used in different ways for different needs and providing different routes for data that others cannot match. This advantage for our customers will only increase further as ORCHESTRA continues to develop.”
