HiSeasNet:Internet on the High Seas for 6 years and counting

HiSeasNet:Internet on the High Seas for 6 years and counting

Steve FoleyScripps Institution of

Oceanography

Steve FoleyScripps Institution of

Oceanography

Inmartech 2008

OverviewOverview HiSeasNet: The system

What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

HiSeasNet: The system What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

OverviewOverview HiSeasNet: The system

What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

HiSeasNet: The system What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

What is HiSeasNet?What is HiSeasNet? Satellite network extending the Internet

to research platforms at sea Connects University-National

Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet of US-based research vessels

Internet Protocol (IP) based for flexibility “Always on”, fixed cost Uses C-band (global coverage) and Ku-

band (coastal coverage) antennas RF gear is Codan, networking is Cisco,

antennas are SeaTel, Prodelin, and Vertex

Satellite network extending the Internet to research platforms at sea

Connects University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet of US-based research vessels

Internet Protocol (IP) based for flexibility “Always on”, fixed cost Uses C-band (global coverage) and Ku-

band (coastal coverage) antennas RF gear is Codan, networking is Cisco,

antennas are SeaTel, Prodelin, and Vertex

This is network infrastructure!

HiSeasNet ServicesHiSeasNet Services Satellite bandwidth

Ship-to-shore: 96kbps (C-Band), 64kbps (Ku) Shore-to-ship:

256kbps for 5 slots on both AOR and POR C-Band satellites (~50kbps per ship, but shared)

192 kbps for 3 slots on North Ku-Band, 256kbps for 4 slots on Gulf Ku-Band Beam 2 (~64kbps/ship but shared)

Earth station connection to Internet in San Diego at SIO Direct routing through to home institution Run your own IP services however you want (email, web

browsing, VoIP, video teleconferencing, file transfers, campus services, data exchange, remote control, etc.)

Ship and shore equipment maintenance 2x/yr

Satellite bandwidth Ship-to-shore: 96kbps (C-Band), 64kbps (Ku) Shore-to-ship:

256kbps for 5 slots on both AOR and POR C-Band satellites (~50kbps per ship, but shared)

192 kbps for 3 slots on North Ku-Band, 256kbps for 4 slots on Gulf Ku-Band Beam 2 (~64kbps/ship but shared)

Earth station connection to Internet in San Diego at SIO Direct routing through to home institution Run your own IP services however you want (email, web

browsing, VoIP, video teleconferencing, file transfers, campus services, data exchange, remote control, etc.)

Ship and shore equipment maintenance 2x/yr

Pacific C-band CoveragePacific C-band Coverage

Atlantic/Eastern Pacific C-band

Atlantic/Eastern Pacific C-band

Ku-Band Coverage (SatMex5)

Ku-Band Coverage (SatMex5)

Beam 1 R/V New Horizon R/V Point Sur R/V Wecoma

Beam 1 R/V New Horizon R/V Point Sur R/V Wecoma

Beam 2 R/V Endeavor R/V Oceanus R/V Pelican R/V Walton Smith

Beam 2 R/V Endeavor R/V Oceanus R/V Pelican R/V Walton Smith

Current setupCurrent setup Now at 15 (8 C-band, 7 Ku-band) ships and 1 fixed station

Station is BAS on South Georgia Island on its own 128kbs C-band link through the AOR satellite.

Ship slots 5 C-band POR, 5 C-band AOR (10 slots for 8 ships adds mobility

between ocean regions) 4 Gulf Ku-band, 3 North Ku-band

Earth station is 3 antennas: 7m Vertex POR C-Band (using Intelsat 701) 7m Vertex AOR C-Band (using Intelsat 707) 3.8m Prodelin Ku-Band on 2 beams (using SatMex5 beams 1 and

2) C-band ships use 2.4m SeaTel antennas Ku-band ships use 1.5m, 1.2m, or 0.95 SeaTel antennas

Now at 15 (8 C-band, 7 Ku-band) ships and 1 fixed station Station is BAS on South Georgia Island on its own 128kbs C-band

link through the AOR satellite. Ship slots

5 C-band POR, 5 C-band AOR (10 slots for 8 ships adds mobility between ocean regions)

4 Gulf Ku-band, 3 North Ku-band Earth station is 3 antennas:

7m Vertex POR C-Band (using Intelsat 701) 7m Vertex AOR C-Band (using Intelsat 707) 3.8m Prodelin Ku-Band on 2 beams (using SatMex5 beams 1 and

2) C-band ships use 2.4m SeaTel antennas Ku-band ships use 1.5m, 1.2m, or 0.95 SeaTel antennas

What does it look like?What does it look like?

Current HiSeasNet Fleet Current HiSeasNet Fleet

C-Band (2.4m dish, Global coverage) Atlantis Kilo Moana Knorr Melville Revelle Seward Johnson Thompson Langseth

C-Band (2.4m dish, Global coverage) Atlantis Kilo Moana Knorr Melville Revelle Seward Johnson Thompson Langseth

Ku-Band (North America coastal coverage) Endeavor (1.2m) New Horizon

(1.2m) Oceanus (1.5m) Pelican (1m) Point Sur (1m) Walton Smith (1m) Wecoma (1.5m)

Ku-Band (North America coastal coverage) Endeavor (1.2m) New Horizon

(1.2m) Oceanus (1.5m) Pelican (1m) Point Sur (1m) Walton Smith (1m) Wecoma (1.5m)

Antenna/Radome Comparisons

Antenna/Radome Comparisons

Ku-Band (6006)

144 in 48 in72 in

C-Band (9797)

1.5m dish400 lbs

Pedestal mountRx gain: 42.5dB

2.4m dish

1m dish250 lbs

Pedestal mountRx gain: 40.1 dB

Small Ku-band (4006)

Typical ShipNetwork

Setup

Typical ShipNetwork

Setup

Purple: RFTeal: Sync serialOrange: Public IP spaceBlue: Ethernet

High Level Network ViewHigh Level Network View

Brief history of over 7 years

Brief history of over 7 years Started in with one C-band ship and commercial teleport

(Feb ‘02) Added two C-band ships and our own earth station with 7m

POR antenna (Late ‘03) Added more C-Band ships (‘04 - ‘07) Added 7m C-band AOR antenna (Apr ‘05) Added 3.8m Ku-Band antenna for coastal and Gulf of

Mexico coverage (Sep ‘05) Added fixed BAS station South Georgia Island (Oct ‘05) Added more Ku-band ships (‘05-present) Temporary operation of one ship in IOR through

commercial teleport (‘07) 88kbps/96kbps (down/up) Added 3.8m Ku-band antenna for northern coastal

coverage (Sep ‘07)

Started in with one C-band ship and commercial teleport (Feb ‘02)

Added two C-band ships and our own earth station with 7m POR antenna (Late ‘03)

Added more C-Band ships (‘04 - ‘07) Added 7m C-band AOR antenna (Apr ‘05) Added 3.8m Ku-Band antenna for coastal and Gulf of

Mexico coverage (Sep ‘05) Added fixed BAS station South Georgia Island (Oct ‘05) Added more Ku-band ships (‘05-present) Temporary operation of one ship in IOR through

commercial teleport (‘07) 88kbps/96kbps (down/up) Added 3.8m Ku-band antenna for northern coastal

coverage (Sep ‘07)

Indian Ocean C-band (2007)

Indian Ocean C-band (2007)

OverviewOverview HiSeasNet: The system

What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

HiSeasNet: The system What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

What HiSeasNet Can DoWhat HiSeasNet Can Do Email exchanges (bigger/longer than before) Web browsing Video streaming/conferencing VoIP Bulk file transfers Instant messaging Remote control of equipment Software updating, patching License server access for large programs

Plenty more! What can you think of?

Email exchanges (bigger/longer than before) Web browsing Video streaming/conferencing VoIP Bulk file transfers Instant messaging Remote control of equipment Software updating, patching License server access for large programs

Plenty more! What can you think of?

ApplicationsApplications Science outreach

Video conferencing, blogs, website updates, collaborations, images, videos

Science Literature searches, web-based funding paperwork, results to

shore, analysis/datasets from shore Technical troubleshooting

Images, phone calls, video snippits, remote control/monitoring, instant messaging, Google

Ship operations Weather updates, parts orders, inventory updates, clearance

documents, agent communications Ship life

News, emails, blogs, online banking/shopping/etc.

Science outreach Video conferencing, blogs, website updates, collaborations,

images, videos Science

Literature searches, web-based funding paperwork, results to shore, analysis/datasets from shore

Technical troubleshooting Images, phone calls, video snippits, remote

control/monitoring, instant messaging, Google Ship operations

Weather updates, parts orders, inventory updates, clearance documents, agent communications

Ship life News, emails, blogs, online banking/shopping/etc.

Recent ProjectsRecent Projects ROADNet (ongoing)

Data (weather, position, images) from ships streaming back in real-time

Shallow Water 2006 Multi-ship, mooring, and glider coordination between 5

ships with wireless links, then off to shore via HiSeasNet Newfoundland 2008

Temporary (1 month) increase to 256kbps off Ku-band ship for video streaming back to shore, broadcast over web

May be able to “burst” short term bandwidth more in the future if conditions are right.

ROADNet (ongoing) Data (weather, position, images) from ships streaming

back in real-time Shallow Water 2006

Multi-ship, mooring, and glider coordination between 5 ships with wireless links, then off to shore via HiSeasNet

Newfoundland 2008 Temporary (1 month) increase to 256kbps off Ku-band

ship for video streaming back to shore, broadcast over web

May be able to “burst” short term bandwidth more in the future if conditions are right.

How life is different with HiSeasNet

How life is different with HiSeasNet

More accessibility at sea But harder to get away from the office

Easier to bring students out to sea Lectures and notes can be recorded and sent to sea

More reliance on communications systems and higher expectations for being online HiSeasNet is a critical system now

NOT as much demand for new services as expected But reliability of email and web is paramount

More accessibility at sea But harder to get away from the office

Easier to bring students out to sea Lectures and notes can be recorded and sent to sea

More reliance on communications systems and higher expectations for being online HiSeasNet is a critical system now

NOT as much demand for new services as expected But reliability of email and web is paramount

What more can HiSeasNet do?

What more can HiSeasNet do?

IP based, so just about anything is possible

Large delay, high jitter, so real-time applications (like VoIP) can be tricky to do well. Buffering helps.

The sky is the limit…suggestions on what to try?

IP based, so just about anything is possible

Large delay, high jitter, so real-time applications (like VoIP) can be tricky to do well. Buffering helps.

The sky is the limit…suggestions on what to try?

OverviewOverview HiSeasNet: The system

What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

HiSeasNet: The system What it is Coverage areas Equipment

HiSeasNet: The platform What it can do

HiSeasNet: The project Project organization and costs Lessons learned so far Future work

CostCost Equipment cost (including spares)

$185,000 for C-band gear $85,000 to $120,000 for Ku-band gear

Bandwidth $750/mo/ship Ku-band $3000/mo/ship C-band Prices for 1 year, pre-emptible contracts

Operating cost per ship $250/day C-band, $150/day Ku-band Includes bandwidth, maintenance, earth station operation

Funding provided by the National Science Foundation

Equipment cost (including spares) $185,000 for C-band gear $85,000 to $120,000 for Ku-band gear

Bandwidth $750/mo/ship Ku-band $3000/mo/ship C-band Prices for 1 year, pre-emptible contracts

Operating cost per ship $250/day C-band, $150/day Ku-band Includes bandwidth, maintenance, earth station operation

Funding provided by the National Science Foundation

HiSeasNet StaffingHiSeasNet Staffing

Operations are handled by 1 person, part time at SIO

Maintenance work is contracted out to CommSystems, roughly 1 person full-time

Office/administrative work is 1 person part time at SIO

Operations are handled by 1 person, part time at SIO

Maintenance work is contracted out to CommSystems, roughly 1 person full-time

Office/administrative work is 1 person part time at SIO

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned We have regular outages (ship structure,

equipment failures, etc.) Need spares on board Training for techs is helping during equipment problems Raising antennas above structures is helpful, but not

always possible Coverage is not global from San Diego earth

station Can contract with commercial stations for IOR or

Mediterranean areas Ku-band ships are sometimes out of range

Are trying short term contracts on other satellites

We have regular outages (ship structure, equipment failures, etc.) Need spares on board Training for techs is helping during equipment problems Raising antennas above structures is helpful, but not

always possible Coverage is not global from San Diego earth

station Can contract with commercial stations for IOR or

Mediterranean areas Ku-band ships are sometimes out of range

Are trying short term contracts on other satellites

More Lessons LearnedMore Lessons Learned Bandwidth is always available, but with delay and

jitter. Conservation still helps. Web proxies

Cache pages and limit useless data (ie ads) Control user access and is network choke point

Limiting simultaneous users Policies are as useful as technology. Includes:

Who gets priority? Science use, usually. Who can use the web and for how long? What traffic is allowed? Not allowed?

Common use policies among ships is not viable… too many differences between ships

Viruses, spam, worms, malware, hackers, and security practices still apply at sea now!

Bandwidth is always available, but with delay and jitter. Conservation still helps. Web proxies

Cache pages and limit useless data (ie ads) Control user access and is network choke point

Limiting simultaneous users Policies are as useful as technology. Includes:

Who gets priority? Science use, usually. Who can use the web and for how long? What traffic is allowed? Not allowed?

Common use policies among ships is not viable… too many differences between ships

Viruses, spam, worms, malware, hackers, and security practices still apply at sea now!

Failures and SparesFailures and Spares Most problems are user or ship related

Power outage, antenna repoints, gyro failure, unfamiliarity with gear, etc.

Solution: Presented 4-day training program and techs are more capable of tracking down their own problems (and finding out what is normal)

Antennas still have tracking problems sometimes, but failures are somewhat uncommon

RF gear failures are major cause of catastrophic ship outages Solution:

Have expanded spares kit on board including RF gear for troubleshooting needs. Allows for repairs at sea.

Still have depot/earth station RF spares in SD

Most problems are user or ship related Power outage, antenna repoints, gyro failure,

unfamiliarity with gear, etc. Solution: Presented 4-day training program and

techs are more capable of tracking down their own problems (and finding out what is normal)

Antennas still have tracking problems sometimes, but failures are somewhat uncommon

RF gear failures are major cause of catastrophic ship outages Solution:

Have expanded spares kit on board including RF gear for troubleshooting needs. Allows for repairs at sea.

Still have depot/earth station RF spares in SD

Recent Improvements Recent Improvements Installed gear on some new ships. Almost all

UNOLS ships capable of HiSeasNet are outfitted with HiSeasNet antennas.

Improved current satellite beam services Remote control, added bandwidth, extra slots

Web site (http://www.hiseasnet.net) improvements Added slot schedule and network diagram Added file repository (drivers, guides, etc.) Launched wiki with growing FAQ and additional

resources for scientists and operators Breakdown for each ship’s bandwidth usage

Presented technician training class at WHOI

Installed gear on some new ships. Almost all UNOLS ships capable of HiSeasNet are outfitted with HiSeasNet antennas.

Improved current satellite beam services Remote control, added bandwidth, extra slots

Web site (http://www.hiseasnet.net) improvements Added slot schedule and network diagram Added file repository (drivers, guides, etc.) Launched wiki with growing FAQ and additional

resources for scientists and operators Breakdown for each ship’s bandwidth usage

Presented technician training class at WHOI

Future WorkFuture Work Focus is now on maintenance and operations,

infrastructure improvement Possibly expand Ku-band carriers to cover more

of POR. Possibly GE-23 over N. Pacific. Requires another antenna at the earth station

More training classes (multi-day, hands-on, theoretical and practical)

More documentation, troubleshooting guides, discussion online

Continue routine (2x/yr) maintenance/upgrades of all equipment

Figure out how to get scientists to exploit it!

Focus is now on maintenance and operations, infrastructure improvement

Possibly expand Ku-band carriers to cover more of POR. Possibly GE-23 over N. Pacific. Requires another antenna at the earth station

More training classes (multi-day, hands-on, theoretical and practical)

More documentation, troubleshooting guides, discussion online

Continue routine (2x/yr) maintenance/upgrades of all equipment

Figure out how to get scientists to exploit it!

How do we get the best service with the least shore support?

Questions? Comments?Questions? Comments?