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StatusOngoing
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Status date2023-01-31
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Activity Code6B.102
The SMART project targets the design, development, integration and operational verification of a holistic user and resource communication service manager platform. The SMART solution is envisioned as a web application tool, which enhances the Hellenic government satellite communications infrastructure (GreeCom) resilience, performance and security with the following functionalities:
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Data network management and provisioning.
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Bandwidth/Capacity resource planning and allocation.
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Spectrum and resource analysis using the Software Defined Radio (SDR) paradigm.
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Optimized resource scheduling and allocation.
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Automated ground segment control and monitoring.
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A study on the definition of use cases addressed by a future Greecom network expansion and the technical requirements for the expansion will run in parallel to the SMART project objectives.
The satellite spectrum is a scarce but valuable asset. The continued growth of satellite and radio networks and services depends on the availability of adequate spectrum resources. Therefore, there is the requirement for dynamic, adaptive and, if possible, optimum exploitation of the available radio resources. Nevertheless, the challenges are becoming more and more intense, since:
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There is accelerating demand for those resources, due to the popularity and spread of data-intensive wireless services, that test the limits of current networks – underscoring the need for changes in existing spectrum management strategies.
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With the rapid growth of satellite networks including VSATs, there is the potential for increased radio frequency interference and spurious emissions. Interfering signals can be periodic or occur at different frequencies over time, making the discovery and mitigation of the sources a significantly challenging task.
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Especially, for applications and services of governmental interest, like the set of services provided by GreeCom, malicious actors may attempt to obstruct, block, intercept, or even inject false data, making communication unreliable.
The SMART platform is expected to have major impact into the GreeCom ecosystem since:
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It develops new capabilities.
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It eliminates distrust by governmental authorities.
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It plays the role of the driver for future needs.
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It provides an accurate record guiding and harmonizing new investments in the domain.
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It creates new opportunities for beyond the national border’s cooperation.
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It supports the satellite communications as field and solution.
The SMART solution consists of five main software components, which are cooperating with each other in order to achieve the SMART goals:
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The Service Provisioning Tool with the objective to implement mission planning and overall service and user administration. The tool also includes the SMART frontend and backend.
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The Resource Allocation Tool with the objective to calculate the link parameters, analyse/synthesize the system waveforms and extract the bandwidth requirements for a service request.
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The Spectrum Monitoring Tool that monitors the spectrum segments, estimates interference power, performs interference characterizations, and validates waveform specification for legitimate transmissions.
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The Network Planning and Optimization Tool, that performs spectrum scheduling allocating users and services to spectrum segments with the objective to maximize overall sum-rate.
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Ground Segment Control and Monitoring Tool, that performs remote control and monitoring of the terminals (VSATs) that are used in peer-to-peer mode.
The SMART high-level architecture is depicted in the following figure, which identifies the SMART Admin and Terminals key building blocks, as well as the associated tasks.
The SMART Admin block contains all the key elements for service provisioning according to SMART objectives, while the SMART terminals are remote terminals that support automated control and monitoring by the SMART solution.
The SMART solution is a software platform with components executed mainly at the GreeCom premises (the admin block), while small software agents are also required at the terminal side for automated control and reconfiguration (the SMART Terminal). The SMART solution interacts with the following components:
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The GreeCom hub and its Network Management System.
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Software Defined Radio (SDR) equipment used for the implementation of the spectrum monitoring tool.
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The client VSATs and their interfaces (“transforming” them into SMART terminals).
The hardware is not part of the SMART solution. The SDR equipment is already available to support the SMART development process. Moreover, a list of third-party SDR equipment supporting SMART operation will be provided, however, it is not considered part of the GreeCom product tree.
Definition Phase Milestones
Kick-Off Meeting (KOM) (T0)
Internediate Requirements Review (iRR) (T0+1)
Requirements Review (RR) (T0+2)
Preliminary Design Review (PDR) – Definition Phase Completion Review (T0+6)
Definition Phase completed.
