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Technology Development & Applications (2008)

ATCi

In the private sector, SSPI recognizes ATCi for the introduction and successful deployment of Simulsat, the world's only true full-arc multiple antenna system. Simulsat is capable of receiving satellite transmissions from 35 or more satellites across 70 degrees of arc simultaneously, without adjustment or degradation in performance from one satellite to another. The Simulsat antenna improves users' ability to take advantage of immediate and future revenue opportunities without the need for an antenna farm or the challenges of additional permits. A single Simulsat takes up no more space than 2 parabolic antennas of equivalent performance. Over the last 20 years, ATCi has perfected the Simulsat technology and installed it at cable TV headends serving more than 30 million cable subscribers in the US and abroad. It continues to be deployed by broadcasters, universities, military and government clients and enterprises, and was a key element of the IPTV Super Headend created by SES AMERICOM for its IP-PRIME service.

 

Motion Picture Experts Group of ISO/IEC

In the nonprofit sector, SSPI recognizes the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of the International Standards Organization/International Electro-Technical Commission (ISO/IEC) for the development of the MPEG digital video compression and transport standards. The global adoption of the MPEG-2 standard has already revolutionized the broadcast, satellite and media industries, and continued advances will come from the current MPEG-4 standard and future MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 standards. With each succeeding generation, standards-based digital compression has further increased the volume of media content available to the world while decreasing distribution costs. For satellite-delivered content, the MPEG standards have increased the number of video and audio channels that can be carried on a transponder by factors of 6 to 10 times. They have also increased throughput, which is of particular importance to the growth of HDTV: the new MPEG-4 standard is nearly capable of transmitting one HDTV channel in the same bandwidth needed for a standard-definition channel in MPEG-2. MPEG also provides higher transport speeds for digital signals, permitting less packet loss and lower latency, which makes possible more accurate live transmission. The MPEG standards have greatly aided the satellite industry in the transition from analog transmission to the much more efficient, higher-quality digital service.

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