An IP based satellite network for distance learning

Providing high-quality multimedia-based modern distance-learning services imposes requirements in terms of cost effectiveness, bandwidth demand and full compliance with the most common networking protocols. ViaSat and Eutelsat have cooperated in the development of a new IP-based satellite network to meet these requirements and supply high performance and cost-effective interactivity to end-users via a bidirectional unbalanced satellite link. We describe the technical features of the network, the configurations adopted and the methods used for acceptance-testing of multimedia services. It also focuses on the features of such a network for the delivery of multimedia and high interactive services, especially distance-learning applications.