Technology/Science
The Big Future of Satellite Internet Just Took a Promising Step Forward By David Gossman
SOME OF THE BIGGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD, like Amazon and SpaceX, are looking towards space for the future of the Internet. Satellite-based Internet is a nascent enterprise, but analysts believe that broadband Internet beamed to Earth from orbit could be a massive business in fewer than 20 years, earning hundreds of billions of dollars (www.morganstanley.com/ Themes/global-space-economy). Attention has focused on the “space” part of “space Internet,” with news stories focused on the rocket launches getting SpaceX's Starlink satellites (www.inverse. com/innovation/spacex-starlink-beta-test-how-tosign-up) into space, and how Amazon plans to catch up with satellites of its own (www. inverse.com/innovation/amazon-kuiper). But all of
these satellites will need transceivers on Earth to send and receive data. Scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and a new one that is made to work with the next generation of Internet satellites.
(www.titech.ac.jp/english/news/2020/047487.html) Socionext Inc. (socionext.com) have built
WHAT ARE TRANSCEIVERS? Unassuming pieces of tech, they are some of the least-flashy, but most important, components in history. A transceiver is a device that can both transmit and receive signals, hence the name. Combining a transmitter and a receiver into one device allows for greater flexibility and since their development in the 1920s, they’ve been used to reach remote locations. One the earliest transceivers, invented by the Australian John Traeger, was used to help doctors reach remote villages. THE NEW TRANSCEIVER The new transceiver, designed for space internet technology, was developed at Kenichi Okada's 84
March-April 2021
lab at Tokyo Tech and presented recently at the virtual IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (https://rfic-ieee.org/technical-program/ technical-sessions?type=Tu2B-4&date=2020-06-23) , the new device has a number of improvements on both the transmitting and receiving ends of the business. All of these developments are geared toward providing Internet access in rural and remote areas. At only 3 mm (0.118 inches) by 3 mm, the transceiver can communicate with satellites over 22,000 miles above the Earth’s atmosphere. "Satellite communication has become a key technology for providing interactive TV and broadband internet services in low-density rural areas. Implementing Ka-band communications using silicon — [complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor] technology in particular — is a promising solution owing to the potential for global DAWN www.africabusinessassociation.org
