Research — Project Overview

Overview of the SIMTO Project

LEO Satellite Networks for Interactive Multimedia Services

The current Internet comprises about 70 Million traditional PC based nodes in private households. With the growing acceptance of the Internet and the growing penetration of all areas of daily live with IP-bases serices completely new, future IP networks can be envisaged.

Future IP Networks will be defined in terms of:

• seamless ip-based integration of vehicles (cars, etc.)
• "electrification" of the internet
• privision of global mobility

The SIMTO Framework is devided into three major areas:

• Internet Based Car Networking,
• Home Networks and Small IP Devices, and
• LEO Satellite Networks for Interactive Multimedia Services.

LEO Satellite Networks for Interactive Multimedia Services

Internet based services and applications, most likely to be interactive, will be the mai driving force towards an estimated market volume of UDS 38 billion for multimedia satellite services inthe year 2007. Due to these constrains, low earth orbit satellites with low delay and high bandwidth chanels have to be taken as a basis for simulation studies including:

• TCP/IP based applications
• hand-over and connection re-routing
• inter-satellite communication

SIMTO provides a simulation environment for such a network architecture which is currently under development at Fraunhofer FOKUS.cats and will develop and adopt the necessary simulation tools.