Satellite hardware company Newtech (News - Alert) is boasting it has demonstrated blazing fast speeds over a 72 Mhz Intelsat Ku-band transponder.   The company says it "saturated" an Intelsat (News - Alert) transponder using its latest modem technology and a 4.5 meter antenna to deliver 372 Mbps bidirectional throughput and 313 Mbps unidirectional throughput.

Newtec (News - Alert) used its Wideband, Clean Channel Technology (CCT) and Equilink product to establish the 313 Mbps link. For the 372 Mbps demonstration, it added its second generation Bandwidth Canceller (ZN781). All of the technologies, with the exception of Newtec's wideband modem technology, are now commercially available; the wideband modem technology will become commercially available later this year.

More speed improvements are likely in store.   The demonstrations didn't include the use of Newtec's modulation and coding DVB-S2 extensions.    Newtec is working with DVB members Arabsat, Cisco, SES and Thomson (News - Alert) Video Network to get an update to the DVB-S2 standard on the DVB agenda. Already Its CCT further improves satellite efficiency for IP trunking and backhaul, plus a broadcast contribution by up to 15 percent as compared to the current DVB-S2 standard. CCT is available as a software upgrade for existing Newtec gear.

Since the existing DVB standard is now more than 10 years old, the company feels it is time for an update. According to Newtech, Items that can be improved in the current standard include an extension to guarantee interoperability and better satellite efficiency for professional satcom applications; a differentiation between contribution and distribution to make the greatest efficiency gains by making the standard aware of the application in which it is being used; an optimization per application for ranges of typical and realistic conditions; and an increased number of modulation and coding schemes and Forward Error Correction (FEC) choices providing the highest resolution for optimal modulation in all circumstances.

Newtec would also like to add in higher modulation schemes. It often sees 32APSK hitting the wall with its FlexACM technology, so it would like to be able to use 64APSK for applications using bigger antennas and more powerful satellites. If available, 64APSK could provide higher transmission speeds and lower operational costs.

If you don't like talking about Ku-band, Newtec has announced several customer wins in the Southwest Asia region around its Ka-band products. Yahsat will use Newtec's gear for delivering IP-based services throughout the region, while InSat's announcement is specific to deployment of its services in Afghanistan.