PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: John G. Watson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 16, 1997
U.S.-JAPANESE BEGIN TESTS OF NEW HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO NETWORK
Government and industry teams in the United States and Japan
have begun a series of experiments to test the transmission of
high definition video (HDV), computer data, high resolution
images and video signals over the Pacific Ocean via an
unprecedented combination of satellite links and fiber optic
cable.
If successful, the experiments could lead to the creation of
new, high-performance global telecommunications networks, said
Edison Hsu, High Definition Video experiment coordinator at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is coordinating the U.S.
portion of the tests on behalf of NASA. A number of these tests,
including an experiment currently under way, are planned for
coming years to develop techniques, standards, and protocols for
the satellite transmission of high data rate images and
scientific data, which until now have been transmitted solely via
fiber optic cable.
The first experiment, currently being conducted, tests the
ability of satellites to carry high-definition video signals from
Tokyo to California, for such potential applications as
transcontinental editing of movies and television programs shot
on HDV and transmission of HDV features directly to movie
theaters. Specific goals include sending and receiving images
back and forth across the ocean in real time using a moderate
amount of compression, and sending master tapes back and forth in
slightly less than real time without any compression.
For this experiment, a Sony Research Laboratory facility in
Tokyo is now linked via fiber optic cable to an Earth station in
Otemachi, then to the GTE Hawaiian Tel Earth station in Hawaii
via an Intelsat satellite, from there to a Earth station at the
Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii via fiber optic cable, from
Hawaii to a downlink at JPL's Woodbury Supercomputer Center in
Altadena, CA, via NASA's Advanced Communications Technology
Satellite (ACTS) and, finally, via fiber optic cable to the Sony
Pictures High Definition Center in Culver City, CA.
"These experiments, the result of cooperative work by
participants in Japan and the U.S., are indeed an exciting
beginning in the demonstration of the crucial role satellites can
play in the Global Information Infrastructure, or GII," Hsu
explained. "They are designed to establish a broadband ATM link
via satellite. This means that we can have a high bandwidth link
comparable to that provided by fiber optic cables even in areas
where a fiber optic infrastructure is not available or feasible,
such as within or over oceans, rain forests or deserts."
Added JPL Deputy Section Manager Dr. Larry Bergman, one of
the experiment's principal investigators, "These experiments are
being performed at the high data rates normally transmitted by
fiber optic cables, 45 to 155 million data bits per second. They
are aimed at very high quality of service, about one error in a
billion bits. It is our expectation that these satellite links
will be comparable to fiber optics, and it is our hope that these
experiments will demonstrate the striking capabilities of
satellites and help us close the performance gap between these
two important technologies."
Potential applications of the new networks include
astronomy, telemedicine, tele-education, digital libraries and
electronic commerce. The experiments will help to determine the
types of upgrades of the satellite and fiber optic infrastructure
that will be necessary before such applications can be practical.
NASA and Japan's Communications Research Laboratory are key
sponsors of the experiments, which have been jointly organized by
the Japan-U.S. Science, Technology and Space Applications Program
(JUSTSAP) Working Group on Satellite Communications and the GII
Satellite Quadrilateral Working Group.
Among the companies and institutions contributing facilities
and services are COMSAT World Systems, George Washington
University, GTE Hawaiian Tel, Intelsat, Kokusai Denshin Denwa
Co., Ltd. (Japan's international phone carrier), Mitsubishi
Electric Corp., Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, Lockheed Martin,
Pacific Bell, Pacific Space Center, Sony Corp., Sony Pictures
Entertainment High Definition Center and the State of Hawaii's
Dept. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
The European Space Agency and the Canadian government have
agreed to participate in future experiments and several Asia
Pacific nations are expected to join in as well. As the
experiments progress in complexity, additional satellite and
cable networks will be employed. The experiments have been
incorporated into an international project, Global
Interoperability for Broadband Networks (GIBN), sponsored by the
G-7 leading economic nations.
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