The engaging panel topics ranged from 5G NTN and cybersecurity to MilSatCom, next-generation ground segment, and the convergence of satellite and cellular.

Comtech led a headline CEO panel of satellite operators, service providers, and innovative users of new age connectivity during a standing room only general session titled Are Satellite and Cellular Worlds Converging or Colliding?

During the high-profile discussion, panel members made it clear the industry is embracing convergence as an inevitable direction of the future.  

There was general consensus among the panelists that end users today don’t really care where connectivity is coming from, which is surprising given the diverse business models represented across the executive panel. “That bodes very well for companies like Comtech, as we continue to innovate new modem and ground system technologies to empower our customers with always on connectivity access regardless of the satellite orbit or frequency they’re operating within,” noted John Ratigan, Comtech Interim CEO, reflecting on the important conference panel.

Daniel Gizinski, Comtech’s Chief Strategy Officer, provided key insights during two conference panels, including one focused on Exploring Future Alternatives Beyond Starlink for Commercially Provided MilSatCom. The discussion involved SATCOM officials from the Space Force, the Department of Defense, and Amazon Kuiper and centered on improving rapid communications for US military forces with the deployment of LEO and MEO constellations.

“We’re seeing a big shift toward the need to pull together all of these disparate networks and legacy systems that weren’t designed or defined to interoperate,” Mr. Gizinski said during the panel that drew a big audience. “The need for complex orchestration capabilities increases exponentially, as well as the requirements for updated security policies and interfaces – all simultaneously.”

Mr. Gizinksi also provided keen insight during an informative panel on Space-Focused, Zero-Trust Cybersecurity for Hybrid Networks. “The fact that we’re sitting here on a panel representing equipment manufacturers, satellite operators alongside government agencies underscores the importance of designing and developing products with an eye toward cybersecurity from day zero,” Mr. Gizinski said following the discussion. “You can’t be successful at building and deploying products that are expected to be relied on over a long period of time without a focus on cyber assurance as a key part of overall mission assurance.”

Comtech’s Chief Technology Officer Anirban Chakraborty was featured on the panel titled 5G NTN: New Concepts and Use Cases to Achieve Mass Uptake. The group focused on the battle for market share in the 5G non-terrestrial networks sector, which is well underway with satellite operators, MNOs, and handset and equipment makers all vying for a position.

“The satellite-5G convergence is no longer a theory, it’s in front of us,” noted Anirban at the Satellite 2024 conference. “The term 5G NTN has been coined because eventually we will see not just satellite, but also high-altitude platforms. We will see drones, which are not traditional satellite infrastructure but are here today. We will see networks come into play and co-mingle, co-exist with 5G terrestrial systems.”

There was strong interest in the session called Designing the Digital Ground Segment of the Future, which provided an excellent opportunity for Comtech leaders to highlight the company’s vision of the future of ground infrastructure, and its exciting roadmap ahead.

Comtech has big advantages in developing next-gen digital ground systems, based on its work on the terrestrial and wireless side of the business. “We’ve already deployed in the cloud, and we have a lot of game-changing cloud partnerships,” Mr. Ratigan noted following Satellite 2024. “We have a strong understanding how standards are moving the industry forward, and we’re able to leverage our terrestrial and wireless experience and leadership in hybrid and multi-orbit networks for a real differentiator.”

On the heels of what the Satellite 2024 organizers are calling one of their most exciting conferences yet, with more than 15,000 attendees and new exhibitors from across the increasingly hybrid universe, Comtech played a pivotal role in the success of this year’s convention in Washington, DC.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this blog post contains statements that are forward-looking in nature and involve certain significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from such forward-looking information. The Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings identify many such risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking information in this blog article is qualified in its entirety by the risks and uncertainties described in such Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Canada is currently undergoing a national, federally mandated migration from legacy systems to NG911 by March 2025 and Strathcona is the one of counties leading the way at this level, which includes all PSAPs serviced by the country’s Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) providers. Comtech has effectively put itself at the forefront of this critical modernization effort, establishing a competitive foothold as more PSAPs in each province migrate to NG911 to meet the forthcoming deadline. 

The NG911 system in Strathcona County will also allow first responders to better assess and react to emergencies with the added layer of multimedia—such as video and image sharing—as well as get to those in need much faster with precise location accuracy, removing costly delays and guesswork that can negatively impact a response to an emergency.

“We are excited to bring the Comtech NG911 solution into Canada,” said Aaron King, General Manager of the Comtech Solacom Technologies (CST) division. “This partnership with Strathcona County creates a gateway for Comtech to provide additional NG911 support across Canada as it pursues its country-wide migration. It also puts us in a position to layer in additional, crucial services such as cybersecurity and data analytics.”

According to Aaron, this is another prime example of Comtech’s commitment to Public Safety and further demonstrates our ability to leverage the company’s complete communications expertise as an end-to-end solutions and services partner—pushing the limits of innovation to find a better way for our customers and the end users of our technologies. 

Perhaps most importantly, this partnership reinforces a significant truth, Comtech is a proven public safety technology leader at the forefront of bringing PSAPs and government agencies into the next generation of emergency services. To that end, Comtech is currently working with ESInet providers across Canada to achieve similar results – with Strathcona County serving as a north star for future site migrations.

In the United States, many public safety organizations are also implementing Comtech’s NG911 technologies and services. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is just one more example of Comtech’s proven leadership in partnering with our customers to implement successful NG911 deployments. In Pennsylvania, Comtech has been working with the state’s emergency management agency to deploy NG911 services across the state. In less than two years, Comtech has helped the state complete deployments in 75% of all counties across the state to provide residents with some of the world’s most cutting-edge emergency service rapid response capabilities. This progress is not only a testament to Comtech’s proven technology leadership and differentiated expertise, but the deployment has been so successful that members of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) recently received the Governor’s Award for Excellence, recognizing their work on the NG911 statewide deployment.

As the inevitable global upgrade of these services continues to unfold, we expect Comtech to remain highly competitive and capture even more opportunities. In addition to our NG911 solutions, Comtech also anticipates bringing new and innovative public safety and mental health technologies and services to the Canadian market. As more countries undertake similar modernization efforts, Comtech is in a great position to continue leading the charge.  

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this blog post contains statements that are forward-looking in nature and involve certain significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from such forward-looking information. The Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings identify many such risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by the risks and uncertainties described in such Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

E9-1-1 Phase II location functionality has enabled accurate locations for many wireless emergency calls in Canada.

AML and the availability of handset-based location data from Android (Google) and iOS (Apple) has progressed significantly in recent years and can supplement to improve location accuracy in indoor environments. These solutions calculate the location at the handset using GPS, cellular, and Wi-Fi sensors. This allows for more accurate locations than otherwise possible, especially indoors.

The Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) has documented these recommendations in report ESRE0092 along with a recommended timeline for implementation in Canada. This blog post provides Comtech’s perspective on these recommendations.

Canadian Aggregator Implementation

Aggregation provided by the NG911 Providers

The ESWG recommended AML architecture for Canada proposes to use the NG911 Providers as AML aggregators as shown in the figure below. In this implementation, each User Equipment (UE) will send their AML / device-based hybrid messages over HTTPS to each NG911 Provider, namely Bell, TELUS and SaskTel. Each NG911 Provider will act as an AML End Point, determine which Mobile Network Operator (MNO) the message is targeted for, and send the message to the MNO, e.g., MNO A as shown in the example below.

Mobile Network Operator Implementation

MNO Role in Delivering the “Best” Location

Once the AML result is delivered to the correct MNO, the MNO will then be responsible for evaluating the best location to send to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) including Legacy PSAPs, as well as NG911 PSAPs. The MNO will be responsible to validate and certify the AML result to ensure it is not spoofed or otherwise significantly inaccurate. This can be done by comparing the AML result with a network-derived location to ensure consistency. The MNO will then be responsible to provide the ‘best’ location to the PSAP, whether AML or network derived. The ‘best’ location is the result with the smallest error to the 911 caller’s true location. However, since the error is unknown, the reported uncertainty is the next best metric to use to compare results.

In 4G/LTE networks, typically AML will provide the best result indoors due to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other sensors available on the device. Outdoors, often network-based location is more accurate given the ability to hybridize GPS with network-based techniques. The proposed solution from ESWG combines both device-based and network-based techniques in an optimal way to provide location results to PSAPs that are of the highest accuracy possible.

As we look forward to 5G location technologies and the various positioning techniques that will be available using Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) measurements, we expect network-based location accuracy to significantly improve allowing for even greater accuracy when combined with AML.

Comtech Solution Summary

Comtech believes handset-based location combined with network-based location provides the optimal solution to ensure the best accuracy is always provided to PSAPs, whether the 911 caller is indoors or outdoors. Also, by combining these approaches the safety and security of 911 callers, PSAPs and emergency responders can be better protected against cyber attacks and other attempts to spoof locations.

Comtech’s solution includes AML End Point functionality that can be deployed to receive AML (device-based hybrid) messages directly from the devices. Also, Comtech’s Location Platforms are enhanced to integrate AML/device-based hybrid messages directly and to compare multiple results, including network-based locations, and to provide the most trusted accurate location to the PSAP.

Looking forward to 5G, Comtech’s integrated 5G positioning technologies will ensure the highest level of accuracy is provided to PSAPs for 911 calls made on the Canadian Wireless Networks.

If you are interested in learning more about Comtech’s 5G options, contact us today for more information. 

In conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission’s pledge to Keep Americans Connected, Comtech Location Technologies (CLT) is working to ensure connectivity and uninterrupted service to our customers during this time of heightened demand. We are keenly aware this is a difficult period for companies large and small and are making every effort to continue providing first-class service despite these challenging times.

Primary care and treatment for chronic conditions has become even more complicated in this time of social distancing. To assist our nation’s healthcare community, CLT is updating VirtuMedix®, a telehealth solution that keeps patients, caregivers and medical providers connected remotely.

The foundation of CLT’s solutions is location, navigation and mapping technologies. Our technologies can passively track devices to identify virus clusters, observe traffic of impacted individuals, enable targeted messaging to broadcast emergency alerts and anonymize data to protect individuals. We stand ready to partner with organizations of any size who need these technologies to further their fight against the coronavirus and ensure public safety.

Finally, CLT has provided employees the equipment and resources to continue working remotely and safely throughout the duration of this pandemic. As our most valuable resource, our employees’ safety will ensure continued productivity for our customers.

Comtech has a unique and critical responsibility in the pandemic response to provide location and messaging technologies to protect citizens and organizations from the virus. I take this responsibility very seriously. Our most urgent priority is the safety of coronavirus victims, healthcare workers and the public.

We are at our best calling as a society when we come together around a common mission. I’m heartened to see the mobilization of individuals and organizations around the world with governments, businesses, mobile network operators and individuals going above and beyond to fight against this pandemic. We are in this together and will continue to do all we can to protect lives and get the world through this crisis.

In the beginning of the mobile era, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) needed to know the position of the mobile device in order to route the call to a specific base station to which the device was connected.

In 1999, US regulatory authorities mandated high accuracy positioning requirements to facilitate emergency services. Since then, each successive generation of cellular technology has expanded and evolved to provide precise location with different combinations of MNO’s fixed and mobile infrastructure along with external sources like Global Positioning System (GPS) and Wi-Fi. However, at the base level the primary use case has always been to locate the distressed caller during emergency.

“Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) have the opportunity to connect with other technologies like Devices/Sensors, Smart Cities, Vehicle Telematics, and automated alarms.”

APCO Project 43: “Broadband Implications for Public Safety

A New Demand

The need for high speed connectivity is now coupled with the need of high accuracy positioning. Coupled with that is the rapid penetration of Internet of Things (IoT), devices/sensors which are not only able to provide data but also location information. MNOs thus are challenged to provide not only highly precise location for emergency services, but also disrupt and monetize their enterprise markets with innovative Location Based Services.

5G inherently is a service-based architecture aimed to provide services based on a user’s need. The technology provides low latency connectivity to the plethora of devices/sensors which have entered our ecosystem today. This opens the door to improve upon the existing Public Safety application and introduce new Location Based Services with both Absolute and Relative Positioning with a measure of confidence.

Technology Advantage with 5G

Traditionally, 4G LTE systems use uplink and downlink signals to determine the position of end devices to determine their position relative to mobile network antennas. Typical procedures are Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) and Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA).

In E-CID, end devices monitor their proximity to multiple base stations, measuring signal strength and approximate propagation time to the device. By combining these observations, a better estimate of device position is calculated.

TDoA is a multi-lateration method in which the end device measures the time difference between some specific signals from several base stations and reports these time differences to a specific device in the network to determine the position.

To meet the communication requirements (higher speed, low latency, more devices, IoT connectivity), 5G networks will operate with wider bandwidths at higher frequencies since the free spectrum is located at such frequencies (mm Wave above 24 GHz in addition to sub 6 GHz).

In urban areas, Multipath Effects (signals traveling different paths, arriving at different times) cause erroneous results in computing signal time. Higher bandwidth signals will help resolve this issue since such signals will have shorter time. Added to that is the advantage of more base stations to maintain coverage, as high frequency signals are more prone to propagation losses. This Network Densification will increase the Line of Sight (LoS), enabling highly accurate Time of Arrival (ToA) estimation. Introduction of Antenna Arrays with beamforming capabilities will enable accurate enable of Direction of Arrival (DoA) estimation.

Evolution of Standards & Applications

3GPP (3^rd Generation Partnership Project) is focusing on enhancing not only the standards but also the including newer applications of Location Based Services.

As an example, Public Safety applications will be enhanced to include safety of first responders in the field by computing the data and location from their wearables. Device-to-device communication that may allow devices to determine their positions relative to each other will be another use case for autonomous vehicles.

The first set of specifications in Release 16 are due to be published in June 2020 by 3GPP.  A snapshot of the current considerations is indicative of the applications and enhancements.

Table 1: Source 3GPP TR 22.872 V2.0.0 (2018-05)

Global Positioning Satellite was first invented and used by the U.S. military. You can readily see how the information gained could be imperative in any type of military action or maneuver. It became available for consumer use about 20 years ago. As more technological advancements have been made, location services have entered into a great many of the apps you use every day.

Location Services Used in Automobiles

This technology has virtually changed the way we navigate to our destinations. Gone are the days where you would need to find your route on a paper map. In fact, it’s hard to even find an actual paper map these days.

The benefit to this technology is great. When there are construction changes or backed up traffic that you weren’t aware of ahead of time, the navigation service can provide alternate routes. You can also plan your route to avoid tolls. Many drivers opt for hands free directions, either through their car’s navigation or by using the navigation feature on their cell phone.

Another facet to location services in a vehicle is the ability to contact emergency services when needed. In case of an accident, emergency services can be dispatched directly to your location, even if you’re incapacitated. Location services also offer additional aid in finding your automobile’s location if it’s been stolen or you’re searching for the person who’s driving it. Another great feature to your location service is that it offers a way to easily find your car if you can’t remember where you’ve parked, which happens more often than you might think.

Location services are exactly how ride sharing services, such as Uber or Lyft, work. The app allows drivers and riders to set their location so that the closest driver can pick up the rider with minimal delay, revolutionizing the gig economy and transportation models.

Locating People

GPS and other location service technology is widely in use to aid in locating actual people. Cell phones can be located in order to find an individual who may be lost or in danger. There are currently devices on the market to help locate and monitor special needs people, those who are elderly, and even children.

The law enforcement community often uses different facets of this information in their investigations, including being able to determine a suspect’s whereabouts based on their cell phone location at a set time. Law enforcement can also use different facets of this technology to help them build a case against a suspect, such as determining who that suspect meets frequently.

Geocaching, Sports, and Health

Geocaching is a treasure hunting game using clues on your cell phone to locate hidden items. This game uses GPS coordinates that are posted on a website. Participants then use the coordinates to hunt for objects throughout the city or area. Other games you may have heard of include Pokemon Go, a game in which users located hidden Pokemon in their surrounding areas using the map and clues on the app with their cell phone.

Location technology isn’t only used to devise games, it’s used to help athletes keep track of their progress when they’re participating in their sport of choice. Garmin Connect, for example, allows outdoor athletes (biking, skiing, hiking, etc) to map their progress, set their routes, even share data with other users. Tracking your health as part of your athletic regimen is one facet, but it’s also beneficial for those who monitor their activity due to medical conditions. In fact, location technology and network communications allow physicians today better access to remote monitoring of patients, offering better outcomes for healthier lifestyles.

GPS technology has made its way into a great deal of your daily life. You’ll notice that location features can be enabled on many of the social media sites and other apps that you use on your cell phone, helping you to connect the real world with your virtual reality.