ADVANTECH LAUNCHES PREMIUM DVB-RCS VSAT MESH TERMINAL IN INDUSTRY-FIRST DEMONSTRATION

    /24-7PressRelease/ - June 06, 2007 - Montreal, June 4, 2007 - Advantech Satellite Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Advantech AMT Inc, in collaboration with Hakusan Corporation and JSAT Corporation, has successfully demonstrated the industry's first DVB-RCS VSAT terminal operating in a mesh topology where each VSAT terminal relays data via satellite to another terminal. This configuration effectively minimises the need for a centralized uplink site and reduces bandwidth and delay by half. A high resolution TV conferencing system was successfully and convincingly demonstrated over a mesh network of three DVB-RCS VSAT terminals. Each VSAT terminal was able to communicate with other terminals via a single hop satellite link.

The demonstration that took place in Japan, in the greater Tokyo area, was well attended by researchers and experts in the field of Multimedia Education. When asked to comment on this accomplishment, David Gelerman, CEO of Advantech, said, "We are extremely proud of this achievement as this is another world first for the DVB-RCS standard. Thanks to our successful collaboration, Advantech and our Japanese partners, Hakusan and JSAT, have developed a key technology capable of satisfying the most demanding peer-to-peer requirements. We are honoured by the trust that our partners granted us and are pleased with the prestige and knowledge that they contributed to the entire project."

Yutaka Nagai, Managing Executive Officer for JSAT Corporation commented, "We are very excited about the new SMV (Star and Mesh VSAT) system which is fully compatible with the renowned DVB-RCS standard and is capable of supporting star and mesh networks. The SMV's mesh function allows customers to establish P2P, P2MP and MP2MP links. Multipoint-to-Multipoint is perfectly suited to assist relief teams in disaster situations. We are convinced that this new service will draw a fair amount of interest from customers."

This important announcement coincides with the market release of the SatNet S5200 Mesh Terminal product and Hub Mesh option, Advantech's unique DVB-RCS transparent mesh offering. "The transparent mesh option allows the SatNet S5200 Mesh Terminal to be part of a peer-to-peer overlay network, in which terminals communicate directly with each other through the satellite transponder," stated Don Osborne, President of Advantech Satellite Networks. "This cuts in half both the transmission delay and the bandwidth occupied by such traffic, thus allowing for advantageous returns in both communications quality and cost. The greatest benefits are achieved for delay-sensitive real-time applications such as voice and video.

Advantech's S5200 Mesh Terminals can communicate simultaneously with each other and with the hub. Adding the mesh option does not affect the conventional DVB-RCS functionality and the mesh functionality is a fully backwards-compatible extension of the DVB-RCS standard. The primary functions of the hub, within the mesh overlay portion of the system, are to allocate bandwidth to terminals and to control and manage them. When used in conjunction with a suitable hub, such as the Advantech SatNet Mesh-enabled DVB-RCS Hub, the S5200 Mesh Terminal supports connectivity limited only by the space segment design. The terminal interoperates with the Advantech Hub which supports single-beam configurations, multi-beam configurations with different cross-strapping constraints and even supports multi-satellite configurations. Moreover, the mesh and conventional "star" operation can be on different polarizations and/or in different frequency bands.

For further information please consult the product datasheet which is available on the Advantech Satellite Networks website, www.advantechsatnet.com

About ADVANTECH
ADVANTECH AMT INC is an industry leader in design, manufacture and marketing of equipment for satellite and wireless communications. ADVANTECH is comprised of four businesses: ADVANTECH AMT (Satellite Equipment), ADVANTECH Satellite Networks (SatNet), Allgon Microwave, and ADVANTECH Advanced Manufacturing Services (AMS). The Company is headquartered in Montreal Canada, has approximately 450 employees worldwide, and operates facilities in Europe, Canada and the United States.

About ADVANTECH Satellite Networks
ADVANTECH Satellite Networks (SatNet) is a wholly owned subsidiary of ADVANTECH AMT Inc. SatNet is a leading provider of broadband satellite communication systems, ground terminals and hub solutions using the international open standard DVB-RCS. Satnet's product and technology solutions enable two-way broadband access for a wide range of networking applications ranging from Internet access to more sophisticated virtual private networks, videoconferencing and Voice-over-IP. Advantech Satellite Networks is also a provider of military compliant satellite communications systems for use in DoD-owned teleports and for foreign military establishments worldwide.
www.ADVANTECHAMT.com

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