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Issue link: http://sea-technology.epubxp.com/i/510499
www.sea-technology.com May 2015 / st 19 J ust as broadband adoption has transformed every as- pect of personal and professional life on land, so too is it impacting life on board vessels at sea. For people work- ing on research or commercial vessels for extended periods of time, there is the desire to access the Internet to stay in touch with friends and family without interruption to the connected life. Marine systems and operations are also be- ginning to see the impact of big data with advances in key areas such as engine monitoring, remote maintenance, and satellite delivery of electronic charts, weather data and e- learning services. In the past year, KVH (Middletown, Rhode Island) devel- oped, tested and launched the IP-MobileCast content deliv- ery service, which utilizes multicasting technology to deliver large amounts of content to many ships at once, overcoming the prohibitively high satellite communications costs typi- cally charged to deliver fles for individual use. This new ser- vice is notable for numerous technological advancements. Content is delivered over the top of the network so there is no charge for the delivery, only for the content itself. The multicasting transmission does not affect the vessel's mini- VSAT Broadband onboard data speed. The service ensures digital rights management (DRM) of copyrighted material, such as Hollywood movies and television programs, and the content is delivered using forward error correction to minimize burden on the mini-VSAT Broadband network. An important feature of KVH's IP-MobileCast technology is that fles are delivered with 100 percent bit-for-bit accuracy, which is particularly signifcant when transmitting DRM movie fles and critical data fles such as charts. Thousands of hours of beta testing were completed to ensure the IP-MobileCast service can deliver large multime- dia fles and regularly updated content to a vessel's onboard server, which can then make the content available to nearly all types of platforms on the ship, whether it is a fat-screen TV, a computer, or a Wi-Fi-enabled personal device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. KVH developed not only the mul- ticasting technology to make it fea- sible, but also acquired a company to produce, procure and license content for the maritime market. KVH Media Group produces daily digital news- papers under the NEWSlink brand; licenses award-winning, new-release Hollywood movies and TV programs under the MOVIElink and TVlink brands; provides sports highlights and video clips from around the world un- der the SPORTSlink brand; and develops digital music channels under the MUSIClink brand. This content is available via IP-MobileCast subscription packages. To help vessels operate more effciently, KVH has col- laborated with leading maritime navigation and weather content providers such as Jeppesen (Englewood, Colorado), Transas (Little Island, Ireland), and AWT (Sunnyvale, Califor- nia) to deliver electronic charts and high-resolution weather Multicasting Technology to Meet Increased Broadband Demands at Sea IP-MobileCast Delivers Big Data to Multiple Vessels Simultaneously By Rick Driscoll • Bob Balog KVH's new IP-MobileCast content delivery service is designed to bring entertainment and operational data, such as sports events, movies, and electronic chart updates, to vessels at sea via the mini-VSAT Broadband network.