Concepts of our GSN system

Actually the concept of remotely controllable ground stations itself is not nothing new. This system already widely used in the professional field. The crucially different points between GSN system we propose here and such remotely controllable ground stations are summarized as follows.

A. Use of the Internet, not dedicated lines for data transmission.

Under the current status that the Internet is highly sophisticated and that every person can connect it so easily, it is natural choice to use the Internet as the communication method. In addition, we can establish low-cost, reliable and robust system if we use the Internet.

B. Autonomous operation system.

Once a user connects to the GSN central server from his/her terminal, the server will search the ground station most appropriate for the designated satellite operation from widely distributed stations. The selected station will control devices automatically (=without human interaction), and received data will be directly delivered to the user terminal.

C. Open architecture.

The most important point here is that what we are trying to provide is NOT software itself. Ground station equipment such as a transceiver and a terminal node controller varies depending on each station, and this makes it difficult to provide the unified software. In this project, we place an emphasis on establishing and providing the software specification, or protocol. What every station has to do is to develop the equipment control software suitable for its own station following the open protocol, which will encourage the spread of GSN.

D. Open system to every organization.

By establishing and providing open and easy-to-understand system framework, any organization and university should be able to participate in the network at their request. A participating university should willingly provide their ground station resource to others when not in use. Mutual cooperation is the most important in this project. The benefit from being a member of GSN project grows exponentially as the number of participants increases.