How the spaceways will work...

[Skyboss]

This is pretty nifty. I was yapping with a friend of mine the other day about how the phone companies will deliver vDSL (Video over DSL), he's now at Boeing working on DirecTV's new sats. Here's how it works, and it's so simple you won't beleive it:

It's basically video over internet.

Each channel will have an IP address (which you'll never see). Your tuner acts just like the DirecTV Spaceway Internet service, only its tuning an IP video feed. Download speed is maxed at around 50 Mbps per feed. Ironically, this is how many HD feeds get to the head ends of cabel co's for some local programming, they call it ASI. Directv does nothing but pass through the feed.

Here's a company that provides the ground equipment for stations and headends.

http://www.path1.com/products/cx1000_replicaster.cfm

In the end, when everyone is swapped out, all of DirecTV's feeds will operate this way. Two way feeds would be on the Ka system and one way feeds on the Ku system. Best part about it, very high tolerance for rain fade.

[larrystotler]

Yep, the higher freq will help out. However, you are forgetting that all a receiver is anyway is a broadband downlink. It's just a different standard. The old BNC cable network connecters had about a 2Mbps rate, which was more than enough for sat. I just wonder if we will need RG11 or cat5 with the new Ka dish, which is about a 29" dish from what I am hearing. Cable works in a similar way with digital and broadband.

[Skyboss]

The RG-6 should do it, if not probably RG-11 to what ever kind of switch they use. As should the current spaceway Dish with a different LNB. In a networked arrangement, they could simply install a hub/router/receiver with ethernet TiVo units.