DC Palter
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Mentat Inc.

Synopsis:

The TCP/IP protocols used to transfer data over the Internet were never designed for conditions typical of satellite communications. The poor performance of the TCP protocol under the long latency, high bit error rates, and asymmetric bandwidth associated with satellite networks is one of the primary limitations to efficient, high speed Internet access using satellites.

To overcome these limitations, a variety of solutions have been proposed, including modifications to the TCP protocol, data caching, spoofing, and the use of alternative protocols. This presentation will explain how TCP reacts to satellite conditions and review a survey of proposed solutions. Finally, the presentation will focus on protocol gateways as the best solution for offering high performance Internet access via satellite.