On 06/03/07 21:20 +0530, Rony wrote:
saurabh daptardar wrote:
The free-to-air satellite service you are talking of if a mulitimedia broadcasting service. Can it be used for applications where every bit of data is important , lossy compression is unacceptable ? Secondly , if the Linux CD is broadcast along with these TV signals , won't a processing element be required to interpret the data ?
True! That's why we need to think of a reliable transmission method.
Reliability implies two way communication, or massive retransmits. You can get one way satellite traffic working, at rates cheaper than those provided by a dedicated wired circuit.
You need a DVB and a satellite hookup. I suggest talking to Teleglobe ^WVSNL about this.
Once such a protocol is developed, it will not take long for satellite broadcasters to realize its potential. If such a protocol is a success, there is a lot of software outside the linux domain that can be downloaded by users and it can be exploited for commercial applications too. That helps in making the hardware popular and brings down costs for
The cost of the equipment isn't in the receiver (those are dirt cheap). The cost is in the satellite and the uplink, mainly in the satellite and the licensing fees for uplinks. Making hardware popular isn't going to give you volumes.
Could you please find out actual numbers on implementation of satellite broadcasts, as opposed to shipping data on CD or DVD?
Comparing data transmission with television signals has a small issue. Mass media sells _your_ time to the advertisers. They have to broadcast shows at fixed time slots for _all_ their viewers, so that their customers are "guaranteed" an audience.
Recipients won't really care if they get the data two days later, as long as they get it correctly. Advertisers care about getting their message to viewers, and establishing brand relationships. Give a thought to why Tivo is bothering television stations so much.
Free to Air equipment. The protocol should be GPLed so that anyone can make use of it free and libre. It can be improvised as better options come up.
The cost of the satellite itself is fairly small, as compared to the cost of putting every kilo of mass in orbit. Now if you could find a way to get out of the gravity well for cheap, and actually implement it, that would be lovely.
Keep in mind that every hard disk you put into orbit needs shielding from cosmic rays, and that is mass you would rather do without.
Devdas Bhagat