COMTECH PLATFORM OVERVIEW

1. Advanced VSAT Overview:

The Advanced VSAT CDM-800 Series modems (CTOG-250, CDM-800, CDD-880 & CDM-840) integrate modem/router technology that provides a unique topology that is designated by the type of hardware. The hardware determines the placement location, Hub or Remote to build a Point-to-Multipoint network. The physical layer utilizes DVB-S2, SCPC, and IP circuit switched management, offering flexibility, optimization and control of private satellite networks. The 800 series is designed to connect low to ultra high-speed data link connections between Ethernet LAN to satellite WAN networks, providing a variety of communications services to Operators, Service Providers, and Enterprise Users. The benefit of this architecture yields seamless bandwidth management on-demand, while simplifying network capacity needs.


The Comtech Vipersat network solution integrates this advanced modem/router with the powerful network management tool, the Vipersat Management System (VMS). The VMS provides for traditional monitor and control of the 800 series modem, but more than just an M&C package, the VMS offers unique bandwidth management that is ideal for IP-switched networks. An entries channel provides a method for tens of hundreds on remotes to initialize and gain access to the network using a slotted aloha channel. Upon initial configuration or boot the remotes receive assigned transmit information to announce, register and automatically switched to assigned dSCPC bandwidth.

Main characteristics:

· Up to 160 Mbps / 62 Msps

· QPSK, 8PSK, 16APSK and 32APSK

· Adaptive Coding & Modulation (ACM)

· Variable Coding & Modulation (VCM)

· Normal Frame, Short Frame

· Advanced Quality of Service (QoS)

· Group QoS

· DiffServ

· Rule-based – CIR/MIR, Priority/MIR

· Header compression

· Lossless payload compression

· Low overhead Enhanced Generic Stream Encapsulation

· VersaFEC low latency LDPC Return (Patented)

· Up to 15.35 Mbps / 4.5 Msps

· Adaptive Coding & Modulation (ACM)

· Constant Coding & Modulation (CCM)

· Rule-based – CIR/MIR, Priority/MIR

· Header compression

· Lossless payload compression

· Ultra low overhead Streamline Encapsulation (SLE) (Patent Pending)

· Dynamic bandwidth management

· Share pools of bandwidth with other terminals

· Bandwidth can be increased or decreased on demand

· Lossless switching



The CDM-800 statistical multiplexing benefit of a shared outbound carrier from a single point to a multiple remote terminals provides significant bandwidth and equipment savings.

• Full statistical multiplexing of the Point to Multi-Point shared outbound

• Per Remote Es/No reporting and MODCOD assignment

• Group QoS

– Each Group contains the matching Remotes

– “VCM Only MODCOD” specifies the MODCOD when the Remotes cannot be discovered

• CTOG Specifications

– Supports 256 QoS Groups

– 32 QoS rules per Group

– 128 Subnets per Group

– 2000 Total Routes

Variable Coding and Modulation (VCM)

With the introduction of Variable Coding and Modulation (VCM) through group QoS, the carrier can be configured so sites on the fringe of the satellite’s footprint (lowest EIRP) can be configured with lower order MODCOD, while sites in the center of the beam (higher EIRP), can be configured with higher order MODCOD while operating simultaneously in the same carrier. A typical satellite footprint is shown below with the EIRP contours shown.

Adaptive Coding & Modulation (ACM)

ACM is a technique that allows for automatic change in modulation and code rate in response to changing link conditions

– Converts link margin into increased capacity – average throughput gain of 100% (or more) is possible, compared to traditional CCM

Most of the year, the link operates at significantly increased throughput

For the worst few hours of the year, the link may be available with lower throughput

– Optimizes channel coding and modulation on a frame-by-frame basis

– Allows each remote to operate optimally subject to antenna size, location within the footprint, rain fade and other impairments




ACM can maximize throughput under all conditions

– Rain fade

– Inclined orbit satellite operation

– Antenna pointing error

– System Noise

– Interference

– Other impairments

 
2. Vipersat Management System (VMS) :


The Vipersat Management System (VMS) is primarily a bandwidth manager the key feature of which is to manage dSCPC carriers. It is designed to work in any satellite environment. As long as the operator configuring the RF Manager has access to a few system parameters, VMS will perform all calculations required to manage the bandwidth in predefined pools. If the operator had to perform all the calculations there would be a much greater risk of error. This document covers the features of the RF chain in the VMS and provides an overview of the issues involved in setting up a satellite network.

VMS is a feature-rich, capacity and network management system with an intuitive, user-friendly GUI and a high degree of configuration automation. VMS is designed to enable network administrators and satellite service providers to easily configure their networks and rapidly and effectively respond to network anomalies. Much more than just a network monitor and control platform, VMS automates the carrier switching and spectrum management processes within the satellite network. These capabilities allow SCPC carriers to be resized automatically based on a variety of user-defined policies, providing on demand services and unparalleled space segment savings.

For the mobility market, the VMS topology display of the managed system has been enhanced with a 3D globe view of the network, Figure 1. Globe view displays the real-time status and operation of the network dynamically. Satellite terminals are automatically populated onto the global network and their location, heading, and actual movements are dynamically tracked and displayed on the globe map. The globe map display size, terminal location, rotation, and lighting source are customizable by the operator.

Some customers may not want the location of their remote sites to be transmitted over the network. For this reason we have made it an optional feature, so that location information can be suppressed.

Key features of the VMS include:

· Centralized network and capacity management

· Dynamic SCPC (dSCPC) carrier allocation and true bandwidth on-demand capability

· Automation of space segment capacity efficiencies

· User-defined policies for upstream carrier switching

· Redundancy configurations for hub and remote hardware

· Use of higher order modulation and Forward Error Correction (FEC) techniques

· Site distribution list in multi-point automatic policy-based switching for IP multicast

· Switching protocol enabling external messaging to switch carriers to multi-point destinations

· Operates over multiple transponders and satellites

· Scalable from small to large networks

· Auto detection of new nodes

· Detailed event logs able to be filtered and exported

· Ability to generate SNMP traps can be forwarded to hierarchal NMS management platforms

· Complete IP based digital services over satellite





Virtually all information about the carrier is available from the Bandwidth View.





The key feature in Vipersat is the ability to dynamically manage bandwidth. There is no other product on the market that can provide the capability to automatically resize carriers, prioritize sites and applications, allow for bandwidth guarantees and has the built in recovery mechanisms to insure the maximum level of efficiency in the use of satellite space segment.

· ECM Switching

· Load Switching

· ToS switching

· Legacy Applications Switching

· Manual Switching

The switching engine is a core component of the Switching Subsystem in the VMS responsible for accepting data-rate change requests for a modulator, determining resource availability and coordinating the reconfiguration of devices to fulfill those requests.

The engine interacts with its environment through a set of internal interfaces. This allows the engine to work with different types of carriers (in-band and out-of-band), and hardware devices (all devices that VMS currently has M&C support for) without specific knowledge of those components.

The engine depends on other components of the system in order to fulfill its role. It depends on device drivers to provide information about limits to perform operations based on device specifications (i.e. calculating bandwidth or power required given a set of transmission parameters). It depends on the bandwidth manager (RF manager) to perform frequency calculations and track device visibility. It also depends on switching state objects to interface with external clients, and translate results of solutions into switch type specific command structures for the modem drivers to use for sending commands to the actual hardware.

The allocation space is the component that manages the switching functionality for a particular satellite. It maintains the satellites available resources. It tracks allocations and pre-allocations. It hosts all the queuing functionality and it is also the entry point for switch requests to be processed by the engine. Each allocation space executes operations in parallel (assuming available processing resources).

Vipersat is the industry standard for SCPC bandwidth-on-demand solutions. Enhancing its innovative dSCPC (dynamic SCPC) algorithm to support bandwidth guarantees and site priorities is unparalleled in the industry today.

With dSCPC, when a remote site modem detects a previously configured application, such as a VoIP call, video conference, or QOS stamped traffic, the modem requests inbound (remote to hub) bandwidth from the Vipersat Management Server (VMS). The VMS then allocates inbound bandwidth for the site, and reconfigures modem(s) and demodulators(s) to support the request.


3. Hub Overview:

 

4. Remote Overview:


The CDM-840 Remote Router is an integral component of Comtech EF Data’s Advanced VSAT Series product offering. This point-to-multipoint IP Remote Router has been developed as the “spoke” or remote site equipment in hub-and-spoke network topologies that require high quality “always-on” availability.

Featuring one 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interface, one 10/100 Fast Ethernet (FE) interface, and providing industry-leading WAN bandwidth optimization, the CDM-840 is designed to support latency-sensitive applications such as cellular backhaul over satellite, Universal Service Obligation (USO) networks, corporate networks, Internet Service Providers, and other applications requiring high-performance IP transport in hub-and-spoke network environments. The CDM-840 also features integrated VersaFEC, a patented system of high- performance, short-block, low-latency codes that provide excellent coding gain with lowest possible latency.


Key operational features :

· Advanced Forward Error Correction (FEC) – VersaFEC low-latency LDPC

· DVB-S2 Receiver with low overhead encapsulation

· Integrated Router:

· Low Overhead Encapsulation

· Quality of Service (QoS)

· Payload Compression

· L-Band operation from 950 to 2150 MHz

· Block Up Converter (BUC) and Low-Noise Block Down Converter (LNB) support

· 20%, 25%, and 35% Rolloff

· Data Interfaces: (1X) 10/100/1000 BaseT Ethernet for Gigabit Ethernet traffic) port and

§ (1X) 10/100 BaseT Ethernet port (for management)

· Firmware – Flash Upgrading

· 1:1 redundancy switch compatibility



The CDM-840 is compact – 1RU high X 16.18” deep – and consumes 20 watts at 110V input (maximum, without BUC supply) or 245 watts (maximum, with BUC supply).







The CDM-840 utilizes a high performance processor and a real-time operating system (RTOS) combined with multiple Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for optimal performance. All non-volatile memory is provided onboard. Field upgrades are easily uploaded via satellite or the Ethernet port; software-based options are added to the unit via FAST (Fully Accessible System Topology) upgrade.



The CDM-840 runs on an embedded operating system and does not have moving parts for media storage. This design provides carrier class reliability and high speed, purpose-driven processing. The unit can be managed through multiple interfaces providing options for both in-band and out- of-band monitor and control:

· SNMP MIB II and Private MIB

· HTTP Web-based Management

· EIA-232 serial remote control





The CDM-840 supports reception and transmission of IP data over satellite links via two fundamentally different types of interface – IF and data:



• The IF interface provides a bidirectional link with the satellite via the uplink and downlink equipment.

• The data interface is a bidirectional path, which connects with the customer’s equipment (assumed to be the DTE) and the unit (assumed to be the DCE). All terrestrial data is connected using the available 10/100/1000 BaseT Ethernet interface.

The platform includes support for Constant Coding and Modulation (CCM) operation. CCM allows operators to define groups of remotes that can have different modulation and coding parameters to improve efficiency on existing satellite capacity.



On the transmit side: The return modulator transmits IP datagrams and is compatible with Comtech EF Data’s CDD-880 Multi-Receiver Router(s) located at a hub site.

In the FEC encoder, the data is differentially encoded, scrambled, and then VersaFEC-encoded. Following the encoder, the data is fed to the transmit digital filters, which perform spectral shaping on the data signals. The resultant I and Q signals are then fed to the BPSK, QPSK, 8-QAM, or 16- QAM modulator. The carrier is generated by a frequency synthesizer, and the I and Q signals directly modulate this carrier to produce an IF output signal.

On the receive side: The DVB-S2 demodulator supports enhanced GSE decapsulation and label filtering for up to 2,047 unique labels.

DVB-S2 Receiver: The CDM-840’s demodulator supports DVB-S2 QPSK, 8-PSK, 16-APSK and 32-APSK demodulation up to 62 Msps with receive data rates up to 167 Mbps depending on the modulation type and code rate. In DVB-S2 operation, the receiver operates in the CCM , VCM and ACM mode. The receiver automatically detects for spectral inversion and pilots ON/OFF, and supports spectral rolloff of 20%, 25% or 35%.




Return Channel ACM

• Based on VersaFEC ACM

• Only product to support ACM with E1 RAN while maintaining service quality

• ACM allows for automatic change in modulation and code rate in response to changing link conditions

– Converts link margin into increased capacity

– Optimizes channel coding and modulation on a frame-by-frame basis

– Allows each remote to operate optimally subject to antenna size, location within the footprint, rain fade and other impairment

Low Overhead Framing

• Most efficient framing / encapsulation

• Ultra low overhead Streamline Encapsulation (SLE)

• Patent pending

• Reduces encapsulation overhead

• Up to 65% compared to HDLC

• Up to 95% compared to DVB-RCS

• Up to 90% compared to other VSATs

• Enhanced Generic Stream Encapsulation

• 70-80% more efficient compared to MPE

• 20-30% more efficient compared to GSE

The Internet in Saudi Arabia

Khalid M. Al-Tawil

College of Computer Sciences & Engineering

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Modern Saudi Arabian society, one of the world’s most conservative societies, is represented by a marked contrast with the largely isolated and undeveloped nation scarcely 50 years ago. Oil revenues that brought affluence also brought a challenge of how to preserve the unique cultural and religious heritage. Religious conservatism and modernization may differ in opinions of what kind of technology might be appropriately used and how to make the best use of the Kingdom's wealth. Saudi Arabia is culturally homogeneous, with tribal membership remaining a pervasive aspect of social relations. The last three decades have brought far-reaching changes in the educational and employment opportunities that women enjoy. These changes have been structured in way that leaves intact the system of social relations based on sexual segregation.

With the huge expansion in public network and wireless access, government policy is changing to allow the development of new technologies while maintaining the same security and control of media use that is mandated in Saudi culture. Saudi Arabia has been linked to the Internet for several years, but public access was not widely available until January 1999. Internet connectivity was launched in many Universities and some government agencies in February 1999 [3] and made available to the public through commercial ISPs. The importance of Internet’s commercial potential is very well understood by almost everyone in Saudi Arabia, resulting in many Internet-related projects from back-bone design to electronic commerce. The project has evolved to balance these considerations.

1. The History of the Internet in the KSA

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran was the first institution to connect to the Internet in 1993 through the College of Computer Sciences and Engineering. Two DNS’s Domain Names kfupm.edu.sa and kfupm.edu were reserved and Internet Protocol address classes were assigned to KFUPM. KFUPM’s direct connection to the Internet used X.25 network arranged with the Portal Company of the U.S. The setup for the X.25 connection over 9.6 Kbps was established by the College of Computer Sciences and Engineering, and due to this low speed, only E-mail was provided to the KFUPM community. In 1995, Portal stopped supporting connection based on the X.25 protocol, and the KFUPM connection was switched to King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). KACST used a 64 Kbps channel from King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH) in the capital of Saudi Arabia (Riyadh). KFSH was connected to the US over a T1 line (1.5 Mbps) to Baltimore Johns Hopkins Hospital for Tele-medicine and health education. In late 1998, KACST was connected directly to the Internet through Saudi Telecom Company (STC). KFSH did provide and still provides some governmental organizations with Internet connectivity, such as the Ministry of Higher Education and others. The largest oil company in the world (ARAMCO) got Internet connection directly to the US through a 64 Kbps leased line in 1995. ARAMCO is now connected to the Internet through 4 E1 lines (about 8 Mbps) with more than 20,000 users.

In May 1994, KACST was registered as the (sa) domain manager to coordinate Internet services within the Kingdom. In January 1996, KACST implemented a pilot project in which some dial-up connections were made available to KACST staff, and an interagency government commission was appointed to consider the benefits and problems of public Internet access. The evaluation process was extensive and dealt with both national security and social issues. The commission recommended that public access be allowed via proxy servers to be maintained by KACST to reduce the possibility of Saudi residents accessing “inappropriate” information. By December 1996, KACST had converted its Gulfnet Bitnet links to TCP/IP protocols. In April 1997, the Council of Ministers approved these recommendations, and the Ministry of PTT was directed to coordinate with KACST to establish local Internet services and in May 1997 commissioned the National Library Network. In February 1999, the Internet was provided for local ISPs to serve the public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. KACST offers services to the country's academic and research communities, while commercial ISPs are licensed to provide public access services.

KACST started by creating a department called the Internet Service Unit (ISU) in 1998. ISU was given responsibility for providing Internet service in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in cooperation with Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) and Internet Service Providers from the private sector.

The Ministry of PTT did not provide actual Internet connectivity to ISPs until it was privatized and became the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) in fourth quarter of 1998. STC now provides service for all ISPs to link to the ISU in KACST, but was requested to delay the provision of Internet services to the public sector for about a year to give a chance for other ISP’s to compete. STC is extending its network every year with multi-billion dollar projects, most of which were awarded to LUCENT Technology. Every year, thousands of phone lines are added to the public network and the high speed ATM backbone is expanded.

ISU

Although ISU is responsible for providing Internet service in KSA, it does not provide connectivity or support to end-users. ISU only provides Internet connectivity to universities and licensed commercial ISPs, which in turn provide the service commercially to individuals, companies, organizations and government agencies. One of the ISU’s tasks is to prepare and disseminate regulations related to Internet services in KSA. KACST, represented by the ISU, coordinates with other government agencies in KSA, such as the Ministry of Commerce, and, the Ministry of the Interior, to prepare and amend regulations and policies that ensure proper and smooth operation of the service in the Kingdom, both administratively and technically. The Saudi NIC (Network Information Center) in KACST administers the name space for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by level domain (sa).

ISU does not impose technical restrictions on the type of connection between the ISP and its customers. STC hosts a number of access servers at their telephone exchanges and it routes the incoming calls to the ISP over their ATM network.

ISPs

ISP's are required to have registered and routable IP addresses in order to connect to the ISU. IP addresses can be supplied by the ISU or they can be obtained by ISP's through their own means. When IP addresses are supplied by ISU, they are considered the property of ISU and must be returned to ISU at the end of the contract between the ISP and the ISU.

All ISP's are required to maintain a database of their users. This database is used to authenticate users during the login process to the access servers. For security reasons, ISP's are required to keep a one-month log of user access to their network.

2. Internet Architecture

The Internet has a special architecture in Saudi Arabia. KACST handles the management and control of ISPs, while only one of them, STC, provides the Internet physical communication infrastructure. Internet communication is structured on three levels as follows:

ISPs are commercial companies that provide Internet access to the public, government and private sector through dialup and leased lines. ISPs are connected to ISU through the National ATM Backbone. (See Figure 1)

The National Backbone is being developed by the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) as a high-speed network (currently ATM) to most parts of the Kingdom. Currently, the main regions of the Kingdom are covered by this backbone with expansion planned for the remaining regions. ISU and all ISPs are connected to the National Backbone, which carries Internet traffic inside the Kingdom. (See Figure 2)





National Internet Backbone






The International Link connects the National Backbone to the International Internet. The International link is operated by ISU and all international Internet traffic to the Kingdom is required to go through this link. Currently there are 11 E1 lines (about 22 Mbps) connecting ISU to the Internet.

3. Early Stages

In order to launch a successful Internet service in Saudi Arabia, the ISU conducted a market study of potential as well as actual Internet users in the Kingdom. The objectives of this study were to estimate the number of Internet users for the next few years and to ascertain the characteristics of users in order to understand their computing environment and their needs [6]. The survey concentrated mostly on the technical infrastructure of the users and their expected pattern of Internet usage.

When KACST opened the door for commercial sector to provide Internet services and form ISPs, about 170 companies applied to provide these services. Only 39 were approved as ISPs, and out of these only 26 ISPs are currently providing Internet services to the public in the major cities of the Kingdom. These range from very small companies with about 500 subscribers to large ones providing Internet services to over 5000 users.

The Internet Problems

The Internet project in Saudi Arabia started to face several problems with the onset of public access. The first problem was the limited international bandwitch of initially 2 E1 lines (about 4 Mbps), resolved now by expanding it to high speed lines, providing over 155 Mbps capacity for international Internet traffic from and to Saudi Arabia. The second problem which faced several ISPs has been limited access to the Internet backbone provided by STC. The switches connecting each ISP to the Internet national backbone can provide very limited number of subscribers with reasonable access speed. The modems provided to each ISP can support at most 2000 subscribers, and some large ISPs have overloaded these modems, resulting in many customers complaining about the Internet services and affecting the reputation of some ISPs. This problem is being resolved by adding thousands more modems at STC after several complaints from ISPs. The third major problem is limitation of a single Internet gateway to the country as all Internet traffic has to come through KACST due to security and control issues. The ISP’s that provide Internet services are all connected to this single international Gateway. This centralization scheme is considered to be a major bottleneck to the process of connection to the Internet.

Another problem facing some ISP’s to provide better customer services is that all ISP’s are connected to switches controlled by their competitor STC.

The process of connecting to the Internet


- User calls the ISP number


- the call is answered by a switch controlled by STC


- the switch then connects user to ISP


- the ISP is connected to ISU through ATM Internet backbone


- ISU is connected to the Internet using E1 lines through proxy servers


When the user calls an ISP, the call reaches a switch in the STC and switched to the ISP access server. This means that they don’t have control over the process of connection for their subscribers.

4. Internet Censorship


The concern for Internet access in Saudi Arabia comes from its cultural and religious values and national security. Control and censoring in Saudi Arabia is justified on historical and socio-political grounds. For content filtering reasons, all international WWW traffic must go through the main proxy server at ISU, which will keep a log of this activity. Only the ISP’s proxies are allowed to connect to ISU's proxy. Thus, all ISPs offering WWW access to their customers must run their own caching proxy server. ISPs are not required to block any sites. ISU’s proxy does that; but they are required to maintain a one-month log of their user activity. The log must include IP address, user name, and date of activity, time of activity, HTTP command used and full URL accessed.

All newsgroup feed to ISPs must come from the central news server at the ISU. ISPs willing to offer a news service to their customers must operate their own news servers, or agree with another local ISP to use their server to connect to the ISU news server. All international IRC traffic must go through the main IRC server at ISU, and all ISP's willing to offer this service to their customers must operate their own IRC server or agree to use the servers of another ISP to connect to ISU.

System administrators at ISPs may use further controls and firewalls for their network security, but this does not provide a bypass of KACST central censoring. KFUPM, for example, has its own firewall and different proxy servers for students, staff and faculty. The blocking of web sites provides some control, but there are many ways to go around it. The Saudi government understands this but wants to provide WWW service with some effort to control. The monitoring of Internet access mainly provides a warning for users (see figure 3) and almost everything is cached and stored for future use. Saudi Arabia is not the only country wanting to maintain some control over the Internet to protect the people and the country’s interests. Many other countries share these concerns about the Internet like China, Singapore, and many leading Western countries such as Germany, and the U.S.

5. Connectivity and Current Status


STC’s initial 2 E1 lines for international Internet traffic now extend to very high speed lines, and the initial 500 modem ports with a v.90 standard and a speed of 56 KBPS is being expanded to thousands of modems. KACST-ISU distributed the modem ports evenly to the ISP’s and each ISP assigned 125 ports. Each modem port can handle from 5 to 20 subscribers at the same time but with differences in quality. About 10,000 modems were added recently to the Internet backbone.

The prices range from $25 to $100 per month with a limited amount of time. The ISP does not make much money from providing the connection only; they count more on add up services such as hosting web pages and providing consultations.

Web sites with the domain (.sa) have started to come out and are rapidly increasing; currently there are more than 2000 web sites. The number of users connected to the Internet has passed 60,000 – about 30,000 through ISPs and 30,000 others through large companies and organizations. This number of Internet subscribers is rapidly increasing, making Saudi Arabia as one of the largest countries in the region enjoying Internet services.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to acknowledge the support of King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dr. Sadiq Sait Mohammad and Dr. Jon Anderson for their input, which improved the presentation of the paper.

REFERENCES

[1]. Helen Chapin Metz, “Saudi Arabia: a country study” Library of Congress, USA, 1992.


[2]. Al-Athel, Salah, “Internet in Saudi Arabia” presentation by the President of King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), INTERNET GULF 98 Symposium, Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Eastern Province, June 1998.


[3]. Seymour Goodman, “The Internet Gains Acceptance in the Persian Gulf” Communication of the ACM, March 1998, Vol. 41, pp. 19-24.


[4]. Tan, Zixiang (Alex), “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back”, Communication of the ACM, Dec. 1997, vol. 40, pp. 11-17.


[5]. ISU, “Technical Requirements for Licensing Internet Services Providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, Internet Services Unit, http://www.isu.net.sa, August 1998.


[6]. “Internet in KSA”, Internet Services Unit, http://www.isu.net.sa.

Appendix

Terminology Used of abbreviation in this report:

Internet Services Unit (ISU):

A unit of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) responsible for providing Internet services in the Kingdom as mandated by the Council of Ministers.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC):

The Saudi telecommunications company; that was formerly part of the Ministry of Post, Telephone, and Telex (PTT). STC was formed in October 1998 and provides the Internet services to ISPs

Internet Service Provider (ISP):

An Internet Service Provider is an entity that provides Internet access trough telecommunication to the public.