By interactive.satellitetoday.com
Publication Date: 2026-02-23 14:18:00
In recent years, the satellite industry has engaged in frequent discussion of the benefits of ground segment virtualization. That future is now on the horizon, and ETL Systems is playing a central role with DIGITAL 1000. This next-generation, edge-based digitizer extends Digital IF capability beyond the gateway and out to the terminal.
The Virtualization Movement
Interest in ground segment digitization is progressing from the exploration stage to the question of execution. The industry is looking to future cloud-based architectures, and the transition that virtualization mandates from a traditional, hardware-heavy environment to software-defined operations.
The shift to Digital IF, also known as ‘RF over IP,’ unlocks one of the most transformative aspects of modern satcoms architecture: the ability to run modem functions as pure software, instead of relying on fixed‑function hardware appliances. Through digitization, operators can deploy software‑defined modems and Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) that can be executed on scalable commercial server infrastructure, whether on-premise or cloud-hosted.
When DIF streams are delivered over IP, these functions can be instantiated dynamically wherever a server is available, in a data center, at the network edge, or even in a cloud environment. This decoupling brings several advantages:
• Elastic scaling – Modem instances can be spun up or down based on traffic demand, mission profile, or service-level requirements.
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