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IGNOU Radio Networking through
EDUSAT
Vilas Palsule, APD, Edusat R&D, SAC
The network for distance
education having two-way
video has already been set
up at IGNOU. With the existing
network it has been planned to
add Radio Broadcast. IGNOU
already has "FM Transmitters" at
25 independent locations spread
all over India, each one covering
a very limited local area. It is now
proposed to inter-link all the
25 locations through existing
EDUSAT network for radio
re-broadcast purposes. The
proposed network does not
require any additional infrastructure
for the locations where
EDUSAT terminal already exists.
However, an additional EDUSAT terminal is required, in case of
non availability, for bringing the FM radio local transmitter
into a IGNOU Radio Broadcasting Network.
Any FM local transmitter can be put on a nation wide
broadcast network of IGNOU by linking it to remaining FM
transmitters. This is possible since all FM transmitters are
collocated with the EDUSAT Terminals. The main broadcaster
FM transmitter (A predefined one out of 25 at any given time
whichever it may be) is connected to the collocated EDUSAT
terminal and is put on National IGNOU network by allocating an
exclusive bandwidth for 128 KBPS Data rate for audio/music
transmission. This EDUSAT terminal is then operated in Multicast
mode. With this configuration now each and every EDUSAT
terminal commissioned on IGNOU network starts receiving the
audio/music transmission from the Main broadcaster. Now this
received FM broadcast signal at the EDUSAT terminal at all the
remaining FM locations are re-broadcast from the respective local
FM transmitters. The same signal which is originated from the
main broadcaster, is thus aired from all the local FM transmitter.
In this configuration it is feasible to allot the status of "Main Radio
Broadcaster Station" to any one FM local transmitter for
pre-decided and predefined time.
Experience in Implementation of
EDUSAT Network
Vikram Desai, DPD, Edusat Implementation, DECU
The Installation & Commissioning (I & C) of various
networks of EDUSAT is done thorough different service
providers, under the supervision of DECU/ISRO. The agencies
involved in installation and commissioning phase are as follows:
In case of Pilot Project the service provider was M/s. Essel
Shyam Technologies Ltd, Semi-operational phase of national beam
is being served by Infinium (India) Ltd., where as the regional
beam are taken care by BEL and HECL. The network for Blind
People Association (BPA) was installed by M/s Accord.
In semi-operational phase the job is given on a turn key basis
with comprehensive AMC because of the lessons learnt from the
pilot phase where different sub systems were procured
for different vendors. This made it difficult to pin point
responsibility.
In the field several difficulties are faced like non availability
of coordinator, non-readiness of site, lack of understanding of the
requirements at the user level, earthling, using choice of
classroom etc.
Such situation creates problem for both (DECU and nodal
agency) and has both schedule and financial implementation. Now
steps are being taken to orient and train the custodians before the
equipment is dispatched.
EDUSAT Update Volume : 04, November 2005
1

Haresh Bhatt,
SF, Network Division, SAC
EDUSAT Gateway is the entry point to access various collaborative services that are planned and will be planned to
enhance the EDUSAT utilization. It will facilitate the members from different educational organizations like UGC, CEC,
IGNOU, NCERT etc. to join, collaborate and work together to achieve defined goal and objectives. The services can be
accessed both from EDUSAT network as well as Internet.
There could be a number of collaborative services that can be enabled under the EDUSAT gateway. Presently, we have
configured only three services i.e. EDUSAT Gateway itself, EDUSAT Forum and Metadata Archival of Learning Contents. All
these services are web-based and can be accessed through the standard web browser. Users are presented with personalized
and updated information, workflow is supported so that only the authenticated and approved information are reached to the
end-user and any sort of pending action are communicated through back-end emails to the respective service provider.
The features of EDUSAT Gateway like online registration and subscription, Notices, Events and Lecture Schedules announcements,
Feedback & FAQ, Responsibility Management, Interface to specific services etc. are made available to all the
users.
EDUSAT Forum is a platform through which members from different educational institutes can collaborate in terms of
workgroups. There could be a number of workgroups that can be created under this forum. Each workgroup has well defined
goal & objectives, tenure, deliverables, active members, reviewers and observers. Some of the workgroups are Primary School
Education workgroup, Standardization of Learning Content Metadata group, EDUSAT Operanionalisation Group etc. At
forum level facilities like Newsletter and subscription, Article Archival and publishing, Archival of documents that are finalized
by different workgroups, Registration to different workgroups, responsibilities management etc are accessible to all the
forum users irrespective of their workgroup membership. Similar facilities are also enabled at the workgroup level but the
items are confined only to the members of the respective workgroup and are not accessible to the other users. Apart from that,
workgroup members can participate in the important discussion through the Discussion Thread facility and document generation
process through the Document Generation facility that fully automate the workflow of document generation among the
editor, co-author, reviewing committee and approver.
Metadata Archival for Learning Contents facilitate the Content providers to share the information about the Learning
contents. This information is very useful to students, teachers and other users to locate the right learning contents. It includes
registration of content providers, content information archival, retrieval and extensive search facility. Students and teachers
can set their preferences for languages, educational context and discipline, so that they only get the new updates as per their
interest. To make the content information interoperable, we have adopted IEEE LOM 1484 standard to capture the learning
content information.
Rollout phase of operation consists of about 10 working groups concentrating on Roll out, Meta data archival and 1484
customization, Standardization, EDUSAT Information and operation management, EDUSAT Utilisation, End User Interface,
Outreach policy and mechanism and Satellite Technology.
The gateway is already installed on EDUSAT network and its clone will be installed on Internet. Both will be isolated but
will be synchronized from time to time.
The features of EDUSAT Gateway like online registration and subscription, Notices, Events and
Lecture Schedules announcements, Feedback & FAQ, Responsibility Management, Interface to
specific services etc. are made available to all the users.
2 EDUSAT Update Volume : 04, November 2005

INDO US Workshop,
October 15-19, 2005
VTU-EDUSAT Conference, September 16-17, 2005
In order to commemorate one year of successful utilizationf VTU-EDUSAT
network, ISRO and VTU jointly conducted a two-day conference from Sep
tember 16, 2005 at BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore. The objective of
the conference was mainly to create awareness among various stakeholders in higher
education in Karnataka on VTU-EDUSAT programmes.
Mr. G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, inaugurated the conference in the august
presence of Mrs. Sobha Nambisan, Principal Secretary (Higher Education), Government
of Karnataka and Dr. K. Balaveera Reddy, Vice Chancellor, VTU. The conference
was attended by several delegates of VTU and ISRO.Having gained experience
in utilizing the EDUSAT network for one year, VTU is poised to transmit about 470
live sessions covering eight full-semester subjects, technology-specific courses, soft
skill and CXO Speaks programmes from September 16, 2005.
The workshop on Utilisation
of Space based Resources
for Enhancing Science
Education in India was jointly
organised by Indo-US Forum for
Science and Technology (IUSSTF),
New Delhi along with Homi
Bhabha Centre for Science Education/Tata
Institute for Fundamental
Research, Mumbai at Aurangabad
during October 15-19, 2005. The
workshop was organised with a
view to bring together the experts
from the United States and India to
discuss strategies for the utilisation
of resources available or developed
in the respective countries to
enhance the science education in
India. In this perspective,
the EDUSAT network was
demonstrated by crating the
teaching end at Aurangabad and one
of the receiving end at Science City,
Ahmedabad.
Director DECU inaugurated the
Indo US workshop from Science
City, Ahmedabad. On second day of
the conference, students were
invited to interact with the scientist
present at Aurangabad. In both the
days the students as well as teachers
from Kendriya Vidhyalaya, SAC
and different schools under Gujarat
Secondary and Higher S econdary
Education Board (GSHSEB)
participated in three hours long
interactive session on Earth, Moon
and Mars. The interaction between
the teaching end and the receiving
end was satisfactory.
EDUSAT Update Volume : 04, November 2005
3

VTU
Feedback on utilisation
EDUSAT
Dear Prof. Shesha Prakash,
Iwatched your class this morning. Your pace of presentation, diction and gestures were very
good. Your attempt to solve old question papers is laudable. Pl. post me the feedback of your
students at Sullia in terms of effectiveness and transmission quality.
Music to ears… your appreciation is well taken. It is only teachers like you can make this programme
useful and interesting.
Tnx again,
Rgds,
A student from VTU
Dear Prof. Shekar
Iam extremely happy to be a part of the above highly ambitious mega project, which is being
executed meticulously with all effort from your side. I have been one among others who had
always encouraged and emphasised on the sharing of knowledge of elite class in academics who are
capable of delivering the goods with have nots. Our system is like only few will be able to get the best
of every thing whereas there is a large chunk of people who are deprived of this facility. You, with
VTU and ISRO have done an excellent job in bringing the best of technical education to those deprived
section. I wish to congratulate you and your team for this stupendous job. Our college is one
among others who are utilising this facility. In fact I being the teacher for the same subject in our
college also, I had instructed to students that I will not be covering that syllabus that I am covering
through VTU EDUSAT classes. I found this to be highly effective. Students are listening to me and
watching me live on TV. I had included this portion in the I Test and I was happy to note that the
average marks obtained is above 20 out of 25 and about 25% of them have scored 25. I wanted to share
this with you. I shall keep in touch with you. If you have anything pl. be in touch with me. That is all
for now,
2
EM RC, Ahmedabad
Yours sincerely
Dr. M.N. Shesha Prakash
Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean (Engineering)\
Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering
Shimoga - 577 204
C
2
EC, New Delhi has connected all the EM RC centres through EDUSAT network. EM2RC,
Ahmedabad was teaching end on October 17, 05. The programme was observed at CEC,
New Delhi. We have received the feedback of the observation made at New Delhi and also of EM2RC,
Ahmedabad which shares their experience in using the network.
2
Some of the observations of EM RC, Ahmedabad in using the network are:
ISRO has selected VLC software for video streaming, which is in the process of validation. Thus it
raises a question of suitability for such an expensive venture of EDUSAT.
The guideline provided by ISRO clearly mentions that it is not mandatory to have more than one PC
for SIT. I am of a strong belief that to run a show one needs at least two PCs for the classroom and
while three set of PCs for the teaching end. When ISRO guideline does not make this requirement
quite clear it becomes impossible for the person who is dealing with the day to day affair to persuade
the authorities for the provision of the facility.
Contd.on pg. 5
4 EDUSAT Update Volume : 04, November 2005

Contd. from pg. 4
Though the system appears very simple and cost effective with only one or two multimedia PCs, my experience tells me that you
need soundproof AC studio and many more video production equipments for desired quality. This should be clearly put to the
user agencies.
I also fail to understand that as a classroom end one has to have web based equipment while for teaching end video based equip
ment. The market is not yet ready in providing complete set of web based equipment. It gives clear signal that the system is yet
shaping up and there are many missing links. However, all this make the system very complicated and less user friendly.
Dr.(Ms.) Ila Joshi
2
Research Officer, EM RC
The programme was observed at New Delhi on October 17, 05. The audio and video quality of the programme was very good and it
looked like a satellite TV channel; 11 questions were asked from 6 receiving centres; the presentation style of the subject expert was
good. Besides some suggestions and recommendations for improving the method of transmission has been communicated to the user.
IGNOU's experiences with EDUSAT……..
Pradeep Kaul
Jt. Director, CEC
IGNOU started the usage of EDUSAT from Feb. 2005.
In the initial period it was used for developing the channel itself. Once the Satellite interactive terminals (SIT) were installed by
the vendor at EDUSAT sites, the integration of the peripheral equipment with SIT was taken up by the IGNOU staff. The strength
of the EDUSAT network backed by the existing network of Gyan Darshan television network was used for imparting integration training
to the staff at EDUSAT centers/nodes. Instead of sending the engineers from IGNOU headquarter to remote centers for undertaking the
integration task, the training was conducted through the network. and providing on site or in situ training for concerned staff.
This helped in minimizing the logistics and financial expenditure while accomplishing the task in record time. The application
software required for operations was distributed to all centers through the EDUSAT network. The techniques of remote diagnostics
were utilized in fault rectification on receiving a request from various centers. The concerned staff was provided training on preventive
maintenance techniques through a series of teleconferences.
Presently, the facility is being fully used for dissemination of curricula based programmes for ODL students, cover major events
such as VVIP visits to the university, special lectures, training of various functionaries including Regional Centre Staff through net
meetings and so on.
The facility is being daily from 11 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. for curriculum based tele counseling. This is being done as per a fixed point
chart and students are informed in advance through the Regional Services Division of IGNOU. As the downlinks are still being installed,
in order to reach out to wider section of students, the programmes are being simulcast on GD-2.
In addition, there has been intermittent usage for training purposes for periods up to a fortnight each from 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
This has substantially cut down the travel for many officials for conducting on site training. EDUSAT network is also being used for
point-to-point communication needs between any two centers.
To prepare for the forthcoming lectures on EDUSAT network by the Hon'ble President of India, the capabilities of the network are
being further expanded by installing new hardware & software at all sites. Once again, as it happened during initial phase, the network
is being utilized for it's own growth and maintenance by conducting the integration related mode through the network itself. And the
facility is also being used by the concerned technical staff for trouble shooting and maintenance as well as for administrative meets.
Ms. Usha Chandar
Research Officer, IGNOU
EDUSAT Update Volume : 04, November 2005
5

Bhargav Thakkar, Producer, VPG-DECU
"I never even dreamt that the EDUSAT can do such a unique
communication system for meeting the requirements of visually
challenged people. It is very highly satisfying that the high technology
of the satellite and digital connectivity is being utilized
for such a noble cause and as mentioned by Mr. Punani (The Exe.
Director,BPA) it is perhaps first in the world and we stand to demonstrate
to the other people to follow."
These were the words of none other than the Chairman ISRO,
Mr. Madhavan Nair. He was inaugurating the Blind People Association-
EDUSAT network at Ahmedabad on 30th August
2005.The idea generated by the writer of this article became the
catalyst and could generate the interest and enthusiasm in the
management of Blind People Association for the education of blind
people through satellite.
They approached Mr. B.S.Bhatia, Director, DECU with the
special and unique requirement in the proposal of network to
be set-up for the noble purpose. The need was to establish network
configuration, which was to deliver live audio and data that
could be red by blind students in Braille, through its printed impression.
Mr. Bhatia took it as an interesting challenge and the
blind people of Gujarat are now lucky enough to access the unique
satellite network within a short time. Today Mr. Bhatia is also
sure that the network will do well and it will be utilized properly.
He is satisfied that it is in safe and right hands.
The network functions in two distinct but independent modes
i.e.(A)Data Broadcast mode and (B) Audio Broadcast mode. In
data mode, the written instructions(mostly word document) from
the teaching end is broadcast in User Diagram Protocol (UDP)
mode where it is (Data) automatically stored in a file at each and
every remote classroom. In UDP mode of broadcasting, an assurance
of error free data collection at all the remote is essential
since there is no return acknowledgement.
This is achieved by broadcasting the data several times from teaching
end while each individual classroom receives all the data but
stores only totally error free and converts in to data automatically.
This instructional data is then provided to every student in
advance to a live audio lecture by taking "Braille" printer output.
Now live audio instructions are transmitted from the teaching
end in audio broadcast mode.
The instructor is simultaneously heard by the entire student
community already having Braille's printed data in their hands.
These two together enable a blind student to practice the instruction
with full efficiency. In the first phase ten centres spread over
North, South, East, West of Gujarat will be covered in this network.
In the second phase thirty more centres will come up." All
the blind students will be able to access the best teacher and the
best learning material at the same given time and also will be able
to store the material on the hard disc of the computer to access it
later.
It is indeed the revolution in the 125 years old history of
blind people's education. The year 2005 will be a landmark in our
history because for the first time it happens so that the high
technology came first to us to help us in the education. "These
were the words of a brilliant teacher Mr.Ranchodbhai Soni at
BPA,Ahmedabad.
According to Mr.Jasubhai Kavi (Principal,BPA school)the
reach of knowledge and first hand information will increase the
pace and the width for the blind students in this age of information
and technology. "You have placed them 200 years ahead
with the help of satellite technology." he had to say. Mr.Nalin
Patel a blind student at far end of Gujarat was more than happy
receiving the information and knowledge on his computer. He
could feel the touch of satellite technology.
6 EDUSAT Update Volume : 04, November 2005