In disaster-struck areas where terrestrial communications may be down, the deployment of rescue teams becomes extremely challenging. A team led by Assistant Professor Lee Yee Hui from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), aims to provide solutions to this problem by using high-speed satellite communication links.

The NTU team is working with the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (Jaxa) and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (Nict), which launched a satellite in February 2008 that provides what was claimed to be the world's fastest satellite Internet connection of up to 155Mbps.

Their project involves coming up with solutions to improve satellite links during heavy rainfall, which is common in tropical regions.

The team is also looking at possible applications of this technology. For example, in remote areas, where terrestrial communications infrastructure is poor, people will be able to get connectivity for distance-learning. This technology can also be used for tele-medicine, enabling medical experts to provide real-time advice without the need to be physically present.

Assistant Professor Lee has received about S$600,000 in funding for this four-year research programme.

The world's fastest satellite Internet connection using a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) was demonstrated at a public lecture held at NTU. The VSAT is portable and has an antenna dish of only 1.2m, which can achieve a high data transfer rate of up to 155Mbps.

During the lecture, a three-way high speed Internet video conference link between Singapore, Japan and Korea was established for interactive sessions between the three locations. The demonstration showcased a high data transmission rate for communication between multiple locations around the world.