The Outernet Network Explained

The Outernet network is a global, open-source, and community-driven network that aims to provide access to information and education for everyone, regardless of their location or socio-economic status.

It uses a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to beam down free, public domain content to anyone with a simple receiver.

This network is not owned by a single entity, but rather is maintained by a community of developers, engineers, and volunteers who contribute to its growth and development.

The Outernet network is not a replacement for the internet, but rather a complementary service that can reach areas where traditional internet access is unreliable or non-existent.

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Rivada Outernet is a game-changer in the world of connectivity. It's a private network in space that allows data to travel premise-to-premise without intermediate touchpoints on the ground.

This network is made possible by Rivada's satellites, which are equipped with laser links and advanced routers. They form a private network in space that can be accessed through Ka-band user terminals from anywhere on the globe.

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Rivada has worked closely with the MEF Forum to enable seamless integration with reseller and user systems. This means their private network is compliant with existing Corporate Networking standards, both in terms of technical standards as well as SLAs.

Their standardization also enables seamless integration into SD-WAN type virtualization environments. This is a huge advantage for businesses and organizations that need to connect multiple systems and networks.

The Rivada Outernet will offer truly global end-to-end connectivity for fixed and mobile user terminals over the same logical network. This means you'll have high-speed, low-latency connectivity from anywhere in the world.

The network is being built with the help of Terran Orbital for manufacturing and SpaceX for launch. Four precursor satellites are set to launch at the end of 2024, with the first launches of the main constellation planned for 2025.

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The Outernet LDPC code follows the "identity scheme", which is different from the staircase and triangle schemes introduced in RFC5170.

This scheme has been used in other applications before, but it's interesting to see it being used in Outernet.

The Outernet LDPC code uses a simple erasure decoding algorithm, which is based on solving a linear system. However, this algorithm can fail even if the system can be solved.

LDPC decoding is essential for recovering files even if some blocks are lost, and it's now implemented in the free-outernet project thanks to the efforts of George Hopkins.

The performance of free-outernet in terms of LDPC decoding is now the same as the performance of the closed-source ondd binary included in the official Outernet receiver.

The Outernet LDPC code has been the subject of some simulations, which have provided valuable insights into its performance.

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Outernet's downlink bitrate is about 2kbps or 20MB of content per day. This is a relatively low bitrate, but it's sufficient for streaming files, mostly of educational or informational content.

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The downlink is used to stream files, mostly of educational or informational content, and recently it also streams some APRS data. This is a new radio technology that's starting to get the attention of some Amateur Radio operators and other tech-savvy people.

Outernet's signal is broadcast on the L-band, roughly around 1.5GHz. This gives them almost worldwide coverage, thanks to the presence of three Inmarsat satellites.

The Outernet signal is a new radio technology that's not well understood. That's why I've decided to reverse engineer it, with the goal of publishing the details and building an open-source receiver.

I've managed to reverse engineer all the specifications of the modulation, coding and framing of the Outernet signal. This is a significant breakthrough, and it's allowed me to build a GNUradio Outernet receiver that's able to get Outernet frames from the L-band signal.

The protocols used in these frames is still unknown, so there is still much reverse engineering work to do.

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Outernet has updated its LDP protocol format. The length of the LDP header is now 4 bytes, not 6 bytes as previously described.

This change was discovered by George Hopkins through further reverse engineering of the Outernet protocols. He sent a pull request with the updated information, which was merged into free-outernet by the author.

The former "B field" is now included in the payload of the package. The former "A field" is now known as "type" and identifies the port or service.

For file and FEC blocks, the change is relatively small, as the former "B field" was always 0. It's now incorporated into the "file id" field of the payload, which is now 24 bits long instead of 16 bits.

This change provides a nice way to interpret the contents of time packets as a variable record field structure. It explains all the contents of the time packet.

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Reverse Engineering Talks are a crucial part of the Outernet project.

Ben Hilburn and Johnathan Corgan were instrumental in making this happen, as they contacted the author to write a post in the GNU Radio blog about their reverse-engineered GNU Radio Outernet receiver.

The post, titled "Reverse-engineering Outernet in GNU Radio blog", provides a detailed account of the process, including lots of screenshots.

It's a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about Outernet and its technical aspects.

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Surfing the Outernet is a unique way to access news and weather information in areas with limited internet connectivity. It's a project that aims to bring reliable information to people in remote areas where local news might be propaganda.

The Outernet system uses a portable and easily powered setup, consisting of a CHIP computer and a square antenna. This antenna needs to be pointed at the right satellite, which is Immarsat 4, located at 98 degrees west, off the coast of Mexico.

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To connect to the Outernet system, you need to find the SSID "Outernet" and enter the credentials at http://my.outernet.is. The system has a user interface that shows the front door once you toggle it.

If you've aimed the antenna correctly, you should see lock indication and data flow in the tuner window. Transfer speeds might not be super fast, but you'll get the content that's fed through the satellite from "the carousel".

The system automatically downloads news and weather data, which you can view without any internet connection. This is especially useful for people who are out on the high seas or in areas with no other connectivity options.

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