Sun Outage Predictor
Sun outages taking you by surprise? SatManage Sun Outage
Predictor gives you the exact times of future outages,
allowing you to prepare in advance.
Sun outages are an unavoidable nuisance on satellite networks. When the Sun is aligned with the earth station and satellite, the
signal is degraded, causing an outage. However, the business will suffer far less if the timing of the outage is known in advance.
Using network data, Sun Outage Predictor keeps you informed of upcoming outages and allows pre-emptive measures to be
taken on site to prepare for the break in IT service.
Features
 Predicts Fall / Spring outages for any year
 Achieves an accuracy of +/- 60 seconds for
upcoming and distant future outages
 Provides information on outage date, start time,
duration and end time
 Integrates with Signal Analyzer and Auto Helpdesk
to automatically open, fill in and close Sun Outage
trouble tickets
 Produces full reports that can be emailed to site
contacts using the POC Mailer
Benefits
 Drastically reduces diagnosis time
 Allows pre-emptive measures to be taken to
prepare for the outage
 Assists long term assessment of network performance
 Conveys excellent impression of good, forward-
planned network management
How it works
Sun Outage Predictor takes a configuration file
containing the latitudes and longitudes of any number
of remote sites and their satellites. From this, the Sun
outages for either the Spring or Fall seasons for any
year can be calculated. This method does NOT use the
ephemeris data from satellite operators (where many
site outages have to be interpolated from the nearest
sites contained in the ephemeris data list), but instead
uses the raw complex calculations.
This allows Sun outages to be predicted any distance
into the future with equal accuracy. In fact, past Sun
outage predictions when compared to actual outages
are accurate to +/- 60 seconds. Full reports containing
all information about outages can be produced and
emailed - using the POC Mailer - to specific site
contacts.
What is a Sun Outage?
Twice a year, in Spring and Fall, the Sun will be
positioned so that it is aligned with the satellite and
the dish on the remote site. For a period of about
two weeks, the signal will be degraded and network
outages will occur. This happens because when the dish
antenna is looking directly into the Sun, the interference
overrides the signal from the satellite. Outages are
short lived – lasting about 15 minutes. It is not possible
to prevent such outages, but they are predictable.
 |Predicted Outage | Start | End | Duration |
| Date | GMT | GMT | |
| mm/dd/yyyy | hh:mm:ss | hh:mm:ss | mm:ss |
| ---------------------| -------------|------------ |-------------- |

| 02/27/2004 | 11:28:10 | 11:47:15 | 19:05 |

| 02/28/2004 | 11:27:32 | 11:47:37 | 20:05 |
| 02/29/2004 | 11:27:04 | 11:47:39 | 20:35 |
| 03/01/2004 | 11:26:50 | 11:47:30 | 20:40 |
| 03/02/2004 | 11:26:52 | 11:47:07 | 20:15 |
| 03/03/2004 | 11:27:04 | 11:46:24 | 19:20 |
| 03/04/2004 | 11:27:36 | 11:45:31 | 17:55 |
| 03/05/2004 | 11:28:28 | 11:44:08 | 15:40 |

Figure 1

Parallel
Figure 1 shows the Sun outage predictions
overlaid upon data from Signal Analyzer

The predictions for these days are shown by Signal Parallel is a network management specialist that
Analyzer to be highly accurate as signal performance provides satellite and terrestrial network management
degraded at the expected time – shown by the dark and network operations to some of the largest
blue bands. This allowed pre-emptive measures to be organizations in the world. Key clients include BT,
taken on site to prepare for the outages. Hughes Network Systems, Vivendi Universal, The
British Council and the African Banking Corporation.

Through running operations departments for clients,

Parallel’s consultants have developed highly advanced
and innovative satellite network management software.
SatManage These hugely successful solutions form the basis of
SatManage.

SatManage provides the most comprehensive For more information on Sun Outage Predictor or the
management available for satellite and hybrid networks. SatManage suite, please contact Parallel or visit our
Completely vendor independent, the suite delivers web site.
superior networks at reduced costs. Components
manage all the factors that determine network Email: enquiries@parallelglobal.com
performance, such as response times, traffic levels, Web: www.parallelglobal.com
signal quality and even Sun outages.
Parallel US
Designed to be fully compatible with satellite technology, 8000 Towers Crescent Drive Tel: +1 703-442-4951
SatManage complements any existing monitoring and 13th Floor Fax: +1 703-442-4952
control software. But SatManage goes further - using Vienna, VA 22182
visual correlation to quickly identify the root cause USA
of problems, it significantly reduces firefighting and
highlights wasted bandwidth and resources. Even on Parallel UK
the largest of networks, SatManage’s advanced helpdesk Innovation Centre Tel: +44 (0)1234 759610
automation has the proven ability to log 100% of faults University Way Fax: +44 (0)1234 759638
- not just events - automatically, and diagnose and close Cranfield
up to 70% without human intervention. MK43 0BT
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By combining in-depth network management with visual
correlation and unprecedented automation, SatManage
is the next generation in satellite network management. 070305 SO V1.4
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