Our Mission
The mission of WAVE is to transform the SATCOM industry towards a fully interoperable ecosystem by using intelligent, open, and virtualized networks and providing standardized architectures and specifications.
Impact
Imagine the WAVE consortium as the application store and smartphone of the SATCOM industry, revolutionizing how satellite communications operate. Just as app stores have enabled smartphones to become versatile tools capable of adapting to countless needs through downloadable applications, WAVE empowers satellite communication networks with unprecedented flexibility and innovation. Through its standards for virtualization, WAVE allows operators to seamlessly integrate and update a wide range of waveforms and applications, transforming rigid, hardware-dependent systems into dynamic, software-driven environments.
WAVE offers operators key advantages by eliminating vendor lock-in and fostering software adaptability, which, in turn, compels vendors to innovate. Key benefits include:
WAVE catalyzes a transformative shift for vendors, opening doors to broader markets and enhanced service portfolios. It provides:
Board of Directors
Anirban Chakraborty was appointed as Comtech’s first Chief Technology Officer in June 2023. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Comtech since 2018 and was instrumental in its 5G and Public Safety strategies. Anirban brings more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry across Terrestrial and Satellite technologies. Prior to joining Comtech, he served in leadership positions in a plethora of enterprises ranging from Technology startups, Private Equity firms and publicly traded companies, including Tech Mahindra, Moonlight Capital and UST Global.
Joshua is a United States Air Force veteran with 25+ years of experience in the military communications industry. At Reticulate Micro, he sets the vision and values, while building a world-class executive team to drive the company’s strategy across multiple technology verticals.
Prior to leading Reticulate Micro, Joshua had built a global reputation as a mission-focused, technology innovator in communications for the elite United States Special Operations community and NATO as well as for the defense contractor community. Noteworthy highlights include:
Alan Campbell is a Principal Space Products Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS). His focus is on empowering customers with innovative new Cloud-based scalable solutions for the Aerospace & Satellite segment. Alan specializes in Data Analytics / ML enabling key insights in Satellite Communications, Earth Observation, and IoT platforms.
A pioneering 35-year veteran of the communications and satellite industry, Mark leads product and services strategy for Reticulate Micro and serves as CTO for the company’s satellite communications (SATCOM) business segment.
Michael Geist is the Vice President of Product Management at SES Space & Defense. Michael has more than 25 years of experience in the satellite communications industry as an innovator, product developer, and business/market developer and uses that experience to enhance SES’s position in the Defense and Government markets. Prior to SES Space & Defense, Michael was President of Apothym Technologies Group where he led the development of next generation antenna solutions and waveform virtualization capabilities necessary for multi-network resilience. He also applied these core technologies to next generation hypersonic solutions, and other advanced networking platforms.
advanced satellite communication ground system, driving innovation and ensuring the highest standards of performance and reliability.
Guy Levitas is a seasoned expert in satellite communications, with 18 years of experience at Gilat Satellite Networks. As the Head of Research & Algorithms, he manages the modem algorithm group, overseeing the physical layer of Gilat modems and driving research in R&D. Previously, Guy led the Modems Group, directing a team of communication algorithm, DSP engineers, and FPGA developers, responsible for the signal processing designs and implementations of all Gilat products, both commercial and military. His tenure at Gilat also includes a pivotal role as Modem Phy Team Leader, focusing on developing satellite modems for military on-the-move applications. Before joining Gilat, Guy was a DSP engineer at Intel Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Signal Processing & Communication from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Alan Williams is a seasoned Solutions Architect at Intelsat General Communications LLC, with over three decades of experience in the military and commercial satellite communications and telecommunications industries. He is known for architecting large-scale, complex networks and services, specializing in hybrid satellite, microwave, terrestrial fiber, and cellular delivery networks. At Intelsat, Alan develops and implements innovative solutions in Multi-Orbit Satellite Communications for the Intelsat Government Solutions team. Previously, Alan served as Director of Managed Services and Solution Architecture at Globecomm Systems Inc., where he was the Principal Architect for the company’s largest managed service customer, generating >$100M/year in recurring revenue. He designed Globecomm’s global shared satellite network, utilizing 20+ Ku-band satellites and 30+ Ku-band beams hosted from 12 global teleports to provide managed services to 1100+ remotes. His experience also includes overseeing the SSA N8NN implementation and transition at MCI WorldCom, as well as roles at EDS in support of the NMCI implementation and transition. Alan also has experience in providing engineering support for operations and sales at MCI and is a US Army veteran.
Javier Trujillo leads the SES strategy towards digital ground infrastructure, including the user terminal, the gateway modem platform, the network management system, and their orchestration. After working as a researcher and completing his PhD on active phased array antennas at the Technical University of Madrid, he joint SES in 2015. Since then, he has moved throughout different areas in the organization from ground, payload and constellation sizing as an Advanced Systems Senior Engineer; to develop the mPOWER lead-to-fulfilment process as Program Integration Manager. Currently, he is focused on leveraging Terrestrial Network efforts on virtualization and Cloud-RAN to ease adoption of the 5G ecosystem on Non-Terrestrial Networks.
Adi Adotler is the Chief Architecture Officer at the R&D, with 24 years of experience at Gilat Satellite Networks where he has held a variety of key positions. Since 2019, Adi led a group of System Architects responsible for the system specification and architecture definitions across all Gilat platforms and products. During this period, Adi’s primary focus has been on designing Gilat`s support for NGSO constellations, Aero & Maritime mobility and Cloud architecture for Gilat platform. Prior to leading the System Architecture group, Adi served as senior System Architect at Gilat, specializing in Management layers, Baseband, Advances Data layers, Mobility, and backhauling services. Before his tenure as a System Architect, Adi led the System Engineering group, the Integration group and the Validation & Verification group within the R&D. His career at Gilat began as a System Engineer in 2000. Adi holds a B.Sc. in Electronics and Communication from the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT).
Sunil Gottipati is the Vice President of Systems Architecture & Innovation at Intelsat, with over 13 years of experience at the company. Since June 2023, he has been leading Architecture and Design for the Intelsat Next Generation Software Defined Network, focusing on Virtualization, Orchestration and Standardization of satellite connectivity services. Previously, he was the Director of Services Engineering, responsible for Planning, Architecture and Design of Media, Network and Mobility services for Intelsat. From July 2018 to August 2020, Sunil served as the Director of Network Engineering, overseeing network infrastructure development. As the Director of Network Architecture and Design and Manager of Network Engineering, he played a critical role in developing the converged IntelsatOne core network. He also served as Manager of Service Design Engineering and Senior Principal Engineer, Network, contributing to service design and network management. His tenure at Intelsat began as Principal Engineer, Video Systems in 2010. Before Intelsat, Sunil worked for Level 3 Communications in various engineering roles for ten years, bringing a wealth of experience in network quality and media networks. He has a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications & Management from Oklahoma State University and is currently based in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Balachander Srinivasan is the Sr. Director of System Architecture at ST Engineering iDirect, based in Herndon, Virginia. He has been with the company since April 2020, initially serving as Director of Architecture before assuming his current role in August 2021. He specializes in satellite systems, 5G, ORAN, system architecture, and software development. Before joining ST Engineering iDirect, Balachander worked at OneWeb as a Sr. Principal Systems Architect and Principal Software/Systems Architect, focusing on product development in the 4G and satellite communication sectors. He also held various roles at VT iDirect, including Senior Principal Engineer and Software/Firmware Architect for Remote Terminals. Earlier in his career, Balachander worked as an Embedded Software Engineer at Emerson and Software Systems Lead at the Center for Space Engineering. He holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Utah State University and a Professional Certificate in Architecture and Systems Engineering from MIT.
Dr. Juan Deaton is currently the Chief Alignment Officer at Alignment Consulting and Engineering, focusing on advising SATCOM companies in digitally transforming their networks, business development, and performing R&D in digital signal processing. Previously, as a senior research scientist at Apothym Technologies Group (ATG), he worked to advance waveform virtualization. His 2022 report, Digital Transformation of Satellite Communication Networks, provided the vision for digitization and virtualization for the SATCOM industry. At ATG, he also served as a DIFI Board Member, a key contributor to the specification, and the Digital Transformation of SATCOM Workshop chair at MILCOM. Before that, Juan worked with Comtech EF Data on Forward Error Correction Technologies and other satellite communications modeling. His tenure at Comtech EF Data also involved research on anti-jam waveforms and LDPC codes. Before Comtech, he was at the Idaho National Lab, focusing on spectrum optimization and emergency communications. Juan holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Virginia Tech and a BSEE from the University of Idaho. His patent work includes spectrum sharing, wireless emergency communications, and waveform virtualization.Why WAVE?
In the rapidly evolving satellite communications (SATCOM) industry, the Waveform Architecture for Virtualized Ecosystems (WAVE), created under the auspices of IEEE-ISTO, represents a pioneering initiative designed to address the pressing challenge of proprietary hardware dependence. WAVE envisions a future where SATCOM networks are built on agile, scalable, and cost-effective commodity platforms, enabling a rapid acceleration of innovation in network services and operations. This transformative vision seeks to break the industry’s current gridlock, characterized by network operators’ rejection of vendor-locked systems and the struggle of vendors to migrate their waveform technologies into a virtualized environment.
In addition to a path forward, the WAVE consortium promotes an open, interoperable ecosystem using commercial-off-the-shelf servers, x86 architectures, and PCIe accelerators. WAVE liberates operators from vendor lock-in, enhancing competition and fostering a vibrant supplier ecosystem responsive to the market’s dynamic needs. It offers a strategic framework for vendors, providing a clear migration path for revitalizing their product lines and achieving operational agility, improved spectral efficiency, and reduced total cost of ownership.
WAVE catalyzes the development of a modern, high-performance computing ecosystem that is inherently flexible and adaptable, promoting hardware-independent models to facilitate market entry and expand reach. By embracing WAVE, the SATCOM industry positions itself to overcome current challenges and usher in a new era of cost-effective and innovative SATCOM solutions. Thus, WAVE is not merely a solution to today’s issues; it is a forward-looking strategy ensuring the future competitiveness and vibrancy of the SATCOM sector, poised to bring about a more competitive and vibrant supplier ecosystem.
