Space Compass, NTT DOCOMO, NTT and SKY Perfect JSAT to Develop Direct-to-Device Service via Space-based Non-terrestrial Network

Dec 9, 2023 | Business

Space Compass, NTT DOCOMO, INC., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (SKY Perfect JSAT) jointly announced today that they have been selected by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) to develop direct-to-device (D2D) mobile services, which will be deployed via a space-based non-terrestrial network (NTN) using high-altitude platform stations (HAPS).

The project is part of the NICT’s Innovative ICT Fund Projects for Beyond 5G/6G, known as Beyond 5G, which envisions a society where connectivity is assured over the air, sea, and space regardless of user location.

The project comprises two phases:

Early commercialization (Phase 1)The four participating companies aim to solve various technical issues and demonstrate a communication service using HAPS positioned in the stratosphere over Japan, with the goal of accelerating the commercialization of HAPS D2D communication services.

System evolution (Phase 2)Research and development (R&D) will be conducted on high-speed, high-capacity technology and time-division duplex (TDD) communication (downlink and uplink use same frequency band but in different time slots), aiming to expand the business scope and applicability of HAPS services in the coming 6G era. Phase 2 will also focus on upgrading the feeder link, including increasing its capacity, and installing a satellite backhaul system for flexible operation in areas where it is not possible to install terrestrial gateway stations connecting HAPS and terrestrial networks.

Space Compass, which plans to launch HAPS services in Japanese fiscal year 2025, will lead the project, define network service requirements and evaluate demonstrations conducted under the project. DOCOMO, which plans to develop a HAPS-based mobile communications business spanning air, sea and space for 5G evolution and 6G, will mainly develop ground base stations and HAPS-equipped base stations for mobile communications, focusing on maximizing service-link efficiency and capacity. NTT will mainly develop the control technology of the HAPS feeder link, such as site diversity and control of the transmit power, for robust service quality. SKY Perfect JSAT, which plans to offer the NTN business by connecting satellites and HAPS networks to multi-terrestrial networks, will mainly focus on developing alternative feeder link methods, such as satellite-backhaul and improvement of connection rates through the multi-connection of ground gateway stations.

Through this R&D project and beyond, the four participating companies are committed to improving the quality, efficiency and flexibility of HAPS services, extending mobile coverage to extreme levels, and ensuring seamless connectivity.

Previously, the four companies began jointly researching and developing a space-based radio access network (RAN) as an NTN, with HAPS serving as key components to support ultra-wide mobile communication services in air, sea and space. In the coming future, HAPS-based networks are expected to facilitate the broad expansion of communication services, such as support for disaster communications, ship and drone connectivity, and communications in mountainous and remote areas such as islands.

Space Compass is a joint venture company between NTT, Japanese Information and Communications Technology (ICT) leader, and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Asia’s largest satellite operator. We will launch a Space Integrated Computing Network to aid the realization of a sustainable society. For more information, visit our corporate website, New windowhttps://space-compass.com/en/

About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO, Japan’s leading mobile operator with over 88 million subscriptions, is one of the world’s foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Beyond core communications services, DOCOMO is challenging new frontiers in collaboration with a growing number of entities (“+d” partners), creating exciting and convenient value-added services that change the way people live and work. Under a medium-term plan toward 2020 and beyond, DOCOMO is pioneering a leading-edge 5G network to facilitate innovative services that will amaze and inspire customers beyond their expectations.https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/

About NTT

NTT contributes to a sustainable society through the power of innovation. We are a leading global technology company providing services to consumers and business as a mobile operator, infrastructure, networks, applications, and consulting provider. Our offerings include digital business consulting, managed application services, workplace and cloud solutions, data center and edge computing, all supported by our deep global industry expertise. We are over $95B in revenue and 330,000 employees, with $3.6B in annual R&D investments. Our operations span across 80+ countries and regions, allowing us to serve clients in over 190 of them. We serve over 75% of Fortune Global 100 companies, thousands of other enterprise and government clients and millions of consumers.New windowhttps://group.ntt/en/

About SKY Perfect JSAT

SKY Perfect JSAT is Asia’s largest satellite operator with a fleet of 17 satellites, and Japan’s only provider of both Multi-channel Pay TV broadcasting and satellite communications services. SKY Perfect JSAT delivers a broad range of entertainment through the “SKY PerfecTV!” platform, the most extensive in Japan with over 2 million subscribers. SKY Perfect JSAT’s satellite communications services, which cover Asia, Indian Ocean, Middle East, Pacific Ocean and North America, play a vital role in supporting communications infrastructures for mobile backhaul, government, aviation, maritime, oil & gas and disaster recovery. For more information, visit our corporate website (New windowhttps://www.skyperfectjsat.space/en) and Space Business website (New windowhttps://www.skyperfectjsat.space/jsat/en/).


Topic: Press release summary

Compass Virtual Solving the Growing Shortage of Access to Psychiatric and Intensive Behavioral Health Services in Illinois

Feb 18, 2022 | Business

 Compass Virtual, by Compass Health Center, an evidence-based Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) virtual behavioral health treatment program, announced today its milestone of delivering more than 20,000 patient-days of intensive care in 2021. Compass Virtual’s announcement kicks off the expansion of its mission to address the state-wide mental health crisis by increasing access to individualized PHP/IOP programs for adolescents, young adults, and adults across Illinois. This expansion will provide Illinois residents with non-hospital-based PHP/IOP mental health access while maintaining life at home. 

Compass Virtual was launched in early 2020 by Compass Health Center, Illinois’ largest provider of PHP/IOP and psychiatric services. For over a decade, Compass Health Center has provided outcomes-driven and patient-centered intensive behavioral care through brick-and-mortar locations throughout the Chicagoland area. Compass Virtual was designed, with the planning stages long proceeding the current pandemic, to increase availability to PHP/IOP levels of mental health care in Illinois-based communities suffering from inadequate access to critical intensive behavioral health services. It leverages the experience and training of Compass Health Center’s brick-and-mortar locations to deliver comprehensive PHP/IOP programs, which include video-based group therapy, individual therapy, family therapy, psychiatric visits, and experiential therapy. 

“There was a mental health crisis before the pandemic, and there is a massive shortage of both psychiatrists and specialized clinicians in this country,” said Claudia Welke, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and co-founder of Compass Health Center and Compass Virtual. “The need for high-quality, intermediate levels of mental health care, as an alternative to the Emergency Room or inpatient hospitalization, is critical. Patients are placed on months-long waiting lists to see a psychiatrist. At Compass, patients see a psychiatrist within days. This shortage of psychiatric services is more pronounced for adolescents and in rural communities. Compass Virtual mirrors our in-person group therapy-based intensive programs, with equal patient outcomes.” 

Compass Virtual partners with community stakeholders, hospitals, insurance companies, schools, and local therapists, to help patients seeking PHP/IOP level care to maintain life at home while receiving life-changing intensive behavioral health treatment online. The goal of treatment is to help patients return to a lower level of care, such as once-a-week outpatient therapy, as quickly as possible. Compass Virtual, like Compass Health Center, is enmeshed with the communities it serves, providing clinician-led workshops, webinars, continuing education credits, and access to knowledge from providers and licensed clinicians.

Even as Compass Virtual focuses on expanding PHP/IOP access in Illinois, plans are underway to expand the offering to additional states in 2022 and beyond. Compass’s goal is to provide access to intensive care for children, adolescents, young adults, and adults in need throughout the country to change lives for the better.

About Compass Virtual

Compass Health Center was founded in 2011 by David Schreiber, MD, and Claudia Welke, MD, child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrists who recognized the Chicago community’s need for intensive, non-hospital-based psychiatric care. While working together in a hospital that provided PHP/IOP and inpatient hospitalization, Drs. Schreiber and Welke realized that there were not enough psychiatrists or hospital beds to treat the children they saw in behavioral health crises. As a result, children were being placed on long wait lists, which often only made them sicker, resulting in ER visits that would lead to admission for inpatient care. Drs. Schreiber and Welke realized that with the proper resources in place, many of these ER and inpatient hospitalizations could have been avoided and replaced with a level of care that was timelier, more appropriate, and less costly and disruptive.

Compass Health Center’s evidence-based, comprehensive treatment model provides patients ages five through adulthood with intensive care while maintaining life at home. Meeting patients’ behavioral health needs leads to better, outcomes-driven care. Today, Compass Health Center is Illinois’ largest and most respected PHP/IOP program, with more than 45 full-time psychiatrists/PNP’s and 350+ highly trained master-level therapists covering both location-based and virtual care models. Our primary treatment modalities include psychiatry, group therapy (e.g., DBT, CBT, ACT, ERP), individual therapy, family therapy, experiential therapy, and psychiatric nursing.

Available for Interviews

Claudia Welke, MD

Chief Medical Officer and Co-founder

Claudia Welke, MD, is a native to the North Shore area. She completed her medical training at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She then completed her psychiatric residency in Adult Psychiatry and a fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine, where she earned various honors and distinctions.

Upon her return to the North Shore, Dr. Welke became an attending physician at Highland Park Hospital, where she saw patients across their lifespan in various program settings, including inpatient hospitalization and outpatient care. During this time, she acted as the Director of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry training for the University of Chicago fellows rotating through the Hospital. Dr. Welke is double boarded in both Adult and Child and Adolescent psychiatry.

Dr. Welke has appeared as a mental health medical expert on WGN 9, Fox News, and in many print and online media sources

Media Contact: Kelly Jones

Compass Health Center

312.404.4127 | kjones@compasshealthcenter.net

Compass Health Center

Kelly Jones

312.404.4127

www.compasshealthcenter.net

ContactContact

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