Houston, Texas — March 10, 2025 — Speedcast, a leading communications and IT services provider, has announced a patent grant by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for technologies that the company has developed to overlay on its Speedcast SIGMA™ intelligent edge network management platform. A secondary patent application by Speedcast is also underway with the Patent and Trademark Office. Speedcast’s intellectual property (IP) software will enable Speedcast to deliver an intelligent blended network solution through a combination of proprietary algorithms, machine learning and automated analysis that dramatically improves the connectivity experience for customers.
The network optimization technologies act as the brain at the remote to continuously assess key attributes of all connectivity path options available at any time – including cost, performance, and limitations – to ensure optimal link selection and management. The patents will go beyond smart link selection, specifically addressing network optimization by using a site’s current geographic position and heading, as well as weather and historical route data to improve reliability and deeper traffic shaping, enabling QoS to be modified based on WAN paths.
“At Speedcast, the customer experience is at the forefront of everything we do – from innovating new technologies to delivering seamless service,” said Will Mudge, Chief Technology Officer at Speedcast. “Securing patent protection for IP technologies critical in the connectivity solutions that we can overlay on our SIGMA intelligent edge platform is a significant and unique achievement in our industry. We’re excited to continue these crucial innovation efforts and add to Speedcast’s existing patent portfolio in our ongoing efforts to advance the customer experience.”
The software-based IP technologies join a number of enhancements that Speedcast is rolling out on the SIGMA platform designed to meet the business and operational needs of a rapidly growing set of markets and customers. SIGMA’s next major release is set to introduce smaller routing functions, along with greater visibility and control at remote sites. The enhanced platform will allow for significantly expanded hardware options and reduced costs, while better leveraging a customer’s existing investments. In addition, the enhancements will help drive greater automation for managing the deployment and updating of both the SIGMA software itself, and also applications that customers bring to the edge through the SIGMA platform. This level of automation is essential to handling the continued growth of edge devices.
“These technologies will open up a new realm of software-defined networking that enables more than just standard hybrid connectivity and enterprise SD-WAN technology. The patented IP will allow us to deliver the first true intelligent blended network solution for 100 percent uptime service, along with application layer reliability, smart traffic shaping, and more,” said James Trevelyan, EVP Global Sales at Speedcast. “The next generation of SIGMA will deliver central orchestration and management of the edge at scale, to potentially thousands of edge devices. This will eliminate the need to process in the cloud, driving cost savings and increased performance by processing at the edge.”
Initial beta customer testing of the latest SIGMA enhancements is set to begin in April, with market release planned for late Q2. Last month, Speedcast’s SIGMA platform was announced as a top five finalist for Via Satellite’s 2024 Satellite Technology of the Year Award. The winner will be determined via industry-wide vote and announced at SATELLITE 2025, March 10-13 in Washington, D.C. To learn more about the awards event and cast your vote for Speedcast’s SIGMA platform, visit https://www.satellitetoday.com/vote/.
###
About Speedcast
Speedcast is a leading communications and IT services provider, delivering critical communications services to the Maritime, Energy, Mining, Media, Telecom, Cruise, NGO, Government, and Enterprise sectors. The company leverages its global network platform to provide fully connected systems that harness technologies and applications to transform what remote operations can achieve. With the world’s most comprehensive network, Speedcast enables faster, seamless pole-to-pole coverage from a global hybrid satellite, fiber, cellular, microwave, MPLS, and IP transport network with direct access to public cloud platforms. The company integrates differentiated technology offerings that provide smarter ways to communicate and distribute content, manage network and remote operations, protect and secure investments, and improve the crew and guest experience. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 3,200 customers in over 140 countries. Learn more at www.speedcast.com.
Speedcast® is a trademark and registered trademark. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective owners.
© 2025 Speedcast. All rights reserved.