Saskatchewan's link to Satellite Radio continues to look up: Satellite Radio is here to stay with millions of listeners already enjoying audio streams from outer space. Saskatoon-based SED Systems was there when it all began.

What has changed since Saskatoon's SED Systems scored that high-profile contract to build the uplink delivery system for XM Satellite Radio in 1999? In one way, everything.

"That original system we installed worked well for many years. Over the last couple of years, we have been replacing the original systems with newer ones to take advantage of increased computer processing capability," says Jim Rennie, the Business Director, Communications Systems, for SED. "It's a different generation."

Rennie says the capabilities of uplink systems are largely determined by raw computing power. The original computers SED used to build the XM uplink system were 500-megahertz units. There has been about a 10-fold increase in computing power since that time, he says, and SED has enhanced the XM uplink's computer power accordingly.

SED Systems, located in Innovation Place, designed, manufactured and installed the satellite uplink system at XM's Washington, D.C. headquarters. XM and chief competitor Sirius Satellite Radio launched their services in the United States in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Both services became available in Canada late in 2005.

The uplink delivery system SED created for XM takes multiple channels of raw audio (or data) content, adds encoding to them and uplinks them to XM's two geostationary satellites for transmission to specially equipped radios owned by subscribers. In 'urban jungle' areas where satellite reception may be poor, digital radio providers install terrestrial repeaters that receive the satellite signal and rebroadcast it for better reception. These repeaters are located in cities across Canada and the U.S.

Rennie says most of the improvements SED has made to XM's uplink system are transparent for listeners to the digital radio service. However, the enhancements accommodate changes that are expanding the service and its offerings.

"What it ultimately comes down to is more content," he says. "And the reason for that is that it's (now) cheaper for a service provider like XM to offer more channels."

SED has been involved in the receiver end of the XM Satellite Radio service as well as the uplink portion. The Saskatoon company collaborated with Ontario-based encryption company Certicom to develop the conditional access technology contained in the digital radios used by XM subscribers, says Rennie.

"When you buy a radio, it needs to be authorized and activated," he says. "That's done over the satellite."

While some people have satellite radios in their homes, automobiles remain the primary market. Rennie says this is because industry market studies showed the average American in a major urban centre spent several hours a day traveling to and from work. Local radio's lack of programming variety, heavy commercials loads and limited signal range were key reasons to target the car market, he said.

SED's relationship with XM digital radio is ongoing and includes a team of engineers assigned to the XM work. As for new developments with XM, stay tuned.

"All I can say is that there are a number of ongoing developments, all of which are aimed at improving the listener experience. So they're kept very close to the vest."

Today, XM has more than seven million subscribers and Sirius has more than five million subscribers. Given that these figures are rising, it appears as though SED Systems' future is looking up.