astronomy

StarLeaf

StarLeaf is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand StarLeaf rather than just read about it. In short: StarLeaf was a global video conferencing and collaboration software company that provided cloud-based Instant messaging, meeting and calling for business users. StarLeaf enabled people to meet and collaborate from their desktop and mobile devices, as well as via proprietary StarLeaf and third-party meeting room systems.

Key takeaways

StarLeaf belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect StarLeaf to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of StarLeaf from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

StarLeaf was a global video conferencing and collaboration software company that provided cloud-based Instant messaging, meeting and calling for business users. StarLeaf enabled people to meet and collaborate from their desktop and mobile devices, as well as via proprietary StarLeaf and third-party meeting room systems. The company was headquartered near Watford, UK, with offices throughout Europe, the Americas and Australasia. On 9 June 2022 Starleaf Limited entered into administration and its services and videoconferencing platform ceased operation in October 2022.

History StarLeaf was established in 2008 by Mark Loney, Mark Richer and William MacDonald. The trio had previously founded Calista, which offered cloud based voice services and which was purchased by Cisco Systems in 1999, and  Codian, a UK-based manufacturer of video conferencing infrastructure that was bought by Tandberg for $270m in 2007 and subsequently became part of Cisco Systems in 2010. StarLeaf initially developed a telepresence and video meeting service that offered a range of personal and group telepresence endpoints connected via a dedicated on-premise PBX. In 2013, the company launched StarLeaf Cloud, a global network managed by StarLeaf with regional points of presence, to which StarLeaf endpoints could connect from anywhere. StarLeaf ceased selling on-prem systems in favour of StarLeaf Cloud. In the same year, the introduction of the StarLeaf Breeze software client enabled people to join StarLeaf meetings from laptops (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux) smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android), as well as from a range of StarLeaf personal videophones and meeting room systems. In 2015, StarLeaf introduced a dedicated room system for Skype for Business/Microsoft UC. In 2018 this was rebranded as "Teamline by StarLeaf" and was extended to work with Microsoft Teams. In 2017 launched their new app for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. In addition to being able to make calls and join meetings, it added instant messaging functionality. File sharing was added in 2018. StarLeaf announced a partnership with Poly in 2020 to make StarLeaf services available on Poly conferencing and meeting room systems. Usage of StarLeaf grew by over 1,000% between January and April 2020 as global lockdowns led to a dramatic increase in home and remote working. In 2021, StarLeaf transitioned from hardware led sales to being a SaaS based offering. StarLeaf was VC-backed and had secured eight funding rounds totaling almost £60m, the last £12m of which came in 2019 with investment from Grafton Capital and Highland Capital Partners. On 9 June 2022 Starleaf Limited entered into administration. Operations ceased in October 2022.

Functionality The StarLeaf platform provided video calling, meetings, and messaging. Functionality was available through its apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android and through StarLeaf and third party room systems.

Meetings Users had the ability to schedule meetings, either through the StarLeaf portal or using Outlook or Google Calendar plug-ins. Meetings had capacity for up to 300 video participants. Additional video conferencing and calling features included blurred and virtual backgrounds, background noise cancellation, screen sharing, in-meeting chat and participant management. Meetings could be recorded via integration with rec.vc.

Calling StarLeaf apps and devices could be used to make audio or video calls, either to other StarLeaf users, H.323 addresses, SIP addresses, or when configured with a SIP trunk, PSTN telephone numbers. It is possible to add additional participants to turn the call into a meeting.

Instant Messaging Users could create one-on-one chats with other users, or create group chats with multiple users. Each message could contain an attachment, for instance a photo or document. Messages could be replied to or forwarded to other chats. Chats could be archived, or blocked.

Room systems StarLeaf sold its own range of room systems. The GT Mini consisted of a codec and touch screen with support for dual screens and up to two microphones. It could be used with a wide-angle camera for smaller rooms or a PTZ camera for larger rooms. The StarLeaf Huddle combined the codec and touch screen into a single device, with a wide angle camera and microphone. StarLeaf sold Pronto cable accessory for its meeting rooms which when plugged into your laptop's USB A or USB C port, instantly transferred any meetings the user had been invited to onto the room system for one touch join. It also allowed for screen sharing, even on laptops without an HDMI port. Through its partnership with Poly, StarLeaf had integration with the Poly Studio X30, Studio X50 and G7500. In addition to being able to join StarLeaf meetings, StarLeaf rooms were also able to join third party meetings such as Zoom or Teams as long as they had H.323 or SIP access enabled. StarLeaf also supported SIP and H.323 endpoint registration from third party room systems.

Platform Calls via StarLeaf were encrypted and the company had been ISO/IEC 27001 certified since 2019. StarLeaf provided an industry-leading 99.999% uptime guarantee (effectively no more than 5.5 minutes of unplanned downtime per year). Customers had control over where StarLeaf stored their organisation's data (data sovereignty). The web-based StarLeaf management portal provided controls and analytics for administrators.

Architecture StarLeaf hosted 15 points of presence (as of 2019) worldwide. Each customer was assigned to a specific point of presence, in a data jurisdiction of their choosing, that contained the organisation's data and hosted any meetings. Data was replicated a second data center in the same data jurisdiction for fail-over purposes.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with StarLeaf

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what StarLeaf claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to StarLeaf before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about StarLeaf ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of StarLeaf

In research: StarLeaf appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses StarLeaf in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: StarLeaf is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Technology companies established in 2008, Technology companies of the United Kingdom, Telecommunications equipment vendors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for StarLeaf outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study StarLeaf in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what StarLeaf means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain StarLeaf out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is StarLeaf in simple terms?

Why does StarLeaf matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study StarLeaf?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on StarLeaf.