VSAT Communications

VSAT Network

Overview

VSAT characteristics

Network structure

VSAT components

System example

Design project

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 1

 VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)
Typically uses a large master ground station
Small aperture antennas are distributed in
field
Its Field stations can be rapidly assembled,
and can be quasi-mobile
A VSAT can support multimedia and
Internet traffic

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 2

 VSAT Operational Characteristics
They typically operate in the Ku-Band, but
there is increasing interest in using VSAT
with the Ka-Band
With a VSAT multiple field stations can be
linked together or to a common hub
Traffic volume per field station is low,
r < 256 kb/s

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 3

 Design Considerations
The type of service
Communication modes (voice, data, TV, ...)
S/N requirements
Bandwidth requirements
Noise types
Cost
Rainfall
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 4
 Satellite Communications with VSAT

Architecture:
Centralized (satellite as hub)
Mesh (satellite as switch)
Characteristics:
Small aperture antennas
(1 2 m diam, diam < 100 )
Multiple ground stations
Operation in Ku-band
Low power (1 2 Watts)

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 5

 Star-Structured VSAT Network

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 6

 Star-Structured VSAT Network
Master antenna has high-gain
The hub is ground-based
Traffic takes place via a satellite
Ground stations are independent
All traffic is sent to/from a central hub
There is a double hop for all traffic

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 7

 Advantages of Star Topology
High gain and EIRP of hub Earth station
Large antenna diameter (100 wavelengths)
High transmitter power (200 Watts)
Relatively high satellite EIRP
Antenna gain: 40+ [dB]
Transmitter power: 20 [Watts]
Small link gain to/from user terminal is
compensated
Cost-effective for low user data rates
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 8
 Disadvantages of Star Topology
All communications go through hub (single
point of failure)
Terminals cannot communicate directly
with each other
Terminal-to-terminal communications are
necessarily double-hop.
Long delays through geostationary satellites
may be unacceptable
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 9
Mesh-Structured VSAT Network

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 10

Mesh-Structured VSAT Network
The hub is satellite-based
The network is mesh-connected
Ground stations are interconnected through
the satellite (double-hop within mesh)
Ground stations can be connected by fiber
or WiFi (single hop to mesh)

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 11

 Advantages of Mesh System
Users can communicate directly with each
other
Routing through a hub earth station is
unnecessary
All communications are single-hop
Shorter delays can be arranged by design

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 12

 Disadvantages of Mesh System
Low EIRP at user terminals
Antenna gain: 40 [dB]
Transmitter power: 2 [Watts]
Complex user-to-user connections may
require a computer to switch the
transponder
The required computing in the satellite is
expensive and has power requirements
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 13
 VSAT Components
Indoor system components
Modem
Baseband processing
Network interface
Outdoor system components
Antenna
Low Noise Receiver
High Power (2 W) Transmitter
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 14
Mobile Ground Station Properties
Antennas are mounted on extensible stalk
Antennas are small (low bandwidth)
The vehicles can be unstable safety issues
The ground station transmitter has low
power
Radiation hazards exist near the antenna
There is shock hazard from overhead wires
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 15
 VSAT Network Interface
Requires an Ethernet router
Few ports
Few users
Uses TCP/IP protocol
OSI model
5 of 7 layers implemented
(Session & Presentation layers missing)

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 16

 Earth Station Components
Antenna
Feed line (coax, waveguide)
Tracking requires the use of computers and
special beam antennas
Input amplification is required
Output requires high power amplification

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 17

 Antennas
Discussed previously
Design factors
Gain
Efficiency
Type (Beamwidth, feed type, etc.)
Polarizations to be used (XMT and RCV)
Steering

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 18

 Antenna Tracking
Uses a two-axis stepper-driven steering
system
An interactive algorithm maximizes the
earth station received signals
Step tracking (incremental search by feed horn)
Conical scanning (circular search by feed horn)
Pulsed (multiple feed horns used to search)
Tracking accuracy to 0.3 dB is needed
Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 19
 Antenna Gain and 3-dB Beamwidth

Diameter: 1 2 [m]
Frequency: 12 18 [GHz]
Wavelength: 1.7 2.5 [cm]
Gain: ~ 45 [dB]
Beamwidth: ~ [1 deg]

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 20

 Example: VSAT HQ System

Field network for disaster response HQ
See accompanying drawing

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 21

Lect 12 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 22
 Questions ?

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III Lect 00 - 23

 VSAT Project Design

See text, Chapter 9, Section 9.8, pp370 - 383

Preliminary calculations

Link C/N ratios

Inbound links

Outbound links

System analysis

Complete all calculations

Write design report

Give design presentation (oral exam)

See system diagram on following slide

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 24

 VSAT System

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 25

 Semester Design Project
Start today, instead of Workshop
Complete by last class (December 04, 2012)
- NO EXTENSIONS
Written design report
All equations and calculations shown
Discussion
Questions will be asked (oral examination)
(Assessment questions will be distributed.)

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III Lect 00 - 26

 Design Clarification
Note that the design is for a round trip,
from Master to Peripheral station and back.
This means one inbound and one
outbound link for each station.
The satellite will have two inbound and
two outbound links.

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 27

 Data (Outbound)
Outbound Hub (p379, top):
EIRP = 70 dBW
Outbound Sat (p377, top):
EIRP = 34.0 dBW
Outbound VSAT (p376, top):
EIRP = 44.5 dBW

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 28

 Data (Inbound)
Inbound from Hub (p379, top):
C = -105.3 dBW, N = -150.5 dBW
Inbound from Sat (p377, top):
C = -125.0 dBW, N = -155.7 dBW
Inbound from VSAT (p376, top):
C = -132.8 dBW, N = -150.5 dBW

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 29

 End

LECT 13 2012 Raymond P. Jefferis III 30