Introduction to VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)

A Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), is a two-way

satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters.

VSATs access satellites to relay data from small remote

earth stations (terminals) to other terminals (in mesh configurations) or master earth station "hubs" (in star configurations).

A typical VSAT dish Antenna

Motivation to use VSAT

VS

Hard to reach remote areas through leased lines. Reliability Time to deploy (4-6 months vs. 1-2 weeks) Cost ( If distance is more than 500 km then the VSAT solution is more costeffective as compared to the optical fiber.) Emergency Situations

VSAT vs. LEASED LINES

VSAT

Footprint across the country High initial investment High reliability Uptime of 99.5% No recurring b/w costs. Option not available in all areas Low initial investment Dependent on the capacity of the local system Recurring Bandwidth costs

Leased Line

VSAT Characteristics
Reliability Flexibility Network Management A low mean time to repair Cost Link budget

VSAT Technology
Bands C-band (4-6 GHz), Ku-band (10-20 GHz) and

Ka-band (20-30 GHz) that require different licensing approaches.

a) the Space Segment operator; b) the satellite network

Entities

operator, who operates one or more Gateway Stations or Network Control Stations (HUBs) or other ground stations; c) the Satellite Service Provider; d) the subscriber who uses individual VSAT equipment.

Connectivity Point to Point (Mesh), Point to Multipoint (star, hub at centre), Multipoint to multipoint (hybrid)

Segments of VSAT
Space segment
Ground segment: Segment has two parts:

1)Outdoor Unit

2)Indoor Segment

Block Diagram of a VSAT System

Various components of VSAT network

Antenna Control Unit High Power Amplifier

Low Noise Amplifier

Up/Down converter Modem & Multiplexer

Router & Exchange

Antenna Control Unit

This unit works to

receive & transmit signals from satellite.

Beacon signal receiver:

Antenna Tracker:

High Power Amplifier

Also known as Vacuum Tubes (Valve) Amplifiers are cost effective in high power applications They are of two types:1) Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA):- a TWT integrated with a regulated power supply & protection circuit is referred to as a TWTA
2) Klystron II Tube Amplifier:- makes use of electron bunching in a klystron tube

Low Noise Amplifier

Used to amplify very weak signals captured by

antenna.

The noise of all subsequent stages is reduced by gain

of LNA and noise of LNA is directed into the received signal

Up/Down converter
Used to convert signals

from low to high or from high to low frequency respectively.

Up converters are used to

increase the frequency while transmitting

Down converters are used

to decrease the frequency while reception

Modem & Multiplexer

Modem:- a device which

modulates the transmitting signal & demodulates the receiving signal.

Multiplexer:- it is a

device that allows multiple logical signals to transmit simultaneously over a single channel.

VSAT topologies
STAR-the hub station controls, monitors &

communicate with large number of dispersed VSATs. suitable for centralized data applications.
MESH-a group of VSATs communicate directly with

any other VSAT in the network. suitable for telephony applications.

Hybrid-where a pair of network operates on Star while

some sites operate on Mesh

Various Multiple Access used by VSAT services TDMA

Time-division Multiple Access VSAT TECHNOLOGY PAMA Pre-Assigned Multiple Access

SCDC Single-carrier per Channel

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access FDMA DAMA Demand Assigned Multiple Access CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

When numerous remote sites communicate with one

channel hub.
Competition with one another for access to central hub

max bandwidth is restricted to 19.2Kbps

Satellite sources are shared on time slot basis. Usually used in star topology

SCPC(Single Carrier Per Channel

SCPC-based design provides a point-to-point

technology, making VSAT equivalent to conventional leased lines.

Normally dedicated bandwidth of up to 2 Mbps More than 2 Mbps can be accommodated with the use

of different IDU.

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

Oldest method for channel allocation.
The satellite channel bandwidth is broken into frequency bands for different earth stations. The earth stations must be carefully powercontrolled to prevent the RF power spilling into the bands for the other channels. Here, all VSATs share the satellite resource on the frequency domain only.

Three types of FDMA variants

Three types of FDMA variants: Pre-Assigned Multiple Access (PAMA) Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Advantages: Availability: anywhereno limitations Fast Deployment: Within hours! Homogeneity: Same speed and SLA regardless of

location

Multicast: Broadcast schemes which allows broadcast

at no additional cost.

Few Points of Failure: just two on the earth.

Disadvantages: Latency: round trip delay of 500ms or even more!

Cost of Bandwidth : high as compared to others!

Environmental concerns : fading due to rain/snow (frequency

band dependent)
LOS dependency: : outdoor antenna installation requires clear

LOS.

Interference :

common to all wireless media!

Common Faults/Problems: Fading (due to rain etc.)

LOS obstructions ODU/IDU malfunctions

De-pointing of Antenna
Interference

Various services offered by Vsat: Interactive real time application

Telephony Intranet, Internet & IP infrastructure

Direct-to-Home
Video-on-demand via satellite Multimedia application & many more.

Summary

Satellite technology(VSAT) is the fastest way to get

a reliable connection from A to B in an emergency situation.