VSAT Communication System

Shatrunjay Rawat, IIIT Hyderabad

Limitations of Guided Media
 Fixed positions – lack of mobility
 Installation time is high
 Difficult to install in some terrain
– Hills, jungles, etc.
 Maintenance is difficult
 Frequent cable faults
Unguided Media - Characteristics
 Flexible
 Fast deployment
 No cable faults
 Easy maintenance
 Lower costs
 Limited bandwidth
 Interference
Wireless Characteristics
 At lower frequencies
– Easy to generate
– Travel long distances
– Penetrate buildings
– Omnidirectional
– Interference between users
– Absorption by earth surface
Wireless Characteristics
 At higher frequencies
– Unidirectional
– Antenna needs to be aligned
– Less interference from neighbours
– Line of sight communication
– Reflected from buildings
 Very Small Apperture Terminal
(VSAT)

December 6, 2009 6
Man Made Satellite
Satellite
 Repeater in the sky
 Broadcast medium
 High Bandwidth
 High reliability
 Fast deployment
Type of Satellites
 Based on Usage
– Communication Satellites
– Military Satellites
– Remote Sensing Satellites
Type of Satellites
 Based on orbit
– GEO
• 36000 Km
– MEO
• 10000-15000 Km
– LEO
• <5000 Km
VSAT
 Can be easily deployed any where within
footprint of satellite
 Reachability in hostile terrain and remote
areas
 Cost of communication independent of
distance
 High network reliability( > 99.7%)
 Enormous expansion capabilities- additional
VSATs can be rapidly installed
 Change in traffic loads can be easily
accommodated
VSAT Network Topology
 STAR:
– VSATs communicate to a central HUB (single
hop)
– VSATs communicate with each other through
the central HUB( double hop)
 MESH Network
– VSAT to VSAT communication without a HUB
– Useful for high volume traffic
Inroute and Outroute

INROUTE OUTROUTE

Hub VSAT
 Frequency of Operation
 Ext C-Band
–Tx: 6.725 GHz-7.025GHz, Rx: 4.5GHz –4.8GHz
–Shares frequencies with terrestrial transmission
systems
–Typical antenna sizes are 1.8m/2.4m
 Ku-Band
–Tx: 14.0GHz-14.5GHz; Rx: 10.95-11.7GHz, 11.7-
12.2GHz, 12.25-12.75GHz
–With heavy rain, fog or clouds, signal strength falls
–Typical antenna sizes are 1.2m/1.8m
–Cheaper end equipment
EIRP Footprint Comparison

GE-1A INSAT-3B
 VSAT Technologies
 TDM/TDMA
– (Time Division Multiplexing/Time Division
Multiple Access)
 SCPC DAMA/PAMA
– (Single Channel per Carrier : Demand
Assigned Multiple Access/ Permanent
Assigned Multiple Access)
 DVB/RCS Broadband VSAT
– (Digital Video Broadcast/Time Division Multiple
Access - Return Channel Satellite)
 TDM/TDMA Technology
 Out Routes:
– Outroute access based on Synchronous TDM
(Time Division Multiplexing)
– Data to multiple VSATs multiplexed in
synchronous time slots sent as a single packet
– Remote VSATs receive complete packet,but
pickup only slots which contain data addressed
to them
– Typical information data rates: 512 kbps -
2Mbps
 TDM/TDMA Technology
 In Routes:
– Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) access
method
– Multiple versions of TDMA access methods
(like Slotted Aloha, Reservation Aloha etc.)
– VSATs transmit bursts in an assigned time
division slots
– Typical Rates 64 kbps, 128 kbps
– Multiple In-routes for one Out-route and multiple
VSATs for one In-route
 TDMA Access Techniques

 Slotted Aloha
– Each burst must begin and end transmission on
predefined time slots
– If collision occurs then bursts must be
retransmitted
– Suited for short , uniform message lengths with
rapid response-time requirements
 TDMA Access Techniques

 Stream Transmission:
– Fixed allocation of bandwidth to a VSAT port
– Excellent performance for heavy and continuous
data transfer
 Transaction Reservation:
– VSAT sends request to Hub to reserve capacity
– Hub assigns time slots on inroute for transmission
– Suited for long and varying message types
 TDM/TDMA Technology

 Best suited for bursty Traffic

 Transaction processing
 Double hop delay for VSAT to VSAT voice links
(~500 msec, exclusive of processing delay)
 1.8/2.4 meter VSAT antenna
 Low cost end user equipment
 Large population of remote users are served by
single HUB
 SCPC/DAMA Technology

 Single hop communication (delay ~ 250 msec)

 Shared pool of frequency pairs
 User demands a frequency pair
 Frequency pair assigned by Central Controller
 After use, frequency is released to shared pool
 Central Controller only involved in call
management
 SCPC/DAMA Technology

 Best suited for continuous stream of

information
 Suitable for voice and video conferencing
 Typical data rates are as low as 8Kbps for
voice, upto 64Kbps for data and 384Kbps for
video
 Antenna size - 3.8 mtrs (Ext-C) / 2.4m (Ku)
 RF capacity chosen depending on speed and
number of carriers being uplinked (typical
sizes 5W, 10W,20W)
 End user equipment is expensive
Broadband VSAT - The need for Speed

 High speed asymmetrical architecture

– 2- 45Mb/s Downstream
– Upto 256Kbps on the Upstream
– Simultaneous Video, Audio, IP Data
 Internet Surfing
 IP Multicast applications
– Video/Audio Streaming
– Web Content Distribution
 Broadcast quality Video/audio
 Broadband Advantage
 DVB/RCS is and industry standard
– Non-proprietary as in case of other
systems
– Broad Market acceptance
– Lower cost as market demand increases
 Deploy in any existing network
– Two-way or one-way
– Not locked into vendor’s proprietary system
 Broadband VSAT

Host Host Front End Server

LAN 1.2/1.8m Antenna

with
2-way ODU
Ethernet Port
Serial Ports
IDU IF Interface

Audio Video
 Dedicated vs Shared Hub
 Dedicated Hub:
– Suitable when number of sites is more than >300
– High Capital Costs
– Services can be added depending on requirements
– Network is more secure
 Shared Hub :
– Hub equipment is installed, maintained and operated by
a Service Provider
– Required number of VSATs can be procured from the
Service Provider
– Several customers run on the same Hub and share the
same resources
Shared Hub Service Providers
 HECL
 Bharti
 Tatanet
 Essel Shyam
 GNFC
 HCL Comnet
 Comsat
VSAT Network Implementation

Remote Site #1
RF/Baseband
Rack TDM/TDMA VSAT
IDU

Antenna 1.2m Antenna

Service
Provider’s Hub
Remote Site#n
Central Location

IDU
IDU
1.2m Antenna
1.2m Antenna

Outbound ( DVB or TDM)

TDMA Inbound
 VSAT Equipment Configuration

 VSAT configuration
– 1.2m Antenna
– 1 W SSPA
– IDU with 1 LAN port
– IFL cable
Implementation Scenario

Service
Provider’s Hub
RF/Baseband
Rack DVB/TDMA VSAT
IDU

Antenna 1.2m Antenna

Central Site
Nx64 Kbps LL
IDU

1.2m Antenna
SCPC Backhaul to SP Hub

Remote site #1

RF/Baseband
Rack TDM/TDMA VSAT
IDU

1.2m Antenna
Antenna

Service
Provider’s Hub

Remote site # n
Central Location

IDU
IDU
1.2m Antenna
SCPC Backhaul 2.4m Antenna
Outbound ( DVB or TDM)
TDMA Inbound