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.
