Automatic Antenna Pointing
Version 1.0
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................3
2 Connect the Modem to the ACU .......................................................................................................4
3 Enable Automatic Pointing ................................................................................................................5
4 Configure Modem – ACU Communication ........................................................................................6
5 Automatic Pointing Process ..............................................................................................................8
5.1 Terminal Installation ................................................................................................................ 8
5.2 Pointing Mode .......................................................................................................................... 8
5.3 Synchronization Mode ........................................................................................................... 10
5.4 Operational Mode .................................................................................................................. 11
5.5 OpenAMIP Extension for Signal Info ..................................................................................... 11
6 Acronym List ................................................................................................................................... 12
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
1 Introduction
Boats, caravans, trucks, oil rigs and air planes often use Antenna Control Units (ACUs) to point their
antenna to the correct satellite.
The Newtec MDM3x00 and MDM2500 satellite modems now support the use of such ACUs.
This document describes:
How to connect a Newtec MDM3x00 or MDM2500 modem with an ACU?
How to configure the modem in order to exchange information with the ACU?
The automatic pointing process.
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
2 Connect the Modem to the ACU
The Antenna Control Unit (ACU) is connected to the modem via Ethernet, as shown in the following
figure:
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
3 Enable Automatic Pointing
By default, the terminal is configured for manual antenna pointing.
To enable automatic pointing with an ACU:
Go to the modem GUI and click the “Antenna Controlling” tab.
Click and select the Automatic Pointing check box to enable this pointing method.
Click .
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
4 Configure Modem – ACU Communication
Antenna pointing information is exchanged using a logical interface which is compatible with
OpenAMIP (Open Antenna to Modem Interface Protocol). This communication between modem and
ACU is based on TCP/IP. The required parameters for this connectivity are set via a separate menu in
the modem GUI, which becomes available once automatic pointing is enabled.
Enter values for the parameters which are used for the communication between the modem and
the ACU.
Parameter Description
IPv4 address of the ACU.
ACU IPv4 Address The modem uses the entered IP address to reach the ACU. Make sure
the management IP address of the modem and ACU are in the same IP
subnet.
TCP port of the ACU. The modem uses the entered TCP port to reach
ACU TCP Port
the ACU.
Keep alive time in which the modem asks the ACU to send its GPS
Timeout Requested coordinates and the antenna status. This value is used in the “A” and
“W” message sent to the ACU.
If the modem does not receive the status (which is part of the “s”
Timeout Tolerance message from the ACU) within this time interval, the modem switches
back to pointing mode.
Check box to indicate if the modem sends L-band frequency or RF
Use L-Band Frequency
frequency to the ACU. L-Band is the most common setting.
Indicates the polarization of the signal transmitted by the modem, as the
TX Polarization ACU can support both co- and cross polarization and might expect this
value from the modem.
Once automatic pointing is enabled, the modem sends the parameters of the default pointing carrier
and the outdoor unit towards the ACU via OpenAMIP-compatible messages.
Please refer to the user manual for more details about configuring
the pointing carrier.
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
The modem goes into pointing state in case the TCP/IP
connection between modem and ACU is lost or timeout
(as configured in the timeout tolerance) is exceeded.
The modem then continuously tries to re-establish connectivity.
The ACU uses the pointing carrier settings to track the correct satellite.
Check the monitoring parameters to verify the communication between modem and ACU.
Parameter Description
Communication Indicates if the TCP communication between modem and ACU is OK or
Channel State not.
Time interval in which the ACU expects feedback from the modem (sent
Keep Alive Interval
from the ACU to the modem via an “a” message.
Part of the “s” message from the ACU informing the modem about
antenna pointing status. Possible values are:
Antenna Status OK
Not OK
Unknown
Part of the “s” message from the ACU informing the modem that it can
TX Allowed transmit a signal. Transmission is typically allowed after pointing is
successfully completed.
Part of the “w” message (GPS coordinates) from the ACU informing the
Latitude
modem about latitude.
Part of the “w” message (GPS coordinates) from the ACU informing the
Longitude
modem about longitude.
RX Message Counter Number of messages sent by the ACU and received by the modem.
TX Message Counter Number of messages sent by the modem towards the ACU.
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
5 Automatic Pointing Process
5.1 Terminal Installation
The first time your modem starts up, you are redirected to the Terminal Installation page. If your
modem has already been installed before, then click if you want to restart the complete
installation procedure
The installation procedure must be performed step by step, and starts with selecting an outdoor unit
and a satellite beam.
When the ODU and beam have been selected, they are stored in the flash, and will not have to be
selected again. The modem moves to the pointing mode.
If another ODU or beam needs to be selected, then restart the terminal installation.
Whenever the data of the active ODU or beam are changed, the terminal installation restarts
automatically and the user will have to reselect the ODU and beam. The main reason for this is that
during the selection process, a check is done to see if the selected ODU and beam are compatible.
5.2 Pointing Mode
Pointing starts automatically if the communication between modem and ACU is ok. During pointing
mode, the ACU is configured and is expected to find the pointing carrier and start tracking it.
The modem configures the ACU using the data from the default pointing carrier. It will never
automatically switch to the second pointing carrier. Note that in automatic mode, the field “Transport
Mode” which can be configured in a pointing carrier will not be used.
Using the OpenAMIP-compatible protocol, the following commands are sent to the ACU: S, H, P, B.
Messages X and K are not yet implemented. Finally, the terminal issues an F command to initiate the
search.
Sending the “K” message (Max Skew) to the ACU is not yet
supported. Consequently, the value is set fixed to “0”.
Sending the “X” message to the ACU is not yet implemented.
Consequently the value is set fixed to “none”.
Refer to the OpenAMIP standard for more information about these
commands.
When the ACU is configured, the modem tries to lock on the initial carrier. This allows for the pointing
carrier to be a simple (not even modulated) carrier, like a beacon. It is of course possible to have a
pointing carrier identical to the initial carrier.
When the modem gets a lock on the initial carrier, it will indicate lock to the ACU:
The command “L 1 1” is sent.
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
After lock has been achieved, the modem remains in pointing mode until a NIT has been received on
the initial carrier. In a Newtec Dialog system the NIT is normally transmitted every second. This NIT
contains the orbital position of the satellite. The modem compares the value, with the value from the
selected beam to verify that it is pointed to the correct satellite.
Following situations can occur:
The NIT is received, and contains the correct orbital position.
The modem keeps indicating “lock” to the ACU, until it receives TX Allowed message (which is
done via the “s 1 1” command).
It is possible that the TX Allowed message was already received. In that case the modem will
immediately move to synchronization mode.
Something is wrong with NIT: not received or wrong orbital position.
The modem indicates loss of lock to the ACU. Since the NIT is normally received every second,
the ACU will have very briefly seen a positive lock, followed by a negative lock message. This is
done to give feedback to a searching ACU as fast as possible. Some ACUs might decide to
continue searching if they do not receive the lock indication from the modem with 1 second.
It is possible to define two initial receive carriers in the modem.
If the modem (which is in a pointing state) cannot lock on the
default initial receive carrier during a 3-minute time period, it tries
the other initial receive carrier.
If there is no lock on the other initial receive carrier as well, then
the modem switches back to the default receive carrier. This
switchover finishes as soon as the modem can lock on an initial
receive carrier.
When the correct NIT was found and TX is allowed, the mode moves to the synchronization mode.
Pointing is finished automatically after the modem has detected the correct satellite.
Use if the automatic pointing fails and if you want
to interrupt the automatic pointing procedure. This allows to verify
the automatic pointing settings or to troubleshoot the issue.
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
5.3 Synchronization Mode
During this sub-state, the concept of pop-ID signaling is used. Each forward traffic carrier
contains a data carrousel signaling the intended population ID for each MAC-address (that is
each terminal) provisioned on the associated Satellite Network (SatNet) of that forward traffic
carrier. This population ID is stored persistently by the terminal.
Terminals use the stored population ID to parse the RMT during acquisition to arrive at a
forward traffic carrier. In case this forward traffic carrier is not signaling the terminal’s MAC
address, the terminal iteratively looks through the RMT for other forward traffic carriers that do.
This can be the case for newly installed terminals or terminals that have just been moved to a
different Satellite Network.
During the synchronization sub-state, the modem synchronizes its internal clock with the signaled
NCR tables. The phase is split up into two phases.
• During the first phase, only the NCR signaling is processed and the multicast IP data is
received. This allows the modem to detect a broadcasted software image and process the
pop-ID signaling.
• During the second phase, the return specific signaling is also processed (FCT, SCT, TCT,
WCT and SCT2). DVB-S2 TIMs (Terminal Information Messages) are received and the last
DVB-S2 operational TIM is being saved to be able to process and react to it immediately after
being synchronized. Keep in mind that the Forward Link is based on the DVB-S2 standard.
During the synchronization mode (and also during operational mode), the modem will always signal
lock to the ACU, even if it is not locked yet to the final forward traffic carrier. This is to avoid confusing
the ACU during potential carrier hopping that might happen in the synchronization phase.
If the correct NIT was found on the alternative (not preferred) initial carrier, then the modem will
anyhow start synchronizing on the preferred initial carrier. It will do this for 4 times, and then switch to
the preferred initial carrier and try that once. If synchronization succeeds on the alternative carrier,
then preferred and alternative carrier are switched.
If lock is lost during the synchronization mode (for example because the ACU lost track), then a
timeout will happen after 50 seconds. Depending on the number of initial carriers, this will happen:
1 initial carrier: After 4 tries, the modem will move back to pointing mode and start signaling the
real lock status to the ACU.
2 initial carriers: After 4 tries, the alternative initial carrier is used. After 1 failed try of the
alternative initial carrier, the modem is moved back to pointing mode and will start signaling the
real lock status to the ACU.
During the synchronization phase, the modem might hop from one carrier to the next.
These frequencies, nor their lock status is sent to the ACU.
When the modem manages to reach the final carrier, it will move the operational mode.
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
5.4 Operational Mode
If lock is lost during operational mode, the terminal moves back to the synchronization mode after 5
seconds. If after 5 more seconds, there is still no NCR lock, the modem will move back to pointing
mode (and the ACU will get a lock lost message).
Some antenna controller use the TX frequency and bandwidth for calibration.
The modem will send the TX LO, as specified in the ODU settings. Only BUCs are supported.
Initially the modem will not send a “T” message at all. Once the modem acquired a return technology
and starts to login, a “T” message will be sent to the ACU. These values will only change when the
modem would login again.
For S2: The configured frequency and bandwidth are used.
For CPM: The center frequency of the superframe (as signaled in the SCT) is used.
The bandwidth is set fixed to 4 MHz.
For HRC: The center frequency of the carrier group is used.
The bandwidth is set fixed to 4 MHz.
5.5 OpenAMIP Extension for Signal Info
OpenAMIP does not provide messages for sending signal quality info from the modem to the ACU.
Therefor following message extension are applied by Newtec:
Sender Type # Params Parameters Semantics
ACU Ntc_s 1 int interval Requests periodic signal info from the modem. The modem
averages the signal strength and Es/No over 200 ms. It is
possible that the modem reports signal info about a different
carrier than the one configured in the ACU. This happens if
the modem has a different initial carrier and pointing carrier.
In that case, the signal strength is about the initial carrier.
The modem will immediately respond with the signal info
message, and then periodically send it again every interval,
expressed in milliseconds. The granularity of the interval is
20 ms.
Modem Ntc_S 2 float signal Signal strength in %
strength Es/No in Dbm
float Es/No
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Automatic Antenna Pointing
6 Acronym List
Acronym Description
ACU Antenna Control Unit
BUC Block Upconverter
CPM Cross Polarization Management
Dbm Reference to 1 milliwatt
DVB-S2 Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite version 2
Es/No Energy per symbol / Noise spectral density
FCT Frame Composition Table
GPS Global Positioning System
GUI Graphical User Interface
HRC™ Newtec High Resolution Coding™
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4
LO Local Oscillator
MAC Media Access Control
MHz Megahertz
ms Milisecond
NCR Network Clock Reference
NIT Network Information Table
ODU Outdoor Unit
OpenAMIP Open Antenna to Modem Interface Protocol
RF Radio Frequency
RX Receive
SatNet Satellite Network
SCT Superframe Composition Table
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TCT Timeslot Composition Table
TX Transmit
WCT Waveform Composition Table
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