OTC-24960-MS

Trans-Horizon Digital Troposcatter Communications Link

Wong Hock Jin, Abi Sufyan Zainudin & Mohamad Rizal Khan - Talisman Malaysia Limited.

Copyright 2014, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25–28 March 2014.

This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract

This paper describes the underlying rationale for the implementation of a Trans-Horizon Troposcatter Communication Link
between one of the Talisman Malaysia Limited (TML) South China Sea offshore platforms and an onshore facility in
Malaysia. This communication link replaces an existing VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) system.

The offshore platform is located too far from any networked asset to be linked by line-of-sight microwave. The alternative of
optical fiber connection is too costly in this case. Apart from the high operating cost, the VSAT link has a minimum latency
of 0.5 second associated with geo-stationary satellites and bandwidth is limited to 4Mbits/sec. Studies have identified Digital
Troposcatter as a proven technology, with cost advantage, offering higher data rate and negligible latency.

Conventional Microwave links are limited in range by the curvature of the earth. Troposcatter overcomes the earth’s
curvature by exploiting the natural scattering of radio signals that occurs in the low atmosphere. The scattered signal may be
picked up by a high gain antenna and a sensitive receiver. Digital signal processing is used to enhance the received signal and
enables the Troposcatter link to provide 22Mbits/sec duplex data with Quality of Service in excess of 99.95%.

The link spans 217km and involved the procurement and integration of high technology equipment. The terminal facilities
involved customized construction for both onshore and offshore sites.

The paper, outlines the technical principles of the link, illustrates the design, procurement and engineering challenges and
discusses the project justification and the business advantages gained. It aims to share the experience of a modern installation
for benefit of other operators.
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The Troposcatter Phenomenon

As microwave radar came to prominence during and after WWII, it was observed that interfering radar signals were
sometimes received from sources located well beyond the radio horizon. Investigation of the phenomenon led to the
understanding that in a propagating microwave beam, in low atmosphere or Troposphere, random refractive index variations
cause a small amount of energy to be scattered sideways along the path of the beam. This is a very small effect, but it is
exploitable as a means of overcoming the limitation of earth’s curvature. The background work was undertaken in the 1950s
and 60s and while a complete physical understanding of the Tropospheric scatter phenomenon is still elusive, the subject has
been well characterized experimentally. Europe and United States pooled information to create reference 1, published by the
US National Bureau of Standards and the source on which most links are designed. Though comprehensive, this publication
requires careful interpretation. For the most part, the subject is treated superficially in standard communications text books,
while as general references, 2 and 3 are most useful. Reference 4 is dedicated to Troposcatter Systems and contains valuable
practical information as well as providing guidance on interpretation of reference 1. All the references quoted refer to
analogue Troposcatter Systems which implemented FM voice channels. Such systems acquired a reputation for poor voice
intelligibility and were prone to cross-talk between voice channels and annoying interference. The application of digital
technology to Troposcatter links overcomes the deficiencies which plagued the analogue pre-cursors, but little has appeared
in the literature on digital links.
Figure 1, with exaggerated geometry, illustrates the principle of intersecting beams overcoming earth’s curvature. The
exploitable scattering occurs within a region called the common volume. The received signal level depends very strongly on
the scattering angle, theta, and every effort should be made in choice of sites to obtain high elevations for the antenna groups
and so minimize theta. Theta is the single most influential parameter in sizing the link with respect to power-aperture, so in
effect, theta, to a high degree, determines link cost.

Figure 1, Typical arrangement for an oversea link.

The Need For Diversity

The scattering phenomenon, which couples the transmit and receive beams, provides a signal which fluctuates according to a
Rayleigh statistical distribution. The unfortunate characteristic of such a signal is that it is subject to frequent deep nulls,
during which signal to noise ratio may fall to a level inadequate to support the required data transfer, causing drop-out. The
obvious solution to this problem, encountered also for different reasons in other communication links, is to provide a second
independent channel on the basis that the probability of simultaneous fades will be low. This is termed “diversity”. In
Troposcatter the evolved solution uses four channels and combines them on an instantaneous basis for best signal
enhancement. The Rayleigh fluctuations occur on a timescale commensurate with aerosol motion in the atmosphere, that is,
in seconds to tens of seconds. This fast fluctuation is distinct from slower diurnal and seasonal fluctuations due to bulk
variation in the atmosphere. The diurnal and seasonal variations have to be accommodated by sizing the link appropriately in
terms of power and aperture. Diversity is not a solution for these fluctuations, but the use of four-fold diversity reduces the
power-aperture demands to the point where the diurnal and seasonal fluctuations can be accommodated with practical
equipment parameters. Figure 2 illustrates the action of diversity. It is a time record of signal strength over about 5 minutes.
The vertical scale is in decibels at 10dB per division. The red trace shows the fading pattern of a single channel. 20dB fades
are common and 40dB is experienced within the interval. The blue trace shows the signal resulting as the greater of two
independent channels (dual diversity). Fades of 10db are observed frequently but 20dB doesn’t occur in the interval. Finally,
the green trace shows the signal resulting from four-fold (quad) diversity. The signal fluctuation is held to around 6dB over
the interval, a great gain over the single channel. Of course the diversity gain is bought at the expense of channel replication
and the channels must be independent of each other. This can be achieved by using sufficiently distinct spatial paths, or by
using sufficiently different carrier frequencies on a common path.
OTC-24960-MS 3

Figure 2, Signal strength for largest of 1, 2 and 4 channels illustrating diversity gain.

In C-band, as used in modern links, the empirical rule governing independence in frequency diversity is that a frequency shift
of 1% is adequate. Commonly, two frequencies are used giving dual diversity from this source alone. Additionally two
independent spatial paths are used so that the combination of spatial and frequency diversity yields four-fold or quad-
diversity, achieving the behavior of the green trace in Figure 2. In the same way that there is a minimum frequency shift
needed for channel independence in frequency diversity, there is a minimum spatial separation needed for path independence
in spatial diversity. This is normally taken as 100 wavelengths between phase-centers for antennas positioned on a horizontal
line and 150 wavelengths if antennas are in vertical disposition. The hardware implications of diversity are evident in the
prominent dual antennas at each end of the link. Less visible is the need for dual RF power sources at each end and quad
receivers at both ends. Recent developments have provided a Frequency Converter System in a single box incorporating dual
up-conversion to drive transmitters and quad down-conversion to accommodate four receive channels. This is complemented
by a single box quad Troposcatter modem which processes and combines the four channels. Technical details and outline
specification of the hardware may be found at reference 5. Figure 3 shows the core block diagram of a modern system with
its partitioning into two cabinets, one for transmit and the other for receive. Additional facilities for data routing, network
connection and VOIP voice channel may also be added. The link is fully compatible with internet protocol (IP).

Figure 3, Block diagram for a quad-diversity system

In this figure the two frequencies assigned to each end of the link are color-coded. The antennas use dual polarized feed horns
to afford some isolation between transmit and receive channels which relaxes the requirement on filtering. Nevertheless,
transmit and receive frequencies should be separated by at least 100MHz at C-Band if filter losses are to be contained. The
use of different polarizations does not contribute to diversity effect, that is, orthogonal polarizations experience common
fading in traversing the same path.

Bukit Bintang to Bunga Orkid A (BOA) Link Specifics

The TML link requirement is to connect the Bunga Orkid A platform group to the company network node at Citibank
building in Kuala Lumpur. A search for suitable on-shore terminal sites identified a hill-top location at Bukit Bintang (BB),
4 OTC-24960-MS

Terengganu, which was already in use by Malaysian Telekom. This meant that the site, though remote, possessed useful
infrastructure including mains electricity, back-up diesel generation and back-haul fiber connection to Kuala Lumpur. In
addition the site is located on a hill-top at a useful elevation of 550m above sea level. The great circle distance from BB to
BOA is 217km which is challengingly long, but analysis showed it to be feasible. Opposing these positive characteristics, the
site offered little room to accommodate the large antennas needed. An established tower was available, but the antenna
loading at 1.5 tons for each of two antennas was problematic on an old structure. The decision was taken to clear an unused
tower and erect a new structure to carry the two on-shore antennas in vertical disposition. This is unusual as the standard
solution dedicates one tower per antenna and arranges the antennas to lie on the same horizontal line. Figure 4 shows the
tower with antennas mounted vertically at Bukit Bintang. The antenna diameter is 7.3m. The antenna group at BOA is also
shown. Here the diameter is 5m and a horizontal disposition is used.

On the right, the on-shore antennas are 7.3m in diameter and

mounted at 10 and 20m on a vertical tower which itself is 550m
above sea level. On the left, the platform antennas are 5m diameter
and mounted 35m above sea level under the platform heli-deck.
Note the expanded metal mesh screen used to attenuate radiation
spillage. A similar mesh screen was later erected around the back of
the on-shore tower antennas.
Figure 4, Antenna groups at both sites.

Figure 5, Equipment cabinets.

Both sites use identical equipment apart from the antennas and the filters dedicated to
the allocated frequencies. The compact system is accommodated in two cabinets
shown in Figure 5. Cabinet dimensions in meters are 1.79x0.57x0.78 for the Rx and
1.79x0.57x0.85 for the TX. The total cabinet equipment weight is 402kg and power
consumption is 6.04kW. The dominating power requirement lies in the transmitter
cabinet which houses 2 x 500W solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA). This is the
maximum transmit power judged feasible on the BOA platform due to supply and
cooling constraints and sets the SSPA specification at both ends of the link. The total
heat load is 20.6kBTU which accounts for 1kW of power lost by radiation. The
antenna diameter is the only system variable free to assign differently on the two ends
of the link. The link performance is governed by the product of the diameters, provided
these are not widely dissimilar. The installation constraints on BOA determined that
the maximum diameter that could be accommodated was 5m. At Bukit Bintang, tower
cost had to be considered and this led to the choice of 7.3m in trade-off with Quality of
Service (QoS). The chosen parameters support a data rate of 22Mbits/sec with QoS of
99.95% availability at Bit Error Rate better than 10-6. The system incorporates Forward
Error Correction Coding (FEC) which allows automatic reduction in data rate to
preserve BER for situations where the atmospheric conditions are abnormally adverse
to propagation. Since the data channel is based on Internet Protocol, preserving BER is
a better strategy than attempting to maintain maximum data rate with inadequate signal strength.
OTC-24960-MS 5

Path Loss Across The Link

The calculation of path loss according to the procedure of Reference 1, using Equatorial climate data, indicates that 75% of
links operating to the design parameters will experience path loss less than 229dB for 99.95% of operating time. Overcoming
this large path loss requires a correspondingly large investment in transmitter power and antenna aperture. We can put this in
context by imagining a flat-earth microwave link at the same working frequency over the same distance and not subject to
Troposcatter signal statistics. The path loss of this hypothetical link would be 152dB. The difference in path losses, 77dB for
the numbers given, has to be made up by scaling antennas and transmitter power. Of this hypothetical 77dB about 27dB will
come from transmitter power and 50dB from antenna gain. Such analysis shows quickly that a Troposcatter link over the
distance considered here is on the edge of feasibility given practical constraints on power and apertures. With the statistical
nature of the path loss, there is always a danger of underspecifying power and aperture and hence failing to achieve desired
QoS. Uncertainty in the atmospheric model in a particular region adds to the risk of under or over-sizing. The modern digital
modem used in our system provides some hedge against under-sizing by incorporating Forward Error Correction (FEC)
coding. This facility allows data redundancy to be used adaptively to trade data rate against the imperative of maintaining Bit
Error Rate (BER). It means that under extremely adverse propagation conditions a stable link is maintained at lower data rate
such that the user is protected from outage. By the same token, the modem avoids using full transmitter power unless it is
necessary to do so in the pertaining atmospheric condition. It has the facility to automatically adjust transmitted power to be
just sufficient to maintain the design data rate and BER. For example the path loss that is expected to be greater than 229dB
for 0.05% of total time and engage FEC over this time will, by the same model, be less than 204dB for 50% of the time. This
means that a 500W transmitter which operates at its maximum output for 0.05% of total time could be operated 25dB down
on maximum, that is, at 1.6W for 50% of its time. This huge range of variability is a fundamental property of the
Troposcatter phenomenon. In practice adaptive power control would not be used so aggressively.

Motivation – The RoI In Terms of Business Advantage and Financial Return

Our investment in the Tropo-link has provided both tangible business advantage and positive financial return. On the
business front it has removed many frustrations in communication between the Kuala Lumpur office and offshore assets.
Formerly, email experience was poor and time-wasting. Large attachments and sharing of large files were impractical and
efforts to overcome these problems using thin client methods were tried but were never judged successful. Over the Tropo-
link, the e-mail experience with off-shore is equivalent to local office transactions. The same goes for video conferencing.
Formerly the VSAT bandwidth limited the utility of video conferencing to the point where it was an unpopular option. That
image has reversed and Tropo-video conferencing is making a significant impact to business efficiency. One very welcome
corollary to the introduction of the link is our ability, for the first time, to provide WiFi service for staff off-shore. This is a
development which we find highly motivating for the off-shore work-force. On the engineering front, the link has opened
possibilities for more preventative remote monitoring with particular value when applied to Safety Critical Equipment. In the
VSAT era there was little reason to promote such initiatives because of the bandwidth capacity constraint and high latency
transmission. Quite the opposite now applies and the business will encourage full use of the invested bandwidth. This extends
to offshore CCTV which is now possible with low latency and much higher resolution than hitherto.

Turning to the financial arguments, we can recognize that VSAT is cost prohibitive at the 20 Mbits/sec levels that is needed
for Broadband-equivalent connection, and such high bandwidth with VSAT is really not an option. Moreover, the
unavoidable latency of VSAT limits it usefulness in real-time control applications and is the source of inefficiency when used
with internet protocol, so for that reason alone investing in more than 4Mbit/sec VSAT would be ill-considered. Hence, in
assessing the RoI of the Tropo-link, we compare with 4Mbit/sec VSAT, which we consider to be the best practical
alternative. The Capex investment of the link is recovered in four years of operation. This includes the cost of retaining a
skeletal VSAT capability as back-up.

Project Management
The TML project was conceived and managed by the in-house IT and Operations teams in Malaysia. After preparatory
studies, the project proper was launched in March 2013 and the system was commissioned and declared operational in
December 2013. The project organization tree is shown in Figure 6. Recognising the need for microwave systems experience,
TML employed Scimus Solutions, a U.K. consultancy to provide essential expertise. The land site was provided on lease by
Telekom Malaysia (TM) which also undertook the design and construction of a bespoke tower to support the on-shore
antennas. Platform modifications off-shore were undertaken by TML Operations. O’Connor Engineering procured the
hardware from Comtech Systems Inc., Orlando and O’Connor performed installation and commissioning. In this complex
project there were many inter-dependencies which were cooperatively addressed in a spirit of partnership. The management
focus throughout the project was on the safety of the project team and timely execution to realize the invested benefit as early
as possible.
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Figure 6, Project organisation

Scimus Conclusion
Talisman I.T. and A Troposcatter link from Bukit Bintang to the off-shore
Solutions
Operations platform Bunga Orkid A was completed in nine months as
System
Departments
Consultant planned. At 217km., this is the longest link in the region and
extends the TML network to off-shore, enhancing working
efficiency, safety, and offering staff internet connection akin
to on-shore Broadband. The high data rate, duplex capacity,
O’Connor Telekom
Directly sub- allows the BOA terminal to be used as a hub for connecting
Engineering Malaysia
contracted other assets within point to point microwave access. The
services project delivered the anticipated system data performance at a
latency of only 7msec. and has been working reliably since
installation. TML plans to record the link signal strength
Comtech
meticulously over the first few years of its operation to
Systems Inc. Sub- Sub-
Equipment permit analyses which will establish a better understanding of
contracted contracted
Supplier services services
the diurnal and seasonal statistical variations. This data will
be published for the benefit of potential users in the region
and will allow links to be specified with minimum power-
aperture while avoiding risk of failing to achieve desired QoS.

Acknowledgements
This project received enthusiastic support from many people, sponsors and contributers. There are too many to mention all of
them, but particular recognition should be accorded to Talisman Senior Management Team - Paul Blakeley, Ron Aston, Jim
Tarlton, Brenda Pennock, Go Eng Nging, Nor Kamarul Aisyah, Sharif Osman from Petronas Carigali, The Petro Vietnam
management, The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Prof John Roulston, all of whom
made special effort to help the Troposcatter project succeed. Professor Roulston in particular has been involved since the very
beginning in research, design, system acceptance and many other areas for the best of Talisman interest.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the permission given by Talisman Energy Inc management to make this publication as a
record of the achievement and experience gained.

References
1. Transmission Loss Predictions for Troposcatter Communications Circuits, Vols 1 and 2, issued May 7 1965, revised Jan. 1 1967,
National Bureau of Standards, AN101.
2. Panter, P.F., Communications Systems Design, McGraw-Hill, 1972, ISBN 0-07-048436-8.
3. Barue, G., Microwave Engineering, Wiley, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-08996-5.
4. Roda, G., Troposcatter Radio Links, Artech House, 1988, ISBN 0-89006-293-5.
5. Comtech Systems Inc., www.comtechsystems.com, web resources including equipment data.