SATELLITE COMMUNICATION, VSAT, DSPT

Long distance communication using conventional techniques like coaxial

cable or microwave radio relay links involves a large number of repeaters. For radio
relay links of repeater spacing is limited by line of sight and is of the order of tens of
Kms. As the number of repeaters increase system performance and reliability are
degraded. Troposcatter propagation can cover several hundred Kms. but the channel
capacity is limited and costs are high due to necessity of large antennas and high
transmit power. HF communication is subject to fading due to ionospheric disturbances
and channel capacity is severely restricted due to limited bandwidth available. Large
areas could be covered if the height of microwave repeater could be increased by
putting it on board an artificial earth satellite .A Communications satellite (sometimes
abbreviated to COMSAT) is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of
telecommunications. Modern communications satellites use a variety of orbits including
geostationary orbits, otherelliptical orbits and low (polar and non-polar) Earth orbits.

For fixed (point-to-point) services, communications satellites provide a

microwave radio relay technology complementary to that of submarine communication
cables. They are also used for mobile applications such as communications to ships,
vehicles, planes and hand-held terminals, and for TV and radio broadcasting, for which
application of other technologies, such as cable, is impractical or impossible. In
October 1945 Clarke published an article titled ―Extra- terrestrial Relays‖ in the British
magazine Wireless World. The article described the fundamentals behind the
deployment of artificial satellites in geostationary orbits for the purpose of relaying
radio signals. Thus Arthur C. Clarke is often quoted as being the inventor of the
communications satellite.

GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT
A satellite in a geostationary orbit appears to be in a fixed position to an earth-based
observer. A geostationary satellite revolves around the earth at a constant speed once
per day over the equator. This satellite revolves above the equator round the earth at a
height of 35,786 km. Its period of revolving round the earth is same as that of the earth
rotation on its own axis. The geostationary orbit is useful for communications
applications because ground based antennas, which must be directed toward the
satellite, can operate effectively without the need for expensive equipment to track the
satellite‘s motion. Especially for applications that require a large number of ground
antennas (such as direct TV distribution), the savings in ground equipment can more
than justify the extra cost and onboard complexity of lifting a satellite into the relatively
high geostationary orbit.

In October 1945 Clarke published an article titled ―Extra-terrestrial Relays‖ in

the British magazine Wireless World. The article described the fundamentals behind the
deployment of artificial satellites in geostationary orbits for the purpose of relaying
radio signals. Thus Arthur C. Clarke is often quoted as being the inventor of the
communications satellite.

The first truly geostationary satellite launched in orbit was the Syncom 3,
launched on August 19, 1964. It was placed in orbit at 180° east longitude, over the
International Date Line. It was used that same year to relay experimental television
coverage on the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan to the United States, the first
television transmission sent over the Pacific Ocean.

A geostationary satellite is launched above the equator 36,000 km high above

the earth. Its period round the earth coincides with that of the earth rotation. Therefore,
the satellite looks as if it is stationary from the earth. If three (3) communication
satellites are launched equidistantly above the equator, it can serve almost all
communication network round the world.

For a geostationary satellite, the following orbital conditions must be satisfied:

 Period of revolution should be same as period of the earth‘s rotation

which is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds.

 The altitude of the satellite should be 35786 km as per the Kepler‘sthird

law.

 The orbit should be in equatorial plane of the earth.

 The satellite should move in the easterly direction same as thedirection of

rotation of the earth.

Geostationary orbits

This satellite is advantageous because:

(1) Its large antenna at an earth station is easy to track.

(2) Twenty–four (24) hours communication can be made with even

onlyone satellite.

(3) The satellite looks at the earth as if it were stationary, and it

radiateshighly effective wave power.

(4) Visibility from one satellite is very wide, and global

communicationcan be made using only three satellites.

Its drawback, however, is its delay caused in long distance transmission.

But, the system is economical and accordingly, it is widely used for both
international andregional domestic communications.

ADVANTAGES OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

(i) Large coverage : Almost one–third of the earth with exception of polar
regions is visible from geostationary orbit. It is, thus, possible to cover
about 10,000 kms. distance irrespective of intervening terrain with a
single satellite.

(ii) High quality : Satellite links can be designed for high quality
performance. The link performance is highly stable since it is free from
ionospheric disturbances, multipath effects or fading.

(iii) High reliability : Reliability is high since there is only one repeaterin in
the link.

(iv) High capacity : With microwave frequencies, wide bandwidths are

available and large communication capacity can be obtained.

(v) Flexibility : In a terrestrial system, communication is tied down to the

links installed. On the other hand, satellite communication is well suited
for changing traffic requirements, locations and channelcapacities.

(vi) Speed of installation : Installation of earth terminals can be achievedin a

short time as compared to laying of cables or radio relay links.

(vii) Mobile, short–term or emergency communications: With ariliftable or

road transportable terminals, short–term or emergency communications
can be quickly provided. Reliable long distance landmobile, maritime
mobile and aeronautical mobile services are feasibleonly by means of
satellite.

(viii) Satellite communication is ideally suited for point to multipoint

transmission on broadcasting over large areas. Application of satellites
for TV broadcasting, audio and video distribution and teleconferencing,
facsimile, data and news dissemination is, therefore,increasing rapidly.

APPLICATIONS AREAS:
(a) TELEPHONY

The first and historically most important application for communication

satellites was in intercontinental long distance telephony. The fixed Public
Switched Telephone Network relays telephone calls from land line telephones to
an earth station, where they are then transmitted to a geostationary satellite. The
downlink follows an analogous path. Improvements in submarine
communications cables, through the use of fiber-optics, caused some decline in
the use of satellites for fixed telephony in the late 20th century, but they still
serve remote islands.

(b) SATELLITE TELEVISION

Television became the main market, its demand for simultaneous

delivery of relatively few signals of large bandwidth to many receivers being a
more precise match for the capabilities of geosynchronous comsats.

(c) FIXED SERVICE SATELLITE

Fixed Service Satellites use the C band, and the lower portions of the Ku bands.
They are normally used for broadcast feeds to and from television networks and
local affiliate stations (such as program feeds for network and syndicated
programming, live shots, and backhauls), as well as being used for distance
learning by schools and universities, business television (BTV),
Videoconferencing, and general commercial telecommunications. FSS satellites
are also used to distribute national cable channels to cable television headends.

(d) DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE

Direct broadcast satellites generally operate in the upper portion of the

microwave Ku band. DBS technology is used for DTH-oriented (Direct-To-
Home) satellite TV services, such as DirecTV, DISH TV etc. Operating at
lower frequency and lower power than DBS, FSS satellites require a dish for
reception (3 to 8 feet (1 to 2.5m) in diameter for Ku band, and 12 feet (3.6m) or
larger for C band).

(e) SATELLITE RADIO

Satellite radio offers audio services in some countries. Mobile services

allow listeners to roam a continent, listening to the same audio programming
anywhere.

(f) SATELLITE INTERNET

After the 1990s, satellite communication technology has been used as a

means to connect to the Internet via broadband data connections. This can be very
useful for users who are located in very remote areas, and cannot access a
broadbandconnection.

(g) NAVIGATION

One of the fascinating applications of satellites is GPS (Global Positioning

System). Its primary application is navigation. Receivers on the earth pick up
transmissions from four satellites simultaneously. The receiver uses the
microprocessor to compute and display the exact position, in terms of latitude and
longitude.

BASIC COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE COMPONENTS

Every communications satellite in its simplest form (whether low earth or
geosynchronous) involves the transmission of information from an originating
ground station to the satellite (the uplink), followed by a retransmission of the
information from the satellite back to the ground (the downlink). The downlink
may either be to a select number of ground stations or it may be broadcast to
everyone in a large area. Hence the satellite must have a receiver and a receive
antenna, a transmitter and a transmit antenna, some method for connecting the
uplink to the downlink for retransmission, and prime electrical power to run all of
the electronics. The exact nature of these components will differ, depending on
the orbit and the system architecture, but every communications satellite must
have these basic components. This is illustrated in the drawing below.
 Basic Components of a Communications Satellite Link

The communication satellite essentially consists of

 Payload

 Support subsystems

Payload refers to the equipment used to provide the service for which the
satellite has been launched. In communication satellites, payload consists of
transponders which carry out the repeater function and the transmit and receive
antennas. Support subsystems include altitude and orbit control equipment, power
subsystem, telemetry and tele-command (TTC) subsystem, etc.

FREQUENCY BANDS:
Frequency bands in use for satellite communication are given below:-

C- Band :
U/L : 5.925 – 6.425 GHz.
D/L : 3.7 – 4.2 G Hz. Total 500 M Hz BW.
Extended C- Band :
U/L : 6.725 – 7.025 GHz.
D/L : 4.5 – 4.8 G Hz. Additional 300 MHz BW
Ku band :
U/L : 14.0 - 14.5 G Hz.
D/L : 10.95 – 11.2 and 11.45 - 11.7 GHz.
A total of 500 MHz BW in Ku band
TIME DELAY ISSUE IN SAT. COMMUNICATION
Transmission path of a communication link through a satellite is about
72000 km long (36000 km uplink path and 36000 km downlink path).
 Electromagnetic waves travelling at 3 x 105 km/sec take about 240 msec. from
one end to the other. Such large propagation delay is at the limit of
psychologically tolerable values in telephony. The propagation delay results in
―echo in a telephony channel. A special equipment called echo suppressors is
incorporated in the earth station to counteract the echo. Propagation delay also
restricts the number of satellite hops for building up a telephony circuit to one as
the resulting propagation delay will be much beyond the acceptable value for more
than one hop. Kinds and Systems of Communication Satellite

ORBITS FOR SATELLITE COMMUNICATION:-

Orbit Definition Altitude Range (km) Period (Hours)

LEO(Low Earth Orbit) 150 to 1,000 1.5 to 1.8
MEO( Medium Earth Orbit) 5,000 to 10,000 3.5 to 6
Geosynchronous 36,000 mean altitude 24
GEO (Geostationary) 36,000 Precisely in 24
plane of the equator

Geo stationary Satellite: Precisely 35,786 km in the plane of the

equator .

SATELLITE FOOTPRINT
The footprint of a satellite is the ground area that
its transponders offer coverage.
D/L EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power) is 32 dbw at Beam center.

Primary Coverage Area - 3 db contour EIRP 32 dbw .

Secondary Coverage Area - 6 db contour EIRP 29 dbw
Tertiary Coverage Area - 9 db contour EIRP 26 dbw

SATELLITE LINK ENGINEERING

Satellite Link Engineering helps in designing a satellite system and gives

knowledge of the required performance of the uplink and downlink, the propagation
characteristics and rain attenuation for the frequency band being used at the earth
station locations, and the parameters of the satellite and earth stations. Additional
constrains may be imposed by the need to conserve RF bandwidth and to avoid
interference with other users. Sometimes all of this information is not available and the
designer must estimate values and produce tables of system performance based on
assumed scenarios. It is usually impossible to design a complete satellite
communication at the first attempt. A trial design must be tried, and then refined until a
workable compromise is achieved.
All communication links should be designed to meet certain performance objectives,
usually a bit error rate (BER) in a digital link or a signal to noise ratio (S/N) in an
analog link, measured in the baseband channel. The baseband channel is where an
information carrying signal is generated or receipt. The baseband channel BER or S/N
ratio is determined by the carrier to noise ratio (C/N) at the input to the demodulator in
the receiver. C/N ratio is calculated at the input of the receiver, at the output terminals
(or port) of the receiving antenna. RF noise received along with the signal and noise
generated by the receiver are combined into an equivalent noise power at the input of
the receiver. In a satellite link there are two signal path, an uplink from the earth station
to the satellite, and a downlink from the satellite to the earth station. The overall C/N at
the earth station receiver depends on both links, and both therefore must achieve the
required performance for a specified percentage of time. Path attenuation in the earth’s
atmosphere may become excessive in heavy rain, causing the C/N ratio to fall below the
minimum permitted value leading to link outage.
LINK ENGG PARAMETERS:
(A) Orbital Location
This is the location of the satellite in Geostationary orbit. The
slot is fixed for each country and is allotted by ITU. The slot is depend on
the location of the country whether it is in northern hemisphere or in the
southern hemisphere. Geostationary orbit is divided in the two parts i.e. 0-
1800 east and 0-1800 west
(B) Satellite G/T (dB/0K)
Satellite G/T = G/T = Gain of the receiving antenna of satellite/ System
noise temperature.
Gain of the antenna is in dB and System Noise Temperature is in 0K
G/T = G (gain in dB) – 10 log10 T
Satellite antenna have negative G/T because the numerical value of G is
smaller than the numerical value of T.
(C) SFD (Saturated Flux Density)(dBW/m2)
It is the flux density of the transponders at
saturation point of the TWTA of transponder.
Flux density (F) = PG/4R2
PT is the output power of transmitter.
GT Gain of the directional antenna used in satellite communication.
F is the flux density in the direction of the antenna bore sight at distance
R. PTGT is the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP).
Power receive at receiving antenna = P = F×A (Watts), A is the area of
receiving antenna.
For Isotropic antenna flux density = Pt / 4R2
(D) Carrier Information Rate (Hz):
This is the data rate to be transmitted on satellite.
(E)FEC Code Rate:
In digital system one can add extra redundant bits to the data stream which can tell
us when an error occurs in the data and can also point to the particular bit or bits
that have been corrupted. System that can only detect error use error detection.
The system that can detect and correct error used forward error correction (FEC).
The efficiency of coding scheme is measured of the number of redundant bits that
must be added to deduct or correct a given number of errors. In some case the
number of redundant bits is equal to number of data bits, resulting in halving of
the data rate for a given channel transmission rate. This is called half rate FEC.
By adding half rate FEC to the data stream using convolutional coding, the
reduction in BER at the baseband output of the receiver is roughly equivalent to a
3dB improvement in C/N ratio.
(F) Modulation :
Any parameter of carrier wave form – amplitude, frequency or phase is digitally
modulated. Phase modulation is almost universally used for satellite
communication. The type of modulation are PSK, BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM etc.
In satellite communication mostly BPSK or QPSK modulation techniques are
used because the higher value of C/N ratio is required for acceptable BER
Bit error rate as a function of C/N for a link with ideal RRC filters and no
intersymbol interference or timing jitter. The curves shown are for BPSK and
QPSK with coherent detection differential BPSK (DBPSK), and non-coherent
FSK (NCFSK). The implementation margin in each case is 0 db.

(G) Transmission Rate (Hz) :

Transmission rate = carrier information rate/FEC.
(H) Noise Bandwidth Factor (NBF):
NBF = (1+),  is the role off factor of Band pass filter.
A filter with a transfer function equal to the square root of a raised cosine function
is called square root raised cosine filter or root raised cosine (RRC filters) even in
practical no such filter actually exists. Filters are used which are nearly equal to
RRC. At transmitter
Bandwidth (occupied) = Rb(1+) Hz where  is > 0. Therefore occupied
bandwidth is always more than bit rate. But at receiver the noise bandwidth of
RRC filters = data rate.
(I) Noise Bandwidth (NBW) (Hz):
 NBW = NBF × data rate / FEC × number of bits per symbol.
(J) Eb/N0 required (dB) :
Eb/N0 required depends on the BER required for system. For lower BER the
more Eb/N0 is required. Eb/N0 = Energy per bit / Noise Power Spectral Density.
NO = N/B0 where N is the received Noise Power (Watt) divided by the Noise
Bandwidth in Hz. For better Eb/N0 more C/N is required.
Eb/N0 = C × B0 / N0 × RS where C is the power transmitted during one symbol
interval, B0 is noise bandwidth, N0 is a noise power spectral density, RS is symbol
rate on the link. The square root raised cosine (RRC) has noise bandwidth (B0)
normally equal to the symbol rate (RS). Thus the receiver design with such filters
to achieve zero ISI (Inter Symbol Inference) has also B0 × TS or B0 / RS = 1.
Therefore, Eb / N0 = C/N.

(K) Clear Sky C/N0 required (dB – Hz) :

Clear Sky C/N0 required = required Eb/N0 + 10log10 data rate (Hz)

(L) Clear Sky C/N required (dB) :

Clear Sky C/N required = C/N0 - 10log10 Noise Bandwidth (Hz)
(M) Link Availability (%) :
All the satellite communication links are affected by the rain attenuation. In the
6/4 GHz band, the affect of rain on the link is small. In the 14/11 GHz (KU) band
and even more so in the 30/20 GHz (KA) band, rain attenuation becomes all
important. Satellite links are designed to achieve reliability of 99.5 to 99.99%,
average over a long period of a time typically a year. This means the C/N ratio in
the receiver will fall below the minimum permissible value for proper operation of
the link between 0.5 to 0.01% of the specific time. The link is than said to suffer
an outage.
C – Band links can be designed to achieve 99.99% reliability because the rain
attenuation rarely exceeds 1 to 2dB. KU Band and KA band link cannot be
designed to achieve 99.99% because the rain attenuation generally exceeds 10 dB
to 20 dB.

Uplink & Downlink Path Loss

Uplink Path Loss (dB):
This is the loss which electro-magnetic waves suffer while propagating from the
earth station to the satellite in the atmosphere.
Uplink path loss = 92.5 + 20log10 (36000 km) + 20log10 (F/1000), F is the uplink
frequency in MHz, the distance of GEO stationary orbit from the earth is 36000
km. (approx.).
Downlink Path Loss (dB):
This is the loss which electro-magnetic waves suffer while propagating from the
satellite to the earth station in the atmosphere.
Uplink path loss = 92.5 + 20log10 (36000 km) + 20log10 (F/1000), F is the downlink
frequency in MHz., the distance of GEO stationary orbit from the earth is 36000 km.
(approx).
The downlink path loss is always less than uplink path loss as the uplink frequency is
greater than the downlink frequency
TOTAL LINK ANALYSIS:
Composite or Total C/N (dB):
(C/N)-1comp. = (C/N)-1uplink + (C/N)-1downlink + (C/N)-1intermodulation.
All the values of C/N are to be converted in Watts (dB to Watts) than the values are
 put in the above formula after complete calculation the value of the composite C/N is
again converted into dB (Watts to dB).
Link Margin (dB):
Link Margin = Composite C/N – required C/N.
The purpose of link margin is to compensate any unseen losses which were not
considered in the link budget so that there is no degradation in the link.

SATELLITE EARTH STATION:

 The earth station is the transmission and reception terminal of a
telecommunication link via satellite.
 The main sub-systems of an earth station to have a much higher
performance level than those of a
radio-relay terminal.
 The simplest of these are the home TVRO system.
 The most complex are the terminal station used for
international communications networks.
The following figure shows the Trans and Receive Chain components available at
any satellite earth station:-
 Following are the main sub-systems of the satellite earth station:
 The antenna system
 The receiver amplifiers (LNA ie Low Noise Amplifier)
 The transmitter amplifiers (HPA ie High Power Amplifier)
 The telecommunication equipment (freq. converters & modems)
 The multiplexing / demultiplexing equipment
 The equipment for connection with the terrestrial network
 The auxiliary equipment
 The power-supply equipment
 The general infrastructure.

V-SAT
VSAT stands for Very Small Aperture Terminal. VSAT is a device (also
known as an ―earth station‖) that is used to send and receive wireless transmissions by
satellite. Millions of VSATs are in use around the world, allowing people to send and
receive two-way data, voice or video transmissions by bouncing signals off of satellites
in orbit.

The "very small" component of the VSAT acronym refers to the size of the
VSAT ―antenna‖ or ―dish‖ - typically about 2 to 5feet (0.55-1.8 meters) in diameter for
Ku-band systems - that is mounted on a roof, attached to a wall or placed on the ground
and is capable of both receiving and sending satellite signals. VSAT systems can be
designed to serve both broadcast and interactive applications whether data, voice or
video, which are now being served by terrestrial lines and can be operated in either
single or multi-user environment

VSAT Equipment is mainly consist of-

 ODU ( Outdoor Unit )

 IDU ( Indoor Unit )

 VSAT Network

Outdoor Unit (ODU):

The outdoor unit system is specifically optimized for use with the Indoor Unit
andconsists of:

 Transmit / Receive Dish (Antenna) (0.75m - 1.8m)

 Block Up-converter (BUC) (1W-2W)

 Low Noise Block-Down-converter (LNB)

 Feed Assembly

 BUC: - Block up-converter converts incoming I.F. (from IDU) to R.F.

transmitting frequency, amplifies it and passes it to feed.

 LNB: - LNB amplifies incoming R.F.(Radio Frequency) from feed

usinglow noise amplifier, converts it to I.F. and passes it to IDU

IDU (Indoor Unit):

 On receiving side, converts I.F. (Intermediate Frequency) from ODU to

base band signals which may be data, video or voice. On transmitting side,
converts base band signals to I.F. and passes them to ODU. I.F. is
generally in L band. R.F. can be in C, Ku or Ka bands.

 The indoor unit may be a small desktop box, or it may be (as in this
case) a network module integrated with a router providing VSAT
network

connectivity just as any other network module and provide flexible Interfaces
like Ethernet 10/100 BaseT (RJ45), USB with maximum download speed of up
to 4 Mbps and maximum upload speed of up to 2 Mbps.
 ODU IDU

SAT Tx

SAT RX

USB

LNB Ethernet 10/100 BaseT (RJ-45)

Telephone Jack for VoIP (RJ-11)

BUC
100-240 VAC
(Optional -48VDC)
Why V-SAT Broadband networking?

V-SAT is generally a very cost-effective medium for broadband data

communications, and has particularly strong advantages in ubiquity (VSAT is
available at any location) and multicast support (sending the same data to tens or
thousands of locations at once). One key advantage of VSAT broadband connections
is that service availability is not limited by the reach of terrestrial telephone or cable
infrastructure. A VSAT earth station can be placed anywhere - as long as it has an
unobstructed view of the satellite. This type of Internet connection is great for areas
that are rural or are perhaps underserved by reliable Internet Service Providers. In
areas like this, new Internet service capabilities are often not cost-effective. Many of
these areas cannot afford to have Internet service that does not have outages. Internet
services in these types of areas can also be expensive and the ISPs do not often have
the latest technology to offer to their subscribers. VSAT broadband is a way to have
the latest technology without having to go through a local ISP. This also serves to
make VSAT an ideal choice for WAN backup and disaster recovery. Because VSAT
completely avoids the local area wire-line infrastructure, it is effectively able toavoid
even large-scale local outages or disasters.

A satellite network can be installed and made operational within a week since
miles of cable need not be installed. And V-SATs are available in remote locations
since it dose not need the infrastructure of a telephone exchange to be present.

―Suppose a Railway department needs to expand its business by deploying

100 new reservation counter within a week, can you imagine the time it will take to
wait for leased lines? In such case, V-SAT Broadband connectivity is the best
Option.‖

Features Broadband V-SAT system of BSNL:-

 Maximum Trans / Receive Data up to 2 Mbps / 4 Mbps with 10/100

MbpsBase-T Ethernet interfaces.

 Supports all IP V4 protocols

  Shared and customized Bandwidth for customers requirements (i.e.
dedicatedor shared Bandwidth)

 Supports Video Conferencing

 Built in GRE Tunneling

 Dynamic Link Allocation (DLA) technology which automatically

adjusts modulation, coding, and gain based on the link environment
(such as during rain) to achieve maximum availability

 VPNs can be created with VSAT Network, MLLN nodes, MPLS

nodes ofBSNL

 VoIP telephony with add on ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor)

 Transparent to IP Sec protocols

 Embedded CPU Turbo Product Coding

 Dynamic Link Allocation (DLA) Support ( unique to BSNL Gateway,

whichno other VSAT service provider can support in India as on date)

 Connectivity to Broadband Internet

BROADBAND V-SAT ARCHITECTURE:

V-SAT networks can be arranged in point to point, star, mesh,
star/mesh, and broadcast configurations. The preferred arrangement depends on
the kind of information flow the network will service. A point to point network
allows two-way communications between two VSAT sites. A star network
allows any number of VSAT sites to have two-way communication with a
central hub. A mesh network allows two-way communications between any
VSAT sites in a network. A central hub is not necessary. Each site
communicates to another site with a single satellite hop.

VSAT Broadband (Ku band VSAT) networks of BSNL designed in a

hub- and-spoke fashion as shown in fig., with customer locations connecting
directly over the air to a central ―hub‖ facility. The equipment at a
customer site is a VSAT receiver/router (similar to a DSL or cable modem),
attached to a small dish mounted on top of or outside the building. At the
central hub facility, a large dish and sophisticated hub RF components receive
and transmit to the remote sites, and route information to and from the Internet
or private networks via leased line.
 S
H
G
Space
Li .
R
Sate
Ku band V-SAT ARCHITECTURE

Internet router is connected to BSNL National Internet Backbone using multiple

2 Mbps leased line. All Remote VSAT locations are having private IP so that remote
VSAT users can connect to Internet.

MLLN customers will connect directly to this routers using lease line and they
will be able to access the VSAT remote terminals. Customers may take 64 kbps or
multiple of it for their main office connectivity.

MPLS: It will be connected to BSNL MPLS cloud using multiple 2 MB lease lines.
MPLS router will work as CE routers for the MPLS cloud.

BSNL‘s Ku Band HUB (Earth Station) at BANGALORE consists of :

• Satellite antenna of 8.1 m – Cassegrain feed type.

• Ku Band RF equipment and its control systems.

GATEWAY Networking Equipment with interfaces to Terrestrial Networks like

MLLN, MPLS and NIB.

V-SAT SERVICES OFFERED

The V-SAT Broad VSAT network allows secure, reliable and cost effective
data, voice and video transmission and enables an organization to deploy nationwide
different services over IP using the shortest time span.

• LEASED LINES Through V-SAT on IP PLATFORM:

4Kbpsonwards

• High speed Broadband Internet

• VPN Networking
 • VOIP Telephony

• Facsimile

• Telemedicine

• E-learning

• IP multicasting

• Video conferencing

• Video streaming

• Distance Education

• Banking

• On-demand services for WAN backup/disaster recovery etc.

Architecture for High Speed Broadband Access using Kuband

VSAT
 As shown in fig. V-SAT (User Terminals) are capable to provide similar
broadband and high speed Internet capabilities available on terrestrial lines
anywhere in India i.e. download speed of up to 4 Mbps and maximum upload
speed of up to 2 Mbps.

 It delivers bandwidth on demand allowing efficient use of bandwidth making

it ideal for broadband access rollout to Small and Medium Enterprises,
Internet Cafes, apartments and individual users. It allows dedicated or shared
bandwidth to match the user‘s requirement. It fully supports standard Internet
connection and any IP applications. VSAT broadband offers top of the line
VPN encryption for the security of your personal information and data. They
also offer full services for things like web hosting, net meeting, etc. A public
IP address is assigned to both the VSAT network module and the router
satellite interface. Network Address Translation (NAT) is implemented on
the Ethernet interface of the router, so that multiple clients can be connected
and use the service.
 It delivers bandwidth on demand allowing efficient use of bandwidth making
it ideal for broadband access rollout to Small and Medium Enterprises,
Internet Cafes, apartments and individual users. It allows dedicated or shared
bandwidth to match the user‘s requirement. It fully supports standard Internet
connection and any IP applications. VSAT broadband offers top of the line
VPN encryption for the security of your personal information and data. They
also offer full services for things like web hosting, net meeting, etc. A public
IP address is assigned to both the VSAT network module and the router
satellite interface. Network Address Translation (NAT) is implemented on
the Ethernet interface of the router, so that multiple clients can be connectedand use
 the service.

Satellite

INTERNET

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 ADVANTAGES OF VSAT
 Availability: VSAT services can be deployed anywhere having a clear view
of the Clarke Belt

 Diversity: VSAT provides a wireless link completely independent of the

local terrestrial/wire line infrastructure - especially important for backup or
disaster recovery services

 Deployability: VSAT services can be deployed in hours or even minutes.

 Homogeneity: VSAT enables customers to get the same speeds and service
level agreements at all locations across their entire network regardless of
location

 Acceleration: Most modern VSAT systems use onboard acceleration of

protocols such as TCP ("spoofing" of acknowledgement packets) and HTTP
(pre-fetching of recognized HTTP objects); this delivers high-quality Internet
performance regardless of latency (see below)

 Multicast: Most current VSAT systems use a broadcast download scheme

(such as DVB-S) which enables them to deliver the same content to tens or
thousands of locations simultaneously at no additional cost.

 Security: Corporate-grade VSAT networks are private layer-2 networks over

the air

DISADVANTAGES IN VSAT

 Latency: Since they relay signals off a satellite in geosynchronous orbit

36,000 km (22,300 miles) above the Earth, VSAT links are subject to a
minimum latency of approximately 500 milliseconds round-trip. This makes
them a poor choice for "chatty" protocols or applications such as online
gaming.

 Encryption: The acceleration schemes used by most VSAT systems rely

upon the ability to see a packet's source/destination and contents; packets
encrypted via VPN defeat this acceleration and perform slower than other
network traffic.

 Environmental concerns: VSATs are subject to signal attenuation due to

weather ("Rain Fade"); the effect is typically far less than that experienced by
one-way TV systems (such as Direct TV, DISH TV etc) that use smaller
dishes, but is still a function of antenna size and transmitter power and
frequency band

 Installation: VSAT services require an outdoor antenna installation with a

clear view of the sky; this makes installation in skyscraper urban
environments or locations where a customer does not have "roof rights"
problematic.
 DIGITAL SATELLITE PHONE TERMINAL (DSPT)
Digital Satellite Phone Terminal System (DSPT system or DSPS)
project involves setting up a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) Based
network for BSNL. The system consists of HUB Station and Remote Digital
Satellite Phone Terminals working in Ku-Band (Transmit Frequency is 13.75-
14.5 GHz and Receive is 10.7-12.75 GHz). DSPT Network provides PSTN
connectivity to rural, remote, inaccessible and hilly areas via INSAT (Indian
National Satellite) or leased transponder for DTS network. The VSAT system
works in a star topology using DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access)
technology. For BSNL VSAT network the Hub shall be located at
Sikanderabad (U.P.), adjoining Delhi, in Uttar-Pradesh and there shall be 15000
DSPT remotes located over several states in India with higher proportions
being in North, North East and East states.

OVERVIEW OF DSPT HUB:

The Hub of DSPT system will be composed of Indoor and Outdoor facilities.
The outdoor facility is a complete Antenna and RF path while the indoor
comprises the Hub Base-band and the other equipment‘s: The Hub of DSPT
system comprises of Indoor facilities and Outdoor facilities.

Indoor facilities: Indoor facilities has following components,

a. Hub Base-band

b. Transit switch.
In the Indoor facility consists of redundant Hub-base band unit, a Transit switch
to provide connectivity to PSTN network, associated Data-Base servers, Billing
system consisting of Billing system Hardware and software, the data networking
equipment consisting Firewall, web-server, Authentication server and router to
provide backend connectivity to the Internet. The base-band and remotes have a
NMS and its databaseto configure and manage the entire VSAT-based network.
Typical Network Configuration of DSPT systemOutdoor facilities:

a. Antenna (8.1 Meter antenna assembly)

b. RF path: RF path consists of Transmit chain and Receive chain.Transmit chain

consists of:-
• ULPC (Up Link Power Control),

• Up Converter and

• SSPA (Solid State Power Amplifier) andReceive chain consists of

• Trance reject filter
• Radar reject filter
• LNA (Low Noise Amplifier)
• Power divider and Down converter

(ix) Overview of DSPT HUB