The document discusses ViaSat's Ka-band RF gateway technology as part of their high capacity satellite system. It provides details on ViaSat's gateway architecture, including 9.1 meter antennas equipped with monopulse tracking, de-icing systems, and other features to maximize throughput. It also describes ViaSat's use of forward and return link power control to maintain optimal carrier-to-interference ratios and maximize network capacity.

1. Ka-band Rf Gateway as part of Viasat
High Capacity Satellite system
SSPI Vsat Day
21st Nov 2012
Carlos Brutti

2. Viasat Inc. is today the leader in
Ka Band HCS full implementation
Satellite
design
GW /
TT&C
vendor
Teleport
provider
Terminal
vendor

3. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
HCS Architecture
Subscriber
Terminals
Satellite
Connectivity
Gateways &
TTNC
Fiber
Connectivity
Operations &
Business
Internet
SurfBeam
subscriber
terminals
High capacity
spot beam
satellites
Unmanned
remotely operated
Gateway Earth
Stations
Fiber
connectivity
Google email,
web hosting,
portals
Network
operations,
Business systems
Denver, Colorado

4. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
ViaSat-1 Gateways
U.S. contiguous 48-states coverage region
Canada, Alaska, Hawaii coverage not shown
72 UT Beams: 63 U.S. plus 9 Canada
20 Gateways: 17 U.S. plus 3 CanadaViaSat-1
(Aug 2011)
115.1°WL

5. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Gateway / Core Node

6. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Autonomous Gateway
Configuration

7. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
#1 Provider of Large Ka-Band
RF Gateways
 LATEST CONTRACTS (2012)
 Media Networks: Qty (4) 9m Ka-Band gateways
 KACST (Saudi Arabia): Qty (3) 9m Ka-Band gateways
 NBN Co (Australia): Qty (20) 13.5m Ka-Band gateways
 Eutelsat (France): Qty (1) 7m Ka-Band gateways

BEFORE 2012
 ViaSat-1 : (17) Ka-band 7.3 meter antennas
 Eutelsat KASAT : (8) Ka-band 9.1 meter Gateways
 YahSat (UAE): Qty (4) 7m Ka-Band gateways
 Loral: (3) Ka-band 7.3 meter antennas
 O3b: (7) teleport sites with (21) Ka-band 7.3 m
antenna
 US Military KASTARS: (15) Ka-band 9.1 meter
antenna
 DirecTV: (8) Ka-band 9.1 meter antenna

8. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Ka Gateways
Current deployment map

9. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Viasat 1 Gateway Earth Stations

10. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Satellite Calculations Considerations
for Ka-band Satellites
Ku band Ka-band
Same
• Satellite saturated EIRP, G/T, &
input/output power characteristic
• Satellite saturated EIRP, G/T, &
input/output power characteristic
• Earth station max EIRP & G/T • Earth station max EIRP & G/T
• Antenna pointing error • Antenna pointing error
• Intermodulation • Intermodulation
Different
• RF capacity for single 36 MHz
transponder
• Much higher RF capacity for multiple
wide beams (up to 500 MHz)
• ~ 20 to 50 times more RF capacity
• Rain fade ~6 dB • Much higher rain fade ~ 24 dB
• Interference between beams

11. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Interference
Traditional Satellites
Relative Importance for Traffic Capacity
EIRP G/T Interference
Spot Beam Satellites
Relative Importance for Traffic Capacity
EIRP G/T Interference
Traditional Satellite:
Satellite EIRP & G/T
are primary factors for
traffic capacity
Spot Beam Satellite:
Interference is a primary factor
for traffic capacity…sometimes
more significant than EIRP & G/T
Controlling interference is very important to maximize
traffic capacity for spot beam satellite systems

12. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Traffic Capacity Factors
HPA
Linearizer
Improvement
Waveguide
Loss
Antenna
Mispointing
Loss
Antenna
Mispointing
Loss
Antenna Gain
Traffic Capacity ~ (HPA Power) + (Linearizer) – (Waveguide) – (Mispointing) + (Antenna Gain)
~16 % loss in traffic
capacity per meter
0.08 degree
beamwidth = 50 %
loss in traffic capacity
9.1 m provides 26% more
traffic capacity than 8.1 m

13. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
9.1 m Antenna example
15-16 Mar 2011
Work
Platform
Hot Air De-ice
Monopulse Tracking
System
Equipment Room
for RF Equipment
Galvanized
Steel Riser
Aluminum
Reflector
Monopulse
Tracking Feed
Air
Conditioning
KaSAT Gateway
Arganda, Spain

14. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
GW antenna feature

15. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Hub Equipment Room to Maximize
Forward Link Traffic Capacity
 Maximum forward link traffic
capacity requires minimizing
transmission losses between HPA
and antenna
 ViaSat Ka-band antennas include
an air conditioned room as part
of the antenna where the HPA is
installed with minimum
transmission losses
Forward Link Traffic Capacity
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Distance between HPA & Antenna (meters)
RelativeTrafficCapacity
HPAs
Air Conditioned Equipment
Room Built into Antenna

16. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Monopulse Antenna Tracking to
Maximize Forward Capacity
 Very narrow Ka-band antenna
pattern beamwidth (0.078
degrees @ 1/2 power) requires
monopulse tracking to
minimize uplink signal losses
& maximize traffic capacity
 Traditional step tracking loses
too much traffic capacity
Uplink Signal Strength
for 72 km/h Winds Gusting to 96 km/h
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Monopulse Antenna
Tracking
Steptrack Antenna
Tracking
%ofMaximumUplinkSignalPower
Servo Control Unit
Monopulse Feed

17. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Hot Air De-ice
Subreflector heated
by foam enclosed
heating strips Feed blower
uses hot air from
plenum
Circulation fans mount
inside plenum for
thermal stability
Sp1Sp2
Sp3
Sp4
Sp5
Sp6
Sp7
Sp8
Sp9 Sp10
Sp11
Sp12
Sp13
Sp14
Sp15
Sp16
Sp17
Sp18
Sp19
Sp20
Sp21
Sp22
Sp23
Sp24
Sp25
Sp26
Sp27
Sp28
Sp29
Sp30
Sp31
Sp32
Sp33
Sp34
Sp35
10.0
70.0 °F
20
30
40
50
60
FLIR Sy s tem s
 Prevents signal
losses due to ice &
snow
 Heating for:
 Main reflector
 Subreflector
 Feed
 Uniform heating
maintains reflector
shape to maximize
gain
 Electric, natural
gas, & propane
versions available
Thermal imaging
measurements confirm
reflector surface accuracy

18. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
System Diagram
COMMON HUB
9.1m ANTENNA
FEED ASSY
RECEIVE CAL SYSTEM
OUTDOOR SCU
IFL
200 ft
MAX
BASEBAND
TRANSMIT
INTERFACE
FROMGATEWAYBASEBANDMODULATORS
LHCP
PS
UPC SUBSYSTEM
PS
POWER
METER
RHCP
40 dB
40 dB
50 dB
50 dB
TOGATEWAYBASEBANDDEMODULATORS
M&C
M&C
M&C
M&C
10 MHz
M&C
4-PORT
DIPLEXER
TE21 Coupler
MOUNT,
TURNING HEAD
TRCK RECEIVER
ACU
DC SUPPLIES
SIGNAL DIST
WORK
PLATFORM
W/ LADDER
RISER
FOUNDATION
LIGHTNING
ROD KIT
HVAC
SERVO AMPS
M&C
EXTERNAL M&C
Telefonica RF Block Diagram
Telefonica_9.1M_2Aug11.vsd Last edited: 10/6/2011 9:51 AM
HUB LIGHTS
HUB AC
OUTLETS
GROUND SYSTEM
E-STOP
PANEL
COAX
BUCINPUTSWITCHNETWORK
LHC 1
LHC 2
RHC 1
RHC 2
BASEBAND
RECEIVE
INTERFACE
LHC 1
LHC 2
RHC 1
RHC 2
TRACK BDC
VIASAT PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
BPF
BPF
FOUNDATION
KIT
SWITCH
CONTROLLER
M&C
L-Band
Monitor
Ports
M&C
3
M&C
Rain Beacon
TOGATEWAYBASEBAND
COAX
COAX
HPA1
HPA3
HPA2

SIG
GEN
PS
M&C
USB
DI/O
DI/O
DI/O
DI/O
DI/O
DI/ODI/O
DI/O
NTP
GPS RX 1
GPS RX 2
GPS
AUTO-
SWITCH
1 PPS
10 MHz
NTP
10 MHz
10 MHz


10 MHz
8-way
10 MHz
TEMP
SENSOR
M&C
M&C
ETHERNET
SWITCH ACU
10 MHz
3
3
10 MHz
10 MHz
1 PPS
1 PPS
FO
HUB HVACHUB HVAC
DIGITAL
PHASE
SHIFTER
RF LHCP
RF RHCP
TRACKING
LHCP
TRACKING
RHCP
50 dB
50 dB
LNA
CONTROLLER &
POWER SUPPLY
M&C
Note: Switches S101-S103 are dual WG-Coax
LNA1
LNA3
LNA2
LNA4
LHCP
RHCP
DI/O
DI/O
10 MHz
10 MHz
10 MHz
BDCOUTPUTSWITCHNETWORK
M&C
M&C
M&C
M&C
DEHYDRATOR
M&C
DRY AIR
DISTRIBUTION
TO WG
10 MHz
SUPPLY
RETURN
MULTI-BAND BUC
BUC 1
∑
10 MHz M&C
10 MHz
10 MHz
To CMS
MULTI-BAND BDC
BDC 2
BDC 1
HOIST
EQUALIZERPANEL
BUC 2
MULTI-BAND BUC
BUC 1
∑
10 MHz M&C
BUC 2
MULTI-BAND BDC
BDC 2
BDC 1
MULTI-BAND BDC
BDC 2
BDC 1
MULTI-BAND BUC
BUC 2
BUC 1
∑
10 MHz M&C
L-Band
DE-ICE SUBSYSTEM
RE-
FLECTOR
DEICE
SUB-
REFLECT
OR DEICE
FEED
HORN
DEICE
DEICE POWER
DISTRIBUTION
DEICE
CONTROLLER
PS
BUC 3
LHC 3
RHC 3
RHC 3
LHC 3
L-Band
Monitor
Ports
BUC 3
BUC 3
BDC 3
BDC 3
BDC 3
Notes:
1. Third upconverter (BUC), downconverter (BDC), and associated IFL cables do not
apply to USA sites. Refer to proposal for details.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
AMP
BPF
ETHERNET
SWITCH
RF ELEMENT
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
`
Frequency
Upconverters
Linearized
HPAs
Monopulse
Tracking
Deicing
LNAs
9.1 m
Antenna
Remote
M&C
Frequency
Reference
IFL
Cables
Return Link
Power Control
Forward Link
Power Control
Frequency
Downconverters
Pressurization

19. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Forward Link Uplink Power Control
to Maximize Traffic Capacity
 Maximum forward link traffic
capacity requires maintaining the
optimum carrier to interference
(“C/I”) ratio between power of
desired signal and interfering signals
 ViaSat’s unique forward link power
control maintains the optimum C/I
by controlling uplink power of all
gateway stations
 Combination of ViaSat’s RF gateway &
SurfBeam 2 baseband equipment
 Eliminates uplink power variations due
to upchain equipment temperature &
aging gain variations
 Boosts uplink power to satellite to
mitigate rain fades
Forward Link Power Control
ViaSat RF Gateway
HPAUpconverter
SurfBeam 2
Modems
SurfBeam 2
Element Mgt System
Uplink Power Control
Commands
Desired signal
Signals from
other
gateway
stations
C/I

20. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Return Link Power Control to
Maximize Traffic Capacity
 Maximum return link traffic capacity
requires maintaining the optimum
carrier to interference (“C/I”) ratio
between power of desired signal and
interfering signals
 ViaSat’s unique return link power
control maintains the optimum C/I
by controlling uplink power of all
user terminals
 Combination of ViaSat’s RF gateway
& SurfBeam 2 baseband equipment
 Measures & commands uplink power
from user terminals to yield a
constant value at the satellite
 Eliminates power level uncertainties
due to gateway equipment gain
variations
Desired signal
Signals
from other
user
terminals
C/I

21. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
Viasat 1 Network
Operations Center
Gateway
Antenna
Satellite-Ethernet Traffic TCP/IP Services
Local
Element
Manager SNMP traps
MIB values
Configuration files
E
V
E
N
T
D
B
System
Manager
Views
System
Manager
Views
System
Manager
Views
Entire network is remotely managed from NOC
Real-time Status of Customers
Remote Management of Gateways
Integrated Performance,
Provisioning and Billing
Network Operations Center
VPN
ViaSat Gateways / Core Nodes

22. ViaSat Brings Your Network To Life
The End
carlos.brutti@viasat.com