SatCom For Net-Centric Warfare March 2010 MilsatMagazine
MILSATCOM We’ve come a long way to get to pcma
Meeting demanding Ka-Band Requirements
SATCOM Uplink HPAs
COTM Challenges
BGAN SDR Breakthrough
A Spatial Router
Military satellite WANs
Network management, the next step
Robert Wright, integral systems
bob Norton, vizada
Terry magee, wavestream
4 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 PAYLOAD
COMMAND CENTER Robert Wright, Jr., integral systems>>>>>>> 66 Bo Norton, vizada>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 76 Terry Magee, wavestream>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 81
focus Cotm challenges, peter woodhead> >>>>>>>>> 07 Milsatmagazine Network management, wally martland>>>>>> 61 Vol. 3, No. 2—March/April 2010 Military satellite wans, Gordon dORworth> 53 A spatial router, Laurence cruz>>>>>>>>>>>> 45 Silvano Payne, Publisher + Writer Hartley G. Lesser, Editorial Director Pattie Lesser, Editor Intel P.J. Waldt, Associate Editor Chris Forrester, Associate Editor Bgan sdr breakthru, Claus vesterholdT>>>> 39 Michael Fleck, Contributing Editor Jill Durfee, Sales Director + Ass’t Editor Simon Payne, Development Manager Tech ops Authors We’ve come a long way to pcma, viasat>>>>>>> 17 Laurence Cruz ka-band requirements, Stephen turner> >>> 25 Gordon Dorworth Hartley Lesser Satcom uplink hpas, comtech xicom>>>>>>>>> 32 Pattie Lesser Wally Martland Stephen Turner Claus Krohn Vesterholdt Peter Woodhead
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COTM
ChallengesPeter Woodhead There are many X-band and Ku-band satellite tracking antennas for On-The-Move (OTM) applications, but only a few products have been developed for Ka-band. With the deployment of the Wideband Gapfiller Satellites (WGS) the demand for OTM Terminals at Ka-band will increase. intel Ka-band arepresentedinthisarticle. system. Someofthechallengesinworkingat thresholds foraKa-bandOTMAntenna of innovationstodeterminetheperformance has takentheopportunitytoexploreanumber demonstrate technology,andEMSolutions program isdesignedtoinvestigateand Demonstrator Defence Capability&Technology Communications Systemunder a Ka-bandOn-The-MoveSatellite EM Solutions (CTD)Program.The iscurrentlydeveloping Australia’s provided adesignplatformtooptimizeand mechanical andsystemcontrolmodels.This Matlab (MathWorksproducts)tocreate for mechanicaldesign,andSimulink used SolidWorksandCosmosWorks and thephysicalappearance.EMSolutions mass andinertiaproperties,jointlocations control-system. Thismodellingextracts CAD package,intoaphysicalmodelofthe mechanical designs,createdusinga3-D Design simulationtoolstodaywillimport Control Mechanical System esign to Design update thesystem. Modelling model. Typical system simulation (Bushmaster) inthe a testvehicle motion datafrom recorded vehicle EM Solutionsused verify performance. model inorderto be fedintoasystem or simulated)can Recorded data(real on constructedjigs. measurements made updated tomatch the modelwas was iterativewhere The designprocess physical model. make anaccurate bearing frictionto such asnoiseand non-linear effects the modelincluding incorporated into control systemwas The entireantenna Physical intel simulation inputs included limits up to: 65 optical, which may not be robust enough for degrees per sec for velocity; 300 degree per certain applications. Incremental encoders sec2 for acceleration; and 10Hz frequency need to have some sort of homing (e.g. a response. Simulations allow the control loop limit switch or another encoder head) in order design to be optimized. The following image to determine the absolute axis position. In shows plots of the pointing error magnitude addition the control system will generally and motor power consumption of a Ka-band integrate the pulses coming from the encoder tracking antenna simulation model. to determine the absolute axis position. Noise
Antenna Tracking Mount Motors/Amplifiers combinations need to be optimized as part of the control loop design. This process involves sending test waveforms through each motor in order to characterise the motor response to various inputs. Modifications to the amplifier circuit may be required to meet design control loop parameters of the tracking mount.
Encoders are required as part of the motor drive circuit and to determine axis position. There are two options for rotary encoders — absolute and incremental. Absolute encoders have the advantage that they provide axis position at any instant without needing to move the axis. The drawback is that absolute encoders are more complicated and they are mostly
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 9 intel which causes pulses to be missed or add will is once again able to track the satellite. gradually deteriorate the measured position This blind region may also result in a large and cause inaccuracies. There are also more movement of the azimuth axis during the options available for incremental encoders reaquisition process. compared to absolute, including magnetic and inductive forms. For example, an Azimuth and Elevation (Az-El) type tracking mount will be the Physical Effects — worst case when looking at 90 degrees Friction and Balance elevation (straight up). Pointing errors can Friction causes the tracking mount to lose be considered to have two components: its pointing angle during vehicle motion, so magnitude and direction. When the Az-El the motors must apply torque to overcome tracking mount is facing straight up, the the friction. High friction within the motor and magnitude will be the amount the elevation bearings result in the motors having to use axis needs to move, and the direction is more power to overcome the friction. Having how much the base will have to move. At some friction in the bearings/motors however high elevation angles where key-hole effects does alleviate power consumption as the occur, the azimuth axis may need to track to a motors needed to compensate for any out of direction which could be anything in a +/- 180 balance effects and friction will tend to hold degree range. the mount still. In a purely mechanical tracking platform, Balance is a critical factor in tracking mount the most straight forward way to prevent design, as having a balanced system (ie the the keyhole effect is to increase the vertical axes sit on the centers of mass) may aid in profile of the antenna mount to allow it to face reducing power consumption and increase straight up. However in some applications this system performance. In an unbalanced extra vertical height may be unacceptable. In mount linear acceleration of the vehicle will these applications there are more complicated translate into rotational motion about axes, so approaches which include: additional axis; or the motors must consume power in order to some mechanical deflection of the beam will maintain the desired pointing angle. The more need to be considered. balanced the mount the less this effect occurs.
Keyhole Effect A problem within satellite tracking mounts is keyhole effect, which occurs when the mount is required to track a satellite at an elevation angles approaching 90 degrees from its base (referred to as looking up). This results in a blind region where the antenna is unable to see the satellite. In this region the tracking system needs to rely on non-closed-loop tracking (e.g. gyros and navigation system) to achieve an optimal position when the antenna
10 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 intel A possible method for countering this effect Need For Closed-Loop is to add another axis to the system which Ka-band SOTM operation imposes quite is mounted at 90 degrees to the primary stringent constraints on pointing-error control. elevation axis. This axis may only need limited These constraints are due to a combination angular movement to reduce load on the of regulatory and link-budget considerations. azimuth axis when the mount is pointing at While the actual pointing-error requirement high elevation angles. The two elevation axes for a SOTM terminal will depend on a number track out pointing errors, while the base is of parameters, it is likely to be of the order of able to move to an optimal position. Tracking hundreds of milli-degrees. control loops will need sufficient bandwidth on the azimuth axis so it is able to move to a new Achieving this pointing accuracy would be optimal position before the angle limit on the very difficult with an open-loop tracking elevation axes are reached. Adding a second system that relies solely on inertial elevation axis will increase the cost and measurement systems to steer the antenna. height of the terminal as more mechanical and Therefore, it is sensible to consider using a control system design is required, however it closed-loop tracking system that employs may result in power savings and less wear on some means of directly measuring the the azimuth axis. pointing-error.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 11 intel There are many well known methods for Phased Arrays estimating pointing-error. These include: Phased arrays have many features that would be beneficial for SOTM. For example, the beam • Mechanical scanning could be steered rapidly (the so called “inertia- less beam”), which would enable use of a high • Monopulse speed scan to estimate the pointing-error. Alternatively, a multi-beam phased array could • Phased array (scanning and multi-beam) be configured to operate in a monopulse mode.
All of these approaches would normally rely Unfortunately, phased array operation at on the use of a beacon on the satellite. Ka-band presents many technical difficulties. In particular, it is very difficult to share the Mechanical Scan physical aperture between transmit and A conventional reflector antenna can be receive because of the large frequency mechanically scanned to estimate the pointing- separation between the bands. This means error. Examples of this approach are conical the phased array antenna must be nearly scan and step-track. Mechanical scanning twice the size of a conventional reflector, if it has two main disadvantages: it requires is to achieve the same gain. introducing a deliberate pointing-error, which can reduce the link budget; and it requires Other challenges are also introduced by use rapid mechanical motion so that pointing-error of a phased array. For example: ensuring can be tracked during motion of the vehicle. that transmit and receive beams point in the same direction; and proving that regulatory Monopulse requirements, such as antenna sidelobes, are Monopulse systems are able to estimate satisfied for all possible pointing angles.The the pointing-error without any mechanical technical challenges of phase array operation scanning and without needing to deliberately at K-band make the conventional reflector miss-point. Monopulse antennas generally antenna a more attractive solution. have two feeds: one feed has a normal antenna pattern, while the other has a pattern Noise And with a sharp notch along bore-sight. By Pointing-Error Estimation comparing the signals from the two feeds, the Thermal noise from the antenna and LNA magnitude and direction of the pointing-error will cause noise on the estimated pointing- can be determined. While the monopulse error, no matter which of the pointing-error is an attractive solution to the problem of estimations techniques are adopted. Noise determining the pointing-error, it still has a on the pointing-error estimate will induce real number of disadvantages. Monopulse feeds pointing-errors. The antenna control loops are generally mechanically complex and so treat the noise as a real pointing-error and will tend to be physically large, making it difficult try to track it out, thus inducing a real pointing- to integrate one into a SOTM terminal. They error. The antenna control loops can only also require at least two phase matched track the noise at frequencies up to their loop downconversion chains. bandwidths. Therefore, they are effectively a low-pass-filter on the noise.
12 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 intel Filtering of the beacon signal is still normally The following diagram illustrates how beacon required because; in general there will be a noise, and gyro inaccuracies are combined to carrier-to-noise threshold at which pointing- result in the total pointing error. error estimation will fail completely. Choosing the filter’s bandwidth is a compromise. It Doppler Shift And must be narrow enough to reduce noise to a Frequency Offsets tolerable level, yet it must not be so narrow Uncertainty in the beacon frequency is quite that it upsets the stability of the antenna large. This is due to drift in the satellite’s control loop. The actual bandwidth required LOs and Doppler shifts caused by vehicle is a function of many system parameters, but motion. The frequency offset can be several values are likely to range from hundreds of hundred kilo-Hertz, and the Doppler shift can Hertz to a few kilo-Hertz. change at a few kilo-Hertz per second as the vehicle maneuvers. These frequency offsets Actual pointing error induced by noise on exceed the filter bandwidth typically required the output of the beacon signal processing in pointing-error estimation. This means that is only one part of the total pointing error some form of tracking filter is required. budget. Control systems generally also use gyros to correct for higher frequency motion.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 13 intel A conventional Phase-Lock-Loop (PLL) based tracking filter could be used to follow the wandering beacon signal. However, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) based approach is possible if the pointing-error calculation algorithm is relatively tolerant to small frequency offsets. With either approach, a balance must be reached between the speed, and accuracy of the filter’s frequency tracking.
Summary This article has covered some of the more challenging aspects of designing for Ka-band On-The-Move Satellite Communications Systems considered by EM Solutions within its CTD Project. At the completion of the CTD Project the Australian Defence The Ka-band On-The-Move Satellite Communica- tions Antenna Terminal being developed for the Force expects to be better informed about ADF by EM Solutions potential performance and applications, and technical risks associated with possible future implementation of Ka-band OTM terminals. About EM Solutions EM Solutions is a technology provider to commercial and military customers in the telecommunications sector. EM Solutions is a market leader in the supply of Ka-band products to defence and enterprise customers. Their products include LNBs, BUCs and SSPAs, and Fixed Point-to-Multipoint radios based on the WiMAX IEEE 802.16d standard.
Image credits Page 8 — Satellite Tracking of People LLC All other images courtesy of EM Solutions
14 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010
We’ve Come A Long Way to get to PCMA A principal objective of recent U.S. Department of Defense telecommunication transmission policy is to simplify its integrated wireless networks. To reach that objective, DoD policy includes a reduction in the number of available wireless waveforms and corresponding network hardware.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 17 The objective is to field fewer types of wireless MIL-STD-188-165B
TECH OPS network devices, while providing improved A new element of DoD Frequency Division network interoperability to accommodate Multiple Access (FDMA) modem policy is the the emergence of Internet Protocol (IP) as a creation of MIL-STD-188-165B, which includes connectivity standard. new, more-efficient operating modes. Though this new standard is often thought of as catching At the same time, the Department of Defense the military up to commercial standards and wants to continue to encourage innovation. technology, the new -165B standard is actually Interoperability does not mean that SATCOM enhanced beyond pure commercial technology. users should be faced with only a plain vanilla set of choices for their networking, rather that The primary additions to the new standard those choices should meet an underlying include government approved TRANSEC, ability to interoperate with other similar advanced modulation and forward error network devices. correction techniques, and enhancements specific to IP network-centric operation. A number of features and choices remain when considering wireless networking The MD-1366 EBEM equipment like the satellite communications To implement this new standard for high- modems that form the backbone of many speed, high-performance, flexibility, and wireless networks. There is no “one size interoperability, the U.S. Department of fits all” modem, as many networks require Defense and its coalition defense partners features that may be advantageous to one have selected the ViaSat MD-1366 EBEM, operating environment, but are inefficient the only modem certified to the MIL-STD- or detrimental to another. However within 188-165B standard. This Single Channel common networks, interoperability with Per Carrier (SCPC) SATCOM modem efficiency is the goal. incorporates the latest technology in advanced modulation and coding, while providing backwards interoperability with the majority of SCPC modems in the government inventory. The U.S. and coalition partners adoption of the -165B standard waveform The main advantage of turbo coding is that
has made the MD-1366 EBEM the most it reduces the Eb/No needed to close a link TECH OPS widely used FDMA modem for government at a given code rate. Known turbo codes at applications and networks since the OM-73. reasonable block size and complexity can come quite close to the Shannon channel The bottom line advantage of the MD-1366 capacity limit (within about 1 to 2 dB). efficiency is that more carriers can be placed on a single satellite transponder and those carriers can be better utilized, enabling more warfighters to gain access to more data when and where they need it. A few key improvements over MIL-STD-188-165A modems create this additional efficiency:
• Increased symbol rates to 60 Msps providing single carrier data rates up to 155 Mbps.
• Open-standard interoperable Turbo codes
• Advanced modulation techniques including 8-PSK and 16-APSK
• Information Throughput Adaptation
• Radio Aware Routing
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 19 For instance, an R=1/3 turbo code can To create true Ethernet compatibility
TECH OPS achieve a BER of about 1 in 10-7 at an Eb/ between virtually any modem pair, the No = 1 dB with a block size of less than government created an open-standard 2000 bits. Reducing the code rate to R=1/4 option for the MD-1366, the Ethernet Service would reduce the Eb/No required to about Expansion Module (ESEM). This module 0.7 dB. Providing an open standard for this provides a basis for Ethernet interface enhanced forward error correction technique interoperability amongst satellite modem means that efficiency and interoperability can vendors. Within the MD-1366 EBEM, it finally coexist. extends FDMA modem capability far beyond traditional fixed-channel operation. Demonstrations of the modem have shown the value of the new modulation and coding Information choices. In one, the MD-1366 EBEM, Throughput Adaptation (operating at 16-APSK R=7/8), achieved What’s the number one bandwidth-killing 205 Mbps total capacity on a single XTAR aspect of most SCPC modem links? It’s transponder, the highest capacity ever link margin, thrown away in the name of achieved on a 72 MHz X-band transponder. contingency for harsh operating environments. EBEM also operates on C-, Ku-, and Ka-band Information Throughput Adaptation (ITA) is transponders, including certification for the a way to keep that built-in safety margin, but new WGS satellites. use it for enhanced data throughput when that margin is not needed. ESEM = True Modem Pair Compatibility The ESEM module, used in conjunction with When it comes to satellite modem Information Throughput Adaptation, ramps up interoperability, it takes more than the satellite link data rate, and then a feature waveform commonality to ensure modem called Radio Aware Routing advertises that pair compatibility. Using different modems throughput potential to a network router. that have an open-standard waveform, Together, the features maximize overall but proprietary baseband interfaces is network throughput across the satellite link just as ineffective as using two different when little or no margin is needed. proprietary modems. If downlink power decreases, ITA then The presence of an Ethernet interface to automatically and dynamically decreases deliver IP data over a wireless network the link data rate using more robust also does not necessarily mean that waveforms to maintain the link connection. heterogeneous modems are compatible. The During a demonstration, the EBEM has manner in which a satellite modem converts shown its seamless, error-free adaptation to digital data to analog signals for delivery over data rates from 28 to over 155 Mbps without the air and then retranslates that data back operator intervention. to a digital format must be the same on each side of a satellite link.
20 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 These features allow users to make use Bandwidth Re-Use
of the many dBs of FDMA link margin that — PCMA TECH OPS typically go unutilized in a fixed-channel Combining the uplink and downlink rate environment. In traditional fixed- transmissions into the same bandwidth channel military satellite communication is another way to boost the capacity of environments, where a 3-4 dB link margin satellite transponders. While most satellite is typical, these features can provide more transmissions require separate frequencies than a 100 percent improvement in data to transmit and receive, ViaSat PCMA throughput. The ESEM plug-in interface technology enables one simplex carrier to be also enables the concurrent transmission superimposed on another carrier, potentially of Internet Protocol (IPv4 or IPv6) Ethernet decreasing the bandwidth required by as baseband traffic as well as non-IP data flows much as 50 percent. for maximum interoperability. The technology uses an adaptive self- The EBEM with ESEM is certified for use interference cancellation technique to subtract over Defense Satellite Communication the transmitted signal and recover the desired System and WGS satellites. Already, signal. The technology further enhances the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force benefits of any advanced modulation techniques customers have recently ordered large or turbo coding you may already use. quantities of MD-1366 modems equipped with the ESEM interface. However, it’s important to keep in mind that frequency re-use techniques are icing on Beyond The MIL-STD the bandwidth efficiency cake. They are In the CENTCOM AORs, soldiers are appropriate only when certain conditions apply: short more than 500 MHz of bandwidth, as compared to what they need for the Link requirements most basic of communications. This type of shortage provides an ideal opportunity • Must use full-duplex circuits for the ability of the MD-1366 EBEM to (symmetric or asymmetric) close this gap. But while the MD-1366 EBEM performance gains and cost savings • Must be able to receive your own are impressive to be sure, the “bandwidth uplink signal (doesn’t work with on- problem” that the military faces — as well as board processed, cross-strapped, the constantly growing need for more of it — cross-banded, or otherwise non- requires further innovation, consistent with the loopback transponders) DoD desire to encourage performance beyond MIL-STD operation.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 21 Implementation considerations responsible for military SATCOM still need
TECH OPS to be sure they choose the hardware that • More power is required with delivers the biggest and most efficient data the dual simplex frequency pair pipe to the warfighter in the field. approach (~3dB total composite transponder power) The MD-1366 EBEM/ESEM with Information Throughput Adaptation and Radio Aware • An implementation power loss Routing features, as well as PCMA bandwidth exists (0.15 t0.5 dB depending on re-use technologies, moves networks near/far ratio) and users beyond the traditional “fixed channel data rate” environment of FDMA • May need to change existing communications. These new capabilities coding rates and modulation to take enable you to manage your communications advantage of bandwidth reduction resources and choose whether you maximize data throughput, enable more users to access PCMA is best used to overcome Power the network, or decrease networking costs. Equivalent Bandwidth imbalances. For well-groomed transponders, PCMA can About ViaSat be of value, but to a lesser degree. Link ViaSat produces satellite and digital com- budget analysis can determine feasibility, munication products for fast, secure, and link configuration, and the possible overall efficient communications to any location — savings of power and bandwidth with PCMA. satellite networks, antenna systems, wireless Where PCMA does provide value, it’s the datalinks and terminals for combat situational closest thing to a free lunch in satellite awareness, information security for military communications today. networking, mobile IP networking for sol- diers, communication microprocessor chip- More Efficiency + Control sets, application and communication acceler- DoD efforts to simplify networking hardware ation, satellite network system design, com- and operation are not intended to be limiting munication simulation and training systems, to the overall capabilities of the network. and consumer satellite broadband services. Interoperability and an open-standard approach has great advantages, but those
22 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010
TECH OPS Amplification — Meeting TECH OPS Those Demanding Ka-band Requirements... Stephen Turner Historically there have existed far fewer choices for Ka-band amplifier products than their lower frequency counterparts. Factor in military grade Ka-band amplifiers and the selection becomes even more scarce. Paradise Datacom has released a new family of Ka-band LNAs and SSPAs that build upon their tradition of highly reliable SatCom amplifier products. These products are suitable for deployment in demanding military applications such as Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) terminals.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 25 Ka-band LNAs Ka-band SSPAs
TECH OPS Paradise Datacom’s Ka-band LNAs are Complementing Paradise Datacom’s family of optimized for best noise temperature Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) are the performance in various subands. Currently new HPAKa series of Ka-band amplifiers. available models cover the 18.3-20.2GHz and 20.0-21.0GHz bands. These LNAs are The HPAKa040AC is a 40W saturated output available with a low loss isolator to mask power amplifier that covers the 30.0-31.0GHz ripple in the noise temperature due to band and produces a linear output power antenna feed and filter VSWR effects. Noise of 20-25W across the full WGS band. The temperatures with an isolator are in the amplifier is packaged in Paradise Datacom’s 140o to 160oK range. Noise temperatures Compact Outdoor amplifier chassis. The without the front end isolator are in the 110oK Compact Outdoor is one of the industry’s to 130oK range. The Ka-band LNAs are most recognizable packages as it has been in fully equipped with transient and regulator production for over 10 years. protection as well as alarm circuitry. An industry standard, the Compact Outdoor The alarm circuitry allows the LNAs to be amplifier is known for its ruggedness and used in automatic switchover redundancy high reliability as well as its ease of field systems when used with the RCP2-1100 maintenance. It is one of the industries only Redundant Controller. All of the Ka-band SSPAs that has been independent test lab LNAs have 55dB minimum gain which buffers certified to 50g shock and vibration making it out any further noise degradation by the other a natural for transportable VSAT terminals. components in the receive path. Third order intercepts are in excess of +16dBm allowing The Compact Outdoor amplifier is available for superior dynamic range over the large fade in a wide variety of frequency bands and range that exists in Ka-band satellite links. power levels and has been fielded in stringent environments ranging from desert heat to mountainous cold climates. The amplifier chassis has a unique and efficient thermal system that uses forced air convection cooling. A removable fan tray on the bottom surface of the amplifier can be easily removed to clean out excessive debris from the internal heat sink. No tools are required for the fan tray removal making this maintenance extremely easy to perform in the field. The Compact Outdoor amplifier was specifically designed
Figure 1 — Paradise Datacom RF18/RF20 Series LNA
26 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 to fit most standard antenna mounts. The a built-in web browser that enables a very
familiar package and moderate weight make easy monitor and control with a computer TECH OPS the Compact Outdoor a perfect fit for VSAT running a web brower application. Figure 4 terminals. The package envelope is 19.9 x shows a computer screen shot of the built-in 10.0 x 6.50 inches with a weight of 36 lbs. web browser. A high power isolator is integrated into the package making the amplifier completely There are also rack mount (1RU) remote tolerate of any level of load mismatch. A control panels and a Fiber Optic interface picture of the 40W Ka-band SSPA is shown in link that work seamlessly with the Compact Figure 2. Outdoor amplifier. Alternatively, when an amplifier includes an integrated L-band to Ka-band block up converter (BUC,) the amplifier can be controlled via the FSK control signal multiplexed on the IFL by an L-band modem. There is also a weatherized, tri-color, LED visual display on the monitor and control panel for local visual fault status monitoring. As shown in Figure 3 there is also a switch and link port that is standard on the amplifier. These ports enable the amplifier to be placed in automatic switch-over redundant systems without the need for a separate controller.
Figure 2 — Paradise Datacom’s Ka Band (40W ) Compact The built-in redundant Outdoor Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA) controller capability saves cost and greatly simplifies 1:1 redundant system configurations. The monitor Monitor + Control and control of redundant system functionality The Paradise Datacom Compact Outdoor is obtained through the remote control just as SSPA incorporates the most comprehensive single thread operations. Paradise Datacom monitor and control of any Satcom amplifier. has a WindowsTM based monitor and control Among the standard interfaces include: program that can be downloaded from the Ethernet, RS485/422/232, and parallel company website: www.paradisedata.com. I/O, in the form C alarms and opto isolated The Universal M&C program is a convenient discrete signals. The Ethernet interface means of performing all remote monitor and can be integrated into higher level monitor control of the Compact Outdoor amplifier. and control systems by SNMP or UDP programming. For simplicity, there is also
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 27 State-Of-
TECH OPS The-Art Microwave Design Extremely efficient microwave combining techniques are utilized in the HPAKa040AC Ka-band SSPA. The latest 3D Electromagnetic (EM) modeling techniques are used to design spatial waveguide combining networks that are optimized to achieve the lowest possible insertion loss the band of interest. This allows the effective power combining of numerous devices to achieve high output power levels.
Figure 3 — Compact Outdoor Monitor Microwave devices in the Ka-band region and Control Panel have strong nonlinearities that distinguish them from their lower frequency counterparts. This requires that the amplifier designer employ linearization techniques in order to achieve usable linear output power for satellite communication systems. Paradise Datacom uses both traditional predistortion linearization and feed- forward techniques to achieve outstanding linear performance from otherwise nonlinear amplifiers.
Extensive cosimulation between finite difference time domain (FDTD) and behavioral modeling enables Figure 4 — Web Browser Monitor + Display Paradise Datacom engineers to optimize the performance of Ka-band amplifier
28 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 designs. Adaptive bias techniques
are utilized to maintain the highest TECH OPS possible AC prime input power to linear output power efficiency. Figures 5 and 6 show the single carrier OPSK and QPSK spectral regrowth at 25W output power.
The two tone peformance is slightly worse that the single carrier spectral regrowth due to the higher crest factor. Two tone intermod levels are typically characterized by evaluating the amplitude separation between the third order intermod product and the single tone power in dBc. This is characterized over a wide range of output power to obtain a characteristic as shown in Figure 5 — QPSK Response: Figure 7. -32dBc @1x Symbol Rate @25W Output The gain of the amplifier is temperature compensated to keep the gain within a 1dB window from -40oC to +60oC ambient temperatures. The gain is also adjustable from 55dB to 65dB in 0.1dB steps. Prime power consumption is less than 500VA making it one of the most efficient Ka-band SSPAs in the industry.
As is standard on all Compact Outdoor SSPAs, integrated output power detection is included along with a -40dBc sample port. Paradise Datacom’s Ka-band ZBUC can be integrated in the Compact Outdoor SSPA so that L-band operation is accommodated.
Figure 6 — OQPSK Response: -30dBc @1x Symbol Rate @25W Output
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 29 Low Noise Amplifiers
TECH OPS are available with noise temperatures ranging from 100o to 160o K. Solid State Power Amplifiers are available in saturated output power levels of 12W, 20W, 40W, and 80W. Built upon the legacy of the Compact Outdoor robust Figure 7 — Two Tone Intermod Product Level vs design, Paradise Datacom Back-Off from Psat Ka-band SSPAs offer superior reliability and performance. The Ka-band ZBUC has an efficient and low phase noise local oscillator that is phase About Paradise Datacom locked to a stable reference source. A high An Intelek company, Paradise Datacom stability reference is included in the block up is focused on the design, manufacturing converter. Internal reference stability is of the and sale of satellite modems, solid state order +1.10-9. ZBUC technology provides for power amplifiers (SSPA), low noise am- auto-detection and switchover to an externally plifiers (LNA), block up converters (BUC) applied reference. This is an extremely useful and associated redundancy subsystems. feature to be able to switch the block up Paradise Datacom has delivered products converter to an external reference without and subsystems for use in satellite com- requiring any factory modifications. munications systems to an extensive list of customers located around the world. The In addition, the ZBUC is capable of managers and engineers of Paradise Data- automatically phase locking to a variety of com have unparalleled experience in the external reference frequencies including: 5, production, sale and distribution of satellite 10, 20, 25, and 50MHz without hardware communications products. Senior mem- modification.The ZBUC is characterized by bers of the Paradise Datacom engineering its signature outstanding spurious and phase and management team received their train- noise performance. ing and experience from the companies that pioneered the satcom industry includ- Summary ing Scientific Atlanta, VertexRSI, Radyne/ Paradise Datacom manufactures a variety Comstream, Comtech/EF Data, EEV and microwave components that are ideally ViaSat. Engineering excellence and man- suited for Ka-band satellite ground terminals. agement’s commitment to our customer’s Their electrical performance is well within requirements are the core values that the operating parameters established by Paradise Datacom has been built on, and MIL-STD-188-164 and used in Wideband to which we constantly reaffirm with every Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) applications. new customer.
SATCOM Uplink HPAs — Linear Power... What It Means...
All satellite communications links are subject to uncertainties and variations in equipment, environmental and atmospheric effects, and random variables that make satellite communications link design as much art as science. While tools are available for developing link budgets, the decisions and assumptions that really determine link performance come from careful consideration of all aspects of the link itself.
Among the critical decisions link designers are even occasionally missing. New satcom make are the items that contribute to EIRP: systems using millimeter-wave bands and antenna gain and amplifier power. Whole more complex waveforms may mean that treatises exist on antenna gain possible the old assumptions don’t always hold. The for a given diameter, but here we focus on current trend is toward specifying linear power the RF power into the antenna. In the past, required at the amplifier output flange. This this power has been specified in every way provides a concrete value for the link budget, you can imagine, with link budgets often and a straightforward method for comparing showing rated high power amplifier (HPA) candidate power amplifiers while enabling output power and then a back-off value in optimization of prime power efficiency by dB assumed sufficient to meet interference evaluating the biggest power consumer in its requirements. These back-off assumptions likely operating condition. vary widely, are frequently untested, and HPA Power Rating and klystron-tube power amplifiers (KPAs), The many ways of describing the power the industry practice is to use the tube’s available from an HPA can be confusing saturated output power as the HPA’s rated for system engineers not specializing power. The TWTA’s rated flange power in the satcom link’s RF components. is typically 0.5dB to 0.7dB lower due to To better understand linear power, it is component losses in the amplifier’s output helpful to understand terms commonly section; i.e., the “750W” Ku-band TWTA used to describe HPAs such as rated provides 650W RF power at the flange. power (Prated), saturated power (Psat), 1 Solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) dB-compressed power (P1dB), and linear always use flange power, yet the industry power (Plinear). The power saturation curve nomenclature has greater variation because of a typical HPA (Figure 1 on the next page) some suppliers use Psat and others use shows that output power increases dB for P1dB. Satcom system designers must take dB with input power in the “linear region”. As careful note of these differences. input power increases further, amplifier gain begins to “compress” so that output power Linear Power increases <1dB for each dB of input power What matters most in the link is linear increase. In the saturated region, output power, generally defined as the output power has reached its maximum (Psat), so power at which the amplifier operates increasing input power no longer increases without interfering with transmission of output power, and amplifiers respond in in-band or out-of-band signals transmitted highly non-linear fashion in both gain and over the satellite. Many specific definitions phase, causing problems in communication of linear power exist, but the most common systems where maintaining the modulated Plinear definitions are based on the signals’ gain and phase are critical to following parameters: successful transmission. • Spectral regrowth (SR) Another commonly used parameter in describing HPAs is P1dB, which may • Intermodulation products (IMD) be ~1dB below the Psat … or not. An amplifier’s P1dB is defined as the point • Noise Power Ratio (NPR) on the saturation curve where its gain is compressed by 1dB. This is found Requirements for spurious and amplitude- by determining the amplifier’s linear to-phase modulation conversion (AM/ gain, subtracting 1dB, and locating the PM) performance often also apply, but the corresponding point on the curve (Figure 2 driving requirement in setting linear power on the next page). for single-carrier systems tends to be SR and for multi-carrier systems tends to be Two general categories of HPAs are used IMD or NPR. on satcom uplinks: vacuum tube-based amplifiers and solid-state amplifiers. For Spectral regrowth is the energy from the vacuum-tube amplifiers, including both modulated signal that spreads into adjacent travelling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) channels due to the amplifier’s inherent TECH OPS Figure 3—SpectralregrowthforsingleOQPSK-modulated carrier 34 performance. Typicalspecifications require are frequentlyusedwhen specifyingSR (QPSK) oroffsetQPSK(OQPSK); these currently usesquadrature-phase shiftkeying and filtering).Mostcommercial SATCOM conditions (modulationformat,symbolrate, non-linearities. SRishighlysubjecttosignal Figure 1—Powersaturationcurveshowinglinear, MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 compressed, andsaturatedregions used linearity requirementforsatcom channels iftoolarge. This mostcommonly and interferewithcommunications innearby tones fallinbandforclosely spacedcarriers a singlenon-lineardevice. Theseundesired carrier istransmittedsimultaneouslythrough occurring in-bandwhenmorethanone Figure 2—1-dBcompressedpower(P1dB) intermods, are spurious signals Intermodulation products,or single-carrier linearpower. taken isthereforetheamplifier’s power atwhichthisdatais symbol rateoffset.Theoutput frequency, and-40dBcat1.5x symbol rateoffsetfromcenter meets a-30dBcSRat1x signal, wheretheamplifier SR plotforanOPSKmodulated are identifiedinFigure3onan the symbolrate.Thesepoints rate, orsometimes1.5times to themodulatedsignal’ssymbol frequency fromthecarrierequal SR be-30dBcatanoffset typical amplifier, takenataspecified linear carriers andtheresulting intermodsfora adjacent bands.Figure 4showstwoequal negligible impactonsignal-to-noise ratiosin power usedforthetest sothattheIMDhas -24 or-25dBbelowtheindividualcarrier amplifiers isoftenspecifiedintherangeof Figure 4—Two-tone intermodulationproducts Figure 5—Noisepowerratio can increase theamountoflinear power is 2-4dBbelowrated P1dB.Predistortion For SSPAs,typicalback-off tomeetlinearity back-off is6-7dBbelow ratedoutputpower. linearity requirements notedabove,typical signals’ transmission.ForTWTAstomeet specified linearity and not interfere with other order intermod. in thiscaseisthe-29.5dBcthird- power level;thehighestIMD (see Figure5). level oftherestoutputsignal notch comparedwiththepower average powerlevelofnoiseinthe floor inthenotch.TheNPRis input signalsshowsupasanoise from non-linearinteractionofthese have 40+ dB of rejection. Distortion (<10% ofinputsignalbandwidth) power. Thesenarrownotches a narrowportionofinputnoise through afilterthatnotchesout at similarpowerlevels)ispassed uncorrelated modulatedcarriers that lookslikenoise(many measure NPR,aninputsignal carriers beingtransmitted.To among themanymodulated order intermodulationproducts created inthechannelfrommulti- (NPR), orthelevelof“noise” definition isnoisepowerratio the mostappropriatelinearpower many signals on individual carriers, For uplinktransmitterscarrying Noise their maximumleveltomeet “back-off” inoutputpowerfrom Power amplifiersrequirea Pre-Distortion + Back-Offs MilsatMagazine ower Ratio Power —March/April 2010 35
TECH OPS operating
TECH OPS power levels depend on the parameter specified, but linearized TWTAs generally require only 2-4 dB back-off to meet requirements. Figure 7 — Intermodulation of linearized vs non-linearized TWTA To see the full benefit of the linearizer, we can examine its effect on each of three linearity parameters defined. Figure 6 shows spectral regrowth performance of a TWTA with and without a linearizer.
Figure 8 — Noise Power Ratio of linearized vs non-linearized TWTA For a -30 dBc requirement, for both TWTAs and SSPAs, although the linear power the benefit is much greater with TWTAs. level improves from ~5.5 dB below rated power For most SSPAs, the small improvement to ~2 dB below rated. This 3.5 dB improvement gained from a linearizer doesn’t justify can be critical in enabling use of a much the additional cost, although this is not lower rated power amplifier, and consequently the case at Ka-band where solid-state reducing prime power draw significantly. devices exhibit poor linearity characteristics compared with lower frequencies. For For intermodulation products, linearization TWTAs, predistortion linearizers typically can provide a similar increase in linear improve linear power by at least 3 dB. Linear power level (Figure 7). For -25 dBc IMD
36 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 and oftenmuch moreforeachparameter. linearizer provides atleast3dB improvement of 3dbto15dBbelow ratedpower,the (Figure 9).Intypicaloperational ranges parameters wereplotted onasinglegraph improvements inallthree distortion To summarizelinearizerbenefits, 20 dBbelowrated. well belowthePlinearallwaydownto linearizer improvementcontinuesincreasing improvement. InthecaseofNPR, Prated tojust3.8dBbelow—a2.2 dBc NPRspecgoesupfrom6dBbelow linearizer. Linearpowerforatypical-19 of NPRperformancewithandwithout challenging, butFigure8showsanexample NPR specificationsareoftenthemost to 10-15dBbacked-off. operating regionfrom2dBbacked-offdown advantage maintainedthroughoutthelikely 7 alsodemonstratethelargeperformance size andweight.Inaddition,Figures6 benefits inlowerHPAcost,powerdraw, This 3.3dBimprovementprovidessystem 5.7 dBbelowratedpowerto2.4below. requirements, linearpowerincreasedfrom Figure 9—LinearityimprovementduetoTWTA linearization they sea; the on and air the in ground, the on links communications critical in use in are These world. the around applications broadband and broadcast military and commercial for (BUCs) Upconverters (SSPAs),Block and fiers Amplifiers ficient ef- highly rugged, provides Xicom board, the across leader industry an as garded a be to grown Technologyhas 1991and in Xicom as founded was Company This About http://www.xicomtech.com/ SATCOM.over Website:access band broad and communications, rate data high transportable gathering, news mobile broadcast, home leading (KPAs), support and Xicom Comtech SATCOM (TWTAs), reliable fixed Solid and High MilsatMagazine Xicom flyaway traditional State Traveling Power amplifier Klystron little lesscloudy. link budgetsjustgota to specifytheamplifier, system andhowbest linearity requiredinthe understanding ofthe hopefully withsolid not aneasyone,but appropriate HPAis and selectingan system requirements of understanding Clearly, thetask Power T Amplifiers echnology systems, —March/April 2010 Wave and supplier. Power Amplifiers direct-to- Tube secure Ampli- (HPAs) Re- - 37
TECH OPS Illustration courtesy of ART.NET
38 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 BGAN Software Defined Radio (SDR) breakthru Claus Krohn Vesterholdt
A complete SDR-based BGAN radio was successfully demonstrated at the SDR Forum Conference and Exhibition 2009 in Washington D.C. in December. The demo revealed the result of the joint SDR program completed by GateHouse, Inmarsat, and Spectrum Signal Processing by Vecima (Spectrum) and gave evidence that BGAN SDR-based satellite communication (SATCOM) is an opportunity readily at hand for manufacturers of military radios.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 39 intel The demonstration of BGAN SDR radio in • Emailing using the web access Washington D.C. is implemented using generic interface to the GateHouse exchange components. All BGAN functionality is realized server. Emails were sent to visitors’ in software: GateHouse’s BGAN waveform. PDAs and typically received over the BGAN network connected to GSM/ The BGAN Class 10 active tracking antenna GPRS/3G networks in a few seconds supplied by SpaceCom and the L-band front-end are for L-band usage only —– • General web browsing on company however, although these components are web pages as well as news and calibrated to be compliant with the BGAN weather pages specifications, they would be able to run other L-band waveforms as well. Alternatively, the The demonstrations marked a technological SDR-4021 radio platform from Spectrum breakthrough for BGAN SDR — moreover would be able to run other waveforms in other that the technology has matured to a point frequency bands using other front ends. enabling integration in viable solutions.
The BGAN SDR radio obtained Inmarsat Software Defined Radio approval for on-air usage prior to the SDR Over the last 30 years, radios have changed Forum Conference and Exhibition and from being purely hardware-based to on-air demonstrations were given in the containing more and more software. The term exhibition area with a 50 meter cable ‘Software Defined Radio’ is not new but has connecting to the antenna, which was placed been around for quite some time representing outside the exhibition hall. a vision of a single wireless multi-purpose device that seamlessly integrates multiple Several gigabytes of data were exchanged communication channels, including SATCOM. with the BGAN network via the air interface during the four days of the exhibition. The Driven mainly by the military market and DoD/ GateHouse team demonstrated the following MoD’s need for interoperability, flexibility in applications, all on a standard laptop choice of communication means, reduced connected to the BGAN SDR radio with an total cost of ownership as well as rapid Ethernet/IP cable: functionality upgrades and repair, the SDR technology has experienced great advances • FTP transfers of binary files of 2, 5 and focus during the last decade. and 10 MB size. The average transfer rates on the downloads was as high Increasing globalization, i.e., participation as 450 kbits/s and on the uploads 320 of many countries in international conflict kbits/s which is close to the maximum resolution and peace keeping missions, theoretical BGAN transfer rates has significantly increased the need for communication and interoperability in remote • Live video streaming from a web cam areas of the world. placed at Times Square New York supplied a stable stream of 250 kbis/s SDR is an operational alternative to current practice with dedicated hardware/software for
40 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 intel each communication mean, e.g., one radio The U.S. DoD has invested in SDR via for SATCOM and one for VHF, UHF etc. This the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) is space demanding and sets a practical limit program which has produced a number of to the number of communication means that SDR radios and waveforms. JTRS has also can be fitted into vehicles and which soldiers developed the Software Communication in the field can carry and use. With SDR, Architecture (SCA) which specifies how radio the number of communication means is only platforms and waveforms must be designed limited by the channels available on the radio. and implemented to ensure interoperability.
SDR does not only provide benefits for the Inmarsat BGAN end-users but also for the manufacturers of Inmarsat is a recognized pioneer and market military radios. It provides each manufacturer leader in the field of global Mobile Satellite with the opportunity of customizing their offerings Services (MSS), and the IP-based BGAN to changing customer demands incurring only (the acronym for Broadband Global Area limited extra costs and time to market. With SDR, Network) service is the most advanced of the manufacturers can produce the SDR radio the company’s current offerings. The system hardware and postpone equipping it with soft- offers standard and streaming IP data ware waveforms until customer requirements services as well as a voice and text service are clearly defined. This significantly saves (see the fact box below...). development time and waveform porting costs. In other words, with SDR, manufacturers are capable of delivering greater customer value at lower cost. BGAN Fact Box Data — Standard IP (TCP) Variable bit rate service SDR technology has Up to 492 kbps (send & receive) been encouraged by the rapid Streaming — Guaranteed bit rate service technological Available on demand developments over 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 384 kbps (send & receive) recent years in UDP support ISDN support integrated circuits, where size and Voice — 4 kbps circuit-switch service power consumption Voicemail has decreased Enhanced services: call waiting, forwarding, barring holding and performance Broadcast quality voice 3.1kHz has increased, enabling very high Text — Send and receive text messages via your laptop 160 characters SMS performance generic hardware platforms. Source: Inmarsat
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 41 intel The BGAN service is provided globally GateHouse BGAN SDR Waveform via 3 satellites placed in geostationary The GateHouse BGAN SDR Waveform Earth orbit. System specifications define contains all the functionality required to terminals operating from ground vehicles, build a BGAN radio with on-demand, BLOS ships and airplanes. communication capability. The waveform is integrated on an SCA version 2.2.2 compliant While the Inmarsat BGAN system is a platform and can run as the only waveform commercial system, it has been adopted by on the radio or as one of several waveforms military forces for beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) on a multimode radio. Development efforts to communication, primarily because it is easy to port the waveform from one radio to another is set up and use and provides an on-demand considerably less than for a conventional radio 492 kbps data service on the surface of the design, where the software typically interfaces Earth with exception of the Polar Regions. with custom designed hardware.
In 2008, the government sector (civil and The traditional approach has been to develop defense) contributed 55 percent to the overall rather inflexible purpose-specific hardware Inmarsat BGAN revenue . The airtime is plat-forms for BGAN radios which effectively generated from an installed terminal base limit the solutions to one radio/one application. provided by manufacturers of commercial The SDR approach implements the complete equipment for government aircrafts, ground functionality (waveform) in software and vehicles and ships. The shift to SDRs is leaves the underlying hardware generic and fit expected to enable BGAN on tactical radios, as for other purposes as well. it provides an opportunity for an instant BLOS capability, at limited extra cost. In addition to the advantage of reusing radio hardware platforms and allowing coexistence of multiple waveforms on a single radio, the SDR approach also enables considerably
The BGAN Waveform is comprised of an Inmarsat proprietary access stratum (IAI-2), a 3GPP UMTS non-access stratum release 4 and an application framework intel easier up-grade procedures of the BGAN development of the GateHouse BGAN SDR terminals as the BGAN standard evolves (e.g., waveform was sparked by the realization that support of higher data rates).The GateHouse an SDR based solution is able to provide BGAN SDR Waveform is structured all the advantages of the existing solutions, internally according to the Inmarsat BGAN while at the same time reducing the amount of specifications and contains multiple layers of hardware needed. functionality and is comprised of an Inmarsat proprietary access stratum (IAI-2), a 3GPP A BGAN SDR waveform can be integrated UMTS non-access stratum release 4 and an with any military-grade Software Defined application framework Radio capable of transmitting and receiving in the BGAN L-band frequency range (1.5GHz- The demonstrations in Washington in 1.6 GHz). This means that units can now be December marked a breakthrough for deployed with a single multifunctional radio BGAN SDR and a milestone for GateHouse, that can be BGAN-enabled almost as easily which for a decade has been the leading as changing a channel or another preset. independent provider of the complete embedded software package for Inmarsat BGAN terminals. About the author Claus Vesterholdt is the Technical Advantages Of The SDR-based Program Manager for the Satellite BGAN Solution Communication activities in the Danish Today a wide variety of commercial BGAN software company terminals are available. While these terminals GateHouse A/S. He are reasonably inexpensive they do not readily has a Master degree in provide the levels of flexibility, security or Electrical Engineering robustness which are required for military use. from Aalborg University and has taken various One solution to this problem is to combine a positions in the commercial terminal with a military radio, and wireless communication use the built-in security features of the radio industry over the to provide secure end-to-end communications last 16 years. He has been leading a over BGAN. Another number of programs and projects on solution is to use the development of communication military-grade BGAN software for wireless communication terminals and combine systems, mainly GSM/GPRS terminals the advantages of and Inmarsat BGAN terminals.Claus secure communications has experience in developing and platforms with the testing communication software rugged construction for terrestrial systems and satellite that’s needed to systems. Currently, Claus is responsible operate the equipment for all technical activities in the satellite in the field for extended communication area of GateHouse and periods of time. The is leading the engineering team. Photo credit: Space Systems/Loral A Spatial
RouterLaurence Cruz Cisco Systems wants to put a router on every communications satellite — the networking giant has already sent the first one into space. The company announced today that the router has successfully completed initial in-orbit tests, after being launched November 23 aboard the Intelsat 14 communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit, 22,300 miles above the Earth. The move is one small step in a bold, new Cisco FOCUS initiative dubbed Internet Routing in History Behind Cisco’s Space (IRIS), which company executives Routers in Space say extends the same Internet protocol- based (IP) technology used to build the Cisco Systems first World Wide Web into the heavens. The began evaluating satellite long-term goal, they say, is to route voice, communications networks as data and video traffic between satellites candidates for an Internet protocol over a single IP network in ways that are (IP) makeover several years ago, more efficient, flexible and cost effective company executives say. The than is possible over today’s fragmented networking giant took the idea to satellite communications networks. Maryland-based Intelsat General, the world’s largest operator of It’s an exercise that’s sparking intense commercial communications interest in the satellite industry as well as satellites, executives say. in the U.S. military, telecommunications companies, and other businesses that Later, the companies approached stand to benefit from the technology. the U.S. Department of Defense as an obvious beneficiary of Don Brown of Intelsat General, the such technology, says Intelsat’s world’s largest operator of commercial Don Brown. You can read more communications satellites, says IRIS regarding the history at http:// is to the future of satellite-based newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2010/ communications what Internet forerunner hd_011910.html ARPANET was to the creation of the World Wide Web in the 1960s.
“There is a very strong potential for IRIS to revolutionize communications satellite Later, the companies approached the architecture,” says Brown, who is vice U.S. Department of Defense as an president of hosted payloads at the obvious beneficiary of such technology,” Maryland-based satellite operator. “IP says Intelsat’s Don Brown. changes everything.” Read More Brainier Satellites “Historically, the brains of satellite “Communications satellites are a type of communications networks have resided satellite stationed in space for the purpose largely in ground-based hardware, with of telecommunications, including mobile the satellite itself passively reflecting communications to ships, vehicles and the data beamed up to it. But IRIS shifts handheld devices. They are also used for much more of the intelligence to the TV and radio broadcasting where wires and orbiting router — with potentially dramatic cables do not reach or are not practical. benefits,” says Cisco’s IRIS project manager Greg Pelton.
46 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 “For starters, a space-based router Eliminating The FOCUS can intelligently allocate bandwidth, “Double Hop” prioritizing more important traffic and “Other benefits include a better allowing telecommunications companies user experience with time-sensitive to respond to changing demand,” Pelton services such as voice and video,” says. Hence, if one customer no longer Pelton says. “Currently, voice calls or needs bandwidth — a broadcaster video transmissions routed between covering a just-canceled political event, two satellite users suffer from delays for example — that bandwidth can be assigned to another customer —such as a government agency dealing with a sudden natural disaster.
“Space-based routers would also make it practical for telecommunications companies to offer high-bandwidth, on-demand services such as Cisco TelePresence,” Pelton says. “That’s not an option with existing satellite networks because customers must reserve bandwidth in advance and pay for it whether they use it or not,” he says.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 47 FOCUS that hinder interaction; think of those “The opportunity to interviews between TV news anchors and reporters in the field that are punctuated transform an entire with dead silences. industry doesn’t come “These delays often occur because the data between anchor and reporter must along very often. And bounce first from one satellite and back, then travel along the ground before the fact that our product bouncing off a second satellite. These two round trips into space, or ‘hops,’ isn’t delivered on a total nearly 90,000 miles and add a half- second delay to the signal,” Pelton says. truck but on a rocket “IRIS will cut the delay in half by routing the signal directly between the two users with over a million and thus eliminating the so-called “double hop,” he says. pounds of thrust is
“IRIS also aims to provide ‘any time, pretty cool, too.” any place’ broadband services and to reduce operating expenses for telecommunications companies by merging their terrestrial and space — Greg Pelton, Cisco’s networks, which are currently managed separately,” Pelton says. In fact, he says, IRIS project manager
“in addition to offering a multitude of services now lying dormant in the router’s operating system software, known as Cisco IOS, IRIS may enable the creation of entirely new capabilities.
“That will be the prize in the Crackerjack box we’re going to find over the next year,” Pelton says.
48 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 Changing that have not caught the cloud-computing FOCUS The Status Quo vision will be baffled by IRIS, while those The potential opportunity for Cisco in that have embraced the cloud will readily putting a router on every communications see the potential of IRIS, which will in turn satellite is huge. Pelton shared that spur competition. “about 100 communications satellites are launched every year, and that the “It’s another pipeline from the cloud down overall satellite market in 2009 was worth to the user,” Clarke says. “It’s going $125 billion. Satellite industry executives to sharpen up the market. It’s going to say it will take years for the company to improve services across the board.” realize this vision, however, and that IRIS will likely face its share of growing pains Next Steps along the way. “Technically, the IRIS router is not the first Cisco has sent into space. In 2003, “Some of the challenges, they say, will the company launched an off-the-shelf, be technological, such as matching commercial router aboard a low Earth customers’ applications with the IRIS orbit satellite, but that experimental effort system; and some will be economic, was never intended to offer services to such as achieving the economies of users,” Pelton says. scale needed to push down prices for customers. But perhaps the greatest Not so the IRIS router, which has been challenge will come from changing the modified to withstand the rigors of status quo,” Pelton says. space. Now that it has completed initial testing, the router will begin two new “The satellite industry has been doing phases of testing, Cisco says. Starting things the same way for decades,” he says. in February, the U.S. government will “Introducing an architectural change and evaluate IRIS for three months. business change can cause a lot of discomfort for our customers and our partners.” “It’s a very cost-effective way for the government to improve its Analyst John Mazur with international communications capabilities,” says Arnold technology consultancy Ovum says IRIS Friedman of Palo Alto, California-based represents the first time Internet technology Space Systems/Loral, which built the has been made available from a space- satellite hosting IRIS. “Especially at this based platform. time where budgets are tight, this is a really interesting alternative.” “It takes IP ubiquity to a whole new level,” Mazur says. “With a few more IRIS birds, IP “Next, Cisco will spend a year evaluating will be available anywhere, anytime on the IRIS for business customers,” Pelton planet, although bandwidth may be limited.” says. “In doing so, the company hopes to Peter Clarke, another Ovum analyst, links give the satellite industry a chance to get IRIS to the surging technology trend of used to IRIS and understand how it can cloud computing. He says companies improve their business,” he says.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 49 “The opportunity to transform an entire industry doesn’t come along very often,” Pelton says. “And the fact that our product isn’t delivered on a truck but on a rocket with over a million pounds of thrust is pretty cool, too.”
About the author Laurence Cruz is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. A UK transplant, he has worked as a reporter with The Associated Press in Seattle and as an environmental reporter for The Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. He has a BA in English from Oxford and an MA in Communications from Washington State University.
Image credits Page 6 & 7 & 10 IS-14 — SS/L Page 8 Space Router — Cisco Page 11 NASA
Photo credit: Space Systems/Loral
50 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010
military satellite wans
The “Spirit of Iridum” poster by Robert T. McCall military satellite wans Gordon Dorworth How to Optimize, Accelerate and provide Interoperability
There are many operational and environmental conditions which adversely affect military satellite communications, impairing network performance and consuming valuable bandwidth. While satellite communications enable mobility and communications in remote locations, satellite-based Internet connectivity suffers due to adverse weather, interference, high-latency and transport and application protocol inefficiencies. FOCUS
Many of these factors degrade throughput, while be extremely time sensitive. Providing a others limit the amount of traffic that can run comprehensive solution for reliable and fast over a satellite link. Additionally, interoperability military communications has become an ever- among disparate military networks can increasing challenge — balancing security, jeopardize mission-critical communications. speed of delivery and bandwidth consumption.
To combat this, NASA and the Department There is an emerging need to combine of Defense (DoD) jointly created the Space SCPS-TP and robust WAN optimization Communications Protocol Standards and application acceleration features into (SCPS) protocol suite that has been deployed a single, small footprint solution for military throughout the U.S. military. They rely on satellite communications. WAN optimization SCPS-TP to overcome transport protocol and application acceleration capabilities interoperability, and enable satellite WAN links not only substantially reduce the amount to have a greater amount of traffic flow. This of unnecessary traffic going over a satellite helps deliver more reliable satellite links in WAN, they also increase the throughput support of military missions, regardless of the beyond traditional SCPS-TP solutions. operating conditions. This article details the obstacles faced by In addition, the U.S. DoD operates in areas military satellite communications, and how of the world where bandwidth is extremely solutions that integrate SCPS-TP and WAN scarce and expensive. The military is optimization are able to provide military and very mobile, and communications can government organizations with greater use
54 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 FOCUS
of bandwidth, and speedy, secure access to The second requirement is acceleration mission-critical information needed to do their and optimization technologies from job, no matter where they are located. companies such as Stampede Technologies that provide considerable Two essential requirements for improving performance and bandwidth availability reliability, performance and interoperability improvements for Internet-based satellite The first requirement is transport protocol communications. Satellite WANs require interoperability via SCPS-TP. As acceleration and optimization technologies mentioned above, the SCPS-TP protocol to improve bandwidth utilization, in order suite was jointly developed by NASA and the to squeeze greater amounts of traffic into DoD. However, an SCPS-TP implementation a satellite link, and accelerate traffic going that has become the “defacto standard” over the link to deliver the applications transport protocol is SkipWare from more quickly to the users. Global Protocols, a protocol engineering firm specializing in the development and The diagram above shows satellite integration of bandwidth efficient, error- communications using SPCS-enabled WAN tolerant protocol solutions based on optimization controllers at the head-end and SCPS-TP. SkipWare is the industry’s first an appliance at one remote site. Software is commercial SCPS-TP implementation. deployed at a second remote site.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 55 FOCUS Many of the WAN optimization solutions • Reduce the amount of data that on the market are not SCPS-TP-compliant, is sent over the satellite link — and therefore, they lack the degree of allowing you to send more traffic interoperability required by military personnel, while standalone SCPS-TP implementations • Reduce the number of round trips have limited acceleration capabilities. (for transport & applications) to complete a transaction However, there are solutions on the market specifically designed to accelerate, • Offload tasks from clients and optimize and provide interoperability for servers — allowing them to handle a military satellite communications. These greater amount of traffic solutions offer the best of both worlds — rich optimization and acceleration capabilities, • Secure data and transactions and integrated SPCS-TP. — end-to-end
WAN optimization solutions with integrated Primary Issues SPCS-TP provide comprehensive optimization and acceleration technologies High Latency — Latency reduces that work together to address network the amount of data that can be bandwidth constraints, high-latency, traffic transmitted through a network link, volumes, transport and application protocol regardless of how much bandwidth inefficiencies, excessive content/object is available. On terrestrial-based transfers, and application contentions. WANs, latency can range from 0.1ms These solutions can save as much as 75 to 200ms. However, on a satellite percent or more of bandwidth capacity, while link, latency can be as high as dramatically increasing the response times 1,000ms. Because of latency, even experienced by end-users. though you pay every month for a certain amount of bandwidth, in The benefits that can be achieved: reality, you may not be getting the full value of the connection. • Obtain greater value from your bandwidth Latency has significant adverse affects on TCP and web-based • Improve application delivery times applications that require extensive handshaking. For satellite • Improve WAN response times communications, one major challenge with respect to the performance • Optimize connectivity with any of Internet applications is the SCPS-TP-based military network latency between two earth stations connected by a satellite. For GEO satellite communications systems, latency is at least 250ms. Beyond the issue of distance; framing, queuing,
56 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 and on-board switching can make Solutions FOCUS end-to-end latency as high as 400ms. Bandwidth Optimization — Satellite Transport Protocol Limitations + WAN links can be costly, especially Inefficiencies — TCP has a maximum in remote locations and foreign window size of 64 kilobytes. This countries where network connectivity requires that for each round trip, options are limited. Bandwidth TCP only allows 64KB to be sent. optimization helps to squeeze For example, sending a 64MB file more bandwidth into network over a satellite WAN will require 1000 links. However, as important as round trips in order to complete the bandwidth optimization is, it is also transmission. TCP packets require vital to accelerate traffic throughput. an acknowledgement (Ack) that they Optimizing bandwidth doesn’t were successfully received before necessarily help with throughput, additional packets can be sent. If the particularly on high-latency links and round trip time takes 100ms, then chatty applications. that transaction is going to take 100 seconds to complete — regardless TCP Acceleration — To address of how much bandwidth the link is the inefficiencies of TCP, WAN capable of supporting. optimization solutions manage network connections in several ways Chatty Application Protocols — to optimize the flow of data and Applications have their own protocols reduce the impact on the network, with similar challenges to TCP, and application servers and end user can be even more inefficient. For devices. WAN optimization solutions example, Web pages are comprised of can maintain a consistent pool of many separate objects, each of which connections (multiplexing) between is requested by the user (browser) themselves and the Web application and retrieved sequentially. servers. The Web application servers are offloaded from managing the Similar to TCP, a browser will wait connections, and are isolated from for a requested object to arrive inadvertent session disconnects. before requesting the next one. Web applications can generate hundreds Using WAN optimization client of round trips by themselves. These technology, a persistent connection round trips are in addition to the between the client and the WAN round trips generated by TCP. Web optimization appliance is always applications can also have window maintained, even when browsers sizes 15 to 20 percent smaller than close and reopen sessions. These TCP, requiring even more round trips. sessions are also multiplexed across multiple connections, improving
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 57 FOCUS throughput and response time. This mission-critical applications and persistent connection capability is other network-intensive traffic. extremely important for AJAX and Web 2.0 applications that constantly Caching — Caching techniques open and close sessions as they poll are used to position frequently and access various Web services. requested content and objects closer to the users requesting the HTTP Acceleration — HTTP data. Caching maintains copies of acceleration enables HTTP browser routinely accessed data to eliminate traffic to be intermixed across multiple unnecessary requests to web servers. “pipelines”. All browser activity is optimized, including the network- Cache differencing goes a step intensive polling associated with further and maintains identical Web 2.0 and AJAX applications. copies of the browser’s cache on A key advantage of using a WAN the local WAN optimization device. optimization client-side implementation Intelligent cache differencing is that communication resources understands what data has actually can be shared across multiple changed, and then transfers only applications, and all HTTP requests the changed data. The result is less and responses from any application data transferred, improved network (including multiple browsers) that are utilization, and increased user intermixed simultaneously across productivity. An important aspect of multiple concurrent sessions. HTTP cache differencing to be aware of is acceleration serves as a platform for the ability to perform differencing not the consolidation and aggregation of all only on HTML GET requests, but also web-based traffic from a given client. on POST requests. This is significant because responses to posts are Much as physical “link aggregation” always marked non-cacheable, and uses multiple Ethernet network most applications that are based on cables/ports in parallel to increase SOAP and XML (including most AJAX network link speeds beyond the limits applications) issue SOAP requests of any one single connection, HTTP via the HTML POST command. acceleration logically aggregates multiple HTTP protocol streams Pre-Caching helps eliminate network across a few TCP sessions. Individual bottlenecks, and improve end-user objects or pieces of objects can response times. Administrators can be split into any size and then define content that is automatically multiplexed with other object data distributed (Pre-Cached) to specific and reconstructed as needed, which users at off peak hours. During a makes HTTP acceleration ideal for predefined time, the end-user devices converged networks and managed will randomly pre-cache the content, service networks that must deliver enabling instant access to the mixed payloads consisting of information when the user needs it.
58 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 Compression — Compression individual applications. Specific port FOCUS eliminates non-essential information assignments, priorities and policies from data that is moved from one can be assigned at the database- location to another. The data is level, guaranteeing QoS for mission- then reassembled to its original critical applications. form after the transfer is complete. Compressing data reduces network Summary traffic and accelerates the delivery of Military satellite communications are not time-sensitive information. only vital for mission-critical operations, they are also important for deployed military GZIP Compression is a standard and government personnel to be able to technique used to compress data that communicate with family and colleagues is sent to browsers. This is useful back home. Today’s satellites use Internet for reducing the text portions of technology that is inherently hampered by pages. However, GZIP is not typically TCP and application protocol inefficiencies, used for attachment compression, latency and adverse environmental or for inbound compression from conditions that can drastically impair network the browser. GZIP cannot be used performance, reliability and bandwidth to compress HTTP headers, cookies use. Additionally, open-source standards or image data. To accomplish these are critical for ensuring complete transport tasks, bi-directional compression is protocol interoperability among disparate used to reduce the data size through military networks. extremely efficient and intelligent compression techniques. WAN optimization and application acceleration solutions that integrate SCPS-TP When a WAN optimization solution is can substantially reduce the amount of deployed in a two-sided environment unwanted and unnecessary traffic going over (both at the head-end or NOC and a satellite WAN, while increasing throughput. the remote sites), bi-directional These solutions are able to provide military compression provides compression and government personnel with fast, reliable for HTTP headers, application cookies, and secure access to mission-critical text and data objects, JPEG files with information — from anywhere in the world. image reduction, file attachments and file uploads and downloads. About the author Gordon Dorworth is the Quality of Service (QoS) — QoS President and CEO of enables the network to use queuing Stampede Technologies, functionality to provide preferential a leading provider of WAN treatment to certain classes of optimization and applica- traffic. Traffic Shaping ensures tion acceleration solutions on-time delivery of time-critical for satellite and terrestrial- information. Traffic shaping allows based networks. different TCP ports to be assigned to
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 59
Network management — the next step Wally Martland
Most of the Network Management Systems (NMS) solutions on the market today evolved out of Monitor and Control (M&C) solutions. Operators at an Earth station relied on the M&C system to monitor and control one or more antennas’ RF equipment without having to walk amongst the racks in order to determine if there was a failure on any piece of equipment. As network operators acquired or built out more infrastructure to meet the ever growing demand for bandwidth from their customers, M&C systems were forced to evolve into the NMS solutions on the market today. MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 61 focus their networkfromasingleOperationsCenter. to managealltheequipmentthatcomprises as manynetworkoperatorshavetheability Today, thisgoalhaslargelybeenrealized primary andabackuplocation. from asinglelocationorinsomecases, network, regardlessofgeographicallocation, equipment thatcomprisedtheirtransmission Center (NOC)tomonitorandcontrolallthe allowing theoperatorataNetworkOperations was toprovideoperationalefficienciesby The goalofthenetworkmanagementsystem Figure 1– T raditional NMS BlockandLevel Display equipment failsthroughtheuseofpop-ups Operators areabletoidentifywhenanyofthe located atthesite(seefigure1,below and leveldisplayforeachoftheantennas a site,theoperatorispresentedwithblock the equipmentatsite.Bydrillingdowninto coded torepresentthestatusor“health”of operators’ network.Theseiconsarecolored depicting eachofthesitesthatmakeup map-based overviewwithgraphicalicons user interfacewhichtypicallyconsistsofa This isaccomplishedfromaNMSgraphical ). and changing icon colors that are displayed Today, it is not uncommon to see reliability focus based upon equipment or site status. More requirements of 99.995 percent or greater on importantly, they are able to recover from the network. This is coupled with increased equipment failures via the NMS without having competition as more network operators to dispatch a technician to site. In the event enter the market. Although the NMS does they cannot resolve the issue via the NMS, allow operators to recognize and recover they can determine the most likely cause of services by alerting them to equipment the problem and dispatch a technician to the failures and allowing them to correct them remote site equipped with the appropriate from the console, the NMS does very little to tools and parts to repair the issue. Not only communicate to the operator what the REAL does this make them more efficient in the impact is of these equipment failures. The operation and maintenance of the network, basic problem is this — the NMS is still simply but it also saves significant costs in doing so. managing the equipment, while the network operators are trying to manage their services But network operators today are faced with in an effort to maximize the network revenue new challenges. Customers are demanding based upon the SLAs they have established not only more capacity, but also higher with their customers. reliability from their network providers through complex Service Level Agreements (SLAs). At Newpoint Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Integral Systems Inc, we
Figure 2 – Service Management Display focus are working hard to close the gap between has left the network short on capacity to carry what the network operators require and what all the services, lower priority services can be the current NMS solutions offer. Newpoint replaced with the higher priority services until is introducing a new Service Management spare equipment can be put in place. Module to our industry leading Compass/ TrueNorth Network Management Solution. To assist operators in the activation and The TrueNorth Service Manager takes the deactivation of services, or in moving NMS solution to the next level by allowing services from one transmission chain to operators to not only continue to view the another, profiles can be stored for each of network as they do today using the traditional the services which contain the parameters block and level displays (figure 1) but also needed to be set in the equipment to bring provides them views for each of the services the service online. To bring a service up that are running on the network. These using profiles, the operator only has to select service views provide an origination to the equipment to be used for the service destination view of only the specific equipment transmission, and the profile to be applied (a associated with the transmission of the service could have more than one profile), service (see figure 2 on the previous page). and the software will execute the set up of the service by downloading the profile to the As online units fail, and standby units equipment and verifying the profile has taken. are activated, the service displays are If an error occurs along the way, the operator automatically updated to reflect the new is prompted and required to take action to transmission path for the service. When there resolve any issues. is an alarm in the system because of an equipment failure, operators are alerted to not Once the concept of services have been only the fact that a piece of equipment has introduced into the NMS, the operators are failed, but also to what “downstream” services provided with powerful reporting tools which are affected by the equipment failure. can be used to provided feedback into the SLA Management or Billing Systems. This By allowing operators to includes detailed information on when the assign priorities to the service was activated and deactivated over individual services based any given time frame, what alarms occurred upon the established SLAs while the service was running, and how long that they have setup with the service was down or degraded while it their customers, operators was active, etc. can quickly distinguish the high revenue generating Managers can have this information rolled services from the low up to a system view and see network usage revenue generating services statistics. For example, on average how many and elect to recover the services were running on the network at any higher priority services first, given time, how many services were offline and then work on the lower due to equipment problems when they should priority services. In the event have been active, how much spare capacity is that the equipment failure on the network at any given time, etc.
64 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 focus Network Management Systems can no longer marketplaces. Wally has over 19 years afford to be focused on only equipment experience in providing Network failures, but must provide more information Management and Remote Site Monitoring and tools to allow them to do their job even Solutions to the Satellite, Microwave, more efficiently and effectively. Operators Transmitter, & SCADA marketplaces. are required to manage the services on their networks and their NMS should assist them to do just that. By introducingxicom.500W.1250W.amps.ad_xicom.500.1250W.ad.satnews service 2/17/10 3:10 PM Page 1 management concepts into the equipment focused NMS, operators Xicom’s engineers put their can make important thinking inside the box decisions which minimize the revenue so you’ll have more power impact of equipment outside the box. failures. Furthermore, the NMS can provide key indicators on the performance of the network and identify short comings on the network which should be addressed. The service based NMS is an essential part of managing any network. Double your performance with Xicom’s New 500W Ka-Band and 1250W Ku-Band Amplifiers About the author Wally Martland is the Xicom Technology offers new antenna-mount power amplifier solutions designed to cover your expanding SATCOM requirements. President of Newpoint v 500W Ka-Band (Model XTD-500Ka) Technologies, Inc., v 1250W Ku-Band (Model XTD-1250KL) a wholly owned v Simple Upgrade From Existing 250W Ka and 750W Ku Amplifiers subsidiary of Integral v No New Antennas Required v 24/7 Technical Support Systems, which v Service Centers Worldwide provides Satellite You can’t beat the combination of features and performance of Command and Xicom amplifiers. Contact Xicom today and find out more. Control, Network
Management, and Visit Xicom’s Carrier Management New Web TECHNOLOGY Site software solutions to the satellite Amplifier Quality & Reliability Since 1991 communications 3550 Bassett Street • Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA • www.xicomtech.com Phone: +1-408-213-3000 • Fax: +1-408-213-3001 • e-mail: [email protected] and broadcast
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 65 center Robert Wright, Jr. Command Senior Vice President, Integral systems
Robert Wright, Jr., (U.S. Air Force Colonel, retired) is the Senior Vice President of Integral Systems’ Military and Intelligence Group. Before assuming his current role, Colonel Wright served as Commander of the Space Innovation & Development Center at Schriever AFB, Colorado. “I think continued augmentation through His long career in space commercially leased services is inevitable, but with caveats. and communications Commercial providers will certainly augment bandwidth includes commanding shortfalls, and they are in a good position to help. We will also see the emergence of two communications commercially-based Internet protocol routing in space...” squadrons and a communications group, including a one-year deployed tour supporting Operation Southern Watch. He held several key staff positions, including Executive Officer to the Director, National Reconnaissance Office, as well as aide-de-camp and Executive Officer to the Commander, United States Central Command. Colonel Wright has earned numerous awards and decorations including the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, and the Air Force Commendation Medal. (AFSCN) and certain communications center
relay platforms. The appeal was in the Command technology and, later, in seeing the growing reliance on military and commercial satellite communications during the first Gulf War — the vast potential for support to fielded forces was daunting.
I later moved to the Pentagon and worked at a variety of space-related jobs, including Program Element Monitor for national security space system protection initiatives, supporting space event conferences, supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s first Deputy Director for Military Support, exposure to the Defense Reconnaissance Support Program and Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities Program (AF TENCAP), and serving as executive officer to the Director, National Reconnaissance Office. MilsatMagazine (MSM) Colonel Wright, how did you initially become In particular, I credit two managers during involved in space communications? Why was those years for keeping me engaged in a career path in the U.S. Air Force in this this business — Brigadier General Don space segment so appealing? Walker (former Commander, AF Satellite Control Facility and Director, Office of Space Colonel Robert Wright Systems, Office of the Secretary of the Air I could not fly for medical reasons, so I opted Force) and Martin Faga (Assistant Secretary to be involved in the United States Air Force of the Air Force for Space, and Director, (USAF) space program. My initial assignment National Reconnaissance Office). after graduating from the USAF Academy was to Space Division’s Launch Vehicle In 1994, I made a decision to transition from Directorate at Los Angeles AFB, where I national security space programs to AF learned the Department of Defense (DoD) installation level, fixed based communications, acquisition process in space launch and upper and information technology systems, which stage acquisition programs (i.e., Titan 34D, still involved MILSATCOM fixed and mobile Inertial Upper Stage). maintenance and operations. From there, I held a series of squadron and group-level After a few years, I transitioned to National command jobs that were the best jobs anyone Security Space programs, and became could be privileged to have experienced. exposed to the critical operations of the worldwide AF Satellite Control Network
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 67 center I wouldn’t have selected any other career
Command path. Space communications technology is still appealing today, whether it’s moving large amounts of data or incorporating and integrating COTS products.
For example, we’ve dramatically improved capacity and capability in fielding the new Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) system. We’ve expanded from primarily X-band and UHF communications to Ka-band, incorporated phased array antennas, digital channelizers, and more steerable beams. These capabilities markedly improve support to fixed and mobile forces, while the Service acquisition community continues to speed up capability delivery dates to combatant commanders.
As exciting as the technology is, we’ve moved from a pure technology fascination to a better understanding of the importance of WGS-3 satellite the data, of mission assurance, and threat analysis. Each day, we work, socialize, I was very fortunate to be part of a team, conduct commerce transactions, and go to under General Kehler’s vision that planned school in the space and cyberspace domains. and executed the Schriever Space These domains are contested, so it really Wargame. We leveraged observations and is about the data — data protection, data lessons from these wargames over the management, data exposure, data fusion, years to move the focus from technological data dissemination. capabilities of space systems to influencing development of National Space Policy and My former boss, General C. Robert strategy, integrating commercial, interagency Kehler, Commander of Air Force Space and Allied cooperative efforts, and influencing Command, in partnership with Scott Large, future investment decisions through the former Director, National Reconnaissance Space Posture Review, for example. The Office, worked diligently to support the next Schriever wargame will focus on the Space Protection Program, to address the intersection of space and cyber operations, importance of architecture and engineering continued policy and strategy examination and solutions to existing and potential space leveraging Allied and industry partnerships. and cyberspace threats and vulnerabilities — to ensure we are always postured to stay ahead of the threat.
68 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 MSM I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every assignment I’ve center
When you started your career, what was had, but my most interesting and challenging Command the major technology at that time as far as assignment was my year long squadron MILSATCOM was concerned? Looking back command tour at a remote location in Saudi upon your Air Force command path, what was Arabia. I worked alongside many dedicated, your most interesting assignment? young, enlisted Airmen each day. These men and women were the experts in SATCOM Colonel Robert Wright systems operations and maintenance, as well The technology in those days seems as leading edge networking technologies. rudimentary compared to today’s capabilities. I recall the first Defense Satellite We relied on satellite and troposcatter Communications System-III launch in communications capabilities to link with Riyadh 1982. DSCS was the DOD’s primary long and other locations throughout the Middle East. haul MILSATCOM program — Super High It was my first of four command assignments, Frequency (SHF) capability. The DSCS-III and my 250-person squadron was responsible had a 10-year design life then, with fixed and for operations and maintenance of all military steerable antennas. terrestrial and space communications in and out of the peninsula. The U.S. Navy had UHF Fleet Satellite Communications programs. The first Additionally, we operated a network control MILSTAR satellite, incorporating survivable center, cable television services, airfield and protected communications and cross precision approach radars, stood up a linking capabilities, wasn’t launched until 1994. technical control center, operated a NORTEL MILSTAR featured low- and medium-data rate telephone switch, a tactical telephone communications and antijam. From a ground switch and imbedded all fiber backbone perspective, I recall the decision to standup communications supporting the new housing the Consolidated Space Operations Center complex of several thousand personnel. (CSOC) at Falcon AFB (now Schriever AFB) east of Colorado Springs, for mission MSM assurance reasons. In those days, vulnerability You have witnessed many technological of the ground C2 segment to potential physical advances during your 30 year military attack was a concern, so we built remote career, giving you great insight into how our backup and mobile/transportable capabilities. industry operates and grows. What do you see as the most important technological support for warfighters in the next few years? And how will such assets be protected from intrusion by those who would do us harm? How will your role at Integral Systems assist in this endeavor?
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 69 center Colonel Robert Wright for integrated space and cyberspace
Command We continue to look for game-changing operations. The need for modeling and technology applications, working with simulation capabilities grows, especially in research labs, academia and industry to understanding the interrelationship between expose these potential technologies to space and cyberspace. There will be a manage, expose and deliver vast amounts continued emphasis on robotics, unmanned of data. I believe we need to focus on the air vehicles, autonomous operations, plug and needs at the edge — the Soldier, Sailor, play interfaces and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions featuring lower costs, rapid fielding and scalability.
We also understand our networks and data are constantly under some type of probing, intrusion, denial of service or attack, but we cannot realistically protect everything — not every node on the network. Our framework is to understand the critical infrastructure and information, develop proactive rather than DSCS reactive capabilities and policies to “fight through” Airman and Marine, in the fight. We will and preserve operations. move to deliver applications on iPhone-like devices in the hands of individuals in the At Integral Systems I will help deliver the field, reducing the fog of war, enhancing innovative, scalable products and engineering situational awareness and enabling effective solutions to both the military and commercial command and control. sectors to meet the needs discussed above. We are platform agnostic and listen to our We’re still in early innings of virtualization customers’ needs in order to offer tailored and cloud computing in military applications. solutions. We’re proven design, engineering There is a growing understanding of the and integration solution leaders and will importance of non-kinetic options in warfare. expand our penetration into markets beyond We need vastly improved operational- satellite command and control. level situational awareness capabilities
70 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 MSM DSCS, AFSATCOM and MILSTAR ground center
How has your command experience as the terminals, as well as deployed with critical Command Vice Commander of the 14th Air Force, as mobile command and control capabilities. well as with communications squadrons and My two assignments in the Pentagon on the groups, prepared you for your role at Integral SAF and HAF staffs, in HQ Air Force Space Systems? Will your past work in the Air Force Command, in Air Combat Command, at assist you with your new civilian endeavors on HQ US Central Command and the National behalf of your company with government and military procurement agencies?
Colonel Robert Wright Certainly my experience in acquisition and operations will help in my new dvanced industry role. At 14th Air Force, my timing there allowed me to support Lieutenant General Shelton (14AF/CC A 1994 and the Commander, Joint Functional Original Roto-Lok® Cable Drive Component Command, Space) as we supported the Joint Space Operations Center, outlined fundamental space situation awareness and isionary intelligence requirements at the operational level, articulated the v 2001 need for a high accuracy catalogue, First Mobile VSAT defined net-centric and data fusion opportunities, and worked a host of issues including integrated joint operations, space command eading the way and control relationships, satellite interference identification, detection and mitigation. L 2005 First Carry-On Suitcase From a leadership and command perspective, I’ve been privileged to See what’s new lead organizations implementing Satellite 2010, Booth 1235 large scale fixed-base backbone network transitions from copper to fiber to Voice over Internet Protocol AvL TECHNOLOGIES (VoIP) — both in CONUS and designs for ultimate performance in combat zones overseas. I’ve www.avltech.com led organizations responsible for operations and maintenance of fixed
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 71 center Reconnaissance Office provided important MSM
Command insights as well. I’ve been fortunate to have Can you give us an update on Integral been exposed to the rapid pace of information Systems’ Command and Control Systems – technology evolution at the circuit and Consolidated (CCS-C) support of Wideband application layer throughout my career — Global SATCOM? driven by Moore’s Law — on the acquisition and operations side of the business. I Colonel Robert Wright understand the challenges that acquisition CCS-C’s support to Wideband Global professionals have to quicken capability SATCOM (WGS) has been outstanding from delivery to warfighters. the acquisition (Space and Missile Systems Center — SMC) and operations (50 SW at My most recent command tour at the Space Schriever AFB) perspectives. On June 15, Innovation and Development Center, 2009, we seamlessly cutover WGS Satellite with AF TENCAP as a direct reporting unit, Vehicle-2 to CCS-C, our second WGS gave me an even greater appreciation of the satellite. Going forward, our next opportunity importance of integrating rapid, innovative, for seamless cutover will be on February 25th small dollar solutions with existing capabilities for the recently launched WGS SV-3. through architectures and concepts of operations and employment. Each of these Our continued focus to improve CCS-C’s experiences are building blocks to what I automation capability has and will enable am doing now in industry, as we partner the Air Force to recognize efficiencies in with various government and commercial their manpower utilization. The successful customers to provide them the capabilities transition of legacy and future MILSATCOM they need. I hope to be a part of the solution satellites onto CCS-C, including Defense to these requirements and challenges. The Satellite Communication System (DSCS), move from military command to the civilian MILSTAR, Wideband Global SATCOM, work force can be a tricky road to navigate — and the soon-to-be launched (2010) how did you manage such so successfully. Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites, in conjunction with The jury’s still out on my transition, but I ground breaking operational efficiencies firmly believe the leadership challenges are gained, are a testament to the ongoing similar — building a sense of teamwork and a success of CCS-C and representative of an clear articulation of vision, strategy and goals exceptional Air Force and Integral Systems remains paramount, as does creating a work partnership. environment where valued staff and technical professionals are challenged, recognized and rewarded for producing innovative solutions sets to meet our customer’s needs on time and cost. As we have always done in the military, in the private sector we strive to recruit the best talent, nurture it, and emphasize responsive support to our government and commercial customers.
72 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 MSM Colonel Robert Wright center
How are these new generation military Budget pressures are a reality for Command communication satellites enhancing our MILSATCOM and other mission areas — warfighting efforts globally? driving innovative, cost effective, scalable solutions for today’s war, and tomorrow’s. Colonel Robert Wright Industry, will lead in deriving viable solutions. The United States ability to conduct military operations worldwide is enabled Having said that, by satellite communications. These next we saw last year’s generation systems will enhance the cancellation of the ability of all levels of command, strategic Transformational to tactical, to communicate near real-time Satellite (T-SAT) and with clarity, through both voice and program, and video. Global SATCOM enables remote the subsequent operations of intelligence, surveillance and decision to procure reconnaissance platforms, integrated sensor- additional AEHF to-shooter capability, and delivery of real-time satellites. DISA intelligence and situational awareness to all is restructuring levels of command. the existing DISA Defense Regardless of theater, the worldwide capacity Information and throughput improvements by WGS and Systems Network AEHF will be significant for all Services. One (DISN) Satellite WGS satellite’s capacity replaces the entire Transmission DSCS constellation. Once on orbit, three Services-Global AEHF satellites in geosynchronous orbit will (DSTS-G) contract provide ten to one hundred times the capacity to include more of the existing MILSTAR satellites. The commercial suppliers. terminal segment will be fixed and mobile, on ships and submarines, and on airborne MSM platforms, and will include the Family of Do you see the role of Commercial Satellite Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight-Terminal Communications expanding to augment (FAB-T), used by all of the Services and growing Government communication needs? several international partners. Colonel Robert Wright MSM I believe continued augmentation through How are the current Defense Budget pressures commercially leased services is inevitable, affecting MilSATCOM procurements? but with caveats. Commercial providers will certainly augment bandwidth shortfalls, and they are in a good position to help. We will also see the emergence of commercially- based Internet protocol routing in space, for example. But certain specific military
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 73 center requirements for jam resistant, survivable for DOD use. In the upcoming Future
Command and protected communications and so forth, COMSATCOM Services Acquisition (FCSA), commercial providers won’t be the solution. which replaces the DSTS-G, communications The Air Force will buy more AEHFs for those assurance requirements are planned to be specific needs, for example. dictated by Service Level Agreements (SLA).
MSM As many vendors are likely to be involved, it Are commercially hosted payloads a viable will be challenging for DISA or STRATCOM approach to augment communication needs? to have a single, integrated picture of link quality, interference issues, or other Colonel Robert Wright integrated situational requirements. Likewise, The Air Force has been investigating it becomes even more difficult to validate commercially hosted payloads for some that SLA requirements are being met. This time, and I believe a dual-use approach is is one of the many reasons that Integral not only viable, but in fact, working today. Systems recently initiated a new group As I understand it, the Australian Optus and within the company, Integral Systems Defense C1 satellite system has 24 Ku-band Service Solutions (IS3), to address these transponders for commercial use, which are needs. Among its offerings, IS3 will provide revenue-generating for Optus. The system an independent service for monitoring link also hosts UHF, X-band and 6 Ka-band performance across the vast commercial transponders which are not only available to, communications satellite constellation, and but are controlled by, the Australian Defense provide consolidated situational awareness Force (ADF). and SLA validation capabilities to the agencies within the Government (DISA and MSM USSTRATCOM) which are responsible for With such an increasing reliance on overall mission assurance. Commercial Satellite Communication links; What are your thoughts on how to protect these vital communication links or more appropriately, provide communication assurance for commercial satellites?
Colonel Robert Wright Under the current DISA Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) Satellite Transmission Services-Global (DSTS-G) contract, mission assurance requirements were levied on each of the three companies providing commercial bandwidth services
EPOCH Suite
74 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 MSM Currently, our EPOCH Product Suite is being center
What role do ground segments provide used to operate many of the commercial Command in communication link management and communications satellites and (via the communication assurance? CCS-C system) most of the nation’s military communications satellites. Our SAT Monics Colonel Robert Wright interference detection software and our satID There are many aspects of link management geolocation software lead the industry for and communications assurance, from satellite communications assurance. independent monitoring, to the correlation of independent monitoring information, to Our leading-edge front ends, receivers, satellite payload health information that are and digital communications products have derived from telemetry. Likewise, it becomes become the industry standard for ground increasingly important to have real-time segment hardware. Our engineering business information about the ground terminal processes are tailored specifically to segment health so that link anomalies efficiently and effectively developing ground can be quickly resolved. Over the past segment solutions. few years, Integral Systems has more closely integrated our SATCOM Network Most important, our people: Integral Systems Operations (SATCOM NetOps) products, has consistently brought together some of the and now services that provide this type of best talent in the ground segment industry — real-time management information to ease proven results-oriented professionals. the challenge of correlating often dissimilar inputs into a single integrated picture. This is precisely the integrated situational awareness picture provided by IS3’s subscription-based services offering.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 75 Bo Norton Vice President, vizada
Bo Norton joined Vizada in 2003 and is responsible for all facets of service and support for Vizada’s service providers, distributors and agents working with all US government agencies. At Vizada, Norton was responsible for developing a number of key industry firsts including the first L-band Aeronautical Leasing Program for the Closed User Group (CUG) in conjunction with Inmarsat and a key Service Provider partner. Now in its second year, this growing leasing program provides assured access for government customers all over the world and around the clock.
Before joining Vizada, Norton served as vice president of business development and operations for ADC International, a firm specializing in mobile satellite communications to the United States government. Prior to that, he was responsible for all new commercial and government business development for Military Advantage, Inc.
Norton is a former senior United States Naval Officer and Aviator. He has held a number of critical leadership and staff positions in the U.S. Armed Forces, including serving as a Air Wing Commander and Squadron Commander in addition to positions in a number of major Naval organizations in the U.S. and overseas. He has earned numerous personal and professional awards while serving in these positions.
MSM and ThurayaIP) are causing customers to What is the correct mix of services for reconsider their options. communications-on-the-move? Does this combination of technologies differ greatly, It has always been our position that in order depending upon the service in question? to meet the breadth of our customer’s global requirements, we have to be able to offer Bo Norton the full range of satellite services, whether While the trend in the commercial market in it be L-, Ku- or C-band. Consequently, our the past has been a gradual migration from challenge has been to stay out ahead of L-band services (Inmarsat and Iridium) to the requirements with regard to capacity Ku-band services, we are now seeing that so that as customers’ satcom applications the increasing throughput capabilities of the grow, we can meet them. To date, we have new 4th generation L-band services (Inmarsat been successful as both commercial and ground? the on hostile environments safer for folk with boots boots with folk for safer environments hostile COTH over the next year or so, making making so, or year next the over COTH for our military services? Will COTM replace replace COTM Will services? military our for both the ground and air (UAV/UAS) segment segment (UAV/UAS) air and ground the both only bythe technologywhichisrequired COTH) ontheground and intheairislimited The deploymentofCOTM solutions(over Bo Norton in role its playing COTM see you do How MSM choices tomeettheirrequirements. access to the right mix of products and service network, VizadaofferstheU.S.Government Through itsextensiveserviceprovider the correctsolutioninanunbiasedmanner. and serviceswhomtheycantrusttooffer a providerwithwidevarietyofproducts customer, itreallycomesdowntoselecting services insomeareas.Forthegovernment regional availabilitychallengesforKu-band Unfortunately, therearestillsignificant performance withmuchloweroperatingcosts. Ku-band servicescanoffersignificantlybetter applications operatinginspecifictheatres, impairments. However,forhigherbandwidth more resilienttointerferenceandatmospheric standardized, lowercost,equipmentandis basis) using grown significantly. markets have government on acontended available (albeit L-band isglobally L- andKu-, technology bands, popular SATCOM Of thetwomost troops ontheground. improved, sohasthesafetyfactorof to stopthevehicle.Astechnologyhas some VSATtechnologyaddressestheneed performance whilethelatestgenerationof significantly increasesdatathroughput the latestgenerationofInmarsatequipment technology toovercomethislimitation.Today, vulnerability andspurredtheneedfornew need to“halt”obviouslyincreasesoperator VSAT signalsasthevehicleisinmotion.The allowed thesesystemstolockontonarrow protocols andantennatechnologyhas recently thatadvancementsincommunication have beendeployed.However,itisnotuntil C-, Ku-andotherformsofVSATsystems To addresslargerthroughputrequirements, terms ofdatathroughput. applications havetraditionallybeenlimitedin deployments formanyyears.However,these and standardizationhasallowedforCOTM of L-band,coupledwithInmarsatprotocols technology. Forexample,theforgiveness evolution ofseveralgenerationsSatCom interference. COTMasitexiststoday,isan efficiently withoutintroducingadjacentsatellite allow thesesmallerantennastooperate platforms andtransmissionprotocolswhich can bemountedonavarietyofmoving small remoteantennaequipmentwhich to supportit.COTMapplicationsrequire the mostinterest. Forexample,the abilityto communications forthe warfightergenerate so networkarchitectures whichoptimize communication network isdictatedbyphysics, The lionshareoflatency inanysatellite Bo Norton be issues capacity and latency can How MSM situations? fighter war in especially resolved,
Command center center deploy remote-remote communication (e.g., communications networks were not available.
Command single-hop or MESH) in lieu of the more Being able to offer a reliable emergency traditional double-hop can cut latency in half. communication solution to form the critical link in their communication plans is absolutely Another way to minimize latency and jitter key to many of the nation’s premier first is to terminate the war fighter’s traffic using responders and support organizations such as the most direct path between the ground The American Red Cross, The National Guard station and the target terrestrial network and Global Relief Technologies. At Vizada, destination, using private, leased or other we have invested a tremendous amount in facilities which support prioritization of training these groups on the applications and real time traffic and QoS. With respect to benefits of satcom solutions. capacity, constraints are driven by network usage and satellite limitations. MSM What is changing in regard to the military’s The workarounds we offer our customers use of commercial satellites and how do include access to multiple satellite network you see that continuing to evolve? operators, assured access through leasing arrangements, prioritization and the use of Bo Norton our extensive network architecture. In my opinion, the biggest change is the realization that the government cannot meet However, in regions with limited its own satcom bandwidth requirements satellite capacity and a large amount through DoD satellites due to budgetary of commercial and government activity, constraints and the lead time to design, fund, congestion will continue to be a challenge build and launch a military satellite system. As for the war fighter. a result, the government is increasingly relying on commercial satellite operators to provide MSM the necessary L-, Ku- and Ka-band capacity. Is COTM becoming more important for first Interestingly enough, the U.S. Defense responders and NGOs and how will such be used? Information Services Agency (DISA), which is charged with providing and leading the Bo Norton requirement for U.S. Department of Defense In short, yes. We continually see the need for (DoD) communications, will tell you that mobile satcom in crisis situations to provide 80 percent or more of the communications the necessary flexibility for first responders required by the U.S. DoD are covered through to meet critical communication needs. Of commercial satellites. At the same time, note, first responders take a lot of cues from certain theatre commanders will tell you that the military on technology, and they typically that figure is actually higher in their AORs. follow the military’s lead when it comes to satcom usage. Over the last decade, both first With the constant push for more bandwidth, responders and complimentary NGOs have usage flexibility, new and innovative solutions become more aware of these capabilities to help the U.S. government do its job, where through such situations like Hurricane Katrina does that leave Vizada? In short, a very and 9/11 where traditional mobile and landline enviable position as we have worked with our
78 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 service providers and government customers MSM center
to develop unique solutions to meet their Having served your country as a naval officer Command requirements. These are embodied in our and aviator, how did you manage the transition Vizada Solutions Certification Program and from the military environments to those of the offered free of charge to them. It is my belief commercial world? How did your Navy career that we will see more of this type of public/ prepare you for the business world? private collaboration in the future as the need for rapid solutions accelerates. To that point, Vizada is in a prime position to provide this high level of service.
MSM How do you ensure security in satellite communications for military usage? For the U.S. Navy, will COTM also play a role with communication buoys?
Bo Norton Primarily through providing world class, highly reliable network integrity so that customers can run their own encryption devices with confidence. In addition, we can also provide the “last mile” connections to ensure end-to-end connectivity as required. With regard to Navy communication buoys, we work closely with our satellite network operators to ensure highly reliable connections are always available regardless of buoy location.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 79 center Bo Norton government aeronautical users in key regions
Command As with any leadership position, you take of the world. Essentially, it provides dedicated certain skill sets with you when you leave L-band channels to select customers who the military. In my case, these skills had to have contracted for the service. The end be melded with learning how to successfully result is a highly reliable service that can be operate in the commercial business sector. shared and managed amongst a defined Luckily, I had mentors in both the military and user pool. Needless to say, it has been commercial worlds who helped me do this quite successful from both the end user and and provided me with the opportunities to service provider’s perspective because it prove myself. meets a highly critical need, is very efficient and cost effective. Here at Vizada, we have a team of professionals on the Government sales MSM team with similar backgrounds so they fully What will Vizada offer in this new year for this understand how the government and business ever-increasing market? sectors operate. In my opinion, this has been the key to our success in meeting the Bo Norton customer’s needs. We will continue to push our product groups and expand our portfolio to meet new Frankly, I do not understand how any requirements as they come along. You company can hope to be successful in will see new Vizada Solutions in the areas the government market without such a such as IP Networking and Business Tools. knowledge base. You have got to know Our team does a great job of delivering on how things are done in the government and our commitment to innovation. This year, military and how to work around roadblocks we will continue expanding our infrastructure in order to succeed. around the globe, along with expanding our offer of centralized control over business MSM operations via The Source, which is our Exactly what is the L-band Aeronautical web-based management tool. We’re in a Leasing Program for CUG and how did this new headquarters now for the Americas and arrangement come about with Inmarsat? are building out a state-of-the-art Vizada Why is this product offering of importance to Technology Center where we will work closely government agencies? with government customers to co-develop solutions, beta test and demonstrate new Bo Norton services designed to meet needs today and in The L-band leasing program for the Closed the future. User Group came about because of the need to provide assured access to critical
80 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 Terry Magee center Command Executive Vice President, wavestream
Terry Magee is executive vice president in charge of Wavestream’s business development, sales, marketing and product management. Terry’s distinguished career is marked by 27 years of service in the U.S. Navy as a Naval aviator with extensive operational experience and tours on staffs and in the Pentagon. His four command tours included command of two Aviation Squadrons on the Duluth and the Kitty Hawk. He subsequently served as president of Orincon, overseeing significant sales and market growth until the company’s acquisition by Lockheed Martin. He has since served in senior operational and strategic positions with Lockheed Martin, including the development and execution of capture plans for numerous large programs and C4ISR/IT Maritime Strategies and campaigns. Terry holds an MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a BA in Biology from SUNY Brockport. He is active in several professional organizations, including AFCEA, San Diego Military Advisory Council and Tailhook, and community organizations, including Operation Home Front, United Through Reading, Palomar College Foundation and Achievement Rewards for College Students.
MilsatMagazine (MSM) to provide an alternative to traditional TWTA Terry, could you start off this interview with a solutions. The result is an extensive product company profile? offering that offers greater efficiency and higher output power in more compact, lighter Terry Magee weight packages. In 2001, Wavestream’s engineers recognized the potential solid state technology had in Our company’s first products were meeting the growing demand for smaller, well suited to support military satellite lighter, more efficient high power amplifiers communications systems. We developed a to support a broad range of satellite solid reputation for producing rugged, high communications systems. output power amplifiers that could not only perform reliably in extreme environments, We made a significant investment in research but were smaller and lighter to suit a variety and development to create a patented, next of applications, including mobile operations generation solid state technology using spatial and flyaway terminals. power combining to address that demand and
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 81 center Wavestream MSM
Command has since What makes your product offering different? established itself as a premier Terry Magee provider of Ka- We are able to achieve high output power in and Ku-band more compact, lighter packages through our solid state power patented spatial power combing technology. amplifiers for Wavestream’s Spatial Power Advantage integration into technology uses an array of active elements, military satellite with each element output feeding a radiating communications structure. Individual element outputs are systems. Our Ka and Ku-band products spatially combined in a single step, into a are field proven under the most extreme coherent output beam. conditions, and have a track record for delivering the high output power required with The result is power combining efficiency greater efficiency and reliability. We have independent of the number of elements, shipped more than 1,000 Ka-band and over creating higher output power with greater 1,600 Ku-band amplifiers to support a variety efficiency, in smaller, lighter package of applications worldwide. footprints. We’ve leveraged this technology in every Ka-, Ku-, X- and C-band high power As we understand the challenges our amplifier product we produce. customers face and have products that consistently exceed industry standards for The flexibility provided by our technology reliability and efficiency, we’ve experienced allows us to be more responsive to changing significant company growth over the last system requirements and design products two years. That growth has enabled us to that accommodate different power levels, size extend our Ka- and Ku-band product lines restrictions or weight limitations. to cover a broader range of military and commercial requirements, and has led to As our products consume less energy, the introduction of new products to support integrators can realize significant energy and C- and X-band systems. maintenance cost savings over their system’s lifecycle. For example, our latest product, the We have expanded our international PowerStream 757C-i indoor C-band unit, representative and distributor network to offer has been designed as a form, fit, and function Wavestream products and support worldwide. replacement for aging, energy-hungry, TWTA We are entering the broadcast market to amplifiers currently used in the broadcast address the need for more efficient solid market. In addition to providing the proven state amplifiers to replace aging TWTAs and benefits of solid state technology, our new looking at applications of the technology to PowerStream 757C-i product offers operators other systems. significant costs savings through reduced
82 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 energy consumption, helping support the support the warfighter and enhance center
broadcast industry’s efforts to “go green”. situational awareness across the battle Command space. Continual command and control MSM connectivity is needed to support all types What challenges face the military in regard to of operations and strategic and tactical MILSATCOM systems? forces anywhere in the world, and under any circumstance. Terry Magee Today’s military faces the challenges of a new mission set, which runs the gamut of traditional warfare to antiterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peace keeping, and nation building. The military must leverage technology resources in new ways to adapt to circumstances that can change instantly and without warning. They are required to interact and communicate with many government and non-government agencies to complete their missions.
In this environment, we face the challenge of finding ways to rapidly design, build, launch and support military satellite communications systems that can adapt to constantly changing requirements. Highly reliable communication products must accommodate the vast amount of video, voice and data being generated to
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 83 center This means creating and supporting be quickly deployed to support instant, reliable
Command communications systems that are tending communications when established networks to be smaller, lighter, more mobile and are destroyed. man-portable or “backpack ready”. The military is also increasingly relying on MSM unmanned platforms for communications How are you positioned for the future to and Intelligence, Surveillance and support military SATCOM applications and Reconnaissance (ISR) activities. requirements?
The trend we’re seeing is to off-load Terry Magee reliance on satellites and instead use Wavestream continues to work closely with unmanned systems to communicate real- our system integrator customers to better time information to support military missions. understand and define the military’s SATCOM Going forward, understanding the unique requirements, and anticipate needs going challenges of heat, vibration, humidity, weight, forward. We have established relationships size and performance criteria to support and continue to provide field-proven products communications systems in airborne, water for integration into a variety of satellite and ground environments is critical. communications systems developed by companies including General Dynamics, The military’s mission set has also been TeleCommunications Systems, Tampa redefined to support operations beyond the Microwave and Globecomm, to support battle space. As we’ve seen with Hurricane critical programs such as WIN-T, SNAP and Katrina and the Haiti earthquake, the military several others. We are well positioned to is called upon to act as first responders to expand our product and service offerings to support relief efforts, coordinate humanitarian meet the military’s evolving mission set to aid, provide logistical support and establish include support for non-warfare missions such infrastructure in times of catastrophic as rapid deployment for disaster relief and disasters. Establishing fast, reliable humanitarian aid worldwide. communications systems and networks is critical in getting relief and aid efforts MSM underway. Again, the challenge is to create What are some of your Company’s goals for the satellite communication systems that are next year? adaptable to changing requirements and can
Wavestream Solid State Power Amplifiers
84 MilsatMagazine — March/April 2010 Terry Magee center
We’ll continue to drive toward Command more flexible solutions with the goal of always remaining responsive to customer and market demands. For our military customers in particular, this means further evaluating the technology to offer products that meet the on-going demand for smaller, lighter, higher power amplifiers that fulfill a broader range of application requirements, including mobile antenna systems, line- of-site and beyond line-of-sight systems, and radar and countermeasures. additional products and improve efficiency and power performance. We also anticipate developing our technology to better address the We’re launching our first indoor C-band expanding use of unmanned systems for product to support the Broadcast industry communications and ISR activities. We and will continue to expand our product will work to make investments in R&D and offerings to address satellite news expand our technology resources to launch gathering, teleport and mobile broadcast communications systems. In addition, we have several new product launches anticipated this year, which will continue to expand our Ka, Ku, C and X-band lines. It’s an exciting time to be with Wavestream as we rapidly expand to meet our customers’ needs and to support the end user, the war fighter.
MilsatMagazine —March/April 2010 85 Advertisers
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