C Band & Extended C Band In VSAT

The acronym VSAT is the earth station antenna used at the earth stations. In VSAT the earth station antenna size is typically less than 2.4 m in diameter and the trend is towards even smaller dishes measuring not more than 1.8 m in diameter. According to European Telecommunication standard Institute, VSAT is referred as satellite transmit receive system that has an aperture size smaller than 2.8m2. VSATs provide cost effective solutions for the growing telecommunication needs through- out the world. Todays satellites are more powerful, enabling the use of smaller and less-expensive antennas on the ground. Also, the developments include most of the necessary VSAT functions, which makes VSATs more effective. The first commercial VSATs were C band (6 GHz) receive-only systems by Equatorial Communications using spread spectrum technology. Equatorial later developed a C band (4/6 GHz) 2 way system using 1 m x 0.5 m antennas in 1984-85. In 1985, Schlumberger Oilfield Research co-developed the world's first Ku band (1214 GHz) VSATs with Hughes Aerospace to provide portable network connectivity for oil field drilling and exploration units. Ku Band VSATs make up the vast majority of sites in use today for data or telephony applications. Today most VSATs operate in Ku band; C band is restricted to less populated regions of the world. There is a move which started in 2005 towards new Ka band satellites operating at higher frequencies, offering greater performance at lower cost. These antennas vary from 74 to 120 cm (29 to 47 in) in most applications though C-band VSATs may be as large as 4 m (13 ft). The C band is a name given to certain portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, including wavelengths of microwaves that are used for long-distance radio telecommunications. The C-band (4 GHz to 8 GHz) contains frequency ranges that are used for many satellite communications transmissions, some Wi-Fi devices, some cordless telephones, and some weather radar systems. For satellite communications, the microwave frequencies of the C-band perform better under adverse weather conditions in comparison with Ku band (11.2 GHz to 14.5 GHz) microwave frequencies, which are used by another large set of communication satellites.[1] The adverse weather conditions, collectively referred to as rain fade, all have to do with moisture in the air, including rain and snow. Rain fade refers primarily to the absorption of a microwave radio frequency (RF) signal by atmospheric rain, snow or ice, and losses are especially prevalent at frequencies above 11 GHz. It also refers to the degradation of a signal caused by the electromagnetic

interference of the leading edge of a storm front. Rain fade can be caused by precipitation at the uplink or downlink location. The simplest way to compensate the rain fade effect in satellite communications is to increase the transmission power: this dynamic fade countermeasure is called uplink power control (UPC). Until more recently, uplink power control had a limited use since it could not provide very large margins without compressing the transmitting amplifier. Modern amplifiers coupled with advanced uplink power control systems that offer automatic controls to prevent transponder saturation make uplink power control systems an effective, affordable and easy solution to rain fade in satellite signals. On other side there is block upconverter (BUC) is used in the transmission (uplink) of satellite signals. It converts a band of frequencies from a lower frequency to a higher frequency. Modern BUCs convert from the L band to Ku band, C band and Ka band. Older BUCs convert from a 70 MHz intermediate frequency (IF) to Ku band or C band. Internationally Ku-Band is a popular frequency band in use. The Ku- Band by virtue of its higher frequency can support traffic with smaller antenna sizes in comparison to C / Ext-C Band. It is , however, susceptible to rain outages making it unsuitable for use in some regions.

C - Band :
The C-band frequency range has one significant problem. It is the frequency region assigned to terrestrial microwave radio communication systems. There are an emerging number of these microwave systems located all over the world and they carry a large volume of commercial communications. Consequently, the VSAT locations needed to be restricted in order to prevent interference with the terrestrial microwave communication systems. As mobile phones get used more and more in countries all over Africa as well, the use of C-Band in future will possibly certainly rather decrease than increase. At the current point of time - C Band nevertheless is widely used. In particular as KU band capacity over some regions is quite limited. At the inception of satellite communications in Africa, C-band was the only option. It has been the long held belief that Ku-band could not be deployed in Africa due to the torrential rains associated with the continent. However, with the technology progress in the satellite industry (invention of ACM gain controlled systems), and the fortune that more powerful satellites now exist. This thereby eliminates the impact of heavy showers. Its all a matter of correct design and proper equipment to make Ku band same stable than C Band to rain factor influence. Standard C-band is mostly used by SNG (Satellite News Gathering) and TV operators and there is heavy employment of this bandwidth over existing satellites,

whereas C-band linear extended transponders (often called Extended C-band) are more powerful and generally tend to be under-utilized.

Frequency Band C Band Extended C Band Ku Band

Earth Station to satellite Satellite to Earth Station

Uplink (GHz)

Downlink (GHz) 3.700 to 4.200 4.500 to 4.800

5.925 to 6.425 6.725 to 7.025 14.000 to 14.500

10.950 to 11.450

In countries where the climate is dominated by monsoons, convective thunderstorms are extremely common. Many satellite communication systems operate on C-band and extended C-band frequencies to minimize the rain fade effect and perform better under such adverse climatic conditions. On the other hand, clear weather fading can also affect the link reliability for satellite communication in a similar way as in rain or storm. C-band and extended C-band usually require bigger dishes due to lower density of signal but have the advantage of covering a wider geographical area and avoiding the need to double hop. Slight variations in the assignments of C-band frequencies have been approved for use in various parts of the world, depending on their locations in the three International Telecommunications Union radio regions. Note that one region includes all of the Americas; a second includes all of Europe and Africa, plus all of Russia, and the third region includes all of Asia outside of Russia, plus Australia and New Zealand. This latter region is the most populous one, since it includes the People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

C-Band Variations Around The World Transmit Frequency Receive Frequency Band (GHz) (GHz) Standard C-Band 5.8506.425 3.6254.200 Extended C-Band 6.4256.725 3.4003.625 INSAT / Super-Extended C-Band 6.7257.025 4.5004.800 Russian C-Band 5.9756.475 3.6504.150 LMI C-Band 5.72506.025 3.7004.000

Advantages:

Less disturbance from heavy rain fade Cheaper Bandwith

Disadvantages:

Needs a larger satellite dish (diameters of minimum 2-3m) Powerful (=expensive) RF unit More expensive hardware Possible Interference from microwave links

EIRP Field Intensity Antenna diameter 42.0 dBW 110 cm 41.5 dBW 120 cm 41.0 dBW 130 cm 40.5 dBW 140 cm 40.0 dBW 150 cm 39.5 dBW 160 cm 39.0 dBW 170 cm 38.5 dBW 180 cm 38.0 dBW 190 cm 37.5 dBW 200 cm 37.0 dBW 210 cm 36.5 dBW 220 cm 36.0 dBW 230 cm 35.5 dBW 240 cm 35.0 dBW 250 cm 34.5 dBW 260 cm 34.0 dBW 270 cm 33.5 dBW 280 cm 33.0 dBW 290 cm 32.5 dBW 300 cm 32.0 dBW 310 cm 31.5 dBW 320 cm 31.0 dBW 330 cm 30.5 dBW 340 cm 30.0 dBW 350 cm 29.5 dBW 360 cm 29.0 dBW 370 cm 28.5 dBW 380 cm 28.0 dBW 390 cm 27.5 dBW 400 cm 27.0 dBW 410 cm 26.5 dBW 420 cm