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Amplifiers

New colour LCD touch screen user interface.

The latest innovations

Next generation satellite amplifiers are enabling more sophisticated satellite communications. Amplifier manufacturers are constantly modifying their products to make them smaller, to use less power and to operate at lower OPEX. SEA finds out about some of the latest products on the market.
The amplifier plays a key and often underrated role in satellite communications. The evolution of satellite-based communications the high power satellites and more sophisticated capabilities - has given rise to a new generation of amplifiers. They are smaller, offer superior intermodulation characteristics, lower power consumption, lower operating costs and longer life. They are also ruggedised and able to withstand extremes of both weather and temperature The newer Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) technology has been replacing the older Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) vacuum technology for some decades now but one of the few applications that has resisted this change until fairly recently has been satellite earth station applications. However, TWT amplifiers are still popular and the argument seems to be that some amplifiers can do the job better than others. Therefore users must simply choose the right amplifier for the job. Type of amplifier High Power Amplifiers (HPA) amplify the signal to be transmitted from a satellite earth station before it is sent to the satellite and there are various types of amplifier used to achieve this depending on linearity, reliability and cost. 34 Klystron amplifiers have a high power output and are easy to repair and have a long life of up to eight years. They tend to be larger and heavier and are often used in the military, for example. TWTAs were invented during the Second World War by Rudolf Kompfner in a British radar lab. The device uses foot-long vacuum tubes to amplify signals. They amplify signals from a wide range of frequencies and can handle an entire satellite from just one dish. TWTAs are small but can be difficult to repair, are more expensive and have a shorter life-span of 4-6 years. Overall, the TWTA basically has more to go wrong. They contain a tube and filament and therefore the mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) is higher than that of an SSPA due to its construction. SSPAs use solid state electronics rather than a tube. They use a combination of quartz-based oscillator clocks and signal mixers to increase power. Should a component fail within the amplifier then the signal would weaken but the amplifier would not lose power completely. Power consumption can be higher but developments in the technology have seen companies producing SSPAs that use a great deal less power than they originally did. SSPAs were initially believed to be too expensive, too large and heavy and also less reliable than TWTAs. www.satellite-evolution.com | March/April 2011

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Watt and the 1,600 Watt Ku-band Outdoor Solid State Modular Amplifier System known as the Summit series. The company believes the Summit series to be the highest power and most reliable amplifiers made with solid state technology. The Summit lines of SSPA are designed for satellite up-link applications in ground station terminals. The system is expandible up to 16-modules. Full remote monitor and control capability of the system is achieved via serial or Ethernet interface. The outdoor system is fully modular and can provide output power of up to 3,500W in C-band, 2,800W in X-band and 1,600W in Kuband. The design of the Summit line is based on Advantech Wireless tradition of high power high linearity and high efficiency line of products. The Summit systems present distinct advantages over high power TWTA systems in terms of reliability, cost, maintainability and ease of operation. The Summit range is completely modular and features hot swappable elements, remote monitor and control capability via RS485 or Ethernet ports, input and output, sample monitor ports, gain adjustment (local or remote), fully weather resistant, temperature gain compensation, automatic over-temperature shutdown and automatic high reflected power shutdown. Our Summit series SSPA product line is clearly the market leader in power, performance and reliability, said David Gelerman, Advantech Wireless CEO. We are the only company in the world manufacturing this high power, modular SSPA with built-in redundancy. We are the first to market with this amazing technology because of our tradition of investing 20 percent of our revenues into research and development. Advantech Wireless will always be the number one source for all satellite communications needs. MCL MCLs MT3400 and MT4400 Outdoor TWT Amplifiers have already been described as reliable, rugged, and economical solutions for satellite uplink applications but now they are also energy efficient. The MT3400 is available with a 400W linear TWT, drawing 1,100 Watts as opposed to 1,500 Watts, while the MT4400 offers a 750W linear TWT, drawing 2,000 Watts versus 2,400 Watts. These new TWT options are only offered in Ku-band at this time. Both of these stateof-the-art amplifiers are available for C-, X-, Ku-, and DBS-band applications and include such features as rugged construction for extreme environments, software communications configuration for both remote and computer interfaces, continuous attenuator adjustment shown in dB, auto power control and status, and much more. The MT3400 and MT4400 can also be customised to include options such as an internal L-band block upconverter, an internal lineariser, Ethernet interface, option at 60C, or a hand-held or remote control-

They also suffered with heatsink issues that meant that they were prone to overheating. Wavestream Wavestream has introduced new indoor and outdoor PowerStream 400W C-band solid state power amplifiers that are plug and play replacements for traditional unlinearized 750W TWTA products used in satellite communications, teleport and satellite newsgathering systems. The new PowerStream 454C-i and 454C-o products complement Wavestreams 600W C-band product family, and provide a lower power, cost effective solid state solution to support applications where larger antennas or more powerful satellites are used. Wavestream continues to expand its product portfolio to meet the demand for high power solid state amplifiers that offer integrators a convenient, form/fit/function upgrade path to replace ageing TWTA technologies, stated Cliff Cooke, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wavestream. Our new PowerStream 400W C-band products provide the power and performance needed to support broadcast satellite operations, while creating dramatic cost savings via improved efficiency, reduced energy consumption and the elimination of expensive system redesigns and downtime. The PowerStream product family incorporates Wavestreams field-proven, next generation Spatial Power Advantage technology to provide high output power and greater efficiency. When used in a redundant configuration, PowerStream products draw less power than 750W unlinearised TWT system solutions and require no warm up time, helping improve reliability and reduce lifecycle maintenance costs. The PowerStream 454C-i is a 400W indoor unit suitable for mobile and fixed rack-mount satellite communications systems. The PowerStream 454C-i includes an easy-to-view front panel display screen and quick-touch function keys for convenient access to a variety of system status data, including power, temperature, fault, and local/remote information. The PowerStream 454C-o is an outdoor 400W C-band amplifier that can be mounted close to the antenna to significantly reduce waveguide loss. The PowerStream 454C-o is ruggedized to withstand harsh environments, and can be easily controlled from a redundancy controller or an operators computer, providing convenient, indoor desktop access to power, temperature and status information. Optional 1:1 redundancy kits are available to insure uninterrupted, reliable transmissions and accommodate a variety of customer mounting and power level requirements. For indoor data centres, customers can easily install Wavestreams redundancy kit into an existing cabinet or rack configuration without the need for additional space or system redesign. Advantech Advantech Wireless has received significant orders for its new 900 www.satellite-evolution.com | March/April 2011

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ler. Redundancy can be achieved through 1:1, 1:2, or phase combined systems. Comtech EF Data Comtechs HPOD series of High-Power Outdoor SSPAs provide a cost-effective, more linear replacement for TWT amplifiers in satcom terminals. Featuring field replaceable power supplies and redundant system control, the high-power units were built with the user in mind. The units utilise low loss combining technique and MCP-based temperature versus gain compensation. The phase-combined systems allow the outputs of two amplifiers to be summed together for even higher power. And, with the unique approach to L-band frequency conversion, the optional Smart BUC functionality eliminates DC and 10 MHz from the input coax. Providing more value than competitive solutions, the base units include temperature compensation, sample ports, power monitor, field-replaceable power factor corrected supply and full remote monitor and control capabilities. The SPOD series of High-Power Outdoor (SPOD) C-, X-, and SSPA provide a cost-effective, more reliable replacement for TWT amplifiers in satellite communications terminals. The SPOD delivers its rated power at the 1dB compression point, to the transmit waveguide flange. A SPOD consists of an SSPA module with the Monitor/Control Processor (MCP), an integrated power supply, and a field replaceable fan assembly. The amplifier features a Comtech EF Data low loss combining technique and MCP-based temperature versus gain compensation. The SPOD SSPAs are equipped with useful features that other manufacturers offer as options. Included in each units base price are temperature compensation, sample ports, power monitor, power factor corrected supply and full remote monitor and control capabilities, including Ethernet HTTP pages and SNMP. Steady demand in Asia Demand for satellite connectivity in the Asian region is presently rooted in two applications - cellular backhaul and disaster recovery. These two market sectors will provide a great deal of business for the industry long into the future and therefore will fuel demand for amplifier technology. They are both important and invaluable to the people of Asia due to its vulnerability to disasters such as earthquakes and also the dispersed nature of the population. The Chinese government in particular is accelerating their access to satellite technology in order to cope with natural and manmade disasters such as the recent Sichuan earthquake In terms of cellular backhaul, satellite is helping mobile service providers to reach those who have not previously had access to telecommunications and helping them to communicate more easily with the outside world. As modem and amplifier manufacturers innovate further and introduce new and more effective products to the market, it means that satellite services can be enjoyed by many more people and those who need it most.

The leader in high power SATCOM amplifier products Comtech Xicom Technology has grown to be the worlds leading SATCOM power amplifier supplier, offering the broadest product line in the industry. For more than 20 years, its focus on customers, innovation and quality has created a tremendous breadth of products and a company renowned for excellence. Xicom provides rugged, highly efficient and reliable amplifier products for commercial and military broadcast and broadband applications around the world including: Travelling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTAs); Klystron Power Amplifiers (KPAs); Solid-State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs); and Block Upconverters (BUCs).

This product range encompasses power levels from 8 W to 3 kW, with coverage across the 2 GHz to 45.5 GHz frequency spectrum. Highly regarded for its reliable output power and efficiency, Xicom High Power Amplifiers (HPAs) are used in critical communications links on the ground, in the air and on the sea. They support fixed traditional and direct-to-home broadcast, mobile satellite news gathering (SNG), transportable and flyaway systems, secure high data-rate communications and broadband access. Xicom continues to introduce innovative SATCOM amplifier products. New miniature 50W X-band BUC Xicoms Model XTS-50X1-B1 X-BUC, is the perfect solution for commercial and military users ready to take advantage of new X-band capacity on XTAR and Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellites. High power in a compact package enables system integrators to offer much higher data-rate uplinks with rugged, compact and transportable SATCOM terminals. The X-BUC provides 50 Watts of 1-dB compressed output power in a self-cooled, feed-mountable package specifically designed to operate in harsh environments and meet the stringent RF requirements of todays X-band systems. The new X-BUC is packed full of performance features including temperature compensation, gain control, harmonic filtering and an output isolator. All this comes in a compact outdoor unit weighing 10.5 pounds and measuring only 10.58 inches long x 5.68 inches wide x 4.43 inches high. This high performance design provides more than 32 Watts of linear output power as defined for the WGS system, making it the most powerful 10.5-pound X-band unit anywhere. New rack-mount product line features LCD touch screen control interface Xicoms new XTRT series of 19-inch rack-mount TWTs feature a LCD touch screen, which provides an easy-to-use graphical interface for monitoring and controlling the power amplifier. The new touch screen front panel displays the HPAs operational status including power output and temperature, graphical displays of parameter trend analysis, and event logs. Local and remote diagnostics can also be easily performed via an Ethernet interface. With this new display the need for separate external controllers for common architectures is eliminated because it visually presents and controls waveguide switches and a combiner, providing both cost and space savings. An additional valuable feature is that all operational data is saved within the amplifiers non-volatile memory, providing a complete history of the HPA in the event the unit needs service or repair. The new touch screen front panel controller is available as an option on all Comtech Xicom Technology rack-mount TWTAs.

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www.satellite-evolution.com | March/April 2011