Manufacturers have introduced tri-band antennas as new satellite constellations are launched and cruise ship operators provide higher bandwidth to passengers
Intellian Technologies and Cobham Satcom have developed tri-band VSAT antenna technology for cruise ships. These enable ships to communicate using two K-bands and the global coverage from C-band without needing any crew intervention to adjust the antenna.
It has become increasingly important for antenna manufacturers to develop terminals that can use C-band and either Ku-band or Ka-band as new satellites are commissioned to provide these services to ships in various elliptical orbits.
Shipowners do not want multiple VSAT units on decks that are already crowded just because they need separate ones for individual radio frequency bands so they requested manufacturers to develop dual-band or even tri-band antennas that can automatically use all VSAT bands available.
Dual-band antennas that connect to C-band and Ku-band have been available from Intellian, Cobham and KVH for a number of years. These automatically switch between two bands of radio frequency.
Intellian introduced its 2.4 m v240MT antenna, which is frequency-agnostic and satellite orbit-agnostic in February 2018. This connects with C-band and Ku-band services from geostationary satellites and Ka-band from SES’ O3b medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellation.
First applications of v240MT are on Carnival Corp cruise ships to enhance the onboard connectivity experience for passengers. The first v240MT antennas were installed on Carnival’s and Princess Cruise’s Princess Regal during a ship upgrade in 2017.
As part of its tri-band technology, Intellian also developed an intelligent mediator that ensures the antenna can automatically switch between bands and satellite orbits without the need for crew to touch the antenna.
“Represents a step-change in driving the highest standards in cruise ship connectivity”
Intellian chief executive Eric Sung said v240MT antennas and these mediators were designed to deliver data transmission rates over satellite of more than 1 Gbps, which “represents a step-change in driving the highest standards in cruise ship connectivity,” he said. “We are continually looking to redefine the meaning of intelligent satellite solutions and what these technologies are truly capable of achieving.”
Antennas are connected to the mediators and onboard terminal equipment using fibre optic lines, which means there is no signal loss, which can occur with extensive coax cable runs found on other large cruise ships. Another advantage is that fibre optic networks are easier to retrofit than the heavier coax cables.
Tri-band co-operation
Cobham worked with satellite owner Viasat to develop its Sea Tel 9711 Triband maritime antenna. This is a 2.4 m unit that performs across any C-, Ku-, or Ka-band network. Sea Tel 9711 Triband, which was revealed in March, is based on Cobham’s existing Sea Tel 9711 C/Ku integrated maritime antenna (IMA) model, of which there are around 1,000 units in operation, but with the added Ka-band capability.
Cobham said the tri-band model delivers the same automatic switching and radio performance as the dual-band version. It will enable broadband transmission speeds up to 1 Gbps.
Viasat provided the radio frequency devices on the antenna for compatibility across any Ka-band satellite network. This means the tri-band version has seamless, automated electronic switching between the three bands of frequency without any crew intervention.
Sea Tel 9711 Triband features the latest 3.0 version of the proprietary Sea Tel IMA architecture, which includes an integrated electronic control unit to maintain pointing accuracy. Cobham made a number of incremental enhancements in version 3.0 that enables the antenna to track new satellite constellations automatically as they come online in the next three to five years.
Automatic band and satellite beam switching is managed by a modem arbitrator that is mounted in a rack below deck. This arbitrator can integrate three separate modems to support different frequencies across various satellite networks. Cobham said more modems can be added by expanding the modem arbitrator for greater redundancy in connectivity.
Viasat vice president for global mobility Doug Abts said the Ka-band components in the Sea Tel 9711 Triband means ships with a Viasat modem can access high-capacity satellites that include ViaSat-2, Ka-Sat and ViaSat-3. Cobham is able to upgrade Sea Tel 9711 IMA C/Ku systems to full tri-band capabilities, which means shipowners that already have these on board do not need to order new units to add Ka-band capabilities.
Dual-band Orbit
Orbit Communications Systems introduced its multiband OceanTRx7 C/Ka and Ku/Ka stabilised maritime antennas this January after testing them on naval ships in 2017. They are 2.2 m dual-band terminals and can access Ka-band coverage from MEO satellites and automatically switch to back-up geostationary satellites in the case of rain attenuation on the Ka signal. This back-up can be C-band or Ku-band depending on the antenna’s configuration.
Orbit said this antenna takes up 40% less deck space and can be 30% lighter than traditional C-band antennas of 2.4 m to 3.8 m diameter. It can be shipped as a fully-assembled and tested unit in a standard 20-ft container.
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