 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific III 2009 |
| Article no.: | 7 | |
| Topic: | Satellites connecting a world in motion | |
| Author: | Micha Lawrence | |
| Title: | Founder and CEO | |
| Organisation: | Starling Advanced Communications | |
| PDF size: | 177KB |
About author
Micha Lawrence is the Founder and CEO of Starling Advanced Communications; he has spent more than 17 years in the avionics industry. Prior to founding Starling, Mr Lawrence served at Elbit Systems, a global military electronics and communications Technology Company and a founding investor in Starling. At Elbit, Mr Lawrence held a variety of senior management positions in various avionics programs. Micha Lawrence served previously in command positions in the Israeli Air Force.
Article abstract
Smartphone use is growing not only for voice calls, but for emailing, file downloads, music and video access, and work – much like with computers, but on the move. However there are gaps in network coverage in remote regions and when people are on the move. Satellites reach everywhere, but traditional antennas are large, heavy and, generally speaking, directional. New flat antenna technology reduces antenna size and weight so they can be readily installed on cars, trains and planes.
Full Article
The ‘shrinking world’ phenomenon has been well documented. The question now becomes: How can technology further facilitate this and take it to a new level? People have always travelled to expand their horizons. The expansion of the railroads accelerated the ease of travel, cars added a level of personal control, and air travel made previously inaccessible places only a day’s journey away. Two-way communications, connections, though, still primarily happened person-to-person, one individual at a time, one place at a time, generally by phone, face-to-face or by letter. Today, we have tools and websites; we have cell phones, laptops, email, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter among others, which provide instantaneous global connections from one to one, one to a few, and one to thousands. Supporting all this is a vast network infrastructure of towers, cables, antennas, transmitters, batteries, power lines, and so on. – but not everywhere. Rural communities in China, Africa, Russia, and even the United States lack the basic infrastructure to bring information to their doorstep. In addition, in many places, connectivity stops the moment that travellers leave a major population centre. One can travel nonstop from Sidney to Los Angeles, but have no opportunity to connect. Cell phones suddenly go silent as a train travels through vast countries with varied topography such as China or Russia. Shrinking components – shrinking the world When people think of satellite antennas, the first picture that comes to mind is a large satellite dish, rotating 360o, but installed in a fixed location. These large dish antennas provide high efficiency and capacity. However, dish antennas are highly inefficient for on-the-move applications due to the drag effects from their sizes and profiles, their directionality as well as their weight, installation costs, long-term maintenance, and additional equipment requirements. A major step in shrinking the world occurred via the evolution – and shrinking – of satellite antenna technology through the advent and refinement of flat-panel antennas. Some of these new antennas are as small as 15 cm in height, 70 to 90cm in diameter, and 30 to 40kg in weight. These dramatically miniaturized antennas enable continuous broadband communication on the move over land, sea, and air via car, rail, ship, and plane. Creating a satellite antenna for portability required an entirely new approach to ensure the lowest profile and weight consistent with the high efficiency and performance required. These new antennas are based on a breakthrough design consisting of a flat-panel with an antenna array divided into multiple smaller plates. This mechanical splitting makes it possible to design a very low profile, high-gain antenna, with performance superior to that of a larger, higher profile, antenna. The key to this flat-panel design was the development of miniaturized components to meet the weight and height requirements of even the lightest off-road vehicle, smallest passenger jet, and tallest rail car (and lowest tunnel). The flat-panel antenna is a case where creative design and cutting-edge technology converged. Flat-panel antennas leverage the miniaturization of power supplies, RF components, duplexers, and power amplifiers, among other equipment. This allows the embedding of all transmission, reception, conversion, cooling, and amplification equipment within a single unit. This miniaturized technology is much more efficient than its larger predecessors, allowing for complete transmit/receive activity and environmental control with significantly lower power requirements. Communications technology and public safety The geographic area of China is almost ten million square kilometres. India is almost two million square kilometres. Once a person moves beyond the population centres, connectivity drops significantly. For normal day-to-day activities, this lack of connectivity is frustrating and inconvenient, but not critical – until disaster hits. A single natural disaster such as an earthquake or flood in a vast, topographically varied country like China can rapidly affect millions of people. Rescue teams must be dispatched and directed in an intricately coordinated manner during search and rescue operations. However, due to the natural disaster itself or the remoteness of the region landline connectivity is often not available. That is when the miniaturization of satellite technology becomes a critical factor. The ability to communicate via a consistent, fast, connection on-the-move is vital for emergency vehicles, such as police, fire and search and rescue platforms. With pre-installed, flat-panel, vehicle-mounted satellite antennas and easy-to-carry mobile-pack antennas, emergency response teams and homeland security units working in disaster zones can reliably transmit and receive video, images, and heavy data files and communicate via VoIP for onsite emergency information transfer. In addition, response times are significantly reduced and long-term operations are more easily coordinated, as communications infrastructure becomes a nonissue. Antennas on the rails China and India are ideal examples of how miniaturization helps connect populations. In 1983, Motorola introduced the first cell phone, weighing a bit less than a kilo and priced at almost US$4,000. In addition to the prohibitive cost and weight, it was not usable everywhere, as the infrastructure was not fully available. Over time, the increasing miniaturization of components and batteries reduced the price for mobile phones and dramatically expanded the potential market. Today, the 703 million mobile phone users in China and the 140 million mobile subscribers in India can enjoy ubiquitous continuous connectivity – except when travelling. Currently, China’s rail system is 78,000km long, with plans to expand to 120,000 km by 2020. In 2008, passengers in China made 1.4 billion rail journeys. Over the Chinese New Year alone, 188 million people travelled by rail. India has 62,000km of track, over which 11 million people travel daily by train. While intracity train travel allows cell phone connections to continue via access to the land-based backbone, intercity trains travel through high altitudes, mountainous areas, and steep valleys, preventing connectivity and providing geographic challenges that make it virtually impossible to build a land-based infrastructure. A high capacity, flat-panel satellite antenna can provide connectivity for mobile phones, laptop computers, notebooks, and other not yet invented Internet devices. Leveraging miniaturized antenna technology, passengers will be able to enjoy high-capacity VoIP, live TV, and mobile phone connections. Communications and in-flight entertainment Airlines are seeking ways to be competitive in what has been a shrinking market due to the global economic downturn. Planes using flat-panel antennas help travellers make travel time their own. Passengers can now use cell phones, send email, download large data, music and video files, work online, or just play games on their laptops, PDAs, phones, and so on. Airlines can also expand the range of in-flight entertainment offered, providing further added value. Offering both enhanced productivity and pleasure time can provide an essential inducement as passengers seek ways to maximize both travel time and the value of their ticket. In addition, the larger pipeline available via a flat-panel satellite antenna allows airlines to serve up more advanced advertising technologies to their captive audiences, further enhancing revenue. The latest antennas for airplanes are self-contained with miniaturized electronics and radio frequency components housed within the units themselves, providing maximal global broadband connectivity with the lowest profiles and smallest diameters. The most efficient antennas offer a large skew angle of 35-40 degrees, ensuring on-the-move connectivity by remaining pointed in the direction of the satellite while the airplane is in motion, all without interfering with neighbouring satellites (as per Federal Communications Commission and International Technology Union regulations) over a large area. This reduces both the number of satellites used during the entire flight and annual operating costs for satellite bandwidth rental. The most efficient, cost-effective antennas leverage Ku-band, the frequency band of choice for modern satellite connectivity. Satellites providing Ku-band connectivity provide coverage across the globe, providing the highest efficiency levels at the lowest costs. In addition, the best flat-panel antenna systems for aircraft are packaged in a single line replacement unit (LRU), which enables airlines to save significant weight and reduce installation and maintenance costs. Thus, flat-panel antennas make Ku-band-based in-flight connectivity a practical and affordable solution. Connecting the world in motion Technology, like the world, is getting smaller and smaller. People are now accustomed to being connected 24/7 no matter where they are; they are also developing the expectation that they can stay connected by land, sea, and air. Miniaturized satellite antenna technology ensures that these expectations will be met. References http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/01/12/high-speed-rail-in-china/ http://gochina.about.com/b/2009/01/20/traveler-poll-answer-number-of-rail-travelers-in-china-during-chinese-new-year.htm http://www.mouthshut.com/diary/fehhqpmoo/Guess-who-tops-the-worldwide-cell-phone-ownership http://shanghaiist.com/2009/09/04/703_million_cell_phone_users_in_chi.php http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Evolution_of_Cell_Phone_Technology http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/India-Guide/IndianStates/Travel/Trains.htm http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/03/news/international/china_high_speed_bullet_train.fortune/
