STM Wireless' New VSAT Products

And just what is a VSAT? According to searchNetworking.com , a Very Small Aperture Terminal is a satellite communications system. A satellite sends and receives signals from an earth station computer that acts as a hub for the system. End users are interconnected with the hub station via the satellite. For one end user to communicate with another, each transmission has to first go to the hub station. STM Wireless is heavy into VSAT networks and just announced two new lines of VSATs. The first of a new line called Solante is a mesh DAMA telephony VSAT for use by phone companies in rural telephony or other applications. Features of the Solante family include an L-Band interface that allows a selection of power levels in standard C- and Ku-Band and direct frequency hopping over a 500 MHz band, allowing a DAMA pool, which can cover multiple transponders over the entire satellite spectrum. Solante is designed as an ODU (outdoor unit) for mounting on a standard pipe typically used as an antenna mast. The unit provides weatherproof access for DC power input and standard phone line output. A multi-channel version of the product is scheduled for Q2 2002, and uses an MF-TDMA technique in an architecture based on STM's existing DAMA control channels and call processing. Up to four Multi-Channel Solante VSATs can be cascaded to create a 16-channel terminal mounted on a single pipe behind the antenna. The configuration supports both 2-wire and 4-wire interfaces to allow a multi-channel remote VSAT to be used as a trunking interface to a small rural switch. The other VSAT product line introduced for broadband and IP applications is called the SpaceWeb Olante. This VSAT uses the same L-Band interfaces as the Solante with the same outdoor packaging. The unit operates with DC power input and an Ethernet Interface. The Olante VSAT is compatible with existing SpaceWeb hubs and looks to be targeted at wireless broadband.