Envistacom White Paper

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable

Earth Terminals in a Dynamic, Growing
High-Data Environment

By Tom Cox
May 2014

Overview
Providing satellite communications solutions for a dynamic
enterprise can be a significant challenge. Engineers continuously
manage various trade-offs and analyses to find the correct
solution for an environment where the bandwidth needs are in a
continuous state of flux.
This paper serves to identify the key variables in making a good
decision on the type, size, and robustness of a deployable
communications platform. Our aim is to provide consumers of
satellite communications in a large, growing C2 environment with
a primer to choose the best solution.

This paper serves to identify

the key variables in making a
good decision on the type,
size, and robustness of a
deployable communications
platform.

Generally speaking, there are three classes of satellite

communications solutions:
1. Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
2. Deployable Earth Terminal Terminal
3. Teleport
Each class provides a different level of communications
infrastructure for the local Enterprise as well as the global
Enterprise networks. This paper will discuss the tradeoffs of
VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals specifically in the case
of the Balad Airbase Network.
Assumptions:
Location - Balad, Iraq
Throughput Requirement - 10MBPS up / 10MBPS down
Committed Information Rate - 100%
Contention Ratio - 1:1
Frequency Band - Ku-Band

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 2

Very Small Aperture

Terminals (VSATs)

With more than 40 million terminals deployed across the globe,

VSATs represent the most common and least expensive solution
for deployable communications. A VSAT typically includes a
small antenna in the 0.5 - 3.0 meter range and a transmitter with
two to 20 Watts of output power.
VSATs provide consumer and enterprise customers with up to 4
MBPS uplink throughput and 10 MBPS of downlink throughput.
More typically, VSATs provide up to 1 MBPS up and 4-6 MBPS
down. They are easy to install and relatively inexpensive,
typically costing between $15K - $200K per terminal depending
on throughput and ruggedness.
The biggest advantage of a VSAT is its size and simplicity. VSATs
install quickly and have very few active components. They can
be shipped commercially and typically weigh less than 200 lbs.
Once manually aligned to the satellite, they operate
autonomously and are easy to manage.

Figure 1. Typical VSAT Terminal

The biggest disadvantages of VSATs are their reliability, cost of

bandwidth, and actual throughput. VSATs are single-threaded
systems, so if a component fails, the entire network fails. Satellite
operators treat VSATs as disadvantaged terminals because
they are power-limited. Remote terminals have to transmit with
more power, which costs end users more money per megahertz
of bandwidth. VSATs have a limited amount of power to transmit
with as well, so they can only transmit a limited amount of data.
VSATs typically operate in large networks that have high
contention ratios. A typical VSAT will have a contention ratio of
10:1, meaning at peak usage times, the VSAT may only be able to
use 1/10th of the maximum throughput. Contention ratios can be
as high as 100:1 in peak load times, meaning that users may be
forced to a total aggregated circuit speed of 32-64KBPS,
resulting in lost data or dropped VoIP calls. Paying for a lower
contention ratio becomes prohibitively expensive and may
require a dedicated circuit. A dedicated circuit on a VSAT is the
least cost-effective satellite option.

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 3

Deployable Earth Terminals

Deployable Earth Terminal terminals are in between VSATs and

teleports. They represent the class of terminals that provide the
greatest flexibility in enterprise communications solutions. The
US military and other Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programs have
made extensive use of deployable earth terminals - more than
100 systems - throughout the Southwest Asia region in support of
Command & Control (C2) operations at all bases in the region.
Balad, AB had seven (7) such deployable terminals providing
inter-theater and global reach back connectivity during US
operation of the airbase. VSATs are typically used for smaller,
temporary tactical C2 operations as well as Morale, Welfare and
Recreation (MWR) services for the stationed soldiers, civilians and
contractors.
Figure 2. Deployable Earth Terminal

A Deployable Earth Terminal typically includes a medium-sized

antenna in the 3.0 - 7.0 meter range. These terminals require a
greater upfront investment in ground equipment than a VSAT,
and can cost anywhere from $500K up to $2M depending on
the level of reliability, capacity, transportability, and ruggedness.
The biggest advantages of a Deployable Earth Terminals are
their flexibility, reliability, and expandable capacity. Deployable
Earth Terminals can be shipped commercially and can be fully
operational within 8 hours of delivery. They are fully redundant
systems meaning they rarely fail and they can support up to 100
MBPS up / 200 MBPS down of throughput.
Deployable terminals also have a lower cost per megahertz of
bandwidth than VSATs. Typically VSATs are able to transmit 1
MBPS per 1 MHz of bandwidth, whereas deployable earth
terminals can transmit 2 MBPS per 1 MHz of bandwidth,
representing a 50% recurring bandwidth cost savings.

A Deployable Earth
Terminal may not be
appropriate for a use case
where less than 1MBPS up
/ 4MBPS down of
throughput is required, or
if the users can tolerate
outages or bandwidth
throttling during peak
usage times of the day.

Deployable earth terminals typically operate dedicated circuits

and do not deal with contention ratios or degraded service
issues at peak usage times. This guarantees 100% of the
satellite bandwidth is available 100% of the time. The major
disadvantage of a deployable earth terminal is the upfront cost
of the terminal.

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 4

Terminal Size

VSAT antennas are typically between 0.5M and 2.4M in aperture

diameter, whereas deployable earth terminals range in size from
3.0M to 7.0M. The larger surface area of the deployable earth
terminal reflector allows for far greater signal gain, and can
transmit far more power.
A 1.0M (40) VSAT antenna provides 3.142 m2 of surface area,
which translates to 40dBi of passive gain. A 3.7M deployable
earth terminal antenna provides 43.0 m2 of surface area (1300%
increase), which translates to 51dBi of gain. This passive gain
difference is critical in determining several factors, including the
cost of bandwidth, maximum transmit bandwidth, susceptibility to
weather (rain fade), and how far out to the edge of a satellite
beam the terminal can be located.
At an aperture size of 3.3M, satellite earth terminals have enough
receive sensitivity (gain) to access the noise floor of most
commercial satellites. This means that a 3.3M antenna operates
at the same signal-to-noise ratio as a far larger teleport antenna.
Any antenna smaller than 3.3M will have a degraded signal-tonoise ratio, meaning that for every dB of lost gain, the
transmitting station must transmit 1 dB more in power to close the
satellite link to the VSAT terminal.

Figure 3. Comparison of aperture size

Maximum Data Rates

At the high end, VSATs have a maximum data rate throughput of
4 MBPS up and 10 MBPS down. More typical VSATs that are
provided by commercial service providers - such as the one
currently fielded at the Balad Airbase - provide 1 MBPS up and 46 MBPS down with a contention ratio of 10:1. Therefore, at peak
usage times, this leaves the remote user with as little as
128KBPS uplink and 640KBPS downlink for their entire user
population.
Additionally if the end user wishes to increase the throughput
beyond these levels, a new larger terminal will be required to
upgrade the link. Deployable earth terminals can provide as
much as 100 MBPS up and 200 MBPS down, and with newer
satellite technology called High Throughput Satellites (such as
Inmarsat GX and Viasat-1), can potentially even provide up to 1

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 5

GBPS of throughput in both directions. Deployable earth

terminals typically operate dedicated circuits resulting in a
guaranteed Committed Information Rate (CIR) of 100%, or a
contention ratio of 1:1. This means the throughput will never drop
below the minimum CIR delivering higher performance and
reliability for voice, video, and data services.

Cost of Bandwidth
VSATs provide an inexpensive communications solution in highcontention networks, however as the user increases the
minimum Committed Information Rate (CIR), the cost increases
significantly. If a VSAT is used to deliver a dedicated circuit (100%
CIR, 1:1 contention ratio), the cost of bandwidth per megahertz is
typically 25-30% higher than a deployable earth terminal. This is
because the distant end teleport must transmit a more powerful
carrier, and the satellite uses more resources to provide the link.
Additionally, VSATs can typically provide 1 MBPS of data for
every 1 MHz of bandwidth, whereas a deployable earth terminal
can typically provide 2 MBPS of data for every 1 MHz of
bandwidth. Since satellite providers charge based on power and
bandwidth, this means the cost of bandwidth for a deployable
earth terminal is substantially lower than that of a VSAT.

Scalability
VSATs are limited in their throughput, therefore in order to scale
the network service beyond their 1 MBPS up / 4-6 MBPS down
capacity, a second VSAT or a larger terminal is needed. If
additional modems or baseband gear is needed, these must be
stored in additional transit cases or inside a customer-provided
building within 100 feet of the VSAT antenna.
Deployable earth terminals are miniature teleports and have
anywhere from 3 to 6 full racks of electronic hardware space
inside an environmentally-controlled shelter co-located with the
antenna, allowing for expansion of up to 20 satellite modems
and network connections. Additionally, with the bandwidth
capacity of a typical deployable earth terminal, no hardware
changes are necessary to scale from a 10 MBPS/10 MBPS circuit
all the way up to a 100 MBPS/200 MBPS circuit.

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 6

Reliability

VSATs provide limited reliability for their end users. A typical

VSAT will provide approximately 98% availability (175 hours per
year of downtime), and the Mean-Time-To-Repair (MTTR) a VSAT
is between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on the availability
of trained technicians. VSATs are single-threaded systems,
meaning they have several single points of failure in active
components. Additionally, most VSAT antennas are manually
pointed, so if the antenna is misaligned by a wind gust or an
accidental bump, a trained operator must realign the antenna.
Deployable earth terminals are extremely reliable systems, which
is a key reason they are chosen for critical C2 operations and
base-wide infrastructure support. Since 1999, Deployable earth
terminals fielded by US CENTCOM and US AFRICOM in
Southwest Asia have provided 99.95% availability (4.3 hours per
year of downtime) in the harsh conditions like those at the Balad AB.
The downtime is mostly attributable to satellite/sun conjunctions,
which happen twice a year at each equinox (spring and fall) and
impact every satellite link in the world. Additionally, the MeanTime-To-Repair (MTTR) is less than 1 second. These terminals
have 1:1 or 1:2 redundancy in all active components, along with
state-of-the-art monitor and control (M&C) software which
exponentially increases their reliability and gives engineers
remote troubleshooting, control, and configuration capability.
Deployable earth terminal antennas are automatically controlled,
positioned, and continuously track the satellite. This helps to
avoid issues such as the antenna losing the satellite link by being
moved by wind gusts or other forces. This motorization of the
antenna also increases satellite options to use inclined orbit
satellites that are typically lower in cost, and to quickly and simply
switch to a different satellite if necessary.

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 7

Tradeoffs
For users seeking a backhaul connection to a larger enterprise
network or the Internet, the tradeoffs in determining the
appropriate class of terminal are many. Below is a list of the
common tradeoffs, and how to weigh them when making a
determination.

Parameter

1.2M VSAT

3.8M Deployable
Earth Terminal

Antenna Aperture Size

1.2M

3.8M

Passive Antenna Gain (Ku-Band)

40 dBi

51 dBi

Maximum Transmit EIRP

58.6 dBW

82.1 dBW

Maximum G/T

20.8 dB/K

32 dB/K

Antenna Positioning

Manual (typ)

Auto-Track

Scalability

1 Carrier

20 Carriers

MBPS of Throughput per MHz of Bandwidth

1.0

1.8 - 2.2

Max Uplink Throughput

4 MBPS

100 MBPS

Max Downlink Throughput

20 MBPS

200 MBPS

% Link Availability

98.0% (typ.)

99.95%

Outage Hours Per Year (max)

175 Hours (typ.)

4.3 Hours

Mean-Time-Between-Critical-Failure (MTBCF)

25,000 Hours

1,000,000+ Hours

Mean-Time-To-Repair (MTTR)

30 min. - 2 hrs.

< 1 sec

User Interface

Modem Console

M&C Software Suite

Electronics Enclosure

Customer Provided

Integrated Shelter

UPS Power

N/A

Automatic Power Transfer to Generator

N/A

Redundancy & Protection

None

15 minutes
Integrated Generator &
Transfer Switch
1:1 or 1:2

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 8

Historical Use Cases

AT&T Calling Center, Bagram Afghanistan

This system was installed by AT&T to provide 12
simultaneous phone conversations or 2 simultaneous
video teleconferences (via Skype) between soldiers
and family members back home. The terminal was
replaced with a larger 3.8M terminal two weeks after
installation due to the high demand for service.

Tactical C2 Forward Operations - Battalion

This SIPR/NIPR Access Portal (SNAP) terminal
provides forward operating bases (Battalion level
operations center) with 8 VoIP phone lines and a total
throughput of 4MBPS/4MBPS in a TDMA network.
SNAP provides secure C2 communications and nonsecure Internet access for non-critical operations.

Deployable Ku-Band Earth Terminals (DKETs)

Since 1999, DataPath (now Rockwell Collins) has
provided more than 100 DKET terminals to the US
Army and other US and FMS users. The vast majority
of these terminals have been fielded to SWA. They
provide heavy backhaul traffic and intra-theater
networking support, and are an integral component to
the C2 network for CENTCOM and AFRICOM.

Comparative Analysis of VSATs and Deployable Earth Terminals | Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. | Page 9

About Envistacom
Headquartered in Atlanta, Envistacom is a privatelyowned technology company providing end-to-end
telecommunications networking, data analytics, mobile
application and security solutions to defense,
government and commercial enterprises. Envistacom
designs and delivers the right technology solutions to
meet unique and complex business challenges. Their
reputation is built on a solid foundation of creative
innovation and technical excellence, coupled with
superior design, consulting, and customer service.
Envistacom partners with Emcien to provide customers
with superior and integrated data analytics solutions.
To learn more about Envistacom, please visit:

www.envistacom.com

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Envistacom 2014. All rights reserved. (V2_5-14-2014)