London-based ViaSat has a good reason to celebrate as the company successfully demonstrated a high-throughput Ka-band satellite communication system that provides Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) broadband for rotary wing aircraft.
Using ViaSat’s VR-12 Ka-antenna, the system was able to deliver sustained data rates of 4 Mbps from the Sikorsky H-3 helicopter to a ground station, and 8 Mbps to the helicopter. The antenna, isolated by a patent-pending shock and vibration isolation system allowing it to main lock with the satellite on the ground and in-flight, was able to overcome the inherent high shock, vibration and repetitive signal blockage from rotating blades of the H-3 helicopter.
Flight conditions for the Ka-band satellite demonstration included severe banking and operation through various rotor orientations, all while running data-intensive applications. While the tests were being conducted, operators were able to run five voice-over-IP calls simultaneously, conduct three video teleconferences from air to ground, and stream videos from the Internet to the helicopter. All applications ran smoothly without losing packet or experiencing video dropout.
The new system is said to be built on ViaSat mobile Ku- and Ka-technologies using a modified waveform optimized for effective through-the-blade broadband communications. The Ka-band satellite communication system can be used both on manned and unmanned rotary wing platforms, regardless of the number of blades and rotors, blade size, or their orientation on the airframe.
Ka Band Satellite Communications 