London: The maritime sector is embracing the use of optical fiber links, instead of traditional coaxial cable, to carry signals throughout maritime vessels. With fiber being lightweight, smaller, easier to manage and route round obstacles, including bulkheads, it is the preferred choice for shipbuilders and system integrators.
In maritime Satcom on the Move (SOTM) applications, the links manufactured by RF over fiber (RFoF) experts, ViaLite Communications, can be used to carry a variety of signals, including: satcom, GPS/GNSS, radar and comms. They are used to connect antennas on the ships’ communications towers, above deck, to below-deck operational rooms. Vessels include naval and commercial fleets, super yachts and submarines.
A Middle Eastern company recently worked with ViaLite for one such application; ordering CWDM RF over fiber technology to connect multiple maritime radomes for satellite communications. They used L-Band HTS & Reference for 10 MHz signals* duplexed together with the L-Band. The solutions were customised, for the customer, to a high technical specification to ensure quick and easy installation in the field.
ViaLite‘s Passive RF and Optical Cards and 3U Rack Chassis units were also used in the system.
According to the company’s SES Program Manager: “Technically the ViaLite products work fantastically with our maritime requirements, and their great performance meets our stringent technical specifications.”
Amair Khan, Business Development Manager for ViaLite commented: “It was a great achievement for our L-Band products for uplink and downlink communications to pass a comprehensive SES field test demonstrating satcom connectivity with the latest fleet of O3b satellite constellation.”
ViaLite’s maritime links can be specified on new builds or retrofitted into existing vessels to provide a more reliable, lighter and high performance solution compared with traditional coaxial systems and inferior fiber systems. ViaLite systems are designed and manufactured to maintain the highest standards relating to QoS deliverables expected by all.
O3b is a medium earth orbit satellite constellation owned and operated by SES, providing low latency broadband connectivity to remote locations for mobile network operators and internet service providers, maritime, aviation, and government and defense sectors.
