GEE Unveils Future Proof Ku-band Antenna Â
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Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) and development partner Quantenelektronische Systeme GmbH (QEST) unveiled a new, mechanically steered Ku-Band antenna today that they say will see first delivery by the middle of 2016.
The terminal, which is being touted as a revolution by GEE, is designed to mount easily onto aircraft that are fitted with GEE’s current Ku-band antenna without equipment modification or change of radome. It will be compatible with existing Ku-band satellites and is optimized to work with next-generation high throughput (HTS) Ku-band networks currently in development.
“This can be line fit from day one, 791 compliant from day one and it would be form fit and function compatible with our current antenna,” said Aditya Chatterjee, senior vice-president of Connectivity Systems and Chief explained to a group of guests and press. “In terms of speeds, this can work with the wideband Ku [offered now], and it will certainly work with next-generation HTS and will easily give [the cabin] more than 100 megabytes per second.”
It’s third rotational axis is the main detail that sets the GEE antenna apart. Many others in the in-flight connectivity game are either exploring antennas with fewer gimbals (like Gogo’s 2Ku antenna with circular panels) or carefully monitoring electronically steered flat panel technology (like that being developed by Kymeta or Phasor), which have none.
While the absence of moving-part flat-panel antennas enjoy a lower profile and create less drag on the aircraft, they do tend to run into some beam degradation issues as they approach polar regions. GEE and QEST say that the benefits three-axis steering technology on this new antenna will be worth a little bump bump on top of the plane.
“We have designed an optimum beam shape with this array,” said Michael Stobinski, CCO at QEST. “Due to the fact that it’s steerable on three axis, we have a constant optimum beam shape in any direction. We have no degradation of the beam. In terms of speed, the antenna is not the limiting factor.”
Stobinski added that antenna could, hypothetically, funnel a four-gigabytes-per-second pipe into the aircraft, but that the size and number modems currently required for that make it highly inadvisable.
All photos by the author.