London: ViaLite has expanded its RF over fiber (RFoF) offering for the maritime market, helping customers with their communication requirements between antennas on the communication towers of maritime vessels and the equipment rooms below deck.

With ships being constrained by limited space, RFoF links provide a wealth of benefits. Whereas traditional coaxial cables are heavy, bulky and offer very little flexibility, fiber optic cables are lightweight, flexible and easy to move around obstacles on board.

GPS, Satcom, Radar and direction finding signals need to be transported on maritime vessels and ViaLite links are a reliable method of transporting them. Operating in the Satcom on the Move (SOTM) market, ViaLite products help satellite antennas and equipment to maintain communication with a satellite while the vessel is in motion.

Maritime Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) are often placed some distance or below deck in relation to the outdoor VSAT antenna. ViaLite’s VSAT solution includes the ODE-A4 VSAT outdoor enclosure and slim-line 1U indoor unit. The enclosure converts the RF signals from the dish, while the indoor unit converts the optical signals back into RF closer to the modem.

In restricted spaces, where RF and other services are transmitted over optical fiber to a remote equipment room, the ODE-MINI outdoor enclosure can be installed, which houses up to two Blue or Yellow OEM RFoF Links. The modules can be used with any ViaLite RF band to 4.2 GHz or a C-Band Link up to 7.5 GHz. Being the smallest enclosure in the range, the ODE-MINI is class-leading for its size and cost.

ViaLite’s compact Blue2 link can also be used on ships in antenna radomes or below-deck control rooms as it can be easily fitted into areas where space is limited. It is a dual-RFoF solution OEM which can be set up as 2x transmitters, 2x receivers, or as a transceiver, depending on the requirement. The Blue2 covers RF bands from 2 kHz to 4.2 GHz.

Richard Jacklin, ViaLite Sales Director, said: “Supplying ViaLite RF over fiber into the Maritime market has been an important technology enabler for Satcom on the Move and GNSS / GPS navigational and timing solutions for many years. The Maritime Information Market (MIM) expects to see significant growth over the next decade, so it’s important the supporting technology stays current and moves with the times.”