Low cost VSAT MMIC transceiver with automatic power control

A very small aperture terminal (VSAT) transceiver used in a VSAT terminal that communicates with a transponder of a satellite comprising:

• a housing;
• a ceramic substrate board mounted within the housing;
• a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit operative at ka-band and including a local oscillator circuit and mixers for mixing local oscillator signals, formed on the ceramic substrate board, and each having microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) chips;
• a controller board formed from a reinforced PTFE composite and having surface mounted DC and low frequency discrete devices thereon;
• a microcontroller surface mounted on the controller board operatively connected to said MMIC chips and operative for controlling transceiver gain and output power based upon one or both of the received signal strength or the signal-to-noise information from an indoor unit of the VSAT terminal;
• and
• a solderless contact connector electrically interconnecting circuits on the controller board and ceramic substrate board.

A method of controlling the power output from a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) of a VSAT communications system comprising the steps of:

• receiving a signal within a VSAT terminal that is in communication with a transponder of a satellite, the VSAT terminal further comprising an indoor unit and an outdoor unit including a VSAT transceiver comprising a ceramic substrate board having transmitter and receiver circuits, each transmitter and receiver circuit having a microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) chips, and a microcontroller operative with the MMIC chips and the indoor unit for controlling transceiver gain and output power;
• monitoring within the microcontroller one or both of the received signal strength of a signal received from the satellite in communication therewith and signal-to-noise information from the indoor unit;
• and
• controlling transceiver gain and output power based on one or both of the received signal strength or the signal-to-noise information from the indoor unit.