The L-band frequency used over a geostationary satellite has a number of attractive features compared to higher powered VSAT or lower power VHF/UHF frequencies. These include:

• Low Power: Smaller terminals can listen for downlinks at power usage levels of 500 mW compared to a VSAT usage of 50 W plus
• Weather Resistant: Unlike most other frequencies, L-band works well in the rain and fog 
• Robust Terminals: L-band terminals can use omnidirectional antennas, operate in hazardous areas, and have wide operational temperature ranges 
• Reliable Data Connectivity: L-band is well suited to data transfer with latencies and bandwidth throughputs within the range of many use cases for remote asset monitoring when used with the MinFarm optimized satellite protocol architecture

The MinFarm Protocol is an optimized protocol for reliable and low-cost data transfer over small L-band satellite terminals. L-band satellite terminals offer many advantages over larger VSAT terminals, however they can present unusual interfaces (Non-IP packet data etc.), higher latencies, and lower bandwidth. To get the best of both worlds (small satellite hardware and fast data transfer), MinFarm has, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, developed a unique software protocol and architecture to overcome the data transfer limitations of small L-band terminals while transmitting data from remote field devices. This MinFarm Optimized Protocol Architecture has the following useful features for using L-band satellite to support field device connectivity in an industrial communication environment:

• Any LoRaWAN (Read more), SCADA (Read More) or CCTV (Read More) device can send uplinks and downlinks reliably and at a low cost 
• A simple to use Dashboard (Read more)  for configuring and managing field devices and satellite deployments
• Well documented API (Read more)  for integrating your field deployments into existing application end points and third party sensor management tools (The Things Industry, LBS, private LNSs, etc)
• Defense in depth security with end to end encryption (Read more) 
• Private network hosting options available (Read more) 

IsatData Pro (IDP):

The IsatData Pro (IDP) is a small (200g) and low power omnidirectional satellite terminal that provides an extremely reliable but low data rate connection in the field. When combined with MinFarm products utilizing the MinFarm optimized satellite protocol and architecture, the IDP terminal is suitable for deployments of less than 100 sensors that transmit once per hour or a small number of remote image capture devices, transmitting infrequently or on demand. The main advantages to using the IDP service over higher power L-band systems such as BGAN (see more below) are its low power usage and relatively low cost, ease of installation, and very robust environmentals. Over 300,000 IDP terminals are in use around the world today. 

IDP Feature Focus: Low Power ListenThe IDP has a very low power listen mode (450 mW) which allows it to be woken up by a downlink satellite command from a remote corporate network. This process can in turn wake connected MinFarm products to perform the designated downlink command functions. This feature is utilized by the MF CAMERA product to reduce its battery usage to an extremely low level during periods of low activity.

BGAN:

The BGAN is an established medium speed (400 kbps upload and download) satellite terminal used by governments and industry all around the world for satellite data communications in remote locations. With excellent sleep power saving and low power receive mode, the BGAN can operate in a suitable manner to fit autonomous operation from solar panels for year round installations. The BGAN uses a small directional antenna that is relatively simple to install and use. MinFarm products use the BGAN for providing reachback connectivity to larger deployments, as it supports up to 4000 sensors, or when frequent image capture combined with video streaming services are required.

BGAN Feature Focus: GPIO deep sleep mode of 110 mW. 

The MinFarm MF GATEWAY product for LoRaWAN® sensor connectivity in the field can utilize the GPIO feature of the BGAN satellite terminal with its store and forward data architecture. The MF GATEWAY can wake up a BGAN using the GPIO pin allowing the BGAN to sleep while consuming less than 110 mW. As the MF GATEWAY runs an Edge LNS (LoRaWAN® Network Server) these uplinks find their end destination regardless of whether a backhaul satellite connectivity link is up or not. The job of getting that data back to the customers dashboard is then done by the MinFarm optimized satellite protocol architecture (read more). This lets the BGAN sleep in GPIO mode while transmitting gathered sensor uplinks at 30W for a set programmable schedule.