Gilat SkyEdgeII Reference Manual

Gilat Generic Antenna Interface Version 3

Reference Guide

July 2010

Revision 0.2

Document Number: DC-001940(B)

Notice

This document contains information proprietary to Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. and may not be reproduced in whole or in
part without the express written consent of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. The disclosure by Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. of
information contained herein does not constitute any license or authorization to use or disclose the information, ideas or
concepts presented. The contents of this document are subject to change without prior notice.

Document Number: DC-001940(B)

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Company Proprietary and Confidential

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3

Overview .................................................................................................................... 3

Generic Antenna Protocol Format ................................................................................ 3

Chapter 2: Interfacing Using the Generic Antenna Protocol (Versions 2 and 3) ...................... 5

Protocol Sequence ................................................................ ...................................... 5

Generic Antenna Commands ....................................................................................... 6

Generic Antenna Commands - Examples................................................................ 8

Modem (VSAT) Response Commands......................................................................... 8

Modem (VSAT) Response Commands - Examples ................................................. 9

Chapter 3: Interfacing Using the Generic Antenna Protocol (Version 3) ............................... 11

Protocol Sequence ................................................................ .................................... 11

Recovery from Modem Reset .................................................................................... 12

Recovery from Link Reset ......................................................................................... 12

Generic Antenna Commands ..................................................................................... 13

Generic Antenna Commands - Examples.............................................................. 15

Modem (VSAT) Response Commands....................................................................... 16

Modem (VSAT) Response Commands - Examples ............................................... 17

Document Number: DC-001940(B)

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Company Proprietary and Confidential

Chapter 1: Introduction

In This Chapter

Overview .................................................................................................................... 3

Generic Antenna Protocol Format ................................................................................ 3

Overview

The stabilized or in-motion antenna provides a monitoring SOTM (Satellite­On-the-Move) platform. Gilat SkyEdgeII modem (VSAT) provides highly
reliable network communication means. This document proposes that these
early mentioned systems generate two-channel interfacing loosely based on
the NMEA 0183 data protocol. The interfacing occurs via RS232 serial port at
9600-N-8-1 baud without any authentication or encryption in the link. To
enable interfacing, it is not required to log in to the SkyEdgeII system (none
security settings are implemented within it).

This document describes the command - response sequence between the
antenna and Gilat SkyEdgeII modem (VSAT).

Generic Antenna Protocol Format

All data in the Generic Antenna protocol are transmitted in the form of
messages. Only printable ASCII characters and CR (carriage return) and LF
(line feed) are allowed. Each message starts with a "$" sign and ends with

<CR><LF>.

The general format of a sentence is: $ttsss,d1,d2,....<CR><LF>.

The first two characters "tt", following the "$", are the talker identifiers. The
next three characters "sss" are the message identifiers. The "sss" characters
are followed by a number of data fields (separated by commas), mandatory
checksum, and terminated by carriage return and line feed. The data fields
are uniquely defined for each message type.

A message may contain up to 80 characters, the "$" and CR/LF signs. If data
for a field are not available, the field is omitted, but the delimiting commas
still appear, with no space between them.

The checksum field consists of a "*" sign and two hex digits representing the
exclusive OR (XOR) of all characters in-between, but not including the "$"
and "*" signs.