1022410 – 0001 Rev. 2
3–54 UMOD hardware theory of operation
A backward alarm is a single bit of the satellite overhead, that can
be sent from one station to the others. Because it is part of the
overhead, sending a backward alarm does not affect the traffic.
Backward alarms are sent to the far end of a satellite link to alert
that there is trouble with the receive side that may be resulting
from improper transmission. The UMOD M&C monitors the
receive side of the link and, in the event of trouble, sends an alarm
over the transmit side to the far end.
For example, stations A and B are communicating via satellite (see
figure 3-32). In the event of an ongoing failure in station A
(failure of the modulator output carrier for instance), there may be
no indication at station A that anything is wrong. Station B will
become aware of the problem when it loses frame
synchronization. At this point, station A is unaware that there is a
problem with the transmitted data, and station B recognizes that
there is a problem receiving station A’s data, but cannot determine
where the fault lies.
9100 IFU
TX PATH
SEND
BACKWARD
ALARM
RX FAIL
(PROMPT
ALARM)
A
9100 IFU
RX PATH
INCOMING BACKWARD
ALARM OUPUT
9100 IFU
RX PATH
RX FAIL
(PROMPT
ALARM)
B
9100 IFU
RX PATH
SEND
BACKWARD
ALARM
INCOMING BACKWARD
ALARM OUTPUT
Figure 3-32
Backward alarm block diagram
Because of the lack of frame synchronization on the receive path,
station B sends a backward alarm on the return data stream to
station A. This does not affect the traffic in the B to A direction,
but generates an alarm at station A. Station A now has a warning
that there is a problem with the link from station A to B. In this
situation, both stations would perform loopback tests to isolate the
fault.
IBS/SMS backward alarms
IBS and SMS alarms are automatically generated by the UMOD.
For example, if a receive path fails, the UMOD will automatically