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case study 02.15

private lte & remote worksite employee welfare

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This case study is one in a series of white papers produced on an occasional basis by Cygnus Satellite. Our white papers are designed to keep our customers and our industry informed about Cygnus products and services, and issues that may impact on remote communications in Australia. © 2015 Cygnus Satellite Pty Ltd

contents the challenge 1

our approach 2

our solution 3

technology overview 6

specifications 7

private lte & remote worksite employee welfare

the chal lenge When you work in the Austral ian outback you don’t want to be out of touch. Miners, constructors, oil and gas survey teams, primary producers, emergency services personnel and anyone else who has a job to do in remote areas needs to be able to stay in close contact with friends, family and colleagues. This is an important aspect of workplace health and safety planning and practice, and is a key influence in improving employee retention rates. Mining camps, temporary worksites and small communities need the same suite of voice and data communications as workplaces and homes in urban centres. It’s a fact that in many remote areas of Australia mobile coverage through existing 3G networks can be very limited, and 4G is simply not available. Even if 3G coverage is available, once a camp of 100 workers or more arrives on site it simply saturates the service. While some carriers in Australia provide temporary cellular services in certain remote areas, it is typically limited to voice calls and has very high ongoing costs.

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our approach Ideal ly, remote workers would prefer to use their pr ivate mobile devices to remain in contact with fr iends and family. In January 2015 Cygnus teamed with a large mining camp services company to investigate a method to provide camp staff and guests with data and voice wireless communications that are similar to services offered in metropolitan locations. A Private LTE service offered the ideal solution. Private LTE is robust, flexible, secure and able to handle the bandwidth demands of applications that are data dependent. Private LTE also allows camp workers (and other living and working in remote areas) to continue to use and receive support for legacy devices. Our client’s requirements were for coverage throughout a typical camp, including recreation room, mess hall, offices and in workers’ private rooms. Providing a Private LTE service would allow guests to access the camp’s network with their personal 4G devices via a SIM card or handset provided by the camp manager. In addition, a Wi-Fi connection would enable other devices, such as laptops or 3G devices, to connect to the data network. 2

our solut ion Working with our technical partner, URSYS, Cygnus designed a Private LTE service that provided coverage throughout the camp and in every room. Our LTE solution included 15 handsets for use by camp staff and guests, plus a Wi-Fi connection for general use in the mess hall. Backhaul from the camp to ‘outside’ communications networks was via Cygnus Satellite’s Sydney PoP. The satellite service, LTE EPC (extended packet core) and processor, eNodeB, PBX and acceleration were all housed in a Cygnus self-contained communications trailer with an LTE antenna attached to a seven metre high mast (Illustration 6). The key challenge installing an LTE service in this camp was to ensure coverage in every room. The camp is constructed from shipping containers that have been converted into private rooms. Containers are also used for interconnecting passageways (Illustration 2 & 3).

ILLUSTRATION 1 Private LTE design block diagram

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The metal shipping containers greatly reduced signal propagation and shielded equipment from the single antenna on the communications trailer, creating black spots. To add to the challenge, private rooms were insulated internally with foam and aluminium cladding, further blocking the signal (Illustration 7). To resolve these issues, two LTE repeaters were installed within the main corridor of the accommodation area (Illustration 4). An external antenna connected the repeaters to the communications trailer. One repeater provided coverage at the northern end of the accommodation area, and the second provided coverage at the southern end. The two repeaters provided a signal to small indoor antennas at the passageway junctions to the private rooms (Illustration 5). The result was a signal strength of approximately -90dBm inside each room, ensuring uninterrupted coverage and no black spots. The Cygnus Private LTE solution is extremely flexible, scalable and can be installed quickly and cost-effectively. Cygnus Private LTE can be deployed in a variety of remote area applications. It is an excellent investment wherever and whenever robust communications are needed – from temporary camps and ‘scattered’ worksites to small, isolated communities and tourist facilities.

ILLUSTRATION 2 Entrance to accommodation area

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ILLUSTRATION 3 Main corridor of accommodation area

ILLUSTRATION 4 LTE repeater

ILLUSTRATION 5 Indoor LTE antenna

ILLUSTRATION 6 Communications trailer

ILLUSTRATION 7 Private room

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technology overview Cygnus Private LTE is specif ical ly designed for small cel l implementation in isolated locations and is ideal for remote area resources and construction projects, renewable energy projects, small communit ies and remote tele-health services. Cygnus Private LTE networks are tailored to each client’s need and incorporate ubiquitous coverage, security, mobility, reliability, backup redundancy, expansion potential, backhaul links and quality of service. Base cell design and capacity can be configured in a number of different ways to service up to 2,000 Private LTE subscribers. Various kinds of antennas and technology can be used to enable coverage with significant overlap or no overlap. ‘Self healing’ redundancy can be designed-in should any cell fail. Cygnus Satellite already supplies and supports Cygnus MSP mobile satellite trailers for Australia’s largest telco and other customers around Australia. We have adapted this robust and well proven unit and added LTE antennas so that cell locations can be moved whenever and wherever needed by our Private LTE clients. This greatly extends the adaptability and range of Private LTE networks. Our Private LTE technology has been selected and designed so that all installations are:

• Self-contained and autonomous • Easily deployed and delivered as managed services • Scalable, for cost effectiveness • Geographically expandable for low density applications such as M2M (machine to

machine) • Optimised for quality of service and guaranteed application delivery.

All components, including packet cores, are scaled down for local site deployment. This means that packet cores:

• Run on cost effective generic processor hardware with a proven resilience to harsh environments

• Include locally installed High Availability Redundancy so that fail-over is completed without loss of current connections

• Run on cost effective server platforms for as few as 50 subscribers • Are scalable up to 20,000 subscribers and 50 base stations.

The system works extremely well for sites that rely on satellite or radio backhaul with high latency characteristics. In multi-site networks there is a flexible choice of architectures, allowing for either a distributed network of local packet cores or a concentrated head-end structure. 6

specif ications Cygnus Private LTE comprises:

• 3GPP conformant Evolved Packet Core (EPC) • 3GPP conformant IP Multimedia subsystem (IMS) • Localised PBX for transcoding and support for VoLTE • Vendor provided real time NMS for centralised management and

maintenance. Packet cores will interface to any 3GPP conformant BBU/RAN eNodeB. However, consistent with focus on defined area small cell implementation, AIRSPAN and Axel Wireless radios are preferred. Cygnus Private LTE Packet Core The packet core comprises a number of discrete software modules and gateways that interface according to 3GPP specifications. The modules are collectively referred to as the EPC – Evolved Packet Core and IMS – IP Multimedia Subsystem. These core modules can be separated and selectively located on either local or remote head-end servers, in order to optimise the architecture of multi-site networks. However, in general, the strength of Cygnus Private LTE is its ability to scale to the optimal size of the customer network. Standards Conformance The current release is fully conformant with 3GPP Release11. Our latest release (May 2015) complies with 3GPP release 12. New Release 12 features include:

• Upgrade to Advanced QoS • Release of NMS SNMP Interface • Upgrade to OSS/BSS Service Oriented Operations • Release of Push to Talk over LTE (POC) – implemented on LTE Smartphone devices • Addition of Multimedia Broadcast Multicast (BMS) to existing IMS • Introduction of Voice over LTE (VoLTE).

Cygnus Private LTE Scal ing Cygnus Private LTE EPC supports:

• 20,000 subscribers • 256 eNodeB base stations • 1Gbps aggregate throughput • Small cell radios typically supporting 200 simultaneous subscribers per base station.

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Instal lat ions

• Primary EPC – 1RU Server • High Availability Redundant EPC – 1RU Server • MS, local PBX – 1RU Server

Each server runs on identical hardware. A single standby spare can be incorporated into any of three configurations:

• Base Station Radios – Integrated BBU/RAN in single IP67 outdoor rated housing • Tower Mounted Base Stations – 2W or 10W self-contained radios

o Typical cell edge coverage to 15Km • Mast Mounted Base Stations

o All base station radios include a self organising (SON) 3.6GHz point to point radio backhaul network

o Software controlled phased array antennas will automatically locate and lock to their neighbour in the backhaul network

o Base station radios are specifically suited to portable trailer-based base stations deployed for specific activities

o Typically, 2W radio on an 8 metre mast will provide 5Km of cell edge coverage.

Portable base stations are ideally suited for open cut mining or CSG operations where the topology of the project environment frequently changes. Base Station Repeaters and Distr ibuted Antenna Systems Cygnus Private LTE includes the ability to implement Base State repeaters and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS). These are low cost, easily deployable radios used to extend the geographical range of a cell in a specific direction, or to infill where coverage is shadowed by landforms or buildings. DAS are ideal for indoor propagation of LTE coverage in heavy steel buildings and into open cut mining pits. !!Cygnus reserves the right to amend technical specifications and configurations with or without notice.

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For more information please contact

Cygnus Satellite

Level 1 459-461 Parramatta Road

Leichhardt NSW 2040 Australia

E info@cygnus.net.au T +61 2 9188 1000 F +61 2 9188 1088

www.cygnus.net.au