Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Sheraton Hotel, Denver, Colorado
February 19 – 22, 2012
New spread spectrum radios for today's
technology
Dan Steele – Regional Manager
FreeWave Technologies
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
2
Spread Spectrum Radio Concerns
• Common issues:
– Terrain is too rough (buildings, trees, hills & valleys)
– Network has many devices & types (RF saturation)
– Spread Spectrum didn’t work in the past (old technology)
Poor installation or did not perform a radio path study
– Ethernet communication is required (new standard)
– Security is an issue (encryption and VLAN)
Terrain is too rough (buildings, trees & hills)
– Network has many devices & types
– Spread Spectrum didn’t work in the past
–
You can have obstructions in the “lobe” (Fresnel Zone) of the yagi
signal even though LOS is achieved. This will attenuate the signal.
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
3
SS Radio Advantages
Direct Sequence (DSSS)
• Continuously spreads data over a wide portion of the frequency band
• In a high noise environment, data reliability is dependent on a high signal-to-noise ratio
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
4
SS Radio Advantages
Frequency
Po
we
r
902 MHz 928 MHz
1 watt
• Frequency hopping spread spectrum radios
• 112 discreet frequencies between 902 MHz
and 928 MHz
• 50 to 170 hops/second, minimum (serial radios)
• 6 MHz change per hop (default 100 hops/sec)
• 15 user-selectable hopping sequences
(frequency keys)
• 7 user-selectable frequency hopping bands
• 230 kHz instantaneous bandwidth • Hedy Lamarr (Hedy Kiesler Markey)
and George Antheil, June 1941
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
5
Various Technology, Fees & Range
Technology Fee Range Speed
VHF / UHF/ 900 Y 30-60 Miles 9.6-19.2kbps
CDMA/GSM Cellular Y Limited 19.2-256kbps
802.11 N 200 Feet 11.0 mbps
Spread Spectrum N >30 Miles 115kbps-1.2Mbps
Bluetooth N 50 Feet 721.0 kbps
SS Micro-Wave N 5-25 Miles 6-50 Mbps
License Microwave Y 10-25 Miles 6-750 Mbps
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
6
Licensed Radios
There are limited options today by the FCC or IC in North There are limited options today by the FCC or IC in North America and
even fewer options in other countries for licensed spectrum.
Some of those offerings come with a hitch, narrow channels (12.5Khz or
less, limited data – 9.6-19.2kbps or less, secondary user status on some
frequencies, government licensing fees and renewable fees later.
Management requirements have changed – Ethernet is now the new
standard and data collection speed is very important.
Redundant Master or Repeater Stations
are often used and very expensive
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
7
Licensed Radios overview -
• Analog (old) or digital
(new) radios 12.5KHz
channels 2-10 Watt power
• FCC Licensed frequency
• Bell 202 modems
• High power consumption
• Slow transmission 1200 to
19200 Kbps
• One repeater per network
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
8
RF Interference
There are limited options today by the FCC or IC in North
You can still get interference on your FCC
“protected” license from adjacent or co-located
channels or RF harmonics.
Definition:
Co-channel interference or CCI is crosstalk from two
different radio transmitters using the same frequency. There
can be several causes of co-channel radio interference;
some examples -
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
9
RF Interference – Intermod & Harmonics
The mixing of transmitter frequencies at a wireless
site produces intermodulation interference.
Of these mechanisms, two that are most significant:
Transmitter intermodulation results when signals enter a
transmitter final amplifier and mix with the resulting intermod
frequencies reradiated by the transmitter antenna. Receiver
intermodulation results when signals enter and mix in a receiver
front end, and the resulting intermod products are detected at the
receiver's demodulator.
Related to intermodulation are transmitter harmonics which are
integer multiples of the transmitter frequency, and spurious
emissions, both produced by non-linearity of the transmitting
system.
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
10
RF Interference
Adverse weather conditions:
During periods of abnormally high-pressure weather, VHF
signals which would normally exit through the atmosphere
can instead be reflected by the troposphere. This
tropospheric ducting will cause the signal to travel much
further than intended; often causing interference to local
transmitters in the areas affected by the increased range of
the distant transmitter.
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
11
RF Interference
Poor frequency planning:
Poor planning of picking the frequencies by frequency
coordinators and due to terrain even the 90 mile rule on
licensed 900MHz could have “bleed” over and adjacent
channels might not be spaced far enough away from other
users. I have seen problems even between the same entity
where different departments don’t research the frequency
assignments.
450MHz systems are worse and in the USA - voice
communication is primary and data are secondary users.
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
12
RF Interference
Multiple radio types and frequency, antenna type –
polarity orientation and separation are critical in RF
interference factors.
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
13
RF Interference
Overly-crowded radio spectrum:
In many populated areas, there just isn't much room in the radio
spectrum. Licenses will be jam-packed in, sometimes to the point that
one can hear loud and clear two, three, or more sites on the same
frequency, at once. In the USA, the FCC propagation models used to
space users on the same frequency are not always accurate in
prediction of signals and interference.
SS Radio settings help with interference from other networks
Feb. 27 - Mar. 2, 2011 2011 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop Denver, Colorado
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Frequencies can be selected or
deselected from the master radio
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
15
SS Radio Advantages
Paging
Tower with
900MHz
Vertically
Polarized
Antenna
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
16
SS Radio Advantages
Changed to
Horizontally
Polarized
You can see
that changing
POLARIZATION
alone has a
fairly dramatic
impact on the
Out Of Band
Noise.
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
17
SS Radio Advantages
• Layer 2 communication from RTU/PLC to backbone
– Can be Serial or Ethernet
– Should be faster throughput than the port speed
of the EFM or RTU
– Low power consumption
– Full duplex to support alarms
– Ideal bandwidth at least 115.2 Kbps
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
18
SS Radio Advantages
• Layer 3 communication from backbone end point to gateway
– Consolidates multiple layer 2 applications
– High speed Ethernet or microwave
– Must be higher speed than layer two
– Ideal bandwidth at least 867 Kbps
– Must be capable of delivering data to any place, and to multiple places
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
19
SS Radio Advantages
• Layer 4 backhaul from backbone to IT department
– Relatively high speed layer multiple close to 1Mbps
– Must be Ethernet and have serial terminal server
– Typically require AC power but can be DC
– Typically located on commercial towers
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
20
SS Radio Advantages – Hybrid Network
Example of a
Hybrid Radio Solution
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
21
SS Radio Hybrid solution for I/O
Multi-well
Pad Site
I/O Radio
Example
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
22
SS Radio Advantages – Software
Tool Suite
Diagnostic
Programming
Software
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
23
SS Radio Advantages
• Selectable hopping patterns – 15 Freq. Keys
• Custom packet sizes – also changes hopping time
• Multiple hop tables
• User definable network ID’s – more security
• AES encryption – 128/256 bit
• Network authentication or Radius Servers
• VLAN Tagging and MAC address
• Fast Hopping – “he who hops fastest wins”
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
24
SS Radio Advantages
900Mhz or 2.4Ghz Spread Spectrum can….
• Work in challenging terrain / conditions
• Provide more security than licensed bands
• Accommodate 1000’s (10000’s) devices
• Less expensive to deploy
• Easy to deploy and grow as needed
Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
25
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Feb. 19 – 22, 2012 2012 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop
Denver, Colorado
26
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