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Lightware Saves UAVs From Hard To Detect Power Lines

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Written by Nadia Nilsen

“Drone lands on power lines resulting in a power outage for thousands” is certainly not the first or the last news headline of its kind. Overhead power lines pose a serious risk to UAV operations. These incidents could not only result in the loss of the drone and its payload but could also cause injury to people and animals and damage infrastructure and property. Retrieving the drone from high-voltage power lines is also a dangerous task. As a UAV operator, it’s crucial to avoid flying into these obstacles at all costs.

 

Power lines are notoriously difficult to detect. Distribution lines are relatively small, ranging from 0.2 inches (5mm) to 0.8 inches (20mm) in diameter, and are often black, brown, or gray in color. Against a complex and dynamic background, they are difficult to see even with perfect human vision. Moreover, power lines can vary in height depending on location and terrain, making their presence hard to predict. Low visibility or lighting conditions can exacerbate these challenges, making it even more difficult to detect overhead power lines from a distance or at high speed.

 

Power lines are not the only overhead lines that pose a risk to UAVs. Telecommunication lines, internet lines, bridge cables, train and trolley cables and overhead crane wires are just a few other examples. For UAVs to become truly autonomous in a complex world and unlock the full commercial potential of this technology, they need a reliable way to detect and avoid these everyday obstacles.

 

Stereoscopic cameras and computer vision have been woefully unsuccessful in solving this problem. Radar has limited resolution and may not be able to accurately detect small and thin power lines or identify the exact location of the power lines to avoid them. High-resolution radar systems can be expensive, and using them solely for detecting power lines may not be cost-effective. Ultrasonic sensors have a limited range, low resolution and can be negatively impacted by changing environmental factors like wind and temperature.

 

The best technology for detecting these burdensome hazards is LiDAR. With its small beam divergence, LiDAR can pinpoint the location of overhead lines to ensure they can be avoided. LiDAR is unaffected by low visibility or lighting conditions as it generates and pulses its own light source. LiDAR’s relatively long range allows for detection well ahead of a potential collision, even if the UAV is traveling at a high speed.

 

LightWare’s professional-grade microLiDAR® sensors offer all of these benefits in a small form factor with low power consumption at an affordable price point, making them ideal for integration onto drones. These sensors allow for wide adoption, especially in cases where multiple sensors are required to be installed per drone.

 

To detect overhead lines with a narrow LiDAR beam, the key factor is the update rate of the sensor. Imagine you are a fast-moving drone and need to detect a small obstacle with a narrow LiDAR beam. It may seem easy to miss, but with a high update rate scanning LiDAR, it’s nearly impossible to miss. Let’s look at some numbers: if you’re traveling at 60 mph (97 km/h) and pass under a power line with a vertically mounted LightWare SF30/D microLiDAR reading at 20kHZ, then the sensor will hit a passing 0.2 inch diameter line over 360 times and a 0.8 inch line over 1 400 times!

 

The ability to detect power lines not only ensures safe operations of UAVs, but also unlocks commercial opportunities such as fully autonomous power line inspections and other beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) missions. Customers of LightWare are already using the SF40/C and SF45/B microLiDAR sensors to maintain a safe distance from and follow power lines while capturing high-resolution photos for later analysis.

 

Our team recently ran some tests to see how accurately the SF30/D and SF45/B microLiDAR® sensors detect overhead power lines. The experiment was conducted by holding the sensor outside the window of a moving vehicle pointed directly toward the open sky.

 

The results of this experiment showed that LighWare microLiDAR® sensors were not only detecting the main power lines but also picking up the static lines that run above them. These cables are used for lighting protection and are much thinner than the power lines. To no surprise, the SF30/D and SF45/B microLiDAR® sensors easily managed to detect all the power lines.

Data was logged using LightWare Studio. The objective was to detect the presence or absence of the overhead power lines using the SF30/D and the results show the bundles of power lines as well as the lightning cable that are a few meters above the bundles.

 

Data was logged using LightWare Studio. The next sensor for testing was the SF45/B, which was used for horizontal or vertical detection and avoidance. This test was to determine the type of readings one would receive from the SF45/B when scanning power lines.

 

As a global pioneer in LiDAR, LightWare has a proven track record of delivering technology that exceeds industry expectations.

 

Talk to LightWare’s technical support team to help you solve these and other challenges with LightWare microLiDAR sensors.

 

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Increase Safety in Material Handling Applications

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Written by Lauren Robeson Menting

While the supply crunch has eased a bit for some industries, logistics facilities remain busy hubs. Filled with autonomous mobile robots, automated guided vehicles, employees, and goods, there’s no shortage of activity and moving parts.

Keeping employees safe from these moving parts – and making sure damage isn’t done to your facility or the goods it stores, hampering production and delivery – is essential. Wireless connectivity solutions can help ensure that safety is maintained in material handling applications – read on to discover factors you should consider when selecting a wireless product for your facility.

 

Industrial vs. Commercial

You probably wouldn’t look at your home Internet service and figure the same coverage would work as well for a major facility. Likewise, you shouldn’t equip your facility with commercially available wireless radios that are synonymous more with walkie-talkies than major factories.

There are a few reasons why industrial wireless radios have the edge here:

· Robustness: Industrial radios are designed to withstand inhospitable environments. Some industrial wireless radios can also ensure adequate connectivity even in facilities that are crowded with signals.

· Integration with your PAC: A typical setup will have one primary radio that connects to your control system, with access points on mobile equipment and at other locations as your application requires. Industrial wireless radios allow for streamlined integration with your PAC, ensuring radios’ real-time data is directly transferred to your control system.

· Security: Industrial radios can provide more security than commercial models, keeping proprietary information safe and bad actors out.

 

Fast, Precise Connectivity

You also want to make sure that the wireless radios you choose can give your employees, control system, and other radios real-time information as to their rapidly changing location.

Industrial radios allow mobile equipment to send their location to the primary radio and other access points in real time, which helps ensure other equipment won’t hit it – and, most importantly, employees know where heavy equipment is at all times to increase their safety.

Pairing wireless radios and a functional safety protocol (such as CIP Safety or PROFIsafe) is an especially wise idea for applications involving mobile equipment.

 

Flexibility for the Future

Opting for a wireless radio that can be easily implemented can help keep your employees safe when new equipment is added. A streamlined installation and configuration process ensures that this work won’t fall by the wayside when adding new moving machinery.

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Achieving 4K/UHD without Moving to IP: How We Made it Possible

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Written by Linda White

Sometimes creating a full-blown network just to connect a computer and printer is overkill. In other words: Depending on what you need, it’s possible to overdo your technology and/or infrastructure.

In broadcasting, for example, viewers may be demanding 4K resolution – but not every production calls for IP in order to transmit 4K/UHD signals.

 

When 4K/UHD was first introduced to broadcasting – promising four times the resolution of 1080p – existing coax cables and SDI technology (a digital video interface standard used since the early ’90s) couldn’t support it in a single link. 4K resolution used in production and digital cinema called for higher bandwidth, resolution and pixels than what coax could support. Instead, IP and fiber became the preferred method of achieving 4K quality for production and UHD for broadcast signal transmission.

 

The only way around this was to use four coax cables – each supporting 3 GHz – to send one 12 GHz UHD signal (this is referred to as a quad-link configuration).

 

This fix may have gotten the job done in terms of transmitting 4K/UHD signals, but it was expensive, bulky and cumbersome for broadcasters to manage. Quad-link configurations take up lots of space, max out weight limitations in mobile applications and increase cable expenses by requiring four cables for a single link.

 

Although some very large broadcasters and media companies were able to make the move to IP or fiber right away to support 4K/UHD signals, smaller broadcasters across the country were left in a bind. They, too, wanted to provide viewers with high resolution and 4K/UHD content – but weren’t quite ready to make the move financially.

 

After hearing from a number of broadcasters about their frustrations with this dilemma, we knew there must be a way to help them find middle ground. And that’s where Belden’s 4K UHD Coax Cable for 12G-SDI enters the picture.

 

This cable supports a bandwidth of 12 GHz and maximizes 4K/UHD transmission distance over a single link, decreasing the bulk and expense associated with dual-link and quad-link configurations. The 4K UHD Coax Cable for 12G-SDI also exceeds return loss specifications for the performance required for such high-speed signals.

 

Using this solution, broadcasters can now continue using SDI standards and coax cable instead of IP or fiber solutions – while still achieving a 4K/UHD picture (and without dealing with four cables to transmit one signal).

 

Instead, broadcasters simply plug in one coax to send a high-quality, 4K/UHD signal. Instead of rushing to take on a new level of broadcasting complexity, this innovation allows them to shift to IP or fiber when they’re ready – and when it makes financial sense to do so.

 

Creating the cable was only one part of the equation, however: Equipment manufacturers also had to be ready to support the required connections. Although many broadcasters wanted to use the cable, much of the camera and broadcast equipment on the market lacked I/O to accommodate it.

 

To make this happen, production and broadcast leaders sent an open letter to equipment manufacturers with a plea: to include 12G-SDI ports as standard features on all video equipment capable of working in 4K/UHD mode.

 

As a result, if you take a close look at today’s broadcast equipment used around the world, you’ll find 12G-SDI ports integrated to support this innovation that began with Belden. Broadcasters now have a way to give viewers the resolution they want without having go compromise on quality, embark on a complete technology overhaul or make a large capital investment.

 

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Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is Now Qualified for AWS IoT Greengrass

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Written by Belden

Qualification for AWS IoT Greengrass brings new level of connectivity, communication and management of applications and workloads that run on the OpEdge-8D device.

St. Louis, Missouri – June 15, 2023 – Belden, a leading global supplier of network infrastructure and digitization solutions, is pleased to announce that the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is now qualified for AWS IoT Greengrass. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Device Qualification Program helps AWS Partners qualify devices that work with AWS. This, in turn, helps customers to gain confidence, choice, and selection for hardware as they explore, build, and go to market with Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Qualified devices – like the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D – are listed in the AWS Partner Device Catalog to enable customers to quickly find hardware offered by AWS Partners for simplified project and solution integration.

AWS IoT Greengrass is an open-source edge runtime and cloud service for building, deploying, and managing device software across multiple fleets. These advancements to the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D will bring a new level of simplicity and convenience to the management of applications.

The Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is an industrial-grade edge gateway with a compact, DIN rail mount form factor that provides customers with a secure operating system (OS) and easy-to-use user interface (UI) for managing the networking and security features of the device, as well as user-defined containers and Virtual Machines (VMs). OpEdge-8D is also integrated with the Belden Horizon console for device management, secure remote access, and edge application orchestration at scale. Collectively this technology can be leveraged to connect Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) systems to support use cases where OT data needs to be processed to derive valuable insights for the user.

Jeremy M. Friedmar, Director of Product Management for Edge Solutions at Belden Inc. expressed his enthusiasm for the certification. “Belden is thrilled to have achieved qualification for AWS IoT Greengrass on our Hirschmann OpEdge-8D as an AWS Partner,” said Friedmar. “The Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is already recognized as the premier solution for the deployment of edge computing near OT data sources, and this certification makes us a credible transporter of operational data to a critical data destination of our users.” The OpEdge-8D is suitable for use in any industrial setting, including manufacturing, energy, transportation, and machine building.

“We look forward to working with AWS as we continue strengthening our industrial solutions in our served markets,” said Friedmar.

To learn more about the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D as listed in the AWS Partner Device Catalog, visit here.

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Double Success At NAB For LEMO®’s Brand New 12G-SDI 4K UHD

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Written by LEMO®

 

Only just launched onto the market, LEMO’s 12G-SDI 4K Ultra-High-Definition connector won straightaway TWO 2023 NAB product of the year awards in Las Vegas!

Our solution came out the best in the following categories:

Camera Support, Control and Accessories
Hardware Infrastructure.

Developed by LEMO’s Swiss R&D team, our award-winning connector is the first ever Push-Pull 12G SDI. Forget complex multiple connections: 12G-SDI 4K UHD is all you need to transport 4K images at 12 Gb/s. Highly compact, rugged and reliable, with up to 12 GHz signal frequency, the new LEMO connector is the perfect solution for your cameras and patch-panels.

NAB Show is produced annually by the National Association of Broadcasters at the Las Vegas Convention center. NAB is the premier advocacy association of America’s broadcasters. The 2023 edition registered over 65,000 visitors.

The official NAB awards program recognizes some of the most significant and promising new products and technologies showcased by exhibitors at the Show. NAB Show Product of the Year Award Winners were selected by a panel of industry experts in 15 categories and announced in a live awards ceremony at NAB Show on April 18.

3 Ways Sensor To Cloud Puts Data To Work For You

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Written by Ciaran Burns

 

We’ve identified the top 3 ways Sensor to Cloud brings benefit to our industrial customers by making use of your data for better decision making, remote access and connectivity.

Now scale this data to an entire year. The amount of information is overwhelming.

To put it to work for you, it has to be tied together and have somewhere to go to be monitored, analyzed and acted upon. If the data is captured and viewed disparately, you won’t be able to discover insights, find potential failure points or manage your overall supply chain. In other words, you’ll be capturing data just for fun. (Which isn’t a good use of resources!)

 

Traditionally, this type of data gathering takes on a pyramid approach: A plant’s sensors and controllers (PLCs or PCs) transfer information to a central, onsite supercomputer or something similar.

 

There are still situations where this method is appropriate, but we’re also entering a world where it’s much simpler to connect devices to supercomputers or virtual servers that sit in the cloud. Instead of data from a factory-floor sensor going through several steps to be processed and analyzed, it’s now more common for a sensor to have its own cellular, wireless and/or wired connectivity that connects it straight to the cloud. (Quick tip: The cloud is simply a group of servers that let you store and access data and applications via the internet.)

 

Although its behind-the-scenes infrastructure can be somewhat complex, Sensor to Cloud brings simplicity to industrial environments. It does what its name implies: Sensor to Cloud uses sensors to accumulate data and then transmits it into a cloud computing infrastructure for information sharing, collaboration, process improvement and decision-making—even across several sites.

 

Sensor to Cloud brings several benefits to industrial plants; we’ve identified and summarized three of the most important here.

 

1. Make Better Business Decisions

In the industrial world, data is always there. Capturing the information is the first step—but it’s only helpful if it can actually be used for something.

When data is collected and shared in real time, decisions can be made on the fly to maximize efficiency, handle predictive maintenance, test different strategies, ensure quality and safety, and improve how the factory floor runs.

All the important decision-making data points a plant needs in order to make informed decisions can be provided by the network. You just need a way to access that data so it can be used to improve automation and efficiency (which is exactly what Sensor to the Cloud provides).

By capturing data in the cloud, you’ll also have access to historical information so you can look for trends and patterns, measure performance improvement or demonstrate compliance over time.

 

2. Improve Communication & Maintenance

Consider maintenance in the wind turbine industry: They often send technicians out in boats to perform specific upkeep on offshore wind turbines. Once the workers get to the jobsite and assess conditions, they may or may not be able to complete the tasks they were sent to do. Or what if they find something else that needs to be done as well? Because they’re offshore and have no connectivity, they often have to wait to get back into their boat and re-establish a useable connection before they can provide updates and ask questions, which creates lots of wasted time. When workers can access data via the cloud, their maintenance work can be more productive.

 

Sensor to Cloud also lets industrial maintenance staff know what’s happening with their devices, systems and processes at all times. Instead of requiring 24/7 monitoring by an employee, Sensor to Cloud lets you capture device data and implement automatic monitoring and analysis; the right people can be notified immediately if something isn’t performing as expected (before it negatively impacts production).

This automated capability is similar to your car’s tire pressure warning. Fifteen or 20 years ago, your car may not have told you when one of its tires needed more air. Instead, you had to manually check it when you filled up with gas or you noticed an issue. Today, your car tells you as soon as there’s a tire-pressure problem so you can address it before a tire wears prematurely, overheats or causes an accident.

 

3. Remote Access

COVID-19 has forced many manufacturers to do what they can remotely to minimize physical contact and maintain social distancing.

When data is captured and shared via the cloud, it can be securely accessed from anywhere at any time: from your desk at work, your living room, on the road, etc.

Remote access supported by Sensor to Cloud also lets you monitor offsite equipment performance, such as wind turbines, from your plant location (or anywhere else).

 

Belden Makes Sensor to Cloud Possible

Belden doesn’t talk about Sensor to Cloud in theory or through hypothetical examples: From sensors and connectivity to cloud solutions, we have the comprehensive portfolio of solutions to really make it happen. And we’re helping industrial plants around the world prepare for this shift.

Our Sensor to Cloud solutions not only help you make use of your data for better decision-making, remote access and efficient maintenance, but they can also bridge OT and IT to bring these two groups together as partners. (More about this in part two of our Sensor to Cloud blog series, coming soon!) Belden acts as your Sensor to Cloud collaborator, making it easy and streamlined for both sides of the table.

Want to learn more about Sensor to Cloud and Belden’s ability to support it? Join us for a six-part webinar series where we’ll discuss:

  1. The market trends driving Sensor to Cloud—and what it takes to create a Sensor to Cloud solution
  2. Standards, best practices and the importance of IO-Link in Sensor to Cloud
  3. Redundancy and infrastructure
  4. Data analytics and edge solutions
  5. Securing sensor data
  6. Managing Sensor to Cloud networks

 

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Do You Need an IP67 Ethernet Switch? Ask These Questions First

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Written by Rick Saro and Mike Krueger

 

In automotive environments, Ethernet switches make it possible to connect essential devices to the network so they can gather data and communicate.

Choosing the right Ethernet switch often comes down to deciding between IP ratings: an IP20 or IP67 switch. Both serve the same purpose but offer different advantages and drawbacks you should consider.

An IP20 switch is installed in a control cabinet, considered touchproof (users won’t make contact with hazardous or energized parts) and prevents ingress of large dust particles.

IP67 switches allow equipment operators to deploy Ethernet-based systems right at a machine, process or factory floor instead of in a cabinet. This allows them to configure, manage and monitor connected machines and devices remotely—outside the control cabinet—without having to run long lengths of cable or install enclosures for switches and powering devices.

Due to many factors—including their space-saving, cabinet-less design—IP67 switches are sometimes considered the automotive manufacturing industry’s go-to option for Ethernet switches. But does your plant environment really need an IP67 switch? Would an IP20 switch work just as well?

In some environments, IP67 switches may be necessary. In other cases, however, IP20 switches may be the more cost-effective choice.

Which IP-rated Ethernet switch is right for your automotive plant? To find out, ask yourself these questions …

 

1. Is There Moisture or Frequent Washdowns?

Water plays a big role in the automotive manufacturing process, and it’s used in a number of different stages in an assembly line.

These applications might include:

  • Paint booths where water is used as a filtration medium
  • Rinsing and metal finishing
  • Processing equipment that must be regularly cleaned with water
  • Body-washing areas where cars are cleaned before leaving the plant
  • Rain test chambers that ensure water tightness

If an Ethernet switch will be deployed in a water-intense production area, then it needs to be protected from water intrusion. To protect against water ingress, IP67 Ethernet switches rely on M12 connectivity instead of the RJ45 connectivity found with IP20 switches.

 

2. Are Dust and Debris Present?

When employees are running the production line, their work often results in large volumes of dust. When a significant amount of dust is present in your manufacturing environment, Ethernet switches need to be able to guard against significant dust intrusion to remain operational.

These types of dust-generating applications can include:

  • Cutting
  • Grinding
  • Machining
  • Plastic processing
  • Rubber manufacturing
  • Stamping
  • Welding

IP20 switches prevent ingress of particles greater than 12 mm in diameter, which provides a reasonable level of protection against dust. IP67 switches are considered completely dust tight, offering full protection from dust and other particulates.

 

3. Do We Need Clear Lines of Sight?

Is having a clear line of sight to production lines important in your plant to support communication, determine when assistance is needed, watch for alerts, maintain productivity or ensure that quality standards are met?

Because IP67 switches can be installed outside protective cabinets and directly on machines, they don’t create any visual clutter that may impede the ability to see production lines or interfere with visual verification.

 

4. Do Control Cabinets Need More Space?

Real estate can be one of the biggest expenses involved with running a plant. Maximizing space inside control cabinets can help reduce the size and footprint of the cabinets themselves, optimize plant square footage and reduce labor and material costs.

If you need to find ways to optimize the space inside your automotive plant’s control cabinets, then an IP67 Ethernet switch’s cabinet-less design can help you do this. When the switch is mounted outside the cabinet and directly at the machine, this also results in shorter cable runs (saving even more labor and material costs).

 

5. Is Maintenance a Concern?

Many U.S. requirements state that electricians must dress in personal protective equipment, including clothing that doesn’t conduct electricity, before accessing a cabinet housing containing 110V service or higher. If an IP20 switch is inside the cabinet, then electricians must be the ones to access it.

IP67 switches eliminate this requirement—and the potential for arc flash—because the switches can be removed from enclosures and cabinets while still ensuring reliable performance in dusty, wet and harsh environments.

Mounting Ethernet switches outside the control cabinet also reduces the amount of time an electrician spends working inside a cabinet, improving life safety.

 

Making the Right Choice

If the factors mentioned above—water and dust ingress, space optimization, maintenance and clear lines of sight—are important to your manufacturing operation, then IP67 switches may be the best choice for your automotive environment.

If these factors aren’t a major concern, however, then IP20 switches can be a practical and cost-effective solution to support your connectivity goals.

For automotive environments that demand IP67 Ethernet switches, Belden offers its OCTOPUS IP67 Ethernet Switch. It allows automotive plants to install reliable, fail-safe networks in demanding conditions. Available in unmanaged and managed versions, they offer a cabinet-less design for easy installation directly on machines, built-in network security and complete protection against dust and water intrusion.

 

Learn more about OCTOPUS IP67 Switches

 

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Are You Ready For The Era Of Private Wireless Networks?

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Written by Steve Carroll

In the next four years, Ericsson predicts that North Americans’ data consumption will increase by 500% per user. In 2026, the average user is expected to consume 48 GB of data monthly by 2026.

Much of this data consumption will occur over carrier networks—the networks that support mobile/cellular connections. Today, mobile networks carry almost 300 times more mobile data traffic than they did in 2011. And the vast majority of this traffic—80%—is now consumed indoors.

What does this all mean for the buildings where the data is consumed?

Adapting properties to support growth in dedicated in-building wireless will be key to keep employees, visitors and guests connected indoors. In fact, many buildings are now being evaluated based on the technology and connectivity they offer to their tenants and occupants. We’ll share more about this concept in a future blog, but there are certification programs that rank new and existing buildings based on their digital infrastructure, future readiness and user connectivity experience. One of the newest categories ranks the in-building wireless capabilities of a facility.

Poor indoor mobile connectivity isn’t something that can be overlooked any longer. But, many times, the building itself prevents a wireless carrier’s cellular signals from coming inside. Material like metal, tinted glass, brick and concrete act as physical barriers that slow down or prevent signal penetration.

In the past, mobile carriers were big investors in wireless infrastructure. If they knew their customers would be located in or near a venue—a high-rise office, arena or shopping district, for example—then they would help fund that facility’s wireless infrastructure to provide customers the best experience possible indoors (sometimes even paying a monthly fee to rent space for the infrastructure). In many situations, it didn’t cost the owner much money to deploy a mobile network.

Today, this approach has changed. Because most carriers no longer have the budgets to continue operating this way, enterprises now have to provide their own in-building wireless. As owners take on these costs, they’re looking for other connectivity options—such as private wireless networks.

In future blogs, we’ll talk about where private wireless networks work best, how they may be positioned to support emerging technology initiatives and best practices to design and deploy private wireless networks. For now, we want to explain what private wireless networks are—and how they’re different.

 

What Is A Private Wireless Network?

The purpose of a private wireless network is to give individuals or organizations the chance to deploy their own connectivity systems. These systems can operate by leveraging a combination of licensed, quasi-licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum. In other words, they can be LTE (the technology behind 4G) or 5G networks. They’re owned and operated by an enterprise, not a mobile carrier.

Globally, each region of the world is at a different stage of enabling its own access to private wireless spectrum. In the United States, private wireless networks can operate within the (CBRS) Citizens Broadband Radio Service and C-Band spectrum.

The CBRS frequency range spans between 3.5 GHz and 3.7 GHz and is licensed to the U.S. Department of Defense.

In 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission decided to make this spectrum range available to a wider variety of users. The spectrum is “shared” between these groups and governed by the OnGo™ Alliance, a coalition of industry organizations focused on shared-spectrum solutions.

 

Why Are Owners Choosing Private Wireless Networks?

There are many reasons why an owner may be considering a private wireless network. One of the biggest reasons has to do with costs, like we mentioned above. In some cases, like in highly populated areas, carriers may continue to help fund infrastructure. In situations where they can’t or won’t, owners will be looking for cost-effective ways to bring mobile connectivity into their buildings.

Other reasons involve privacy and security. In a public network, data traffic travels back and forth to a central network in another location. Private wireless network traffic doesn’t have to do that. This not only improves security and privacy, but also lowers latency and improves speed.

Private networks also allow enterprises to control their own bandwidth distribution. A smart manufacturing plant, for example, may choose to prioritize connectivity for its latency-sensitive production lines over back-of-house systems.

 

Where To Learn More About Private Wireless

Recently, Belden teamed up with Ranplan to lead a discussion on the topic of private wireless.

If you missed it, you can watch Private Wireless Networks Explained on demand. We walk through the basics of private wireless so that you understand its capabilities and benefits in terms of deployment, bandwidth, maintenance and costs.

Because every situation is different, private wireless may not be the exact fit to replace a distributed antenna system (DAS). Belden can help you determine your specific connectivity needs.

To learn more about in-building wireless networks, download this Navigating In-Building Wireless white paper.

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Reduce Data Center Operating Costs to Improve PUE

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Written by Shad Sechrist

Data Centers

If you’re looking for ways to reduce data center operating costs, then lowering monthly energy bills is a great place to start. By far, the biggest contributor to high data center operating costs are these recurring expenses.

 

What drives your utility bill so high each month? In most data centers, it comes down to the operation of non-IT systems:

  • Cooling and air handling
  • Lighting
  • Security cameras

 

To determine how much of your total power usage goes to systems that don’t provide compute services, you can calculate your data center’s power usage effectiveness (PUE). This ratio compares the total amount of power used by your data center to the amount of power delivered to its computing equipment. It also reveals how much energy is used for non-IT activities and systems.

 

PUE = total facility power / IT equipment energy

 

A high PUE indicates that your data center uses more power than it should to run equipment. A low ratio suggests that energy is used effectively to get compute work done.

 

As we examined the Uptime Institute’s 11th Annual Global Data Center Survey, we discovered that energy-efficiency progress has slowed down for many data centers.

 

From 2003 to 2010, for example, the data center industry made great strides in improving PUE. The average data center dropped from 2.5 to 1.6. In the last five years, however, the industry hit a plateau. The average PUE has been stagnant, sitting near 1.56.

 

When this PUE is translated to a percentage (by using the data center infrastructure efficiency [DCiE] metric), it shows that approximately 60% of energy entering the data center is used to power the non-IT systems we mentioned earlier—not the compute gear.

 

Newly constructed data centers designed to maximize energy efficiency typically see PUEs of 1.1 or 1.05—proof that this level of performance can be achieved. And while there’s plenty of new space on the horizon, most data centers have been running for years and rely on older systems.

 

Why is PUE Progress Slowing Down?

By now, most data center managers have had time to pick the low-hanging fruit, such as:

  • Isolating supply and retain air through containment walls or using end-of-row doors on aisles to prevent air mixing.
  • Using blanking panels to fill unused “U” positions in racks or enclosures and separate hot and cool air.
  • Sealing holes in walls and raised floors with plenum-rated products.
  • Replacing missing or poorly fitting floor tiles.
  • Getting rid of underused or non-operational servers.

 

If your data center hasn’t implemented these best practices, now’s the time to do so. You’ll see an immediate improvement in energy use and lower data center operating costs.

 

The next phase of efficiency improvements, which can take PUE from 1.5 to 1.2 or 1.1, requires more time and money. Once you pick all your low-hanging fruit, here are some examples of what’s waiting higher up the tree.

 

Deploy Power Distribution Units (PDUs)

PDUs are like well-constructed power strips designed to be used in data centers. Today’s smart PDUs help data center managers remotely monitor power use, energy efficiency and environmental conditions.

 

They can track metrics like real-time power usage, data and event logs, the amount of current drawn by each PDU and the amount of current drawn by each outlet so you can optimize usage down to the device level.

 

This level of granularity is key. When you know exactly how much energy certain systems use, it becomes obvious as to where changes need to be made—even down to the rack level.

 

Install More Efficient Cooling Equipment

If you want to replace your legacy cooling equipment with new, more efficient systems to better control heat, there are many options to choose from. The right one for your data center depends on its size, location, configuration and unique design challenges.

 

You can choose to cool at the room level, the row level or the rack level (or use a combination), and there’s a long list of systems to choose from: computer room air conditioners (CRACs), liquid cooling and precision cooling are just a few examples.

 

If your cooling equipment is outdated, then it’s likely inefficient. Upgrading your system can reduce energy use and lower data center operating costs.

 

Invest in White Cabinets

Lighter-colored cabinets can conserve electricity in a few ways. Light colors like silver or white naturally reflect more light than dark colors (like black) because they have different light reflectance values (LRVs). For this reason, additional lighting is often needed to see labels and ports among dark cabinets.

 

When you lower lighting levels, you also reduce the amount of heat given off by the lighting system, which reduces cooling requirements. We estimate that swapping black enclosures for a lighter color leads to energy savings of between 1% and 2%.

 

Update Lighting

Modernize your lighting systems to take advantage of LED technology. LEDs are a good fit for data centers for many reasons:

  • They generate less heat than fluorescents, which translates to lower cooling costs
  • They use less energy than alternatives
  • They offer lighting uniformity so all areas are equally bright, reducing shadows that make maintenance work difficult

 

Occupancy sensors and lighting zones are also effective ways to control data center operating costs. When no one’s in the data center, the lights will automatically shut off. (Depending on your surveillance equipment, you may need enough illumination for proper video capture, but many of today’s cameras can see in low-light and dark conditions.) When the lights are on, initial entry areas and halls don’t need to be as bright as equipment areas, and they can be zoned accordingly.

 

Keep People Out of the Data Center

Data centers spaces are built to process data, not host people. Keeping the data center as “hands-off” or “lights-out” as possible is another step you can take to reduce data center operating costs.

 

IT equipment can operate at higher ambient temperatures than those typically comfortable for people. If you can automate certain processes and reduce the need for onsite staff, then the space doesn’t need to be as cool.

 

Lights-out data centers may not be common yet, but COVID-19 revealed what these unmanned spaces may look like. In many cases, the examples proved that data centers can operate with little human involvement.

 

 

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