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In recent years, national wireless carriers have been racing to keep up with the public’s voracious appetite for data consumption.
Despite advancements in technology that provides the public with more bandwidth and increased data transfer speeds, the ensuing consumption quickly exhausts this increased capacity. As users, we have a seemingly insatiable hunger for streaming media and ubiquitous, reliable high-speed wireless data networks. This has resulted in the carriers responding with colossal nationwide projects to upgrade existing infrastructure to 3G and, more recently, LTE coverage.
In designing these projects one need remains the same ─ speed. While on-air speed to market is critically important, it cannot be achieved at the cost of quality. The integrity of the initial engineering design survey and the data obtained during those few short hours on site ─ whether in sun, rain or snow ─ are the foundation of the engineering design and drawings which ultimately land in the hands of the person actually building the site.
Technology advances to keep pace
The telecommunications industry is a vibrant environment for engineers. Although many things have changed in the industry, on-air, speed-to-market timelines have remained a driving force in successful engineering project management. Having experienced the design and deployment of totally new carrier networks from the ground up, as well as technology enhancements and overlays of existing sites in both Europe and the United States, I’ve had a unique opportunity to see a wide variety of engineering site design scenarios and challenges.
Back in the day, telecom site design was completed with equipment and tools which are now considered archaic by many. Younger colleagues now laugh when we recall using measuring wheels, steel tapes and yes, a pencil and paper. Field notes were gathered from site to site, transferred back to the office and then incorporated into a site design package the following day.
From there, they were submitted to the engineering department to develop the design and drawing packages for real estate negotiation and, ultimately, construction drawings. Even as recently as three years ago, this basic approach was still the industry standard.
But like all things telecom related, three years is now a generation. Recent improvements in survey tools have changed the site design process forever. The tape and wheel, for example, have been replaced with a handheld laser accurate to ±.04 inches over 650 feet, thus improving both the accuracy and speed of field design surveys. The tablet computer now enables the field engineer to sketch sites as soft copy PDFs or even within AutoCAD in the field. The advancement of wireless connectivity and cloud computing of tablets allows the field engineer to transfer complete site design packages to the engineering department within minutes of walking the site. These technology improvements and real-time information/data transfers have decreased the margin of human error, data loss and the boundaries of the business day to make productivity skyrocket.
Another unique aspect of these changes in wireless technology is illustrated in our own consumption of the technology we engineer to support the ecosystem. As new wireless devices come to market, the user demand and data usage levels will only increase and further stretch the capacity of existing networks. For example, engineers are now using the wireless data available to use tablet PC devices in the field to aid in the design of new wireless sites and LTE overlays throughout the nation.
Once a field design visit is completed and saved to the cloud, an office-based team is immediately notified, the data is downloaded to the network, submitted for quality control review and then to engineering. In this fast-paced era of near-instant communication, engineers are also consumers of the technology, and a key link in the wireless deployment chain to bring this improved wireless technology to the public.
In an industry where wireless technology solutions constantly evolve, the question remains, “Are engineers supporting their clients and services utilizing the best technology available?”
As such, firm must continue to invest in cutting-edge technology to enable field engineers to have laser survey tools, wireless tablet PC’s and new ways to increase productivity. Having the latest engineering and survey tools to provide the best quality possible is not only necessary, it is crucial for supporting the next stage of infrastructure build outs.
There is no doubt that the future will only see enhanced technology growth and development on existing wireless sites with the addition of new site builds to fill coverage gaps and congestion. As an industry, we are pushing to get as much equipment as possible onto the towers and in the compound by adding remote radio units at the antenna sectors and equipment cabinets on the ground to squeeze as much out of a site as possible. In these situations, the accuracy of the engineering survey of the tower and ground space is essential for the design of the equipment, fiber/coax routes and utilities. A small margin of error in design can result in both major time delays and cost increases during construction.
We want more
Consumers continue to embrace the wireless tools and connectivity available that allow them to enjoy the business and social benefits of the wireless ecosystem, but they want more. There is now an expectation of wireless connectivity regardless of where we are, and when we find ourselves in areas with limited coverage or no coverage, we find it just unacceptable. In an industry which appears to have no limitations, what are the limitations?
Spectrum: Is our advancement throttled back by the availability of wireless spectrum? The simple answer is yes, but that is changing as evidenced by acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwomen Mignon Clyburn, during CTIA 2013, when she announced the upcoming FCC spectrum auctions. The availability of spectrum and the right spectrum is essential for the United States to compete and push forward to stay ahead of the worldwide competition in wireless technology deployment.
So what’s next
Where we will be five years from now? “6G” or something completely different? Regardless of what the technology is called, certain things will remain. First and foremost will be speed-to-market in regard to technology deployment. This will increase the need for professional engineers with the latest wireless and survey tools, qualifications and experience to ensure that the technology is designed accurately and deployed correctly.
