Could solutions to smart city challenges like power and internet connectivity be as close as the nearest cable service provider?
The connected city is here, and interconnectedness is only increasing. Metro areas from San Jose to Philadelphia are already working toward a smart city vision in which they leverage technology to broaden access to digital infrastructure, improve safety and manage energy use.
Recently, the United States announced that it will invest $400 million in “5G” research in an effort to drive innovation around markets like smart cities. With the help of this initiative and others, Cisco Systems projects that by 2020, there will be more than 50 billion connected devices worldwide that make up the “internet of things.”
With everything from security cameras to stoplights connected to the internet and each other, reliable, inexpensive power and network connectivity has never been more essential. However, challenges still prevent connected cities from achieving their full potential.
5G advantages
Before getting into the challenges and how to solve them, it’s important to understand the advantages 5G presents over 3G and 4G technology: speed and power consumption.
5G is set to deliver data speeds 10- to 100-times faster than 4G, and do so while consuming significantly less energy than its predecessors. For example, cellular radios now consume about 200 watts of power. With 5G, that consumption is expected to go down to about 100 watts.
Smart city challenges
It’s clear that smart cities are the future, but the advantages gained from 5G networks are diminished without reliable power and internet connectivity. Traditionally, cities have turned to the grid to power connected devices, placing stress on the grid and decreasing reliability. Outages, network and power supply maintenance, and real estate and regulatory limitations can all impact the performance of 5G.
Outages can be caused by any number of events, from lightning strikes to high peak demand. Unfortunately, the grid doesn’t have a reliable backup system. And although elements like heat, cold, rain and snow are obvious culprits for maintenance issues, they’re certainly not the only ones. Things like power surges can damage electronic equipment, requiring costly fixes or even replacement.
Local regulations can also halt a smart city’s development. For example, if city officials want a camera to monitor a specific part of a street but the nearest streetlight is three blocks away, the city could have a utility company dig trenches and run power supply to its desired area – but it’ll likely be prohibitively expensive and require lengthy approvals. In such situations, cities are often forced to purchase more expensive cameras that can effectively capture the distance, adding costs to the project.
Cable networks: an untapped opportunity
A potential solution to the challenges facing smart cities comes in the form of cable and broadband providers. In the past 20 to 30 years, such companies have developed and deployed clean, reliable power to deliver their content to consumers. This means that cable operators are uniquely positioned to solve the problems associated with connected cities all over the globe.
Cable operators already have distributed power grids in most cities around the world. Those grids have ferroresonant transformer power supplies that suppress surges in the coax, eliminating a major cause of power problems. Still, even the best networks have outages, so reliable backup systems are critically important – a roadblock that cable operators have already recognized and planned for. In North America, 90% of cable networks are backed up by battery, with at least three to six hours of available power in case of a utility outage.
Maintenance is also part of a cable operator’s core business. As providers have to diligently maintain networks to provide reliable service, powering and connecting the devices that connect a smart city easily fit into operators’ skill sets and can be accomplished with very little added costs. Finally, operators own the right of way for coaxial cables wherever aerial cable plants are located, meaning cable providers can install equipment anywhere in a city where coaxial cable is hanging – whether it’s a residential street or a busy downtown area. This eliminates the permit process and stops smart city supporters from having to pay for new real estate.
Cable operators essentially have access to a broadband power grid – a reliable power grid separate from the utility that solves the problems of outages, maintenance and real estate and regulations. Making use of this network, and the cable operators that run it, can power the 5G networks that will connect smart cities in the near future, ensure such cities stay online and help them achieve their full potential.
Greg Laughlin is a product manager for Alpha Technologies focusing on power and backhaul for smart city applications. He has more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications and cable networks. Laughlin holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in communications information systems.
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