In-Building Tech

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Sean Kinney

5 access control innovations that prioritize health and safety (Reader Forum)

Now, because of COVID-19, health and safety are critical for buildings and facilities. Since the pandemic, the insecurities of outdated access control technology and systems have increasingly become a concern. In order to increase safety and mitigate the current health crisis, touchless access control technology is taking the lead not only in security but in physical health as well.?

The rise of smart buildings

Smartphones have revolutionized how we use our phones. Now, smart solutions are changing our interaction with buildings. Electronic devices can now communicate regardless of the distance between them. This is because common building appliances like thermostats, gates, doors, and lights can be connected to the internet.?

The concept of smart buildings has been around for awhile. Unsurprisingly, it is attracting a lot more attention in our current environment. Their utility serves a much greater purpose which is slated to become the new normal.?

Access control is getting smarter

Traditional access control uses standalone electronic devices to manage building occupants. In these legacy systems, there is seldom any interaction between the devices. Electronic visitor logbooks, automatic door unlock, card readers and other access control systems function independently of each other. But that isn?t the case with recent innovations in access control.

In smart access control, all the devices necessary for access control interact and exchange data to form a more efficient network. All the information shared in this network is stored in the cloud.?

Smart access control uses biometric and/or mobile credentials, video intercom and door release to manage the occupants and visitors of a building. These otherwise independent technologies are now connected via the cloud. This allows them to seamlessly provide hands-free entry and authorized guest access.?

By creating an environment without the need for physical contact, smart access control prioritizes health and safety. In the following section, we will discuss how these innovations combine to create a touchless environment.??

5 innovations in smart access control

Automatic door openers

At the foundation of a smarter solution to access control systems is automated door release. This technology can be seamlessly integrated with various access control solutions. This no-contact solution eliminates the need to touch high-use surface areas like building doors which harbor disease.??

Face recognition

In traditional systems, standard access credentials include passwords, key cards, key fobs, etc. Face recognition is a biometric access control function that uses facial features to grant or deny? access to a door or building. Face recognition integrates with an automatic door release to enable touchless entry into a building. This provides the most secure identity solution.?

Cloud-based systems?

Cloud-based systems have been revolutionary for remote management. Network systems operate on-site only, which limits capabilities when it comes to any building function. COVID-19 has underscored the need for resilient systems that can withstand the changing world. As it stands with access control, the cloud fuses security, flexibility, and health by enacting a remote system that safeguards the most advanced authorization credentials.??

Mobile access?

Mobile devices like smartphones have effortlessly integrated into our everyday lives. So, mobile innovation in access control is particularly significant. Mobile access control enables the remote management of the entire access process. This includes the authorization of visitors as well. Any authorized person can access the comprehensive dashboard information in real-time to manage building operations.?

Visitor management

Video intercom visitor management systems go beyond authorized users to take security to the next level. Buildings will always welcome visitors, whether it be a client or a delivery. As such, it is the facility manager?s job to ensure the safety of his or her occupants in doing so. Video intercom is an undisputed way to confirm identification and confidently grant access from anywhere.??

The spirit of technology lies within generating connections. Since COVID-19, everyone has had to find new avenues in which to connect the pieces of their lives. Luckily, in looking down the new road to access control technology, we have found a way to maximize security as well as physical health.?

Transitioning in-building cellular from off-air to a signal source

Coverage first, everything else second, for in-building cellular investment

With businesses and consumers being bombarded by advertisements touting the advanced features enabled by 5G, and building owners trying to make sense of the diverse technologies that fit under the “smart building umbrella,” it’s important to remember that many commercial spaces can’t deliver on the baseline cellular use case–coverage.

Speaking to RCR Wireless News at a recent industry event, Nextivity’s Bruce York, director of carrier sales and development, stressed that the immediate, addressable opportunity is in commercial spaces ranging from 50,000-square-feet to 500,000-square-feet. Nextivity’s latest and greatest in the space is the Cel-Fi QUATRA 4000, which can be deployed off-air or connected to an RF signal source.

York walked us through his sales process and highlighted some of the primary considerations enterprise investors make when examining in-building solutions.

“There’s a lot of evangelization as to what options are available,” he said. “There’s just not one Band-Aid to solve all problems. Most customers don’t know whether they have a coverage problem or a capacity problem. To the end user, it all looks the same. The vast majority of our enterprise customers are using cellular for voice and text and they still have Wi-FI as backhaul for their data. Coverage is absolutely their first concern.”

So, to solve for coverage is the best bet to set up an off-air solution, capture signal from the macro network and distribute it around a building, or is it to work through carriers and their partners to secure an RF signal source like a small cell?

?The challenge there is usually the backhaul costs for most end customers,” York said. “You start running into a lot of logistical problems. We tell almost all our system integrators and end customers, you?re better served to go off-air first. You need to fix your coverage problem today. The second step is to address the capacity constraints. Once our Cel-Fi QUATRA system is installed…all you have to do is change the plumbing a little bit. That phased approach is quite valuable for both the market and the MNO.?

“Once you’ve solved your coverage problem,” he said, “you now have the door open for other innovations–you use it as an enabler.”

York likened the current addressable market opportunity to deep-sea exploration and some of the futuristic, buzzy technologies to space exploration.

?I look at?4G, 5G, all those evolutionary jumps that the carriers do to get the incremental improvements in capacity and performance, it?s like what NASA does to go to Mars and explore further-looking things. But where the more addressable revenue and opportunity is is in the in-building space. I equate that to like all of the resources and money opportunity we have in the deep ocean. It?s here, it?s right out of our reach, we just have to focus and address it.?The global carrier market is primed for?doing?just?that.?

Procuring the future-ready DAS (Reader Forum)

Gone are the days when merely having good smartphone coverage would satisfy your employees, tenants, and guests. Savvy landlords and facility managers know that enhanced 4G and 5G wireless networks are necessary to support applications that help improve operating efficiencies, cut costs, and grow revenue. However, those considering the deployment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) are faced with a dilemma. That is, what can they do now to ensure that implementation of their DAS has a cost-effective upgrade path that supports future technologies and applications?

That question, and its answer, are linked to the network?s future ability to address the unique needs of the venue, to be frequency and technology agile, modular in nature, and able to minimize the disruptions typically associated with an upgrade. Let?s look at five key elements in developing a future-ready, in-building distributed antenna system.?

#1 Conduct a wireless needs assessment (WNA)

Identifying the current and anticipated wireless applications and technology needs of your internal and external stakeholders is an essential first step in creating future-ready network infrastructure. Begin by polling critical stakeholders across departments at the venue.?

  • Create a checklist of existing networks and the wireless applications they support. Include a list of near term (1-2 years out) and longer term (3-5 years) technologies and applications that are expected to be needed.?
  • ?Ask department managers if they are independently planning network upgrades with their budgets and resources. Future-ready systems are available that converge network systems on one infrastructure. This helps eliminate the need for costly and disruptive parallel systems.?
  • Identify the critical coverage areas at your venue. Be sure to include buildings that may be added in the future. Identify the number of wireless users in those areas, wireless service providers, and the applications (voice communications, texting, internet-driven applications) that are in use. This step helps establish the type of system that may be needed and the value associated with installing a future-ready network.
  • The WNA should also include financial considerations that include not only the capital investment and operating costs but also the ROI associated with the deployment. What are the value adders linked to a future-ready system? Think of the total cost of ownership over a 3, 5, 10-year term.
  • Assign an individual or small committee to coordinate plans for in-building wireless network deployments at your venue.?

This collaborative, strategic approach will shape discussions with network design engineers, equipment vendors, and installation contractors. A vendor that provides a unified solution that combines Wi-Fi and cellular technologies may be best suited to execute your future-ready wireless strategy. Cost-effective plans can be made to lay-in spare, dark fiber, and cable in-conjunction with current infrastructure buildout activity. The choice of active electronics that drive the future-ready system can be evaluated based on interoperability requirements outlined in the strategy. Future space and power to support the expanding infrastructure can be provided at today?s costs.

#2 Consider zone-based network architectures

In mid-sized to large venues traditional hybrid cellular distributed antenna systems (DAS) designs involve running fiber in the risers to IDF?s, and then horizontal runs of bulky copper cabling to service antennae. These systems have several shortcomings, including limitations on their capacity to support an expanding array of applications that require cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity, and significant disruption at the venue during a retrofit.?

Zone or grid-based network designs provide scalability and interoperability needed for a future-ready network. Rather than relying on copper cabling that runs down hallways or above ceilings to coverage antennae, the zone-based design brings fiber, digital power, high capacity gigabit ethernet cable delivered to zones. These zones are closer to the end user, and the cellular and Wi-Fi driven applications that support them. These future-ready systems offer much less venue disruption when additional services are added to the network. Less disruption translates into lower labor costs for upgrading the network.?

The work that was done during the wireless needs assessment will provide the framework for deciding the appropriate design methodology of your distributed antenna system. The building size, number, and needs of the end-user, and budget may support the installation of a more traditional DAS configuration. However, current trends involving 5G and associated applications, support a future-ready grid or zone based design that brings high capacity infrastructure closer to the end user.?

#3 Engage an advisory firm that will independently represent you

Decisions related to selecting the best future-ready DAS network are challenging. Understanding technology options can be complicated and confounding. Once the word gets out that you are considering a DAS, you will be bombarded with inquiries from a large number of equipment manufacturers and installation contractors, each with their own perspective of what?s in your best interest. Those complexities are compounded by the expense associated with deploying a future-ready DAS.?

In recent years vendor-agnostic DAS consultancy firms have emerged that specialize in representing the developer/facility operator. These in-building wireless advisors have a mastery of multiple DAS solutions, including those that are emerging as future-ready alternatives. The DAS consultant will partner with the venue operator in managing the tasks associated with establishing the objectives of the project. The consultant then pairs those objectives with vendors who offer a best-fit, future-ready solution.

Activities of the consultant may also include procuring funding for the project and managing engagements with the wireless carriers. Vendor selection tasks can involve developing a competitive bid process using an RFP or request for quote. In most cases, the consultant will act as a program manager who ensures that the DAS meets the specifications of the project.

Complementing the role of DAS consultant are design firms that offer equipment-agnostic distributed antenna system design services. These firms consist of in-building wireless design engineers who are knowledgeable in understanding future ready networks and skilled in designing systems that are the best fit for you. Think of them as the architects of your custom home or building. They are not builders of the system or advocates for a vendor. They will work closely with you and your consultant in producing a future-ready system design and bill of materials.

An alternative to the advisory firm is an experienced system integrator and or managed services firm. These firms will typically offer turn-key services that include system design, equipment procurement, installation, commissioning and optimization of the DAS. Typically, the managed services firm will also provide financing, maintenance and in some cases an upgrade guarantee. Both entities will have a verifiable track record of designing and deploying systems that feature performance capabilities linked to current and future needs of their clients.?

#4 Prep your building for future expansion

The clich? “it takes wires to be wireless” continues to ring true. Significant cost savings are available to you if you prepare your building for a future-ready DAS. These cost-saving measures include providing dedicated vertical and horizontal penetrations at the time of building construction or cabling infrastructure upgrades that accommodate cable pathways for future systems. Vertical penetrations should also include penetration through the roof for GPS antenna, satellite dish connectivity to an indoor network, and off the air antenna needed to support repeaters for public safety radio or small cellular systems.?

Reducing the number of times you need to open a ceiling or hard-to-reach areas will bring down the cost of retrofitting your DAS. Pulling dark fiber and gigabit ethernet cable to areas identified as potential future locations for applications and coverage is considered a best practice.?

Set aside space at the venue for DAS head-end and related electronics. Consult with a DAS design engineer to better understand what space and power requirements may be. Fortunately, the space requirement for many DAS systems has fallen. Newer network DAS topologies call for cloud-based network controls and off-site locations of the head-end network gear needed to support the DAS infrastructure.?

#5 Set realistic expectations for your ?future-proof? DAS installation

Descriptions of DAS systems or equipment that include ?future-proof? must be considered in the context of the rapidly changing world of wireless technologies and the unique characteristics of radio frequency. The words future-proof suggests that there will be no obsolescence associated with the capabilities of your new DAS network. That goal or commitment is simply not realistic.?

Your best bet is to establish expectations for a ?future-ready? distributed antenna systems project that are based on a holistic design approach supporting known technologies and those that are visible on the horizon. These systems will mitigate the cost and disruptive impact of adding future applications and services to the DAS. This design approach will provide the highest probability, but not an explicit or implied guarantee, of accommodating future wireless technologies.?

At the present time, DAS systems that deliver fiber, CAT 6a, and gigabit ethernet close to the user experience offer the most compelling upgrade path to a future-ready system. Retaining an experienced, independent equipment agnostic DAS engineering firm or system integrator provides the best opportunity for you to invest in a DAS that meets your current and future requirements.

CRE needs a backbone (Reader Forum)

In discussions of smart buildings, the benefits of deploying a network infrastructure to both increase the intelligence of the building with smart devices and also to deliver a persistent wired/wireless network are very well explained. However, there is a dimension that is a blind spot to anyone who has not actually leased or operated commercial real estate (CRE). This dimension is the need for a backbone and communications infrastructure that is independent of anything that a tenant will build for their own business operations. This discussion can also apply to enterprise-owned structures and not just CRE.

Fourth utility introduction

The concept of networking in CRE evolving from a competitive selling feature of a major property to a necessary fourth utility alongside electricity, gas, and water has been developing over this decade. The need inside buildings to enable more instrumentation and control points requires wired and wireless networks to connect them back to the services that orchestrate their overall operations. The fourth utility has to span from basement to roof, and carpeted floors to parking garage.

As you would expect, cellular and, possibly, Wi-Fi wireless services are part of the fourth utility that the enterprise employees, various smart building devices, and transient Internet of Things (IoT) devices will utilize inside the building.

Where is the blind spot?

The discussions generally fail to encompass the required CRE owner-installed and -controlled network that is parallel to the enterprise tenant?s own network(s) that they install in the space. There are a number of justifications for an independent implementation.

  1. Smart building services cannot rely on the tenant for network services.
    • Tenants may be able to provide network services for many attached devices throughout the building. However, a security policy change on the part of the tenant may abruptly end this ability. With the threats that many enterprises face today from many different vectors, information security professionals are reducing their risk of attack by simple exclusion from network services of everything that is not tightly controlled operationally by the enterprise itself.
    • The tenant network may not have the necessary resources to service the need without the CRE owner funding it. For example, the network may not reach into parts of the building where smart devices have to operate, it may be out of capacity either in physical ports or wireless service, or it might not have the right wireless services that the smart devices require. For all three scenarios, the CRE owner has to fund resolving the issues.
    • The tenant?s IT team will make changes without regard to the impact on the devices they don?t control. This can result in temporary loss of services until the issues are resolved. In an extreme circumstance, the change can result in permanent loss of service until the CRE owner replaces the network. This can be especially stressful if it requires a budget exception to fund the unexpected project.
  2. Changing tenants is disruptive.
    • When the tenant moves out and the smart devices are mingled with their network, the network just disappears when the equipment and telecom links to outside world are shut down.
    • Every network horizontal cable installed from the floor?s telecom closet(s) to office, cubicles, and wireless are also controlled and liable to disruption because of mingling with the tenant?s network operations.
  3. Commercial remodeling
    • Enterprise facilities operations remodel interiors with a ?gut and remodel? strategy. The pain for a smart building is in the ?gut? stage where construction workers that are responsible take the building down to its essential shell by ripping out everything from carpet to drop ceiling. Usually, the only services that are immune from being torn out are HVAC ducting and fire suppression.
    • If a tenant has occupied the building for a longer period of time and smart building features have been gradually layered onto their network, imagine what happens when they move out or simply remodel a few floors. Not only will the smart building features be lost, but each disrupted service needs to be identified, redesigned, and reconstructed.

Solutions to network disruption risk

There are two possible solutions to the network disruption risk:

  1. Do nothing and hope that everything works out. That can be a strategy.
  2. Implement a CRE controlled backbone through the smart building for common services that are external to the tenant?s enterprise operations.

Long term, the trend is for building CRE owners to drive towards establishment of their own building-wide network on which to layer a wide variety of facility operations and tenant-facing services. This CRE backbone would be the transport for common services throughout the building and eliminates the use of any network services from the tenants or the parallel construction of isolated networks for single services.

What does a CRE backbone look like?

The foundation is the establishment of a common vertical optical transport network that extends from the basement to the roof and appears in every telecom closet. The logical heart of the transport network would be in the meet-me room, where all the telecom providers from the outside world appear. Because many operations control systems and smart building apps are now housed in secured cloud services, there may not be a need to allocate space for servers on-site. From a service protection perspective, the physical cabling and active electronics for the vertical transport need to be segregated and identified separate from tenant networks.

After the vertical foundation, every floor requires a horizontal infrastructure that extends from each floor?s telecom closet to wiring zones distributed throughout the ceiling. Why in the ceiling? Simply put, most everything that is part of building automation/operations resides in the plenum (space between drop ceiling and floor above) or originates in the plenum to appear on the drop ceiling or is fed down and out of a wall. Wiring zones are sensible because they limit the amount of cables pulled from the telecom closet to many of the distributed services across an overall floor. Instead, smart building services can cable or wirelessly connect to nearest wiring zone point. The need here to segregate, identify, and protect this horizontal infrastructure is very critical to ensure that when construction contractors are gutting a floor in preparation for a remodel or a new tenant that they don?t rip it out. Identification strategies can parallel what fire protection system contractors do. ?

Finally, enablement of select network services that smart buildings applications and select tenant-facing services will use to ride on top of the physical network. Most services use IP protocol on top of a wired Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or cellular connection. This design assumption implies that every zone across the floor can offer these services. Also, arrival of services can be staggered over time, as long as the physical transport exists, to manage the budget costs. For example, step one might be an optically attached SD-LAN transport with Wi-Fi AP to follow and, finally, with a digitally attached cellular small cell or DAS last.

Since sizing the CRE backbone is an important consideration, we would like to offer a few thoughts.

  • Invest in plenty of excess capacity in the optical and composite optical paths. 5G and next-gen Wi-Fi are coming, and both will use plenty of fiber and power.
  • Since installation labor is always a big cost component, investing with a time horizon of at least 10 years of projected growth on CRE backbone capacity will limit expensive upgrades.

Summary

Smart buildings are gradually moving to mainstream as engineering and architecture firms design new buildings and retrofit older shells with modern features. The foundation infrastructure for these smart buildings will be a CRE backbone that appears throughout the structure and offers a family of network services for CRE owners and tenants that truly fulfills on the promise of enabling a better experience for all.

‘Smart building’ means different things to owners and tenants

A smart building uses technology to lower operating costs and serve up amenities

What makes a building a smart building? Well, it depends who you ask, according to Brandon Van Orden, senior vice president and chief information officer for Cousins Properties, which boasts a portfolio of more than 15 million square feet of Class A office space in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Phoenix and Tampa.

Asked what makes a building smart, Van Orden told In-Building Tech, “I think that term is a big umbrella and I think it means different things to different people.”

To companies that operate and manage commercial real estate, a smart building is one that uses technology to reduce operational costs like with utilities management, for instance. “That’s very important to us,” Van Orden said. “The more we can automate, the more we can take advantage of technology helping us make those things more efficient in the building, we can kind of term that as being a smart building.”

But for tenants, engineering systems automation and building controls that reduce total power consumption by raising temperatures a fraction of a degree, aren’t necessarily very splashy. That’s when the smart building moniker begins to speak more to technology-based amenities.

Van Orden called out advanced parking and access controls as things Cousins’ customers deem “smart.” He said, “More amenities are becoming technology-based in our assets. I think that’s what our customers are looking for in a smart building.”

For more of Van Orden’s perspective on smart buildings, in-building connectivity and how commercial real estate professionals view 5G, check out this webinar.

 

 

 

 

What is workplace-as-a-service?

Fortune 500s driving adoption of workplace-as-a-service

With its start as a business model largely associated with software and servers, the as-a-service concept is currently shaking up the commercial real estate world as companies like WeWork, Industrious, Davinci and others are betting that delivering workplace-as-a-service is in step with what both corporate tenants and full-time freelancers want in an office.

In a talk recorded by Disrupt CRE, Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari discussed the realities of the co-working business, particularly how, at its core, it’s just another example of outsourcing.

“Here’s the truth about co-working, workplace-as-a-service, is that it is in large sense an outsourcing business,” he said, recounting how a Silicon Valley firm was outgrowing its space and approached Industrious about designing a new Chicago headquarters.

“In that moment I think my co-founder and I had sort of a lightbulb moment. This is basically large, sophisticated companies taking a large cost line…and handing it off to a third party.”

In that moment, Hodari said Industrious’ mission shifted to being “able to walk into Johnson and Johnson’s head of workplaces office, or Pinterest, or Twitter, or Spotfiy or Bank of America and say, ‘I’m going to deliver a better workplace experience to your employees. You’re going to have happier, more engaged, more productive employees if you let us deliver your workplace experience for you.”

Industrious provides “premium” co-working space in 35 cities and Hodari said, at this point in the development of workplace-as-a-service, small teams have made the move and now large enterprises are in an “experimental phase” and are working toward a “wave of really pushing adoption at least outside of their headquarters of moving their workplace portfolio to a third-party setting.”

He said the criticism around workplace-as-a-service that there’s a mismatch between long-term liabilities and short-term assets is a “very valid criticism. It is true.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

How will new CBRS rules impact in-building opportunity?

FCC sets rules on priority access licenses for CBRS spectrum

After a protracted process, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission finalized rules governing priority access to the shared 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service band. Prior to its vote, the operative issues were around the geographic size and timeframe on licensure. As expected, carriers wanted larger areas and longer terms whereas smaller interests wanted more localized coverage to support private networks for industrial facilities or corporate campuses, for instance.

PALs will cover county-size license areas, rather than census tracts; and they will have renewable license terms of 10 years.?There are about 3,000 counties in the U.S. ? compared to about 74,000 census tracts and 416 Partial Economic Areas. Seven PALs will be available in each license area, and the FCC will permit partitioning and disaggregation of PALs.

That last bit is key for non-carrier stakeholders in that it’s feasible to partition a license area in service of something like a neutral host in-building deployment or even an in-building implementation fully controlled by the building owner or facility manager.

For network infrastructure vendors, the in-building market is red hot, particularly the so-called “middleprise,” which generally refers to buildings less than 500,000-square-feet. The middleprise represents a huge addressable market that is largely underserved as carriers reserve their in-building capex for marquee venues like airports and stadiums.

But CBRS is one tool in an increasingly diverse kit, according to Jason Marcheck, principal analyst at Layne Bridge and Associates.??As venues, both large and small, move beyond the need to provide basic Internet connectivity, there will be an ?all hands on deck? approach to creating in-building wireless architectures capable of handing the demands of not only digital native companies and their employees, but also for IoT in general. Here is where new technologies such as CBRS and Wi-Fi 6 will need to serve as effective companions to DAS and small cells.”

Marcheck explored the in-building landscape, including the role of CBRS, in a recent report available for download here.

 

 

 

Challenges of millimeter wave present opportunity for in-building 5G

Understanding the opportunity for private, in-building 5G networks

HONG KONG–Millimeter wave frequencies are a key to delivering the multi-gigabit-per-second throughputs expected as 5G matures. As operators stand up outdoor 5G networks, radio site densification is necessary to overcome the limited propagation characteristics of bands like 28 GHz and 39 GHz. But this outdoor challenge could prove to be an in-building boon, according to Qualcomm’s Rasmus Hellberg, senior director of technical marketing.

To a limited extent, operators can deliver some degree of in-building cellular coverage using an outdoor-in approach where the macro layer, particularly in lower bands, can penetrate buildings. That doesn’t hold up with millimeter waves. And therein lies the opportunity. “The idea is that we can extend millimeter wave to indoors with private 5G networks,” Hellberg told attendees at Qualcomm’s annual 4G/5G Summit. “We can re-use the same spectrum indoors. There’s no propagation between indoor and out.”

Hellberg described the ability to co-site indoor 5G radios with existing Wi-Fi access points inside an enterprise or industrial facility. At Qualcomm headquarters in San Diego, the company simulated the use of 28 GHz spectrum to provide in-building 5G coverage. With the co-siting model, they saw 98% downlink coverage, 99% uplink coverage and 5 Gbps downlink median burst rate. At the cell edge, the test yielded around 320 Mbps.

“We looked at all the Wi-Fi access points we have today,” Hellberg said, “then we added in millimeter wave at the exact same points.” Based on the results, “It’s a big opportunity to drive millimeter wave indoors as a private network.”

Image courtesy of Qualcomm

In terms of business model, and depending on the spectral regulatory environment, an enterprise or industrial stakeholder could potentially control their own millimeter wave spectrum. Alternatively, an operator that controls the spectrum could dedicate a portion to private networks or provide a turnkey solution as-a-service.

Hellberg’s colleague Dean Brenner, senior vice president of spectrum strategy and technology policy, elaborated on how to maximize in-building spectral use by following a space-based, rather than time-based approach.

In the time-based scenario, four hypothetical access points “would use the spectrum one-fourth of the time. What that means is each access point has to be quiet three-fourths of the time. Only one of the four gets to use the spectrum.” But as 5G NR and attendant technologies like multiple-input, multiple-output come to the forefront, there’s a more pointed emphasis on beamforming–using narrow, targeted RF beams that can track user equipment.

“We thought, what if we share the spectrum a different way,” Brenner continued, describing the use of beamforming so four access points are operating in different directions. “Everyone could transmit on the spectrum and receive on the spectrum. When we do that, we get a…much better user experience. We call it look-before-talk, not listen-before-talk.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intelligent Campus uses AI and video analytics to secure enterprise facilities

Huawei partnered with AI specialist YITU to develop Intelligent Campus

Scalable security for enterprise complexes is the primary goal of the “Intelligent Campus” solution announced this week at Huawei Connect in Shanghai. The new product was co-developed by the Chinese technology giant and YITU, a firm that specializes in artificial intelligence algorithms and applications.

Intelligent Campus uses video-based facial recognition for use cases like controlling access to buildings and others sites, “proactive safeguarding,” and analysis of how different areas are used. The video-analytics system can be deployed in different configurations depending on the size of the implementation. AI servers can scale to meet the needs of a large enterprise campus or edge servers can support smaller campuses.

The facial recognition market is forecasted to grow to $9.6 billion at a 21.3% compound annual growth rate from 2016-2022, according to firm Allied Market Research. According to the market research outfit, the Asia Pacific region is a major driver of adoption accounting for more than 20% of total facial recognition market revenue “and is anticipated to be the fastest growing region over the forecast period,” Allied projected.

Huawei’s Qui Long, vice president of IT Product Line, said the security solution provides an “all-scenario AI infrastructure solution for the end, edge and cloud. We can work together [with YITU] to provide flexible and efficient intelligent campus solutions for enterprise customers.”

According to Huawei, the scalability of the solution makes it a contributor to larger smart city investments. In a recent discussion with Enterprise IoT Insights, Mike Zeto, AT&T’s vice president of IoT and general manager of smart cities, said using cameras as a sensor will be a major future smart city component. “The other 5G use case is going to be around video analytics–processing at the edge. Anytime you can use a camera as a sensor.” He called out surveillance,?police body cameras, emergency awareness and other applications.

 

 

 

Regulatory holdups not slowing down CBRS

CBRS presents private LTE opportunity for building owners, neutral hosts

Conversations and news out of Mobile World Congress Americas last week in Los Angeles served as a reminder that, despite an ongoing lag at the regulatory level, the telecom ecosystem is ready to get to work on commercializing services in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service band. With initial commercial deployments articulated, a dedicated working group within the CBRS Alliance established and carriers signaling significant interest, here’s a look at some of the most recent movements around CBRS in the U.S.

For operators, CBRS means more spectrum to support more capacity, which is imperative given market dynamics. For neutral hosts, sharing spectrum presents a number of opportunities, including providing carriers with another data offload mechanism to standing up private LTE networks for enterprise or industrial use; these enterprises and industries could also potentially get access to their own spectrum and take control of their connectivity in a fundamentally new way. CBRS even offers non-carriers–think cable companies–an opportunity to continue making inroads in the wireless space.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is currently taking proposals for initial commercial deployments in the band, but is also taking its time on finalizing rules that govern licensure of priority access licenses, the middle tier contemplated in the three-tier access system.

“For us it’s all about focusing on the venue and being sure the venue has all the connectivity it needs,” Boingo Wireless Chief Technology Officer Derek Peterson told RCR Wireless News during an interview at the company’s headquarters near the University of California Los Angeles. “CBRS gives us another way to do that. It allows us to support the carriers…and support all the the different things the venues might want to do.”

Boingo is currently running a CBRS trial at Dallas Love Field; the airport’s IT department is accessing the private network. Peterson, who has long preached the gospel of convergence, called out CBRS in the same breath as 5G, IoT, Wi-Fi, DAS and small cells. “We have all of these technologies and our real goal is to make sure we have the means to meet that connectivity and leveraging, as much as we can, that existing infrastructure.”

Last week?SAS administrator Federated Wireless, in response to the FCC’s call for proposals,? submitted an answer that contemplates 16,000 CBRS sites in 47 sites and Washington D.C. With participation from 15 partners, including American Tower, ARRIS, Charter Communications and ExteNet Systems, Federated said its deployment plan can help more than 80 fixed wireless providers expand service, and noted commercial equipment from companies Airspan, Ericsson, Ruckus and Telrad.

On the carrier side, last week AT&T clarified its plans, naming Samsung its radio vendor and CommScope as its spectrum access system provider. The carrier plans to use 3.5 GHz to deliver home broadband access with a fixed wireless access deployment model. Verizon launched its first commercial 5G service, which is fixed wireless access for home broadband using millimeter wave spectrum. In either case, FWA is a way to expand home broadband service outside of the wired footprint without the need to build out fiber-to-the-home.

?When we looked at CBRS spectrum, we saw a promising opportunity to use this spectrum band to expand our fixed wireless access network to additional cities across the U.S. as well as other opportunities for future use cases,? Gordon Mansfield, AT&T’s vice president Converged Access and Device Technology, said in a statement.? ?With 5G on the horizon, we look forward to testing and deploying CBRS equipment to give our customers the best network experience possible.?

To the unresolved regulatory point, the FCC needs to decide whether priority licenses will cover U.S. Census tracts of Partial Economic Areas and whether the term will be three years or seven years.

Mark Gibson, senior director of business development for CommScope subsidiary Comsearch, told RCR Wireless News last week, that while the CBRS Alliance is “trying to hold the commission” to a 2018 launch, it might have to wait until early 2019.

“I would’ve expected it by now, frankly,” Gibson said. “We’ve missed the September meeting, which leaves us three meetings,” left this year. “What I think they’re trying to do is string that out, hoping the industry comes to a solution among itself. It’s sort of a pall hanging over PALs.”

He continued: “I think everybody realizes the band itself doesn’t lend itself to standalone applications. Carriers are going to use this spectrum in concert with other spectrum. And it’s probably unlikely to be high-band spectrum. They’ll use it for offload among other things. If they get the licensing they want, they’ll be a lot more all in.”