THOR - Verizon's Disaster Response COW

When we wrote about how Verizon uses satellite connectivity to restore services after hurricanes, someone made us aware of THOR, the Verizon disaster response vehicle in a league of its own.

The Verizon Response Team (VRT) has a collection of different types of field equipment, which they refer to as 'The Barnyard'. This includes COWs (Cell On Wheels), COLTs (Cell On Light Trucks), CROWs (Cellular Repeater On Wheels) and GOATs (Generator On A Trailer). The latest addition to this is THOR (Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response).

The press release points out:

THOR is National Incident Management System — or NIMS-1 — compliant and offers full radio interoperability and onboard Joint Operations Center services. It provides a multitude of connectivity options, spanning private 5G, commercial 4G LTE, Land Mobile Radio and tactical radio, wireless networking, microwave, mesh and more. Other components include 4G/5G radios, a rear command center, a camera, a six-seat cabin and an exterior touch screen display.

It also comes equipped with a tethered drone to capture an aerial view that can be fed over the network to devices on the ground and the command center below, potentially helping those in public safety or the military with risk and damage assessment, situational awareness or search and rescue operations.

As a prototype, there are currently no plans to build a second THOR, as designs for future 5G-enabled response vehicles continue to evolve.

Down here in #Logangeles for demonstration of @Verizon #Thor emergency communication solutions..Very impressive. pic.twitter.com/YD6gaWOSx7

— Prakash Sangam #Boosted (@MyTechMusings) February 9, 2022

Here is a video with more details of THOR.

Related Posts:

• 3G4G: Different Types of Mobile Cellular Backhaul
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Verizon uses Satellite Connectivity to Restore Services after Hurricane
• Connectivity Technology Blog: The Potential of Connectivity Technologies Already Available Today
• The 3G4G Blog: Study of Use cases and Communications Involving IoT devices in Emergency Solutions
• Connectivity Technology Blog: R&S Technical Explainer on 3GPP 5G Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN)
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Verizon 4G/5G to help Deliver Retail Products with Connected Drones
• The 3G4G Blog - Prof. Andy Sutton: Backhauling the 5G Experience
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Optus 'Satellite Small Cell in a Container' wins another award
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Temporary masts for festivals, events, etc. 

ETRI working on Small Cell Base Station in a Backpack and 5G Indoor Femtocells

Came across this slightly old news in March issue of ETRI Webzine:

Following the development of the LTE small-cell base station SW in 2016, ETRI announced on February 7 that it successfully developed a SW supporting LTE-TDD dual connectivity.

These technologies are evaluated as core technologies for future 5G communication through upgrading of conventional SW technologies, since they may be applied to buildings, stadiums, and homes.

The technologies are suitable for the locations where the traffic is rapidly increased, such as stadiums, department stores, disaster-stricken areas, and military camps. The small cells may be attached, like a wireless LAN AP, to walls inside and outside buildings, utility poles, and communication antennas, or may be carried in the form of a backpack. The research team explained that the size of the small-cell was minimized as the size of a wireless LAN AP for indoor purposes and as the size of a shoe box for outdoor purposes. The small-cell backpack weighs about 10 kg.

These accomplishments will remove the communication shadows and blind spots between cells, and will help to develop independent technologies by replacing the conventional products from other countries.

In a more recent news on this topic (September 2018):

Following the successful localization of software for LTE Small Cell, which is used in the same manner as wireless access points operating within tens of meters to 1 km, while serving as a small base station, ETRI researchers began research to localize small cell equipment essential to establishing 5G infrastructure going forward. The focus of the research is on the development of technology capable of increasing the maximum transmission speed (eMBB), which is one of the most critical criteria for 5G technology, and especially the perceived transmission speed on the user side.

According to Yonhap News (translated by Google translate):

SK Telecom will be participating in 'Intelligent 5G Small Cell Technology Development Task' together with Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), domestic wireless communication equipment company Teltel and U Cast. The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Information and is organized by ETRI.

In this project, SK Telecom sets up requirements for small cell system development. In addition, ETRI and equipment companies provide a test environment for small cell equipment verification. ETRI develops software, and Contela and Yu Cast develop hardware.

SK Telecom and other collaborative research groups plan to open API (application programming interface) to small cell. This reduces the burden of SMEs and start-ups to develop their own interfaces.

SK Telecom and ETRI are planning to develop international standard technology and secure original patents in the small cell field based on research results.

SK Telecom announced on February 23 that it will participate in 'Intelligent 5G Small Cell Technology Development Task' together with Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Kontela and U Cast of domestic wireless communication equipment. A joint research team is taking a commemorative photo in front of the first workshop at Daejeon ETRI fusion technology research and production center. 2018.8.23

SK Telecom Park Jong-kwan, director of Network Technology, said, "In the 5G era, 80% of total traffic will occur indoors." "We will take the lead in 5G technology development so that customers can fully enjoy virtual reality and hologram services."

Meshing for BYOC (Bring Your Own Coverage)

Back in November, a Senior Designer from EE did a presentation on LTE-powered Emergency Services Network (ESN). There were some interesting slides in that. One is as shown in the picture above while the other is in the tweet below.

Vehicle mounted Small Cells will play a big role in Public Safety LTE networks. Here is our old post looking at @Parallel_tw in-vehicle small cells for #PSLTE - https://t.co/LMUR337CVJ #SmallCells #ESN pic.twitter.com/kXKRvNFeit

— 3G4G (@3g4gUK) January 31, 2018

Interestingly this is something I have also looked in an earlier post here.

Meshing functionality has been tried a few times before, it does not work in every case. One of the successful cases is the use of mesh links in backhaul.

Parallel Wireless just put out a small video on Bring Your Own Coverage (BYOC - though BYOC can mean a lot of different things) as follows:

I have also blogged about Parallel Wireless Rural solution that uses mesh links too here.

Related Post (added 23 March 2019)

• Update on UK's Emergency Services Network (ESN) from BAPCO 2019

*Full Disclosure: I work for Parallel Wireless as a Senior Director in Strategic Marketing. This blog is maintained in my personal capacity and expresses my own views, not the views of my employer or anyone else. Anyone who knows me well would know this.

Small Cells for Public Safety Communications

One of the many use cases for Small cells is for public safety communications. In case of emergency situations (earthquake, floods, terrorism, etc.) when the macro network is damaged or as it generally happens, the power supply is disrupted, small cells can quickly come in action and provide a coverage solution. This was discussed in an earlier post here.

Another scenario is when dedicated public safety coverage needs to be provided for hard to reach places or in a stadium kind if scenario, small cells be fill the void.

While in USA there is a dedicated band (Band 14 – 700MHz) available for use with public safety communications, most other countries do not rely on dedicated spectrum. In case there is no dedicated spectrum, there are still many different approaches to make sure that the personnel from emergency services can continue communication (as long as there is coverage available).

Parallel Wireless*, a Small Cells solution provider based in Nashua, NH, USA specializes in public safety and rural coverage solutions using small cells. The following slide pack contains some of their stories of deployments, demos and trials:

Further Reading:

• 5 Considerations for a Successful Public Safety LTE Deployment

*Full Disclosure: I work for Parallel Wireless as a Solutions Architect. This blog is maintained in my personal capacity and expresses my own views, not the views of my employer or anyone else. Anyone who knows me well would know this.

HetNets On The Bus

Earlier in March, I helped organise 'The Gigabit Train' seminar'. The intention was to look at the connectivity options inside the trains and its monetisation. While connectivity in the trains is challenging, thinking back about it, due to a predictable route it can be sometimes easy to deploy. It could be more of a challenge for cars and buses that go through unpredictable routes and conditions.

I also discussed the "Vehicular CrowdCell" or "Vehicular Small Cell" concept here to look at some advantages of such a solution option.

Some of you may be aware that I recently joined Parallel Wireless. We were selected by M1 Limited, Singapore’s most vibrant and dynamic communications company, to support its WiFi-On-The-Go service as a part of the HetNet trial.

This is the architecture of the On-Bus Hetnet. Some of you would find it self-explanatory.

The mobile operators in Singapore are looking for innovative technologies to address spectrum scarcity as subscriber demand is growing rapidly with smartphone penetration reaching 130 devices per 100 people. Maximizing utilization of the spectrum and easing network congestion in areas with heavy human traffic is necessary to meet Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (iDA) vision of connecting the whole nation as a part of world’s-first Smart Nation initiative.

Real-time HetNet orchestration and traffic prioritization is made possible by HetNet Gateway (HNG). All bus riders receive seamless, high throughput connectivity from an on-bus multi-mode LTE/Wi-Fi Converged Wireless System (CWS) small cell with integrated backhaul including licensed assisted backhaul.  By enabling carrier aggregation for backhaul, the end user throughput can be increased 10 times (up to 300 Mbps) allowing transit passengers to enjoy multimedia content without buffering.

Here is a presentation that gives the complete story:

Some questions on this demo from Linkedin:

Q: Does seamless handover are available with no drop in data throughput through out the travel route of Bus? 
A: Yes, handover is seamless, no dropped data or voice calls. This was one of the iDA trial requirements. We can do seamless VoLTE to VoWiFi handover and back.

Q: What is the maximum data rates does the system accommodate for all seamless data transfers? Does the system support motion video play from N/W. If so of what bandwidth and data rates? 4. How many users does the system support and what data rates?
A: It will depend on the backhaul. We can increase backhaul capacity with CA on 4G + to 300 Mbps shared bandwidth.

Q: This seems to be a relay device ( a femto or pico grade small cell with UE backhaul). an their innovative hetnet gateway for traffic engineering ( LBS support ). 
A: Our in-vehicle unit is a Small cell (LTE/Wi-Fi for access) with any backhaul incl UE backhaul. The HetNet Gateway, in addition to performing 3G, 4G, WI-Fi gateway functionality and real-time SON with ICIC, will also do the traffic engineering.

And demo from inside the bus:


Further reading:

• Parallel Wireless Selected by M1 to Support Smart Nation Trial

"Vehicular CrowdCell" or "Vehicular Small Cell" and the 5G plan

In the recent Mobile World Congress, Vodafone and BMW introduced the Vehicular CrowdCell concept, a small cell providing coverage in the car when people are in it and outside when the car is parked. The presentation is embedded later on in the post.

The following is from the BMW press release:

...the BMW Group is unveiling the research project “Vehicular CrowdCell”. This project extends the concept of the “Vehicular Small Cell” presented last year in Barcelona. While the “Vehicular Small Cell” is a mobile femtocell that optimises the mobile radio reception inside vehicles, it is now also capable to enhance the capacity and coverage of mobile radio networks. The BMW Group is teaming up with peiker and Nash Technologies to present a prototype of the “Vehicular CrowdCell” integrated into a BMW research vehicle.

The rapid growth of mobile data traffic, e.g. due to the increasing use of multi-media services such as music or video streaming with mobile devices, requires even more powerful mobile radio networks in the future. One strategy to increase the capacity and coverage of future networks is the integration of a large number of small cells and relays in addition to the existing base stations.

In 2015 the BMW Group, together with its partners peiker and Nash Technologies, presented the world’s first mobile femtocell in a vehicle. The “Vehicular Small Cell” optimises the reception available to mobile devices inside vehicles via the vehicle’s aerial. Now the concept has been extended to create the “Vehicular CrowdCell”. Based on data traffic and coverage demands, the mobile femtocells are dynamically activated to locally enhance mobile radio networks.

The benefits of Vehicular CrowdCells in practice.
One possible application of “Vehicular CrowdCells” are car-sharing fleets – in particular with electric vehicles. Here, a large number of vehicles spread over cities and regions could serve as local radio relays when parked. If one or more users are located close to a mobile femtocell, it is activated on demand in order to increase the bandwidth or provide additional network coverage. In such a way, the performance of the existing network can be dynamically optimized. Benefits for mobile phone users in hotspots include a higher data rate and the absence of reception white spots – especially in areas where the signal coverage is low.

“The “Vehicular Small Cell” will optimise in-vehicle connectivity of mobile devices for our customers,” explains Dr. Peter Fertl, project manager at the BMW Group. “At the same time, the integration into a network of “Vehicular CrowdCells” will enable the ubiquitous and seamless availability of high-quality mobile radio connections outside the vehicle as well.”

Nash innovations have more details about the earlier version of this, The "Vehicular Small Cell" here and here.

Before we go any further, check out the Vodafone presentation embedded below:

I wrote a blog on this topic back in May 2014 here. In that article I mentioned that for a small cell in the car, the biggest challenge is backhaul. One approach is to use one particular frequency for backhauling to the small cell and then the small cells output another frequency. This approach was mentioned in another blog post here. In this approach, TD-LTE was used for backhaul and it created an FDD LTE small cell inside the train.

Why do I think this kind of approach work with 5G. In my other post about 5G spectrum, I mentioned that 5G will need multiple frequencies. Low frequencies for coverage, high frequencies for capacity and very high frequencies for very high speed throughput's. Because the very high frequencies, do not travel very far as compared to the low frequencies (with the same power), beamforming would be used. These very high frequency beams can be directed towards the Vehicular small cells, which in turn would create a much larger cell at a lower frequency.

This approach would typically only be used in urban environments as in rural areas there is plenty of unused spectrum (until more uses are found - quite possible with the IoT device explosion). The small cells would also need advanced sensing and SON capability to work in harmony with the macro network.

If you have an opinion, feel free to add it in the comments section.

Small Cells on the Train - A 2 hop solution

An Ericsson blog post some time back talked about the 2 hop solution for trains. Thinking about it, I quite like the idea. The post talks about 3 main challenges on high speed trains:

There are mainly three reasons communication services on high-speed trains is challenging:

First, large penetration loss via the shield of the train. This penetration loss is expected to be 20 to 30 dB.

Second, large numbers of handovers in very short time. This is due to hundreds or thousands of users needing handover from one site to another concurrently/sequentially. This phenomenon affects system stability and eats up capacity.

Third, high power consumption of user equipment (UE). This is because UE-s on the train need higher power to overcome the large penetration loss in uplink as well.

A common currently adopted solution for high speed trains is to densify the network along the railway to combat the large penetration loss. However, this will make the second issue more severe, as handover frequency is increased due to smaller site- to-site distance. Another way is to increase the transmission power of the base stations, which helps to solve the large penetration loss as well. However this cannot solve the third issue. And neither of these solutions are cost-effective.

Another solution I have discussed before is the Mobile Relay Node which was designed with avoiding multiple handovers when the vehicle moves between different macro cells. Not sure about its status in the standardisation process right now.

Anyway, coming back to the Ericsson post on Small cells on the train, while the Macro cells provide the TD-LTE backhaul outside, Radio Over Fiber (ROF) is used inside the tunnels to provide the same coverage.

Within the train Small cells (I guess multiple small cells will be needed in practical deployments, one for each carriage) can provide good coverage to the users and avoid the need for handovers.

Embedded is the video from Ericsson Taiwan that provides more details about this trial

Small Cells for the 'Connected Car'

Couple of weeks back I was in an event where Connected cars were a big focus. A few discussions centred around Small Cells in the cars. It may be a bit of a challenge but it should still be possible to have Small cells in the cars. The biggest challenge would be the backhaul. You cant have the standard backhaul for cars, especially as its moving, generally at high speeds. 

Some tricky solutions where one of the frequencies is used for backhauling small cells while small cells would provide coverage to the passengers of the car may be doable but it may not be worth the effort. 

Generally, the focus right now is to have something like a MiFi device in the car. The device can receive the mobile network signals and create a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Another solution being discussed was the use of Mobile Relay Node (MRN). As far as I understand, MRN has been pushed out of Release-12. Another issue is that the practical gain may not be as good as expected. Most of all, small cells or relay would only be useful if all the passengers in the vehicle reply on the same mobile network operator. As far as I have seen, this is generally not the case.

In light of this, it would make sense to continue on the current solution of having Wi-Fi hotspots in the cars backhauled to the mobile network.

Your thoughts please.