Avoid unplanned downtime
Reduce Energy costs
Shorten maintenance time and costs
Remotely access legacy hardware
Keep the existing hardware and software platforms
IoT technology will transform the business of smart cell sites, be it the operation, maintenance or management thereof.IoT.nxt, innovators in IoT technology and strategy, has devised a solution that will make all the difference. This is done by overlaying a hardware agnostic data collection layer that will talk to any hardware, be it cutting edge or 20 years old. “Our solution does not require ‘rip and replace’, as it overlays our data collection layer on top of the base station operator’s equipment,
thus preserving the existing infrastructure,” says André Strauss, IoT.nxt Chief Commercial Officer: Sales.IoT.nxt creates one single view of all segregated systems which makes it possible for the mart cell site operator to view all systems, be they central or distributed, from a single viewing platform.
Once the four-level infrastructure is in place, IoT.nxt’s AI and analytic tools are used to determine patterns in all measured sensors such as temperature fluctuations, battery recharge time, or equipment failures.
“We can detect smart cell sites (base stations) that are outside the normal behaviour and need to be checked out before they fail. By tracking the internal temperature and comparing it to the air conditioner behaviour and run time we can detect unnecessary energy usage,” Strauss says. At deployment time, at each site, the details of each piece of equipment installed at the smart cell site are collected and recorded. This includes the make and model of the air conditioners, rectifiers, batteries and generators. Furthermore, details of the maintenance logs are requested and the warranty details of each of the installed base station equipment obtained. This way a plant failure and operational performance history by equipment type and location is built up. This provides the information to plan all maintenance and pre-order spare parts for just in time delivery for the planned maintenance.
“We also install, if they are not already installed, current and voltage sensors, as well as additional temperature sensors, both inside and outside the base station. Once installed, all sensor data is either directly or indirectly connected to one of IoT.nxt’s patented Raptor™ edge devices.
It should be noted that the Raptor™ can be an actual device at the base station or it can be hosted as a virtual device on the base station operator’ head office backend computers.
Future Proofing for 5G
As roll-out of 5G picks up pace around the globe, it brings massive new opportunities for IoT. “We are ready and well prepared for this. Our solutions are no different to how we handle 4G. Integrating existing technologies into 5G will bring new abilities for managing networks, creating entirely new options for IoT users. Our teams and our solution are geared for this,” Strauss added.
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