Partners
Energy
Challenge
Demands on utility companies continue to rise, as they strive to
identify new, cost effective energy sources while introducing mechanisms
for lowering infrastructure support costs. In addition, most of these
participants have efforts underway to offer breakthroughs in customer
service with innovative product offerings such as advanced metering,
security, and broadband communications services. Enhancing and augmenting
the current "power grid" infrastructure with new wireless technologies can
offer significant breakthroughs in meeting these objectives. Managing these
technologies to the stringent performance standards expected from grid resources
can be difficult - Proximetry's AirSync software is addressing this challenge.
Today's utility providers are introducing new generations of "bandwidth hungry" applications that can empower their mobile workforce with richer information sources. The ability to link these workers and applications with access to rich-media sources such as GIS databases, imagery, and video surveillance assets will not only enhance safety, but have tremendous impact on support costs. By coupling new broadband wireless technologies such as 802.11 and 802.16 (sometimes referred to as "WiMAX") with existing grid infrastructure can enable these services and more. High-capacity (>25Mbps) network services can be directed to individual vehicles and worksites in an "on-demand" fashion enabling access to these rich media assets and evolving to include support for interactive voice and videoconferencing services.
Beyond the aforementioned service and support applications, the anticipated performance of 802.11 and 802.16 technologies linked to existing grid assets can offer innovative new customer services. 802.16 coupled with WLAN (802.11) or BPL (broadband over power line) can offer low-cost communications services directly to homes and neighborhoods. In addition to enabling real-time linkages to meters and other sensors, bandwidth could still be available for advanced services such as security/surveillance, internet access, and telephony.
The ability to introduce these solutions and meet the needs of "metro-scale" utility players mandates robust tools and management features. These networks must scale to support millions of users, with individual "service flows" traversing both wired and wireless linkages to meet user demands. All of this must address stringent performance expectations to meet user and application demands. AirSync's intelligent wireless performance management solution is essential when introducing wireless technologies to existing grid communications assets. With the application of AirSync to energy company wireless applications enables the ability to detect emerging performance and connectivity problems and fix them before they seriously impact quality-of-service.
Solution
AirSync in Energy is an essential solution for the management of your "performance critical" wireless
network services. AirSync is a robust auto-sensing, configuration and communication wireless performance
management solution that enables early problem detection, preventative maintenance and corrective action
for utility wireless network services. Through efficient operation and resource optimizations, AirSync
assists in grid wireless network automation and improved reliability.
WLAN/WMAN networks can make automatic meter reading and grid monitoring more practical and affordable for utility companies. These network technologies coupled with a wireless performance management solution, can enable energy networks to be both self-healing and auto-configuring to minimize management. Dynamic configuration of WLAN/WMAN network resources and bandwidth allocation are essential ingredients in delivering quality-of-service in these complex community-wide networks.
AirSync enables dynamic management and control over network services, applications, users and mobile devices. AirSync's provisioning manager protects the privacy and integrity of all traffic traversing the network. Intelligent traffic routing accommodates real-time applications, including VoIP, video surveillance and telemetry. AirSync automatically creates multiple wireless paths, allowing the network to readily overcome obstacles and interference, easily expand into new territory, and deliver mission-critical reliability across your power grid network applications
Benefits
- Intelligent provisioning scales network to meet user and device demands
- Dynamic bandwidth allocation assures service flow performance expectations
- Predictive routing maximizes traffic throughput
- Monitor and control mixed protocol networks from a central location
- Integrate with existing systems and applications
- Leverage and extend network investments
