Driving Connectivity in the Scottish Islands: Droneways and Airmasts

Driving Connectivity in the Scottish Islands: Droneways and Airmasts Mansoor Hanif Director of Converged Networks and Innovation BT/EE TIP Summit, Menlo Park, Tues Nov 1st

Agenda

• Innovating towards 100% Coverage

• Overview of the Scottish Innovation Programme (SIP)

• SIP governance, board composition, membership and project selection

• EE’s committed and proposed SIP projects

• EE’s work with partners on Airmasts

• Interaction with TIP

2 Scotland Innovation Programme

Satellite backhaul

Rural small cell – BT products

Infill for railway cuttings (repeaters)

Railway tunnel

coverage

Tethered Balloons and UAVs

Device to Device

1Gbps roadmap for trains

Lighthouse coverage for Ships and UAVs

Rural small cell with in-

band backhaul

Indoor Multi-host solutions

Private 4G networks / NiB / Edge Computing

Innovating to the farthest reaches

Key areas of focus

New sites

Airborne solutions

Special projects

Open source tech Maritime solutions

Scotland Innovation Programme Scotland Innovation Programme (SIP) is an open collaborative framework to which companies or individuals can contribute, by creating or participating in innovative projects with any of the following objectives:

SIP Objectives:

1. Implement innovative solutions to move towards achieving 100% indoor and outdoor 4G coverage across Scotland.

2. Provide a platform for innovation to close the gap between the availability of new technologies in urban areas and their availability in remote areas of Scotland.

3. Enhance the lives of local communities through innovation in communications technology

5

Innovate to achieve 100% coverage

Closing Digital Divide

Enhancing Lives

Scotland Innovation Programme

SIP - Governance Structure


Board is responsible for project selection, programme management, engagement with new organisation and communication across all members.

Project Lead is responsible for delivery of assigned project along with resource management and progress reporting.

Project Team supports Project Lead in delivering the project. Team could consist of representatives of different organisations

as well as independent individuals.

Contributors are the wider knowledge pool accessible through SIP Members network who could be reached via Project representatives for support.

Board

Project Lead

Project Teams

Contributors

Board Members

• BT EE • Scottish Futures Trust, Scottish Government and Highlands &

Islands Enterprise • University of Strathclyde • Nokia • Cisco

• University of Highlands & Islands • Digital Health Institute, Censis and Datalabs • Quortus, Parallel Wireless and AWTG • Intel • Lime Microsystems • Avanti

Confirmed Participating Companies

Project 1: Rural Connectivity Solutions


Objective Innovation Community

Create low-cost and sustainable community-based solutions to extend and improve 4G connectivity in very remote island communities in Scotland.

BT EE is currently reviewing Parallel Wireless, Nokia, Facebook and community owned mast solutions along with other vendors to achieve this in a sustainable, innovative and cost effective format.

Due to extended fix times in remote locations, we are trying to create robust and simple coverage solutions that are easy to fix where the local community could carry out certain aspects of preventive maintenance such as visual health checks.

Current Challenges Roles and Responsibilities

Deliverables & Time lines

Many parts of Scotland are not connected through a fast mobile or broadband network. This impacts their productivity and reach along with ability to contribute towards further innovation.

BT EE would lead this project with a project team consisting of BT EE and the selected supplier representatives.

Two locations identified for this are as follows: 1. Kilmory 2. Borgh

To be delivered within 6 months from the start of deployment.

Borgh

Kilmory

Possible pilot location for TIP Open-Cellular Project and System Integration Project

Project 2: Lighthouses to Provide 4G coverage Airborne - Enabling Droneway (with Nokia UTM)



To utilise lighthouses to provide 4G coverage and enable stable connectivity which can be used to control drones beyond line of sight to deliver items to remote areas of Scotland.

BT EE is currently exploring through trials and partnerships with leading industry innovators to identify best solution for this project.

This system will enable communities to order items online or over the phone which will then be delivered to their community via drone.



Many remote area do not have ready access to shops or pharmacies and therefore residents need to travel via road and/or ferry to gain access to such items.


Two locations identified for this are as follows: 1. Tiumpen Head 2. Sumburgh Head

To be delivered within 6 months from the start of deployment.

Air Delivery

Droneway

Possible new TIP Project in Access

Workstream

Project 2: Lighthouses to Provide 4G Coverage Costal Areas for Emergency Services



To utilise lighthouses to provide 4G coverage in coastal areas for emergency services response including the ability to make video calls back to base whilst treating a patient or managing an incident.

BT EE is currently reviewing Parallel Wireless and Nokia solution along with other vendors to achieve this in a sustainable, innovative and cost effective format.

Connectivity around coastal areas will enable communities to stay in touch as well as reach 999 services in case of any emergencies.



Due to the remote locations and regulatory spectrum requirements around radiating near coastlines, several of Scotland’s coastal areas have no coverage.


Two locations identified for this are as follows: 1. Tiumpen Head 2. Sumburgh Head

To be delivered within 6 months from the start of deployment

Tiumpen Head

Sumburgh Head

USING LIGHTHOUSES AND 4G TO CREATE A DRONEWAY FROM ULLAPOOL TO STORNOWAY

10

Other Areas Under Exploration

Disaster Recovery Using Tethered Drones & Balloons

• In disaster situations, the communication network relying on the telecoms masts often get damaged which impacts the connectivity to areas which are most affected by the disaster.

• EE is exploring tethered drones and balloons as a solution which can be deployed at short notice and could temporally re establish the communication network.

E-Health applications utilising enhanced rural 4G connectivity

• E-Health will increase the reach of medical advancement and help close the digital divide as well as benefit the health of local communities.

• Scotland, due to its disparate population and landscape would greatly benefit from E-Health.

• The solutions are under exploration and we welcome any feedback or suggestions for a project in this area.

22/09/2016 Scotland Innovation Programme 11

Possible new TIP Projects

PROOF OF CONCEPT SCENARIOS TESTED

Scenarios Drone Balloon NIB Full

Network Access

4G Inband

Backhaul

Satellite

Backhaul

Battery in

Air

Power on

Tether

Data to

air

Very fast

deployment, low endurance, limited

subscribers

Fast deployment,

high endurance, limited subscribers Slow deployment,

high endurance, unlimited

subscribers

Low costs to run,

good deployment footprint, high

endurance

TETHERED, POWERED DRONE

• Hexacopter drone from uVue

• Nokia Flexizone Picocell with NIB software and integrated antenna

• 2.6 Kg Payload • Li-Po battery • Optimal Height 40m of

operation • 45+ mins flying time tested • Telemetry to inform power

draw

The main challenge was to design a drone which would lift payload, VoltServer- Rx unit, the emergency battery back-up & the tether cable

TETHERED, POWERED HELIKITE

• A CWS-1050 provided access on 2100 LTE

• Transport was provided via LTE 1800 backhaul module BHM-101 connected to the macro via an external antenna

• Overall low power consumption (150 W)

• Power provided by VoltServer

• Demonstrated voice calls and streaming video

AIRMAST NEXT STEPS 1. Productising the solution

a. Weatherproofing all equipment for field deployment b. Optimising balloon size for different payloads to meet different needs

c. Integrating with RRV support

2. Drone Development a. Weatherproofing drones

b. Improved control algorithms to cope with significant wind speeds

3. Weight reduction

a. R&D work required for payload reduction for drone operations b. Investigate emerging lighter battery technologies

4. Market ready

a. EE is ready to engage with Ofcom, CAA and NATS to progress towards enabling a commercially viable solution

AIRMAST NEXT STEPS 1. Productising the solution

a. Weatherproofing all equipment for field deployment b. Optimising balloon size for different payloads to meet different needs

c. Integrating with RRV support

2. Drone Development a. Weatherproofing drones

b. Improved control algorithms to cope with significant wind speeds

3. Weight reduction

a. R&D work required for payload reduction for drone operations b. Investigate emerging lighter battery technologies

4. Market ready

a. EE is ready to engage with Ofcom, CAA and NATS to progress towards enabling a commercially viable solution

INTERACTION WITH TIP

1. SIP Provides ideal piloting / field trial locations for Access Workgroup:

a. Open-Cellular

b. System Integration and Site Optimisation

c. Others TBD

2. SIP Projects could be brought into TIP existing / new Project Groups a. Lighthouse project for airborne or maritime coverage

b. Airmasts for disaster recovery

3. EE and SIP continue to collaborate closely with TIP

a. Governance structure similar (smaller scale)

b. Project-based structure modelled on TIP

Thank You

Technology

Driving Connectivity in the Scottish Islands: Droneways and Airmasts