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BPL
Consulting Experience
KOHL brings in-depth engineering knowledge, an array
of on-site, field tempered experience and a record of successful
problem-solving to the BPL customer. During the period 2000 through 2004,
KOHL provides a team of Senior Consultants to support a major
long-distance carrier during their quest to develop local access
technology. Working with this company and a large south east
investor-owned utility KOHL ran field trials and provided network design
for Broadband over Power Line utilizing several access techniques such as;
power lines, WiFi, WiMAX, microwave, and Free Space Optics (FSO). The
following outlines steps taken and requirements for BPL deployment.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
In considering BPL the initial goal is to develop necessary
system requirements to define the desired BPL functions and attributes. KOHL helps the customer assess the necessary
system parameters, such as throughput, upstream and downstream; acceptable
home access, data session availability etc. These parameters must be
specified in order to determine system capacity, requisite performance
requirements, features and functions necessary for a fully
operational system.
KOHL will assist
the customer in the development of a test plan, including creation of a
specification outlining all factors to be adjusted and measured during the
pilot program. Working with the customer KOHL will develop a
“Requirements Document” for use in specifying the equipment to be
purchased, and the type of system to be installed.
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NETWORK ARCHITECTURE, CONTROL AND
MONITORING
KOHL assists the customer in the network architecture
development. This includes technology, product evaluation and business
strategy development in several key areas. For example, segments can
include: the 38 GHz, OC-3, SONET Ring Certification; development of BPL
deployment guidelines, FCC regulatory interface, Radio Interference
analysis, business case development, and other aspects of BPL.
KOHL assists customers in establishing of BPL and WiFi
architecture, interface protocol, IP network development and subnet
schemes. KOHL also consults with the client regarding remote support for
backhaul operations from the field. We can supervise running of remote
tests to determine network performance and throughput capacity.
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SITE EVALUATION
In order to successfully deploy a BPL pilot program a
physical site evaluation must be undertaken. A thorough evaluation is
undertaken of the power system assuring any necessary deficiencies are
corrected. These repairs would then be made by the utility client prior
to deployment of the pilot program. The physical attributes of the
project site are also of critical importance when considering BPL. This
includes review of the specific demographics, survey of coverage areas,
determining distance requirements between repeaters and evaluation of
distances between transformers. Issues such as the number of homes served
per transformer, population density, seasonal vegetation, weather,
interference impacts, potential home construction impacts and other
physical parameters must be taken into consideration. KOHL conducts site
surveys to determine BPL and WiFi equipment requirements based on physical
aspects of the field trial locations.
VENDOR
EVALUATION & EQUIPMENT INSTALLATION CONSULTING
KOHL keeps up to date on BPL and WiFi vendor capabilities
and participates in ongoing dialog with the BPL vendors regarding system
capabilities and performance. We will develop RFP requirements for BPL and
WiFi vendors. KOHL will then assist the customer in evaluating the most
economical responsive vendor for a trial program. We then assist the
customer as required with negotiating of the contract. We will develop
equipment installation procedures and coordinate the staging and
pre-provisioning of all BPL, WiFi, wireless and/or other equipment to be
installed. By conducting field and laboratory tests of vendor equipment
prior to placing it in service, we are able to reduce the probability of
problems during field deployment.
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