A Smart Approach to AMI and Smart Street Lighting Networks
A Smart Approach to Designing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Street Lighting networks can be a complex task. These networks require thorough planning to ensure optimal site and equipment placement, supporting a resilient and scalable system that minimizes unnecessary costs. Given the scale of these deployments, which often span entire cities or regions and can include thousands or even millions of devices, overbuilding can lead to significant financial impact. SignalPro, featuring EDX’s powerful MegaMesh toolset, provides a cost-efficient solution for tackling these challenges.
Balancing Coverage, Redundancy, and Cost
Achieving the right balance between coverage, redundancy, and cost is a major challenge in designing large-scale mesh networks. Costs associated with deploying gateways or repeaters can vary based on factors such as pole types, site ownership, and even installation complexity. Deploying on operator-owned streetlights or utility poles is generally cost-effective, yet sometimes the additional reach provided by cell tower locations justifies the higher costs. This complex balancing act is where SignalPro’s capabilities shine, allowing for optimal decisions that prevent overspending.
Automatic Capacity and Cost-Aware Gateway Placement
One of the first steps in mesh network design is selecting strategic locations for gateways or backhaul sites. SignalPro’s MegaMesh toolset includes Automatic Router Planning capabilities, which allow network planners to locate gateways in a way that maximizes capacity and cost efficiency. This feature pre-analyzes potential mesh connections among end-points, forecasts coverage for each gateway option, and then suggests the optimal collection of sites. This process achieves a balanced solution that considers both site cost and performance criteria, ensuring that planners can meet network demands cost-effectively. Additionally, planners retain full control to add or adjust these site selections as needed.
Efficient Repeater Node Placement
Once gateway sites are established, SignalPro offers a detailed mesh prediction and topology report to assess end-point connectivity, including connection speed and potential network vulnerabilities. With the Automatic Repeater Placementfeature, users can input a list of potential repeater locations and their associated costs, allowing SignalPro to select the most cost-effective placements for these nodes. Repeaters are generally less expensive than gateways, making them an ideal choice to cover the remaining 10-20% of difficult-to-reach end-points.
Effective Planning Solutions for Every Network Stage
Whether planning a new deployment or expanding an existing network, SignalPro’s MegaMesh toolset includes features for every stage of network design. The automatic placement capabilities can incorporate existing sites to determine the best new site additions for boosting coverage and capacity. SignalPro also offers user-adjustable propagation models tailored to specific phases, frequency bands, and technologies, with options like the 3GPP Empirical 5G and Hata-type models for high-level estimates and Anderson2D for high-resolution planning.
Real-World Performance with High-Resolution Data
SignalPro supports network design with high-resolution terrain and clutter data, enabling planners to achieve real-world performance in their predictive modeling. EDX also provides access to global geodata through affordable subscription models, allowing designers to obtain the high-resolution data necessary for precise planning in any project area.
SignalPro by EDX Wireless offers a comprehensive and cost-efficient solution for designing resilient, scalable mesh networks for AMI, Smart City, and IoT applications. With SignalPro’s powerful, cost-aware tools, planners can streamline network builds while maximizing coverage and minimizing costs. AMI and Smart Street Lighting Networks
