Cloud Frontiers: A Deep Dive into Serverless Spatial Data and FME
Driving Connectivity in the Scottish Islands: Droneways and Airmasts
1. 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
2. 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
2Scotland Innovation Programme
3. 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
Lighthousecoverage
for Ships and UAVs
Rural small
cell with in-
band backhaul
Indoor
Multi-host
solutions
Private4G networks
/ NiB / Edge
Computing
Innovating to the farthest reaches
4. Key areas of focus
New sites
Airborne solutions
Special projects
Open source tech Maritime solutions
5. 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
6. SIP - Governance Structure
6Scotland Innovation Programme
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 ofdifferent 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 ofStrathclyde
• Nokia
• Cisco
• University ofHighlands & Islands
• Digital Health Institute, Censis and Datalabs
• Quortus, Parallel Wireless and AWTG
• Intel
• Lime Microsystems
• Avanti
Confirmed ParticipatingCompanies
7. Project 1: Rural Connectivity Solutions
7Scotland Innovation Programme
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
8. Project 2: Lighthouses to Provide 4G coverage
Airborne - Enabling Droneway (with Nokia UTM)
8Scotland Innovation Programme
Objective Innovation Community
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.
Current Challenges Roles and
Responsibilities
Deliverables & Time
lines
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.
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. 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
9. Project 2: Lighthouses to Provide 4G Coverage
Costal Areas for Emergency Services
9Scotland Innovation Programme
Objective Innovation Community
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.
Current Challenges Roles and
Responsibilities
Deliverables & Time
lines
Due to the remote locations
and regulatory spectrum
requirements around
radiating near coastlines,
several of Scotland’s
coastal areas have no
coverage.
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. Tiumpen Head
2. Sumburgh Head
To be delivered within 6
months from the start of
deployment
Tiumpen Head
Sumburgh Head
11. 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 mostaffected by the
disaster.
• EE is exploringtethered drones and balloons
as a solution which can be deployed at short
noticeand could temporally reestablish the
communicationnetwork.
E-Health applications utilising
enhanced rural 4G connectivity
• E-Health will increasethe reach of medical
advancement and help close the digital divide
as well as benefit the health of local
communities.
• Scotland, due to its disparatepopulation and
landscapewouldgreatly benefitfrom E-
Health.
• The solutions areunder exploration and we
welcomeany feedback or suggestionsfor a
projectin this area.
22/09/2016Scotland Innovation Programme 11
Possible new TIP Projects
12. PROOFOFCONCEPTSCENARIOSTESTED
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
13. TETHERED,POWEREDDRONE
• Hexacopter dronefrom
uVue
• Nokia Flexizone Picocell
with NIB softwareand
integrated antenna
• 2.6 Kg Payload
• Li-Po battery
• Optimal Height40m of
operation
• 45+ mins flying time tested
• Telemetry to inform power
draw
The main challengewas to
design a dronewhich would
lift payload, VoltServer- Rx
unit, the emergency battery
back-up & the tether cable
14. TETHERED,POWEREDHELIKITE
• A CWS-1050provided
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
15. AIRMASTNEXTSTEPS
1. Productising the solution
a. Weatherproofingall equipment for field deployment
b. Optimising balloon size for different payloads to meet different needs
c. Integrating with RRV support
2. Drone Development
a. Weatherproofingdrones
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
16. AIRMASTNEXTSTEPS
1. Productising the solution
a. Weatherproofingall equipment for field deployment
b. Optimising balloon size for different payloads to meet different needs
c. Integrating with RRV support
2. Drone Development
a. Weatherproofingdrones
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
17. INTERACTIONWITHTIP
1. SIP Provides ideal piloting / field trial locations forAccess 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-basedstructure modelled on TIP