Swiss-based wireless network service provider turns to drone technology to improve coverage predictions and antenna correlation.
STRAPAG uses drones to compare measurements from real-life antenna patterns against predicated patterns to improve network planning. Due to the low operating costs of drones, STRAPAG carries out Line of sight (LOS) checks for microwave link analysis and performs visual inspections of site infrastructure. The drones also measure and monitor infractions to radar applications and ground to air networks.
Co-Director of STRAPAG, Markus Müller, says “Nowadays we face increasing pressure to lower operational network costs. Add to that, the need to compare real-time network results with predicted ones and you can understand why drones are the latest ‘must’ have the hardware. Our drone business is growing, largely as a result of market demand for greater network controls but also to ensure our networks work effectively and efficiently. We use drones to support key customers like the Swiss army and other ground to air network operators.”
Unmanned air vehicles use radio frequencies to transmit and receive information and are used across both civil and military markets. ATDI’s flagship planning product HTZ supports functions like flightpath simulation, drone communication range analysis and reception analysis at different flight paths. For military markets, its sister product, HTZ Warfare, supports military planning features and jamming efficiency analysis.
ATDI has a long-standing relationship with STRAPAG, supplying them with HTZ Communications for radio network planning and modelling. This allows STRAPAG to manage a wide range of customers across different wireless technologies. For instance, STRAPAG uses HTZ to model tunnel communications for the Swiss Federal Railways for in-tunnel, outdoor to indoor coverage and inbuilding communications. They also use HTZ Warfare for MW coverage analysis for the Swiss army. To communicate with Ofcom, the Swiss national regulator, STRAPAG uses ATDI’s spectrum management database solution, ICS Manager to manage applications for microwave link and base stations.
STRAPAG’s biggest customer is Polycom, the Swiss national emergency services network, supplier. They provide radio network planning services for microwave links and model the impact of new base stations on the network performance. Polycom has around 55,000 users across the emergency services including Police, Fire, Army, health and more. This TETRAPOL-based network started in 2000 and consultations are currently underway for its replacement with PS-LTE.
ATDI has partnered with emergency service network operators across the globe for the past three decades. Their software solution HTZ allows operators to manage interference including automatic handovers, neighbour list planning and analysis. In addition, it supports capacity and planning management, automated frequency and site planning and optimisation, and automatic device assignment for different traffic channels.
To learn more about STRAPAG, visit their website.
To learn more about how ATDI support emergency services and drones visit our Technologies page.
