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ICT FOCUS
WiMESH for GMP
Générale de Manutention Portuaire of WiMESH is the reduced fixed infrastructure
requirement. A traditional
(GMP), a joint venture between DP
World and CMA CGM, has installed a WiFi network offered as an alternative
WiMESH network from Luceor at two required 11 access points at the 76-
terminals in Le Havre. The terminals acre terminal, some of which would
have a total capacity of 1.3M TEU and a have needed civil works to connect. By
combined quay length of 2400m. putting a router on each straddle carrier
France-based Luceor designs outdoor Luceor allows mobile routers to “mesh”,
communications systems for emergency connecting to the access points through
service providers and industrial applications
like container terminals. It has de-
WiMESH avoids the problem of data
other mobile routers when required.
veloped a WiMESH system that features being lost in the meshing process by
redundant routing and meshing capabilities
to allow routers to connect step-
uses the wireless to send job instructions
achieving very low signal latency. GMP
by-step dynamically, without any central and equipment position information
control. Luceor believes WiMESH is from its DGPS system to the TOS. Raux
ideally suited for container terminals because
it can provide ubiquitous outdoor
said GPS information is very sensitive
coverage over large distances without a
lot of fixed infrastructure, reducing the
cost of deployment.
GMP was previously using a narrow
band network. IT Director Patrick
Labbé said it could not support the data
requirements of the real-time equipment
monitoring systems GMP wants
to implement.
The new Luceor WiMESH network
achieves a minimum band width of
300Mbit/s and covers two terminals.
The network infrastructure consists of
six fixed access points on the larger (76-
acre) terminal and four on the second.
GMP’s 90 straddle carriers are equipped
with WiMESH routers with omni-directional
antennas operating at 5.4GHz.
16 STS cranes have WiMESH routers
(5.4GHz) and local WiFi access points
(2.4GHZ).
Luceor’s strategic accounts manager
Christian Raux said a big advantage
Managed WiFi
on the way
US-based Wireless Network specialist
Fidelity Comtech will soon launch a new
product called NetWatch that will enable
it to deliver WiFi as a managed service
with guaranteed data throughput rates.
Fidelity is tendering on new terminal
projects in the US and also working
with existing marine and rail terminals
that have not had good experiences with
wireless systems. At the moment, said Fidelity’s
director of sales Bryan Lonergan,
many terminals depend on the expertise
of local contractors to configure and install
a WiFi network correctly and have
no visibility into issues when they occur.
Lonergan said Fidelity has learnt,
through discussions with potential customers,
that what terminals want from a
wireless supplier is “accountability so their
business processes can work”, particularly
where automation is being implemented.
More importantly, that accountability has
to be at the device level.
Often the only information available
is whether access points are working and
the terminal has no visibility into why
devices on equipment are not connecting,
he added.
Fidelity believes it has the hardware
and expertise to provide consistently
reliable WiFi that can support the most
demanding applications like AGVs. Its
Phocus Array 802.11 network is now
operating in several terminals and more
recently it launched a Magnetic Mount
Cline Bridge (MMCB) for terminal vehicles.
This improves WiFi reception by
placing a router and two omni-directional
antennas on the roof of a vehicle.
With the new NetWatch product Fidelity
“will take connectivity monitoring
all the way out to the vehicle” by
connecting a network monitoring tool
to the ethernet port of the MMCB. This
will give Fidelity remote information on
signal strength and data throughput rates
at the mobile equipment, where the terminal
needs connectivity that it can use
to manage the network.
The logical next step for Fidelity is
to offer WiFi as a managed service, with
guaranteed data throughput rates. Net-
Watch will be a core part of this offering
and Fidelity is now expanding and adding
more staff in preparation for launching
a managed service.
siemens.com/cranes
to signal latency. Travelling at up to 30
km/h, the straddle carriers are permanently
connected to at least two routers
with less than 30ms latency to maintain
sessions.
Low latency is also supported by a
“real full mesh” topology, “which means
that mobiles are not only connected
to access points, but also between each
other in Ad-Hoc mode,” said Raux. “If a
mobile loses a direct connection to the
infrastructure, it is instantaneously and
automatically relayed by another mobile.”
In addition, the Level 3 (routing)
network allows redundancy.
While the Luceor deployment faced a
few challenges during set up, Luceor responded
with deployment tool improvements
and it is now performing well.
“We have the bandwidth that we
require,” said Labbé. For the straddle
carriers this is an available real time
TCP/IP bandwidth of between 3 and 5
Mbit/s. GMP intends to use the bandwidth
to support additional applications
that work better with real time
equipment monitoring, including Navis
PrimeRoute and, potentially, a collision
avoidance system. VOIP is also being
considered.
Installing a router on all mobile
equipment requires more investment in
hardware than other options, but it is becoming
more common. If the terminal
wants to move beyond sending simple
work instructions, it needs a network
that can support more data and provide
real-time connectivity, Labbé added.
Luceor’s WiMESH network requires very
little fixed infrastructure to provide coverage
across the two GMP terminals
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E20001-F280-P620-X-7600-A4
May 2013 29
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