Energy Companies Get Ready for Wireless LAN Transition

Utiliies have been moving from legacy wireless local area networks to 5G. The new generation provides better support for edge computing, faster speeds, and more networking options, which help mobile workers. However, the enhancements come at a price: energy companies need to move to a new networking infrastructure, Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO). Utilities have been willing to make that change, but it does use a great deal of power and has an immature ecosystem.  

Massive MIMO relies on transceivers and receiver chains of more than eight data streams, double the previous high water mark. The change widens cellular coverage areas, increases data capacity, and boosts throughput, which means energy companies can deploy more sophisticated remote applications.

The network design relies on two new transmission features: spatial multiplexing and beamforming.  Spatial multiplexing enables multiple data streams to run on the same frequency. Energy companies can then configure the system to receive the multiple data streams on a single device or spread them out among multiple devices.

Beamforming amplifies signals moving along a transmission line, creating a narrow, high gain beam that moves information to and from end-user devices. This capability improves the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), enhancing the network’s coverage area, capacity, and throughput.

Standards Needed to Connect 5G Equipment

Standardization is needed with complex telco technologies, like 5G.  Different vendors specialize in various components, so to connect them requires that they all work with common interfaces.

The Open Radio Access Networks (RANs) specification was forged to meet this need. The standard decouples hardware from software, a technique that has been used with many technologies, such as server virtualization. The open interfaces improve interoperability and enable energy companies to avoid vendor lock-in.

Because of the benefits, energy companies are deploying more 5G networks. In fact, ABI Research forecasts about 47 million massive MIMO radio shipments annually in 2027.

However, this option creates certain hurdles. Massive MIMO consumes a lot of power, as much as other wireless networks. Energy companies want to reduce carbon footprints.  Suppliers are working on items, like more efficient virtualization, artificial intelligence, and more efficient microprocessors to reduce consumption.

Ecosystem development is another weak area. Energy companies want to be able to mix and match different vendors’ 5G solutions. Because the technology is new, the volume of interoperable items available is low right now.

Energy companies are adopting 5G networks because of the flexibility that its Massive MIMO design offers. However, the technology is in a nascent stage of development, consuming a lot of power and supporting an immature ecosystem, limitations that the industry is moving to address.