FTTA PTTA Solutions For Telecom
Surge protection devices are not a luxury for today’s industry, but rather are a critical aspect of nearly any mission-critical industrial installation. Equipment involved in most industries has grown in expense to the point of being inextricably tied to the survival of the business if it is damaged or destroyed before an expected life span. And, while modern business will take great steps to protect their bottom line through pricing that will compensate for unexpected damage to equipment in the field, the competitiveness of most business landscapes forces participants to protect their capital investments at all costs. Damage related to electrical surge is a primary concern in industries that position equipment in the field. Many of these surges are caused by lightning strikes and others are caused grid-side, switching errors or transients. The damage that is created in circuit-driven components can be immediate or prolonged, the immediate damage coming in the form of total overload and circuit destruction if not explosion and fire, and the prolonged damaged coming in the form of on-going degradation of circuits, causing performance errors and finally complete failure over time. Either way, the damage that is produced as a result of surging electricity must be prevented or at least minimized if margins are to remain healthy, and profitability is to remain intact. This not only includes but may very well be epitomized by the highly specialized telecommunications industry, where stiff competition for customers forces both the increased capacities of networks for better data transfer and lowered operational costs so as to offer lower monthly bills. As the industry ages and consolidates, network operators look to find ways of both increasing network capacities and connectivity while also lowering customer plans prices, which is a difficult task. Increases in costs as a result of unexpected damage to equipment can render damage to an operator within a short time frame, and customers will not accept increased charges without significant improvements to service, if at all. This squeeze creates a situation where telco operators must figure out improved ways of getting the most out of their existing equipment in the field, and generally this will involve improving electrical protection and specifically surge protection devices.
The specialized components of the telecom industry involve RRH (remote radio heads) which are part of distributed base station architecture, and thus positioned at the top of towers or structures to send and receive signals on an on-going basis. The RRHs communicate to a BBU (base band unit) to provide the connectivity that customers demand. Because of its exposure at the tops of the towers and on other tall structures, radio equipment of this type is highly prone to weather related damage, most importantly lighting striking the tower structure. The damage produced by lightning strikes to cellular towers is not isolated to the strike point itself, but will also involve surge-related damage to connected equipment in the vicinity of the strike. This is accomplished through electricity being coupled into the communications and power lines that connect the BBU and RRH, as well as the associated midstream equipment. A lightning related surge event is almost assured to be great enough in magnitude to destroy component circuitry. This damage can only be prevented or minimized through the integration of adequate surge protection devices along critical paths and at critical points. Raycap’s solution to this problem are unique Class 1 MOV surge protection and connectivity enclosures positioned at the top and bottom of the FTTA (fiber to the antenna) and at the PTTA (power to the antenna) connectivity cables. Through these installations, DC power is protected against power and lightning surges, as well as fiber-optic cable better protected and distributed in a distributed base station telecommunications architecture.
The telecom industry is continually evolving, and as such continues to provide customers with improved speeds, features and access all at lower costs. As consolidation becomes larger scale the industry sees fewer and fewer players competing for customers, their only differentiation points being better service and lower prices than their competition. For most operators, the only places that reductions can be made in order to lower prices to competitive levels is in operating expenses, the most obvious is the extension of the expected life spans of equipment in the field. Each moment that an existing piece of equipment or component is able to continue functioning beyond its expected life span helps operators to reduce operating expenses.. Luckily, the points in the networks that are the most prone to damage are well documented, and thereby are the primary focus for increasing protection levels in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. For this reason, Raycap is continually being called upon to develop new and more innovative surge protection devices and connectivity equipment that not only keeps equipment intact and functioning for longer periods, but also helps improve customer satisfaction by keeping the networks up and functional. One of the most important developments with regard to increased connectivity was Raycap’s “always on” technology, an improvement to existing surge protection devices that eliminated the need for resetting or changing modules after a surge incident. Conventional surge protection technologies are not as robust as the Raycap Strikesorb technology, and will be completely destroyed during a major surge event, requiring replacement before functionality of the system can be restored. Additionally, these technologies demand a costly tower climb by a technical worker in order to be replaced and have protection restored. Either way, critical downtime was experienced which affected customer satisfaction levels. Before Strikesorb, any surge protection used in a telecom network application, especially on a tower, would eventually be compromised and need replacement, often without notice thus leaving the equipment unprotected for the next event to create damage. Raycap’s development of a technology that does not need replacement in order to continue functioning allowed telecom providers to move ahead and reduce both OpEX and CapEX while improving customer experiences at the same time.
At the present time, Raycap SPDs lead the industry in reliability in telecommunications surge protection, and we leverage every available technology in order to provide our customers with the lowest operational expenses achievable through equipment protection and operational life span extension. We continue to work closely with telecom operators to develop new and more innovative solutions which will help to keep the next generation of networks intact, and protect their bottom line in order to keep businesses not only competitive but profitable. Raycap is your first and last line of defense. Contact us for more information on RRH, FTTA and PTTA protection solutions.
