Campus networks are the IT backbone of an airport; therefore, their design, provisioning, and management are critical factors. The technology available for campus networks is rapidly advancing, and airports should take care to future-proof designs where possible. Underpinning a campus is the physical fiber network, so ducting and “dark fiber” are important to consider in anticipation of future civil works.
Campus networks provide distribution to end users through secondary and tertiary levels of access (i.e., through wiring closets). Along with providing data access through structured cabling, wireless is now an increasingly important element of transport.
Wireless usually covers one or all four different technologies; namely, the use of telephony (GSM, CDMA, GPRS, 3G), 802.x, Bluetooth, and Satellite. New wireless technologies are also emerging, such as WiMAX (802.16) and UWB (Ultra Wide Band).
Wireless is an access media for networking that will support a multiplicity of different data transmission speeds, depending on distance, power; and the medium through which the signal is expected to travel.
A wireless access point (WAP or AP) is a device that connects wireless communication devices together to form a wireless network. The WAP usually connects to a wired network, and can relay data between wireless devices and wired devices. Several WAPs can link together to form a larger network that allows roaming.
Another key consideration for wireless is spectrum management. Frequencies will become in short supply as the number of wireless networks grows. While wireless brings great flexibility, it also brings security challenges . Airports and airlines should have detailed IT & IP security policies where wireless is deployed, along with an understanding of who actually has the right to deliver which wireless service in any given location.
Airports should also consider implementing methodologies for predicting bandwidth requirements and provide provisioning plans to meet those forecasted needs, suggesting a flexible, scalable approach to bandwidth availability and its associated traffic prioritization plans.
Because airports are becoming centers of excellence for IT management and support, cities or counties increasingly consider them as critical elements of their emergency response capability. To support this, an airport campus may need to integrate with a wider, metropolitan area network (MAN). In this way, emergency response centers using airport knowledge and capability can be established for a broader user in the local community.
6.7Video & Voice Over IP (VoIP) and Over WiFi (VoFi)
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is an IP telephony term for a set of facilities used to manage the delivery of voice information to an end user over a local area network using the Internet Protocol (IP). VoIP involves sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets rather than by using the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). VoIP uses the real-time protocol (RTP) to help ensure the delivery of packets in a timely manner.
VoIP essentially replaces traditional “POTS” telephony with data packet switching over digital networks. This allows many benefits, including convergence and transportation of voice, video, and data. This also allows the significant reduction of the cost of voice. It also ends the monopoly that Local Exchange Carriers (LEC) had on voice provisioning, allowing airports and airlines to build and operate their own voice networks.
This technology also encourages the wider use of streaming video with voice. In an airport context, an IP voice implementation allows a gate to be dynamically configured with an individual airline’s calling plan, depending on which airline is using a specific gate or resource.
Voice over Wireless IP (VoWIP) combines VoIP with 802.11 wireless LANs to create a wireless telephone system that enables companies to leverage their wireless LANs to add voice communications, enabling companies to deploy and manage voice and data over a single wireless backbone.
From a network perspective, VoWIP applications require some reservation of bandwidth to support the real-time nature of voice. Proprietary standards are today's solution; however, the IEEE is developing the 802.11e standard for quality of service as a long-term solution.
A key consideration of VoIP is the need to establish suitable traffic prioritization patterns and appropriate bandwidth management to ensure voice packets do not get dropped, allowing for sustainable quality of service.
Since VoIP is a digital media, it does not always meet emergency management criteria, such as fire regulations, as it would not function where there was a power failure or a LAN or WAN failure. Normal telephony will work unless the line is broken, because it has its own independent power supply.
6.8Radio Communications
The primary purpose of any communications system is to provide efficient and reliable communications between the users of the system. Airport operations encompass a broad scope of functions and activities, and the reliable operation of the radio network is crucial to these operations. At airports, many different organizations require radio connections for their internal communications.
The concept of 800 MHz radio evolved from the need to provide more radio frequencies (channels) for public safety users. Over the years, public safety allocations have moved up the spectrum from VHF to UHF, then displaced some unused UHF television frequencies, and finally into the 800 MHz band. Advances in radio technology allowed this movement to continue to higher and higher frequencies.
Eventually, the FCC allocated a portion of the 800 MHz band to public safety. The FCC established 240 channel pairs for police, fire, and related agencies with 25 KHz spacing in the 821-824 and 866-869 MHz bands. They also established five specific channels that all agencies must have for mutual aid and coordination. To ensure maximum use of the frequencies, the FCC mandated a complex regional planning process for each region of the country requesting frequency usage in the new band.
Trunked radio systems allow a more efficient use of an increasingly limited radio spectrum and generally permit a larger number of users on the system. The key to this capability lies in the ability of a trunked radio system to use a pool of frequencies for any of the system's users. Most trunked systems incorporate several jurisdictions or agencies.
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) is an emerging standard to be included in the modern airport’s ability to switch data as well as voice. Modern radio networks also support the use of SDS (Short Data Services), as well as IP and Packet data. This opens the door for complete interoperability between airline, airport, and local county/city emergency services, using a variety of media.
Airports should also consider the deployment of IPICS to allow interoperability of radio with IP and other data networking protocols so that command nets may be set up in the event of emergencies or other operational incidents, supporting interoperability and communication between airport and metropolitan or state, civil defense, and military networks.
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