Private / Community Wind Turbine Cellular
(Introduction - Part 1)
The Problem
Many communities and areas often find mobile-phone service to
be limited in options and availability. One can look at coverage maps of
the many cell-phone service providers to see that there are large areas of the United States,
that include many businesses, campuses etc. where cell-phone service is not
available, or very weak.
Even in
cities where services are generally available coverage
can be rather poor, especially in buildings, and even outdoors capacity often
can be very limited and shared with a multitude of users and different
applications
In many
locations there can be disruptions (natural or otherwise) to all services,
including power and cellular service during which the loads on everything
remaining increase dramatically and make many things no longer usable. This is
annoying to all but unacceptable to many authorities, enterprises that need
these mission critical functions to always be available, and reliable, even
more so during these unforeseen circumstances
The
Solution
A combination
of wind to generate clean (i.e., no carbon emissions) energy for reliable power
along with dedicated private 5G cellular services. Wind turbines are a common occurrence now,
very well proven and quick and easy to install and using these same facilities
to also provide private 5G enhanced services is a perfect combination
Private 5G
allows enterprises to have dedicated cellular resources based on the latest
standards to support demanding use cases with lower latency, higher capacity,
and increased bandwidth. Private 5G enables:
·
Separation
from public network
·
Fine‑grained,
predictable QoS
·
Spectrum
protected from wireless interference
·
SIM‑based
device identity and security
·
Ability
to cover larger areas than Wi‑Fi
·
Support
for high mobility
A primary
omni-directional radio frequency (RF) antenna for receiving and transmitting
cellular communication is mounted on each blade of a wind turbine which may be
between 10 and 30 meters in height. Each RF antenna has a wired connection that
passes through the turbine blade to the connection with the main shaft. At the
blade’s connection with the main shaft the wired connection is attached to a
slip ring which, in turn is connected to a
radio unit. Being omni directional as the wind turbine rotates with, and to
match, the wind direction there will be no impact on cellular coverage.
The primary
RF antenna is integrated within the turbine blade, ideally internally. In the
smaller turbine blades where the turbine blade would not support mounting
internally the antenna may be integrated with the turbine blade material. The
antenna is not exposed at the surface; at
least some of the turbine blade material will cover the antenna and will
conform to the available space and shape of the turbine blade into which it is
integrated. Irrespective of the manner in which the
antenna is integrated it will not have any effect on the aerodynamics or
efficiency of the turbine blades or their operation as part of the wind
turbine.
The primary
RF antennas use the lower of frequency bands
available with highest power and reliability to enable the widest area of
service. The same antennas can be used with higher frequency bands also where
possible, or these bands could have more directional antennas mounted on the
pole below the wind turbine head, either way using carrier aggregation to still
provide wide area service but with much enhanced localized capacity and
bandwidth/speeds.
While
private network turbine blades may vary between 3 and 20 meters in length, the
RF antenna is typically located between 1 and 3 meters from the connection to
the wind turbine’s main axle and center of rotation to get best coverage and
less obstructions from the mounting pole when operating. Generally large wind
turbines utilize three blades as most efficient, though the design is not
limited as many smaller wind turbines have 4 or more blades as they perform
better in lower wind speeds, such as when not so high and more nearby obstructions such as building
and trees
Cellular
frequencies of operation (in USA) – many pros and cons for all:
• Licensed
mid band (2 to 3GHz) leased from an MNO in a specific area
• CBRS
3.5GHz shared band (GAA or PAL), variable service as governed by
SAS
• Unlicensed
5/6GHz for NRU, shared with Wi-Fi etc. QoS is best effort
• New
bands in 4/7/8GHz will probably have portions as shared spectrum
By far the
best is a combination of 2 or more bands with carrier aggregation for the
widest range along with highest capacity and best user experience. Multi
band solution with higher band sectored antennas
below the nacelle is the preferred solution. Having 2 sectored
mid band (2 to 7GHz) antennas per 120 degree area
with maybe 2 to 3m separation will have higher gain than omni antennas on the
blades but with higher propagation losses real coverage will be less. But these
higher bands would be used with carrier aggregation to just supplement the
overall omni coverage nearer the tower with better performance with higher
bandwidth, but further out will revert to just the low band service. In addition with the blades spinning they will give less
consistent service for low band frequencies, when a blade is in front of an
antenna service in that band might not even be possible, or least restricted so
will then just rely on the blade low band service. In extremes when there is no wind and the blades are stationary if they happen to
be in front of some antennas these might be effectively unavailable, services
will be maintained but lower bandwidth in a certain direction for some time
The
effective coverage area, or range, of a typical private wind turbine cellular
site can vary a lot, but is really down to
these 4 key factors:
·
Frequency
band of operation, higher frequencies don’t go as far due to atmospheric
limitations
·
Height, both of the antenna above the ground but also where the
tower is located
·
Effective
power of radio units, this is usually governed by regulatory requirement to
allow coordinated sharing and coexistence of service providers, and I might
also include the effective gain of antennas
·
Quality
of service (QoS) required, as simple measures the desired signal strength or
data throughput criteria, the higher of either effectively gives a smaller
range
Using a
mid-band frequency with full power available on a normal site but some
elevation over nearby terrain it can give
very good quality service for over 10 miles. In comparison using the higher
frequency bands with lower power within a community so not elevated the range
might be less than a mile as long as there
isn’t much local clutter which can include buildings or trees
Summary
Systems
provide very wide area coverage as generally on high sites and tall towers to
fill in coverage in hard-to-reach areas and roads that normally wouldn’t be
possible either due to citing regulations or not being economical so no need for new sites and associated zoning, regulatory
approvals and thus no environmental or visual impacts
Much
improved customer experience with seamless service and no dependence on
limitations and expense of fill-in roaming or satellite coverage alternatives
Multi-technology
capable so can be used for 4G, 5G and 6G when available, and any combinations.
Can operate in any frequency bands, low band (<1GHz) preferred for best
coverage along with mid band (2-7GHz) for capacity, and ORAN, VRAN,
multi-operator, private network and neutral host compatible
Equally
applicable for new wind turbine builds but also when doing upgrades such as
replacing the blades which fatigue and are usually replaced every 10 to 20
years to prevent consequences
Can be used
both inland and offshore, individual sites or in windfarms
with highly reliability, low maintenance and very stable power from local
batteries charged by the wind turbine
Scaled down
versions can be used for localized wind turbines for industrial, residential
and other areas as Small Cells for added coverage, capacity
and in building penetration, primarily in higher frequency bands
Flexible
connectivity with other sites and core network via fiber, copper, microwave or
even satellite. And totally transparent and complementary to wind turbine
primary role of generating clean energy
Ultimate green cellular
mobile coverage solution for rural and difficult to cover areas
Patent
pending - 63/716,476
Based in
Arizona USA, for more information contact via
https://www.facebook.com/malachite.communication/