Portable X-Ray Machine Interfering with CDMA DAS at TFC-BJC Campus

There are series of e-mails that came down to us from Chris Mossengren. I had over 30 e-mails in the thread, but only showing just the pertinent parts.

[Wireless Planning in the Health Care Environment by Laura Fontaine. This is a very good source of information for the health care environment.]

Problem Statement:
From Amanda Lutz (Supervisor, 2nd Floor/OR Radiology) via Chris Mossengren :
We have the new Sanyo 2700 phones for our technologists to use while they are out performing portable x-rays in the hospital (South).  However, we are having issues with reception.  Today, our technologists are having a hard time throughout the hospital.  It is very difficult to hear them and for them to hear us.  Another technologist has been unable to get any reception in 84ICU and has to use the desk phone to call us.

Possible cause of problem:
From Abu to Chris:
Chris, The problem could be very well with portable X-Rays machine. These are in an enclosure where they will not receive any signal, and I believe that's the reason they are having problem wherever they take that portable X-Ray. They are also probably talking to someone who is in a room surrounded by lead wall which also hinders RF signal. As for next action item... we can talk to Amanda Lutz and find out more information.

Findings:
From Chris again:
I think it would be best if we could have someone shadow the radiology folks (Amanda's team) to see what is happening.  I dispatched one of my project champions over to these locations with a CDMA device and she doesn't see any trouble.  Similarly to Abu, I now think there are certain behaviors RAD may be doing that prevents the signal from reaching their phones.

From Cindy via Chris: [Note that Cindy indicates she did not find any problem.]

Kevin also went with the radiologist tech and she could not recreate the problem. Kevin also indicated that on the higher floors in the rooms on the edge, we saw some pilot pollution. RF Engineer (Jacob Zipprich) from local market came in and added some of those sites in the neighbor list and resolved some of the issues at those rooms.


Conclusion:
So it appears that portable X-Ray machine is interfering with the system. There could be also pilot pollution issues in some of the higher floors. 

iDEN on MobileAccess DAS

Seen a similar problem at BJC campus. RSSI was strong, but SQE was hovering around 20 dB. 3 buildings were affected by this: EPNEC, MPRB and BJCIH. Remote head-end was at BJCIH. MA 330 was located at BTS 2 Sector 3 along with another MA 330 (for NWT).

Couple of observations here:
All of the RHU outputs were below 10 dBm, and there was NO alarm anywhere.
Since the common element to both of the BUs were the fiber and the MA 330 link, we swapped the fiber jumpers and the fiber strands to a completely new set of fiber. Problem did not clear.
Then we swapped the MA 330s (main and remote). Problem was still persistent.

What resolved the problem?
Input into BU from MA 330 should be close to -20 dBm. However, only way we could bring the SQE up is when we dropped the input to BU from MA 330 to -26 to -27 dBm. Interestingly, none of the BUs went on low DL alarm, but it took care of the problem.

Conclusion: 
I feel like this was more of a patch solution to a problem we implemented, and probably did not address the real problem. I still think that the problem is in the MA 330-RB unit. Anyway, it's working well for a few weeks now and we will leave them like that for the time being.

iDEN On Mobile Access DAS

Problem: Unable to maintain iDEN calls on a Mobile Access DAS.
Fix: Found good service with iDEN disabled on the DAS. Probably fighting with the macro.

GST and low SQE

Problem: I have seen a rash of GST repeaters causing low SQE readings with a strong input from the donor.
Fix: Either pad the donor line, turn the gain of the repeater down or both.

Fiber Cross Connect for MA 330 Redundancy at TFC-BJC Campus

We implemented this project for MA 330 Redundancy. We have 2 BTSs located at 2 different locations. If there is a fiber cut to a MA 330 remote, how do we connect the BTS back to the MA 330 remote. We leveraged the redundant fiber run between the BTS locations to get this done. This is not a true Fiber Cross Connect, but that's the name Sprint PMs used.

Current Fiber Layout:

1. Each MA330 location is fed with a 12SM fiber from both BTS locations at CAB and North.  Since there is a MA 330 in Shoenberg, we have a 12 strand SM fiber from the MA330 in North to the BTS location at CAB.  Therefore 12 Strands of SM Fiber between the data centers  are present.
2. Each MA330 is connected back to the BTS location at CAB and North with the exception of the MA330 at North, which should be in the same location as the BTS. 
3. Not all the buildings have dual routes (i.e., entrance).  The MA 330 locations that have dual entrances are CAM, SLCH, Southwest Tower, BIH, and Barnes Jewish South.

Terminology: 

1. Primary Fiber Connection: the active fiber run between the main MA 330 (at Primary BTS location) to remote unit (remote head-end).
2. Primary BTS location: for a MA 330 link wherever the main MA 330 is located.
3. Secondary BTS Location (for a MA 330 link): this is the BTS location where a MA 330 (main) is not located. So for example, if the Northwest Towers Main MA 330 is located at the North (i.e. Shoenberg) location then the Secondary BTS location for NWT MA 330 link is the CAB Data Center.
4. Secondary  or Redundant Fiber Connection: this is the redundant fiber link that connects a Main MA 330 to Remote MA 330, but via the fiber cross connect located at the Secondary BTS location. The objective of this SOW is to build out the Secondary or Redundant fiber connections for all MA 330 links. 

SOW:

1. Map, and label dedicated fiber strand (1 Single Mode Fiber) from Remote Head-end to Secondary BTS Location. So for example, if the primary connection between Maternity and CAB gets cut, by connecting the Redundant jumper on both MA330 ends we will establish a secondary connection which goes from Maternity to Shoenberg, and then to CAB .
2. Connect the jumpers at the Secondary BTS location so that there becomes one continuous connection from remote head-end to Secondary BTS location, back to Primary BTS location.
3. Take the redundant jumper to the MA 330 locations (at both Main and Remote ends), so that they are hanging next to the 330 units.
4. Test and confirm the alternate link for an optical budget of 9 dB or less (loss). This test can confirm the loss, but cannot guarantee 9 dB of optical budget. Manage the vendor to test the Sprint recommended back reflectance.
5. Test one alternate line from 1 remote head-end to the BTS head-end.
6. Coordinate and interface with TFC appointed fiber vendors to install all the redundant fibers.
7. Clearly label all fiber jumpers, & panels and provide maps of cross-connect.
8. This SOW assumes that TFC will provide all redundant fibers as well as jumpers and miscellaneous hardware required for this plan. 

Block Diagram:

T1 Extension over fiber

This project was for TFC-BJC Campus. Following you will find the Scope of Work, system block, and materials needed for the project.

Scope of Work :
Coming from STL05

1. 3 T1s for CDMA from Clayton Ave will be extended to Kingshighway
2. 1 T1 for iDEN from Clayton Ave will be extended to Kingshighway
3. A total of 4 T1s will be extended from CAB Datacenter to Shoenberg Datacenter
4. For 4 T1s we will need 2 strands of  Single Mode Fiber with ST connectors. With 4 more strands of redundant fiber, we will need a total of 6 strands of  Single Mode Fiber with ST connectors.

Coming from STL01

1. 3 T1s for CDMA from Kingshighway will be extended to Clayton Ave
2. 1 T1 for iDEN from Kingshighway will be extended to Clayton Ave
3. A total of 4 T1s will be extended from Shoenberg Datacenter to CAB Datacenter
4. For 4 T1s we will need 2 strands of  Single Mode Fiber with ST connectors. With 4 more strands of redundant fiber, we will need a total of 6 strands of  Single Mode Fiber with ST connectors.

Therefore, we will need a total of 12 strands of SMF with ST connectors running between CAB and Shoenberg datacenters for the T1 Extension Project at TFC-BJC.  Fibers will be terminated at each location at fiber patch panel and then fiber jumpers will be installed between the patch panel and MUX housing.

Fiber run between the datacenters, patch panels, all other related materials will be provided by TFC.

Block Diagram:

Materials Needed:

1. T1 4X1 MUX CO CARD SINGLEMODE ST W/ RJ48C (Mfr Part No: 8806-1385-01RJ) = Quantity (2)
2. T1 4X1 MUX SUB CARD SINGLEMODE ST W/ RJ48C (Mfr Part No: 8806-1395-01RJ) = Quantity (2)
3. 4 CARD SHELF HOUSING W/ 48VDCPOWER SUPPLY (Mfr Part No: 8806-1231-03A48) = Quantity (2)
4. 48VDC 1.2AH BATTERY PACK, WALL MOUNT (Mfr Part No: 8806-1204-01BB) = Quantity (2)

Can LGC Unison Main HUB work with Fusion Expansion HUB?

Unison Main HUB will NOT be able to run Fusion Expansion HUB. As per: 

John Boyd
Principal Field Quality Assurance Engineer
North American Services, TE Connectivity408-952-2558
John.Boyd@te.com541 E. Trimble RoadSan Jose, CA., 95131

We have an existing system Unison system at AA Alliance Airport facility. In order to enhance coverage in other areas, we wanted to see if we can reuse the existing Unison Main HUB with newer Fusion Expansion HUB.