Case Study: Reducing Flight Delays by Controlling Airport Wi‑Fi & Cellular Networks Using iBwave

Learn how a major national airline is able gain more control over their cellular and Wi‑Fi networks and reduce time spent on surveys and design which translates into significant cost savings.

INTRODUCTION

Nous avons tous connu la frustration d'un vol retardé. Mais saviez-vous que les retards de vols sont tout aussi frustrants pour les compagnies aériennes ? Frustrants et coûteux. Les retards de vols ont un impact direct sur l'activité des compagnies aériennes - et pour une grande compagnie aérienne avec laquelle nous avons travaillé l'année dernière, cela lui coûtait plus de 700 millions de dollars par an. Bien que la plupart des facteurs à l'origine des retards d'une compagnie aérienne échappent à son contrôle, certains sont maîtrisables.

Mainly, for this airline, their luggage scanners were not performing as they needed to. They could not completely rely on the Wi‑Fi networks because of the large amount of interference, and while the luggage scanners could use the cellular network, the coverage was not great everywhere they needed it (indoor/outdoor) and so they did not have the network performance they needed. The result was millions of dollars in flight delays that needed to be fixed.

But, how to do it? They had control over the Wi‑Fi indoor and outdoor network but faced limitations due to the Airport public and private networks, as well as where they could physically place APs. For the cellular network, it was only providing coverage in public spaces – but not the lower levels where the luggage belts are located. They also faced challenges with the outdoor cellular coverage as large planes were blocking the signal from the cell towers causing the luggage scanners to fail. Working with large carriers to upgrade cellular coverage is often a very long wait and time-consuming. And while they could consider a potential solution like using repeaters, what they really wanted was a way to control all the networks themselves – both Cellular and Wi‑Fi – that their systems relied on.

C'est là qu'iBwave est intervenu.

LES DÉFIS

SUPPORT CRITICAL APPLICATIONS ON BOTH Wi‑Fi & CELLULAR NETWORK

Because the luggage scanners relied on both Wi‑Fi and Cellular indoor/outdoor networks, the airline wanted to have better control over the quality of both. They were also in the process of implementing RFID asset tracking and exploring new wireless applications to improve customer service. Problem was, they only had a tool to survey and design the Wi‑Fi network. They needed a tool that could do both.

RÉSEAU DE BASE EXISTANT

To move forward and troubleshoot existing wireless issues, the company needed a way to establish a baseline for both its Wi‑Fi and Cellular networks together. How could they visualize where the cellular network was failing? How could they see where it was good? Same with Wi‑Fi. To understand how problems could best be fixed, they needed to understand what existed.

MIEUX CONTRÔLER ET GÉRER LE CYCLE DE VIE DES RÉSEAUX SANS FIL

The existing wireless network lifecycle – assessment, survey & design – took around 9 weeks plus more time for implementation and validation. Even longer if they had to rely on carriers to assist them in improving the cellular network. They needed a more efficient way to improve both their Wi‑Fi and Cellular networks going forward, that didn’t leave them dependent on any third party.

UNE SOLUTION CONNECTÉE

The combination of iBwave Design, iBwave Mobile Planner gave this company the ability to survey and design both cellular and Wi‑Fi networks at the same time. The addition of iBwave Unity into the solution also gave them the ability to centralize all of their site surveys, design and reporting in a single location making it much simpler and more efficient to manage and upgrade networks in the future.

UNE SOLUTION CONNECTÉE

Using iBwave, the airline could survey both Wi‑Fi and Cellular networks together to create a baseline understanding of their existing networks. Using the mobile app they could document the site, document both Wi‑Fi and Cellular data measurements and save it into a single project file that would be saved to the cloud for design and documentation purposes. With iBwave Design, they could 3D model the terminals they use at the airports accurately design of both the Wi‑Fi and Cellular network within the same project file. Using iBwave saved them significant time and money because they no longer had to rely on thirdparty or the carrier to survey and design the cellular piece of the network. With control of both networks, they had confidence they could deploy a reliable network to support their critical applications.

Ils disposaient également d'une documentation conforme à l'exécution à sauvegarder dans un emplacement centralisé dans iBwave Unity afin d'y accéder facilement à l'avenir pour les projets de maintenance et de mise à niveau. Le processus existant a ainsi été raccourci de plusieurs semaines, car il n'était plus nécessaire d'effectuer des études à chaque fois que l'on voulait évaluer et mettre à niveau le réseau.

Globalement, en utilisant iBwave, la compagnie aérienne a pu réduire son délai habituel de 6 semaines pour l'évaluation, l'étude et la conception à seulement 4 jours. Traduites en économies globales, les économies potentielles estimées pour la compagnie aérienne se chiffreraient en millions de dollars.

Pour en savoir plus sur la façon dont iBwave Design peut aider à concevoir des réseaux pour une variété de cas d'utilisation, visitez notre page produit sur www.ibwave.com.