Sierra Wireless Powers Expansion of Two-Way Radio Network

Overview | Leading Two-Way Radio Network Expands Network Capabilities

Founded in 2010, the preeminent commercial IP-connected two-way radio network in Australia has solidified its status by working with some of the leading mobile communications experts in the country. Operating on the Motorola DMR (digital mobile radio) platform, the company has established a robust presence nationwide, serving critical business sectors, including airports, ports, stadiums, major events, local government, and the transport industry.

Upon realizing that customers required more bandwidth, the organizations set out on a two-fold project. First, they wanted to harness the potential of additional carrier networks in order to offer customers a substantial increase in data bandwidth, and second, they endeavored to introduce a cutting-edge "vehicle area network" solution. This innovative approach allows for the seamless interconnection of a diverse range of systems, catering to the evolving needs of their clientele.

By continuously expanding its network capabilities and focusing on customer-centric solutions, the business remains at the forefront of providing reliable and efficient communication services in Australia's dynamic business landscape. Their commitment to technological advancement and adaptability underscores their position as a leader in the industry.

Challenge

Increasing Bandwidth And Designing and Deploying a Vehicle Area Network

The two-way radio network has a large footprint across Australia, especially in urban areas, and is well-suited for critical voice services. However, customer feedback indicated a desire for increased data bandwidth. This network aimed to expand its coverage and introduce new services by integrating additional carrier networks. The challenge was devising a method to integrate DMR (digital mobile radio) bandwidth with other networks, offering customers a comprehensive solution for both voice and data services.

A particular segment of the network's clientele, transit agencies, required enhanced bandwidth. These agencies were equipping their vehicles with various systems, including fare payment, route and schedule management, passenger counting, and video surveillance. Coordinating communications for all these systems proved intricate and expensive when each system operated independently. Additionally, many of these systems transmitted data to cloud services that weren't accessible to the bus operators.

The company hoped to establish a communication solution that could create a "vehicle area network" to support all necessary connectivity and enable telematics data collection for fleet customers. This solution had to be adaptable, allowing applications to function on the "optimal available" network, be it LTE, DMR, or Wi-Fi.

A long-standing customer of the organization, Transdev sought to provide its customers with "control room integration," offering centralized supervision and management of their networks. Orion Networks collaborated with experts from Sierra to address Transdev's requirements.

Solution

Sierra Wireless’s AirLink MP70

Sierra Wireless played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s offerings. "We were informed by our sales representative that Sierra was actively developing open APIs for their routers, sparking our interest in collaborating to explore how we could utilize telematics data for our customers. Sierra's existing strategic partnership with Motorola and the capabilities of the AirLink® MP70 router supported our vision," explained the National Business Development Manager at the organization. "We recognized the potential to leverage the MP70 router to access additional data sources beyond our primary radio services."

The MP70 router offers the ability to connect various systems and intelligently select the most suitable network for data communication based on signal strength. This FirstNet Certified router accommodates dual SIM cards, empowering customers to adopt a multi-network approach for accessing and gathering diverse data types.

Customers can seamlessly connect all their systems, retrieve data from multiple application layers, including telematics data from vehicle buses, and present this consolidated data to their customers through a user-friendly dashboard.

Results

Expanded Service Portfolio and Enhanced Bandwidth

Through its collaboration with Sierra Wireless, the utilization of its products, and its partnership with Motorola, the company has significantly expanded its service portfolio. The AirLink MP70 empowers the business to deliver enhanced data bandwidth to customers across LTE, DMR, and Wi-Fi networks.

Additionally, it serves as a robust platform for connecting numerous onboard systems through a dedicated vehicle area network.

According to the National Business Development Manager, this solution allows the organization to meet its customers' demands for more bandwidth effectively. He elaborated, “The control room operation we've enabled efficiently manages over 500 buses simultaneously, requiring fewer resources than before. The public transportation company can readily access the data, has established a central data repository, and can seamlessly integrate data into existing platforms through open APIs."

Meanwhile, the head of business operations at the public transit authority said, "We have implemented the solution across our transit fleets to establish comprehensive control room operations. Fleet management can now remotely oversee the network and proactively monitor fleet performance. With a unified communications platform, our customers can tap into the best available network, and by utilizing GNSS and telemetry data, we can introduce an entirely new suite of services to our transit clientele."

The head of engineering at the transit authority agreed and added, "The depth and quality of data that we can now effortlessly access through our custom systems offer us a much clearer understanding of our buses' true performance. Analytics and data that were previously challenging to obtain are now instantly available in real-time. This benefits fleet management immensely as we can access data at a granular level, scrutinizing individual components, allowing us to swiftly identify issues, assess route performance, and make enhancements in real time, providing us with valuable insights into the impact of changes on our bus fleet."

Benefits

Ultimately, the organization was able to recognize a huge number of benefits for their customers and their business operations, including:

Significantly increased service offerings for customers, broadening their options and capabilities.
Customers now enjoy improved data bandwidth across LTE, DMR, and Wi-Fi networks.
The deployment enables customers to connect various systems while accessing multiple data sources seamlessly.
Data retrieval from different application layers, including telematics data from vehicle buses, is now simplified.
A user-friendly dashboard facilitates the presentation of consolidated data to customers, improving data accessibility and usability.

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