Design and Planning Services available from SIAE UK
SIAE UK employs a large number of professionals within the Network design and Link Planning team.
The basic process involves acquiring key information from the customer, itterating to an optimised solution, and then discussing a number of clear, identified, detailed options with the customer which are targeted at ensuring that all customer requirements have been identified.
The diagram shows some of the main inputs to the task, and a high level overview of the process used.
From the customer, key data to be acquired at the concept stage includes customer site locations, and service levels required at each.
This data is then captured electronically and a number of routing options are then automatically derived thereby creating a 'net list' of routing opportunities.
At this stage, the necessity for using highly experienced staff in the design loop becomes obvious as a number of solution options are then presented to the network designer. Should the solution be optimised for speed of deployment, for lowest acquisition cost, for lowest through-life cost, for best fault-tolerance, for greatest initial bandwidth or for best growth capability? These are only some of the trade-offs available to the network designer, and to the customer.
The planning tools used are able to produce a number of graphical realisations of the proposed design as shown.
The network design which is frozen at this draft stage is then taken into the RF path profiling stage where each path in the overall network is separately characterised.
This not only acts as a double-check on the link availability in terms of Line of Sight, but also generates the detail engineering solution down to Bill of Materials level which allows an automated pricing exercise to be completed in short timescale.
The customer is therefore presented with a number of solution options, each based on rationalised requirements and solutions optimised with different characteristics in mind.
Each option is defined, detailed and priced and thereby provides the customer with real, tangible options in order to properly compare competing options and solutions and to reach the final solution decisions that meet all technical, timescale, commercial, and political requirements.
SIAE UK has found that this interactive style of collaboration offers significant benefit to our customers, and helps to build confidence with the end customer and allow an early capture of the sale.
Design & Planning Team
SIAE UK utilises a strong and multi-disciplinary team for the challenging role of Network Design and Planning. The team is also spread across Europe, predominantly within the UK and in Italy.
The task involves the latest tools, of course, but in the area of RF design it is particularly important to employ and retain specialists who have the broadest experience of real-life application of microwave technologies as it remains the case that successful design in this part of the spectrum requires a wide knowledge of multiple theory and practice. Within the UK, the team is headed by Mike Parker, the Technical Director of SIAE UK.
