Fixed Wireless Access connects Welsh island
Effect Photonics (EP) has reported on progress on the roll out of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services in hard-to-reach areas in Wales. Led by Vodafone, the project seeks to deliver broadband connectivity to 422 households in Anglesey, an island off the northwest coast of Wales. The scheme is part of the Welsh Government’s efforts to ensure all residents have access to fast and reliable digital infrastructure.
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This is also the latest team effort between EP and Vodafone, with the two companies already being familiar with each other’s ways of working, as they are collaborating on a similar project to bring 5G connectivity to the Netherlands. The work will be carried out in two phases in an 18-month period. It is supported by the government’s Local Broadband Fund (LBF) as well as the Isle of Anglesey County Council and North Wales Economic Ambition Board.
Destiny Project
EP and Vodafone aside, the other vital member of the installation team is Bangor University’s Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Centre for Excellence. EP and Bangor University are familiar team mates, having partnered on an aspect of the Destini Project, which aims to create an algorithm which can be introduced into existing telecommunications networks to expedite 5G connectivity. Other notable collaborators In the Destini Project include the Canadian research and Development Group within Ciena, the US-based networking equipment and software supplier.
Photonics
Using Indium Phosphide technology, the Effect Photonics creates a 10 Gbps Narrow Tunable SFP+ Transceiver module that uses the company’s own in-house developed ‘secret sauce’, its Photonics Integrated Circuit (PIC) technology. SFP+ transceivers are small form factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers that maintain a permanent connection, which creates a 10 Gbps throughput. NarroWave Autotune smooths system integration and automates the provision of a dense wave multiplex division DWDM circuit a transceiver. The upshot is that the systems created from these powerful components can use EP’s NarroWave technology. They simplify management, because they let the operators set up, monitor and control remote SFP+ modules from a central office, without making any hardware or software changes in the field.
Ideal for FWA
“Photonics technology is an ideal solution for fixed wireless access because it can provide increased bandwidth density with less energy consumption over significant distances,” said Joost Verberk, Director of Product Management at Effect Photonics. “We look forward to collaborating with the Welsh government, along with Vodafone and Bangor University once again, to bring 5G broadband access to areas where it never seemed possible before.”