iBwave’s 3D in-building software improving indoor wireless coverage

Trouble is brewing for some wireless operators as data usage increases and customers complain about indoor coverage. Existing networks were designed for outdoor cellphone usage, but today, 80 per cent of traffic comes from inside buildings, said Dominique Gauthier, chief technology officer at iBwave Solutions, a Montreal-based provider of in-building wireless solutions. “We work with wireless operators in 60 countries, and the number one complaint they’re getting from customers everywhere is poor in-building coverage.” The iPhone, for example, is creating headaches. Network congestion is a problem for AT&T in the United States, where the carrier is the only company authorized to sell the iPhone. “They sold so many that it’s congesting their network. They’re realizing they need to invest massively inside buildings because customers are complaining,” Gauthier said. He added that he hasn’t heard about similar issues in Canada, but time will tell. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t happen here. Japan has the same problem with iPhones. Operators are getting more exposed to these issues as more people use smart phones.” Most buildings weren’t designed with enough antennas in the right places to deliver decent services, he said. “In most cases, operators need to compensate for lack of coverage. Another problem is interference in high-rises because they’re receiving too many signals from different cell sites.” Customer dissatisfaction is intensifying as garbled voice calls and web-enabled smart phones add urgency to fixing in-building coverage. “To browse the web or download video, you need more stringent radio conditions. If antennas are hidden inside too far from cellular sites, customers can’t use more sophisticated services, which means a big loss of revenue for wireless operators.” Operators are also losing money because they’re installing too many antennas to their retrofits inside buildings to compensate for poor coverage. “They’re often over-dimensioning the network, which is costly and inefficient.” Telus Corp. and Bell Canada used iBwave’s tools last fall—when they launched their 3G services—to determine if their existing hardware would support them, Gauthier said. iBwave developed a solution five years ago that uses a 3D approach to determine necessary coverage. A 3D scale model of the building is created, and the amount of area covered by each antenna is simulated and overlayed on the model. “We model all the physical elements in 3D, then run an analysis to predict how the signals propagate through obstacles,” Gauthier said. Other companies are following iBwave’s lead in developing 3D tools for practical rather than entertainment purposes. “In five years, iBwave managed to develop a product from scratch, and turn it into a very profitable de facto standard in their industry. This is the model we’re following, except we’re applying 3D to secure critical facilities,” said Christian Laforte, CEO of Feeling Software, a Montreal-based provider of 3D integration software for video surveillance. In 2002, Laforte was the recipient of an Academy Award as a key team member at Alias-Wavefront, a Canadian company that developed 3D special effects software used extensively by Hollywood studios today. iBwave’s models go beyond aesthetics, colourful maps or visual aids. “Our software is also used to identify what hardware from which equipment vendor needs to be used to optimize coverage. There’s a catalogue of components operators can select from to simulate how the network would perform if they used different ones,” Gauthier said. Although operators work with highly complex wireless networks, Gauthier said many are still using primitive software tools to estimate in-building coverage. “They use Excel spreadsheets to estimate the range of coverage per antenna, then use Visio to lay out the interconnections,” he said. iBwave’s 3D approach has rapidly become the de facto industry standard, said Kely David, director of business development at CTS, a Marlborough, Mass., integrator of wireless communications. “Major carriers are making the use of iBwave a requirement in their requests for proposals,” he said. The software has also boosted his team’s efficiency. “It cuts our design time by about two-thirds. It’s more accurate and it’s better-looking,” he said.

iBwave’s 3D in-building software improving indoor wireless coverage

News | February 26, 2010

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