How to test and tweak a wireless solution for marine operations under realistic offshore environment conditions

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1 How to test and tweak a wireless solution for marine operations under realistic offshore environment conditions Net Futures April 2016 Robin Leblon

2 COMPANY TIMELINE 2009 CITYMESH Heerema 2010 Q1 ncentric US OFFICE Houston, Texas 2011 Q2 Robin R ALLSEAS OCEANEERIN G 2013 SHELL DREDGING INTERNATIONAL 2014 UTEC TECHNIP 2015 Q1 VESTAS Windfarms 2015 Q2 HEVC 2015 Q3 JAN DE NUL SUBSEA Q2 DEEPWATER HORIZON - Offshore communication performed with prototypes 2011 Q3 EU OFFICE Bruges, Belgium 2012 Q4 Nova Node 2013 Q4 MESHBONE IP-Acquisition 2014 Q4 Hyperbox 2015 Q1Q2 Multiple Tow-outs Chevron/BP ncentric is a spin-off company from Citymesh. Citymesh was founded in 2006 as a Belgian company specializing in wireless telecommunications. By mid-2008 the company had grown into a recognized wireless expert. As a result the Dutch offshore company Heerema approached Citymesh to create a large offshore high bandwidth wireless network in the Gulf of Mexico. As more oil & gas companies became interested in this offshore solution, Citymesh established a new company, ncentric, to specifically focus on offshore communications. ncentric opened its Houston office in March 2010 and its European office in August 2011

3 MARKETS OIL & GAS DREDGING WINDFARMS

4 PRODUCT PORTFOLIO Auto-configuring and self-healing mesh network Patented mesh algorithm High Range 6 NM+ High bandwidth 10 to 70 Mbit/s Remote management and control Multi-antenna array with 2x2 MIMO per sector Integrated 3G/4G, iridium and GPS receiver Easy installation: compact all-outdoor single unit Built for offshore!

5 COMPANY TIMELINE Install test lab Validate in lab setting Continuous development on lab 2009 CITYMESH Heerema 2010 Q1 ncentric US OFFICE Houston, Texas 2011 Q2 Robin R ALLSEAS OCEANEERIN G 2013 SHELL DREDGING INTERNATIONAL 2014 UTEC TECHNIP 2015 Q1 VESTAS Windfarms 2015 Q2 HEVC 2015 Q3 JAN DE NUL SUBSEA7 Using COTS equipment 2010 Q2 DEEPWATER HORIZON - Offshore communication performed with prototypes 2011 Q3 EU OFFICE Bruges, Belgium 2012 Q4 Nova Node Rent boats, do very expensive validations 2013 Q4 MESHBONE IP-Acquisition 2014 Q4 Hyperbox 2015 Q1Q2 Multiple Tow-outs Chevron/BP Buy small boat Sail out, test often

6 COMPLICATED PRODUCT MESH NETWORKING OLSR based routing scheme Dynamic, multiple gateways with different metrics L2 tunnel overlays MULTI RADIO Dynamic channel assignment Node discovery Loop risks DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENGE No controller Participating nodes not known in advance CONSTRAINED PLATFORM Fairly low power (dual-core 600MHz ARMv7)

7 COMPLICATED ENVIRONMENT REQUIRES FLAWLESS OPERATION A failing comm system might stop entire operation Downtime can cost up to 20k per hour HARSH and REMOTE Offshore marine environment severely limits hardware possibilities Rigorous testing and certification required, cost of changes very high Expensive to go onsite, often not possible RF HOSTILE Many different communication systems in use, i.e. high power radars EMC and EMI from heavy lift equipment DYNAMICS All parties in operation constantly in movement and changing position Distances of up to 10KM between parties

8 COMPLICATED VALIDATION We sold prototypes and prayed they would work we got lucky, it worked but luck runs out We gave our product for free to customers, in return for testing time on their real-life projects. not a good business model, clients often not interested We tried running around with carts on our parking lot. We rented boats. We rented high altitude workers and drove them out in fields, etc. too much variables we can t control, test results cannot be compared We rented an anechoic chamber too expensive, too much overhead, no real solution for dynamics ticks most boxes, but still a lot of overhead and no continuous, automated testing possible PERFECT SOLUTION : Build our own wireless lab with robots

9 STEP 1 w.ilab.t Wireless testbed with 60 nodes Part of the CREW facilities Located at iminds Zwijnaarde IMPROVEMENTS Much more efficient Controlled environment Automated testing allows comparison between sessions Access to facilities that are beyond budget of an SME DOWNSIDES Not on our own hardware Overhead due to travelling back and fourth, installing firmware on nodes, etc. PERFECT SOLUTION : Build our own wireless lab with robots

10 STEP 2 - NCENTRIC TEST LAB Built by iminds, Ghent Funded by KMO subsidy (Agentschap Ondernemen) ACTUAL HARDWARE Install a stripped version of our actual hardware on robot SIMULATING THE ENVIRONMENT Precisely chosen attenuators result in same RSSI s as offshore Metal structures can simulate dynamics and harsh environments NO OVERHEAD, INTEGRATED IN DEV WORKFLOW Permanently installed Part of our testing suite - continuous and automated testing

11 HYPERBOX APPLICATIONS

12 STEP 3 WiSHFUL project Software modules to quickly implement and validate advanced wireless networking components Quick and efficient tuning of radio and/or network parameters MOVE BEYOND RADIO BLACKBOX Allows us to actually see what s going on within the radio Gives non-academics/experts the opportunity to turn the knobs and push the buttons EXPERIMENT QUICKLY AND ON A BUDGET Try wireless technological advances which would otherwise be out of reach for an SME GET NEW TECHNOLOGY IN OUR PRODUCTS FASTER Significantly shorter time to market due to open-source architecture Adapt existing code base for production use quickly

13 NEXT STEPS We bought a boat! and we installed permanent nodes on it and we installed fixed nodes along the Belgian coast line (Oostende, Blankenberge, Zeebrugge) and we built an online platform to manage and compare real-life tests We now have the complete testing lifecycle under control. 1. Develop on fixed test network 2. Validate immediately on dynamic test lab 3. Validate quickly and cheaply on own boat 4. Compare results with test reporter platform

14 THANK YOU ncentric Inc 1652 W. Sam Houston Pkwy N Houston, Texas, USA ncentric Europe BVBA Pathoekeweg 9B/ Brugge, ncentric info@ncentric.com