Ports and intermodal yards today are looking to autonomy to transform the safety and efficiency of their operations. But they are also some of the most challenging environments in which to maintain the reliable wireless communications that autonomous systems demand.
Large metal containers and equipment block RF signals, plus radar, ships, and neighboring ports, can all cause signal interference. These issues are made worse by the fact that their assets are constantly in motion and designing a traditional Wi-Fi or LTE network around ever-moving obstructions is not practical because they rely so heavily on fixed infrastructure.
These architectures can ONLY support vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. This works when connecting equipment away from or above container stacks, but not between them.
An autonomous container truck, for example, can’t move among container rows because RF can’t move through metal. These systems require continuous connectivity to run, so if a blockage causes coverage to break even momentarily, the truck grinds to a halt—losing efficiency.
That’s why the world’s leading ports and yards have chosen Rajant Kinetic Mesh® instead.
Rajant provides resilient coverage between the stacks and everywhere across the port or yard because our network nodes are fully mobile and work peer-to-peer. Instead of having to piggyback off fixed infrastructure, they communicate directly—and, when deployed on moving vehicles, create the ONLY wireless network to enable machine-to-machine communications. Assets can take connectivity with them wherever they go, and network together to work around port obstructions and maintain mission-critical coverage.
What’s more, our nodes hold multiple connections over multiple frequencies simultaneously, creating hundreds of potential paths to direct traffic.
Rajant’s intelligent networking protocol, InstaMesh®, continuously evaluates all paths to select the fastest for delivery, seamlessly switching to the next-best available if faced with RF interference, which is inevitable in this environment, or blockage by large metal containers and infrastructure. And Rajant’s nodes act as hot spots for Wi-Fi access, enabling truly port-wide IIoT connectivity so workers can connect tablets and operators can enable personnel and asset tracking throughout the port or yard.
With ubiquitous coverage, ports and intermodal yards can fully capitalize on the safety and efficiency promises of autonomy and other real-time applications. It’s only possible with M2M communications, enabled only by Kinetic Mesh.