Turning Every Operator’s Dreams for Total Network Mobility into Reality
Industrial environments are modernizing in exciting ways. Work sites are becoming increasingly connected as the number of devices, sensors, and intelligent machines in use grows. Through them, operators are able to gain real-time visibility into the status of people, equipment, and operations like never before. But it also creates the need to extend communications out beyond traditional boundaries, as many of these assets are remotely located and likely constantly on the move.
Operators of these robust sites, unfortunately, are often forced to watch productivity slow to a halt as cellular and other traditional ‘Make-Before-Break’ networks struggle to keep up with such dynamic operations. Connectivity to cell towers in particular, which can be few and far between in remote areas, could be hindered by any number of things: assets moving in and out of their set range, interfering terrain, or intermittent breaks in connectivity as mobile nodes hand-off between towers. Grounded in place, these towers have coverage restraints that can leave highly mobile operations feeling stuck too.
In these moments, every operator wishes that they had a network that could actually move and grow right along with them—maybe even something like a fleet of “cell towers on wheels,” driving across their environment to provide instant coverage wherever it’s needed.
It may just sound like wishful thinking, but get your wheels turning and consider how this daydream could actually transform industrial operations.
Instant Connectivity for Remote Sites
Operators in remote and/or sprawling industrial environments don’t always have enough existing cell towers (or any towers at all) located within their range, and it can take a mammoth effort to get one installed in a new location. But what if, instead of being statically affixed to one site, the cell tower had the ability to get up and drive directly to the place you needed it, moving in with ease to rapidly expand coverage to that area?
Scalability for Operations of Any Size
These cell towers on wheels could also spread as far and wide as a site required, flexibly augmenting or creating infrastructure ad-hoc to provide ubiquitous coverage across growing operations – no matter how far out they span. And as more connected people, devices, and machines are added to the expanding site, new cell towers would simply roll in to provide the increased network support required.
Total Mobility of Industrial Assets
With the roving connectivity of a cell tower on wheels, the many moving assets that make up an industrial site—from equipment to cars to people—could take robust connectivity with them as they traveled. The tower would simply follow along, dodging line-of-sight issues caused by rugged terrain and seamlessly connecting hot zones to allow operators to maintain unwavering connectivity to, communications with, and control over all the ‘things’ that power more efficient and productive operations. Giving the network “wheels” means that even edge communications would be completely reliable.
Sound Too Good To Be True? Not with Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh® Network
Industrial operators can make the dream of a “cell tower on wheels” a reality using Rajant’s wireless BreadCrumb® nodes, equipped with InstaMesh® networking software. BreadCrumbs® essentially represent that cell tower functionality in a compact, ruggedized, lightweight, and transportable package. They can affix to any asset, fixed or roaming, turning it into network infrastructure – and together forming an adaptable, dynamic Kinetic Mesh® network that moves with your operations to provide extremely reliable wide-range communications virtually anywhere.
But whereas nodes in a cellular network can only communicate with the cell tower and not each other, Rajant’s mobile BreadCrumbs® can communicate peer-to-peer, via multiple simultaneous connections. This gives operators using Kinetic Mesh® an even greater leg up over cellular because it creates node- and frequency-level redundancy for added reliability and resilient ‘Make-Make-Make-Never Break’ mobile connectivity.
See for yourself how Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh® puts any network on wheels here. You’ll learn how industrial sites can leverage their existing assets to power scalable, site-wide network mobility.
You can also speak with a Rajant representative about putting your network on wheels today by clicking here.