Tag Archive for: network infrastructure

EMR on track for strong domestic growth thanks to €11M contract with Iarnród Éireann

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Leading utility network and wireless telecommunications specialist, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced it has signed two contracts with Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) for a combined value of €11 million as part of a major upgrade of the organisation’s existing fibre infrastructure and the deployment of a new national transmission network.

Based on technology manufactured by OTN, the new transmission network will support Iarnród Éireann’s operational traffic delivering high-speed, packetised data to level crossings, railway signalling, CCTV, customer kiosks and more.  It will also underpin the new National Train Control Centre, due for launch in early 2024.

The fibre upgrade will boost existing network traffic capacity and allow Iarnród Éireann to run two networks in parallel, supporting migration away from the legacy transmission system without any business disruption.

Both projects will enable more efficient rail traffic management, deliver increased frequency and improve journey times for passengers.

The initiatives are an integral part of Project Ireland 2040, a major investment programme, which will see the role of rail services maximised to meet the needs of communities, the wider economy and environment.

Commenting on the contract award Thomas Quigley, telecommunications technical manager, Signalling, Electrical and Telecommunications Department at Iarnród Éireann said:

“Projects such as the Dart+ programme, designed to extend Dart services in the Greater Dublin Area or the National Train Control Centre simply couldn’t happen without the new transmission network.

“The solution proposed by EMR and its technology partners met and, in some cases, surpassed our requirements.  Their methodology of maintaining the legacy system while building the new network was the most practical and suited our capital investment model best.  Additionally, as a local company, their support is very responsive and commensurate with a piece of critical national infrastructure.”

“Our approach to the project was based on protecting existing investment, providing a cost-effective technological migration to next generation optical & data networks whilst making the transition to the new infrastructure as seamless as possible,” explains Alan Feenan, sales director with EMR Integrated Solutions.

“We supply staged product by building and configuring devices in our technical workshop, ship them to Iarnród Éireann and then assist with commissioning where required.  Iarnród Éireann can draw down up to 1,000 man hours of technical expertise to assist with deployment and this collaborative effort will result in project objectives being realised over time.”

The first step in the upgrade is to increase capacity on the existing fibre network to facilitate the parallel build.  A Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM)* telecoms network will be deployed to ‘sweat’ the existing fibre pairs, delivering better fibre utilisation and negating the need to perform a  large-scale, physical fibre replacement.

The national transmission network, which currently stretches over 2,000 km in length will be upgraded from legacy technology to MPLS-TP**, a packet-based transport protocol designed to speed up and shape network traffic for Infrastructure Providers, supporting IP-based networking services such as video at CCTV at level crossings or customer kiosks, better traffic management at the National Train Control Centre whilst continuing to support the legacy systems that are in service across the railway.

“This project will give us an operational network that’s more reliable and more available,” said Thomas Quigley.  “It’s a massive change in terms of how we’ll be able to manage the rail network into the future, delivering a more positive customer experience.  That’s good news for all of our stakeholders.”

ENDS

Editors’ Notes
*Dense Wave Division Multiplexing or DWDM is a telecoms technology that combines traffic from multiple fibre pairs into single pairs to increase existing fibre utilisation.

**MPLS-TP is a networking technology that transports data at level 2 switching rather than level 3 routing layers and provides Iarnród Éireann with a much higher quality interface to deliver quality of service (QoS) for applications across the transmission network.

Pic l-r: Jan Hendrickx, regional sales manager, OTN, Alan Feenan, sales director, EMR and Thomas Quigley, telecommunications technical manager, Signalling, Electrical and Telecommunications Department at Iarnród Éireann

Greencoat UK Wind chooses EMR to upgrade telecoms infrastructure at 18 windfarms across the UK and Ireland

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The EMR engineering team is now the “eyes and ears” for all IT comms issues in relation to 17 windfarms, owned by Greencoat UK Wind.

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EMR Integrated Solutions today announced it has been awarded a framework contract from O2 Telefónica Ireland for in-building wireless solutions

O2 awards in-building Wi-Fi framework contract to EMR

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Leading communications and SCADA network supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced it has been awarded a framework contract from O2 Telefónica Ireland for in-building wireless solutions for a specific business sector within the company.

This project will result in numerous installations country wide with a service level agreement associated with each deployment.

The contract is expected to run for 3 years.

EMR Integrated Solutions today announced it has completed the design and installation of a wide area, wireless communications network for the Law Library.

Law Library chooses EMR to deploy mission-critical microwave communications network

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Leading communications and network services provider, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced it has completed the design and installation of a wide area, wireless communications network for the Law Library.  The network includes three high speed microwave links with two of the links running at 155Mbits and the third offering 1Gbit capacity.

The network allows all users of the law library to access the custom-designed information portal which provides access to over 130,000 items, using Web 2.0 technologies.

The Gigabit radio link operates in the 70GHz to 80GHz licensed band and is specifically designed to operate at very high speeds over short distances. The 155Mbits links operate in the traditional 6-38 GHz licensed bands. All the radios links supplied are licensed radios units approved for use by the Irish Communications Regulator (ComReg).

Commenting on the new network, Michael Lynch of the Law Library said:

“EMR have demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of the detailed requirements of our unique application. The installed solution allows our members to operate very efficiently, they have high praise for the system speed and increase reliability. As IT mangers we can monitor the performance of the network on a real time basis which means we can proactively attend to issues as they occur. EMR deserve high praise indeed for delivering exactly what we wanted on time and to budget.”

The Law Library provides a library and information service to the members of the Law Library. It is the central physical point of access to a modern, court-going library service. The collection of resources comprises legal textbooks, journals, legislation and case law. The service also manages access to a variety of commercial and in-house electronic databases.

EMR Integrated Solutions today announced a contract from RTÉ NL to redesign and relocate the microwave and multiplex backbone network for 2RN

EMR wins major contract with RTÉ NL

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Leading communications and SCADA network supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced a €3.8 million contract to supply, install and commission a new national microwave network to provide RTÉ NL with the capability to roll out Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).

The project entailed not only the installation of the microwave elements, but also incorporated the video multiplexers, the audio codes, the stand-by power systems and the integration of the network management systems with the RTÉ NL SCADA system.

Two of the main challenges posed were the very tight deadlines and the requirement to work on a live network without interrupting TV or radio service. The fact that the high sites are located in some of the most remote locations in the country added to the complexity.

Working closely with RTÉ NL, EMR began the rollout in October 2008 and the first sites went live in November of that year. By the following March all twenty high sites and the studios in the Dublin headquarters in Donnybrook and the studios in Donegal, Sligo, Galway, Limerick and Cork were live.