TD Bank Campus: Greenville
The Challenge
This site is a state-of-the-art existing commercial office campus located in Greenville, South Carolina. FCW participated in two (2) projects consisting of enhancing Verizon Wireless Cellular Service and Public Safety LMR 2-way Emergency Radio Communication coverage. The area requiring cellular coverage consisted of 40,000 sq. ft. of below grade space located in two (2) buildings, including a connecting tunnel. The area requiring Emergency Responder Radio Coverage consisted of three (3) buildings and the connecting tunnel totaling approximately 400,000 sq. ft. Because the facilities were built with steel, concrete and low-E glass, they were essentially giant Faraday cages, which meant public safety and commercial cellular signals could not propagate through the outer walls and roof of the buildings.
The Solution
To comply with the AHJ, NFPA, IFC and South Carolina Fire Code requirements for a ERCES, FCW chose to install the Cel-Fi QUATRA RED Class A 700MHz/800MHz channelized Emergency ERCES Smart Signal Booster. It is the first ERRCS that is able to boost both Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and FirstNet signals. “We chose solutions from the Cel-Fi QUATRA family of products because we’ve installed them at several other facilities. They have a public safety and a scalable middleprise cellular enhancement system that we knew would deliver strong gain with excellent coverage where needed, be fast and easy to install, and would cost less than a traditional DAS – all important factors” says Erickson. Where other ERCES solutions require integrators to purchase different elements from a variety of vendors to create a complete solution, Cel-Fi QUATRA RED simplifies the deployment by offering an all-in-one solution. It includes everything from the head end (Network Unit or NU), remotes (Coverage Unit or CU), Master Battery Back-up Unit (MBBU), Remote Annunciator, Emergency Power off Switch (EPO), coverage measuring tools and comprehensive remote management. Each component was built around the FCC, International Fire Code (IFC) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, is NEMA 4X rated and fully compliant with UL2524, and are all optimized as an integrated solution.
The Results
FCW installed a total of two (2) Network Units (NU's) and three (3) Coverage Units (CU's) connected to over fifty (50) server antennas in the 400,000 square feet of space. Over 400 ft. of Low Voltage & Fiber Optic cable was installed in metal conduit. This pathway runs from the IDF basement of a 4-story building, through a 120 foot long tunnel, and into the basement IDF of a 2-story building. A Cel-Fi Red Fiber Hub was used to deliver lossless signals along this path from an NU to the CU .The cellular and ERRCS solutions were a complete success. All three (3) campus buildings including two (2) below grade levels and an underground tunnel connecting two (2) buildings passed the AHJ inspections with compliments.