Airport Business - 15

TECHNOLOGY
To ensure
the health
and safety of
passengers and
staff, expanded
use cases have
surfaced to
provide a more
touchless travel
experience,
helping airports
meet health
guidelines
and rebuild
consumer
confidence.
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Dissecting 5G
5G is complex and understanding its
DNA will help airports shape the right
5G strategy.
For starters, 5G is not a one size
fits all approach. Each U.S. cellular
carrier-AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon-
is deploying their own 5G strategy
that leverages varying technologies.
We're seeing 5G deployments across
multiple swaths of spectrum-licensed,
unlicensed and shared; as well as high,
mid and low bands.
Millimeter Wave (mmWave) is a
cornerstone to licensed 5G networks.
The high frequency signals travel in
narrow wavelengths to deliver increased
capacity and ultrafast speeds for passenger
applications like HD video streaming
and gaming. Boingo recently partnered
with Verizon to deploy its mmWave
network, called 5G Ultra Wideband,
at major airports across the U.S. The
network consists of small cells that create
a hyperdense wireless environment by
bringing more nodes closer to the end
user. This 5G solution performs well
in converged models, where mmWave
can be deployed alongside LTE cellular
distributed antenna systems (DAS),
Wi-Fi 6 and CBRS networks. This
helps more passengers stay connected,
whether their device supports 3G, 4G,
5G, Wi-Fi or CBRS.
Speaking of CBRS-Citizens

Broadband Radio Service-airports
are strong candidates for this 5G
network offering as the shared band
offers favorable, cost effective mid-band
spectrum for fast and secure connectivity.
Boingo launched the first known CBRS
network at a major airport, Dallas Love
Field Airport (DAL), and operates it as a
private LTE (PLTE) solution to expand
wireless coverage and capacity.
While PLTE can be great for
passenger communications, airports
are prioritizing CBRS for operational
use cases. For example, with private
networks over CBRS, airports can
improve safety and security with 4K
video surveillance. Advanced video
cameras use CBRS to stream near
real-time situational data analysis
for AI-powered security monitoring
services. Biometrics devices can also
rely on the spectrum for secure entry,
concessions and boarding.
I want to spend more time on 5G use
cases like security and biometrics, but
first want to cover another important
player to airport 5G strategies-Wi-Fi
6 and Wi-Fi 6E.
Wi-Fi 6 is the latest Wi-Fi standard
that was developed to advance Wi-Fi
capabilities to effectively handle growing
traffic demands. Airports are adopting
Wi-Fi 6 to support key 5G requirements
across capacity, throughput, latency,
connection density and speed. Wi-Fi 6

networks improve passenger applications
like mobile boarding passes, wayfinding,
streaming and downloading large files,
and are backwards compatible with
Wi-Fi 5 and other older generation
Wi-Fi devices.
I n t he U. S., t he Feder a l
Communications Commission (FCC)
recently announced it will open the
6 GHz frequency band for Wi-Fi use.
Wi-Fi 6E is the industry name for Wi-Fi
devices that operate in 6 GHz. Wi-Fi
6E offers the features and capabilities of
Wi-Fi 6-including higher performance,

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OCTOBER 2020 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 15
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Airport Business

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Airport Business
