Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESPONSE - RFP - P929 RADIO COMMUNICATION STUDY FOR UTILITIESA. Description of the Firm Pericle Communications Company is a consulting engineering firm specializing in wireless communications. The company is named after Pericle Rock, a rock formation on Pikes Peak popular with climbers. We have five employees, four are electrical engineers. Founded in 1992, Pericle is a privately held corporation with headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company provides consulting engineering services to local governments and to the cellular, PCS, broadcast, aviation, and utility industries. Our skills include the following: • Specifying performance standards and preparing requests for proposal (RFP) • Analyzing radio coverage using state-of-the-art computer modeling • Collecting radio signal measurements using drive-test equipment • Specifying, designing and managing indoor wireless projects, including IEEE 802.11 • Solving co-site radio frequency interference issues • Predicting and measuring radio frequency power densities to prevent personnel hazards • Designing point-to-point microwave links • Design and fabrication of specialized measurement systems Pericle owns a suite of software tools and test equipment to help perform these tasks. Test equipment includes an HP 8594E Spectrum Analyzer, HP 8920A Service Monitor, HP 8656A Signal Generator, Wandel & Goltermann EMR 300 Broadband Exposure Meter, and several Grayson Wireless Measurement Systems with 800 MHz SMR, Cellular and PCS receivers. In addition to our proprietary measurement software, we also own the following engineering software: EDX Shdmap, PathLoss, MININEC Broadcast Professional, ComsitePlus, ScanStar, Matlab, AutoCAD, and HP Bench Link. Resumes Following are brief resumes for the four electrical engineers who are employees of the company. Full resumes for Jacobsmeyer and Mieszala, the two engineers projected to work on this project, are found in Appendix XX to this proposal. Jay M. Jacobsmeyer, P.E. (President) holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and Cornell University, respectively. He has over twenty years experience as a field engineer and researcher. Before co-founding Pericle Communications Company in 1992, Mr. Jacobsmeyer served for nine years with the United States Air Force and three years with ENSCO, Inc. As chief technical officer, he directs all engineering work of the company. His expertise includes indoor wireless design, co-site interference analysis, radio frequency hazard measurements, new facility design, radio propagation prediction and measurement, ground system design, and broadcast master antenna design. In addition to performing field work, he has served as the principal investigator on four mobile radio research projects, one for the U.S. Navy and three for the National Science Foundation. His technical papers have appeared in IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, and in ten IEEE conference proceedings. David L. McGinley (Director of Systems Engineering) holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He has over 12 years experience as a radio engineer and 8 years additional experience as a radio technician. He recently retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years of distinguished service. As an Air Force officer, he designed numerous microwave and high frequency (HF) radio links for the Department of Defense and other NATO military forces. At Offutt Air Force Base, he was responsible for integrating software and hardware modifications into the $ 50 million Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). As director of systems engineering at Pericle Communications Company, his duties involve planning and conducting wireless communications consulting projects. Dan Mieszala (Vice President) has over fifteen years experience in system design and radio frequency engineering. Prior to joining Pericle, Mr. Mieszala was the Director of System Performance and RF Engineering for Verizon Wireless in the Mountain Region. In this role, Dan managed a large engineering staff and capital budgets exceeding $100 million for a wireless network covering four states. Mr. Mieszala has held senior technical management positions for wireless carriers in increasingly responsible roles since 1990. Prior to his work in commercial wireless, Mr. Mieszala worked as a defense contractor on Electronic Warfare and Automatic Test Systems. He has also contributed to several publications including: Feed the Beast a Workbook for Effective Communications Planning (a response to the Columbine tragedy) and SANDAG Site and Zoning Considerations for Cellular Communications Facilities. Paul J. Naro (Technician/Programmer) has over ten years as a radio technician / field engineer and eight years software and database development. He manages, develops and hosts numerous high-end database-driven Internet applications in addition to providing AutoCAD and other engineering expertise. As a lead application engineer with Infront WebWorks, he provided database and system administration, development, and acted as a Project Leader on a number of internet-related projects. During his six years at SAIC, he was instrumental in determining software and hardware metrics for a wide variety of Air Force satellite systems. As a Senior Field Engineer for Magnavox Electronics Systems Company, he was assigned to the Systems Engineering group, in charge of designing, testing and fielding Regency Net, an advanced HF frequency hopping, spread spectrum communications system. Mr. Naro served both in the United States Army and Navy prior to joining Magnavox. Response to Scope of Service: Section 2.1 Radio Frequency Survey: The joint venture will conduct a propagation analysis of the selected frequency EDX SHDMAP and XXX XXXX programs and using USGS NED Digital Elevations Models. The NED Digital Elevation Models are based on 1 second data, and their accuracy exceeds that of USGS 30 meter terrain data. 30 meter USGS Digital Elevation Models (terrain data) are also available for use at this location for comparison purposes. A sample propagation map is provided in Figure XX (Sue do you want to use one of your outputs?) to demonstrates the output of program for a similar environment. While propagation modeling is a reasonable predictor of radio coverage, no computer program can predict all the variables associated with a real world environment. Radio testing will be done during the pilot portion of the program to determine actual coverage. The propagation coverage prediction will cover the 50 square miles of the City’s jurisdiction and extend past those boundaries to determine coverage and interference past the required area. If holes in coverage are identified based on signal strength, alternate sites will be identified using either city buildings, electrical poles or existing towers. If none of these are available then a suitable structure will be sought out. The propagation coverage prediction will cover the 50 square miles of the City’s jurisdiction and extend past those boundaries to determine coverage and interference past the required area. If holes in coverage are identified based on signal strength, alternate sites will be identified using either city buildings, electrical poles or existing towers. If none of these are available then a suitable structure will be sought out. No radio coverage is 100% - so one of the problems is persistence in the mobile computer – without a persistence, the computer must reacquire when coverage is regained. Software will be provided (Net-Motion) to rectify this problem. Section 2.2 Existing Frequency Survey The Joint Venture will perform an Survey of existing frequencies using the FCC data base and a professional data base search tool. Licensed emitters identified by the survey in the target frequency band will be provided to the Utility in a spread sheet form and plotted on the City’s AutoCad drawing. Those emitters operating under FCC guidelines for unlicensed usage will have to be identified by a field survey. A survey of existing frequencies in either the 900 MHz or 5.8 GHz frequency bands will be done using tools developed by Pericle Communications. This survey will be done directly on the AutoCad map files supplied by the city using software that has been developed by Pericle Communications. Measurements will be taken with either a Grayson test receiver for the 900 MHz band or a Orinoco 802.11 a/b/g card for the 5.8 GHz band. The survey will focus on the areas around the electrical substations and the Service Center specifically looking for users in the unlicensed frequency bands of interest. If a received signal is suspected of being out of compliance with FCC rules we will use a spectrum analyzer to store a digital image of the signal and note the location. As an option a drive test can be done of the whole city for the desired frequency. This option is priced out separately in the cost spread sheet. The extended drive test would cover street in the City’s jurisdiction and would have measurements every 300 feet on residential streets and at safe speeds on main through fares. The extended drive test is priced as a separate option in Appendix XX. Section 3 Proposal Response Requirements: Item 4. Description of how the 50 square miles that comprises the City’s jurisdiction will be within the boundaries of the proposed solution. Substations will be identified within the City’s jurisdiction that will provide coverage for the selected frequency band. Radio propagation will modeled from these substations to identify coverage. If coverage is inadequate, alternate sites will be identified with the priority placed on transmission line poles or other municipal properties that would provide the needed height for propagation. Links back to the substations on the fiber ring will then be provided with unlicensed microwave of 802.11 point to point solutions. (Sue do you concur?) Item 5. Detailed information of RF coverage utilizing key electrical substations located on a fiber ring. Propagation models will be run on a minimum of 30 meter data from key electrical substations on the fiber ring to be identified by Fort Collins Utilities. The Joint Venture will use XX program to predict coverage from these substations, and then do radio testing to verify coverage model assumptions. Resumes for Jacobsmeyer, Mieszala. Jay M. Jacobsmeyer, P.E. President Pericle Communications Company Summary Jay Jacobsmeyer holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and Cornell University, respectively. He has over twenty years experience as a field engineer and researcher. Before co-founding Pericle Communications Company in 1992, Mr. Jacobsmeyer served for nine years with the United States Air Force and three years with ENSCO, Inc. He has designed and managed several large radio projects, including a master FM system on Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His technical papers have appeared in IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, and in twelve IEEE conference proceedings. Jacobsmeyer has served as principal investigator on four government research projects, one for the U.S. Navy and three for the National Science Foundation. He is a senior member of IEEE and is listed in the latest edition of Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. He has proven himself capable of leading complex engineering projects involving difficult technical issues and demanding management responsibilities. Education B.S. Virginia Tech, 1981 M.S. Cornell University, 1987 Major: Electrical Engineering Major: Electrical Engineering Magna Cum Laude Experience Radio Frequency Safety. Conducts radio frequency exposure studies and performs measurements for site owners, broadcasters, wireless service providers, and local governments. Employs proprietary software to quickly and accurately assess impact of planned and existing facilities to ensure compliance with FCC rules. Thoroughly familiar with U.S. standards for radio frequency exposure. Radio Frequency Interference. Performs radio frequency interference studies and measurements to identify and correct co-site interference problems. Recent clients include Sprint PCS, Qwest Wireless, Paxson Communications, U.S. Wireless, Denver International Airport, City of Denver, and Cheyenne Propagation Company. Site Management. Performs technical site management of two major radio sites: Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, CO and Mt. Morrison in Denver, CO. Corporate officer and technical manager of Cheyenne Propagation Company. Testified at Jefferson County (Colorado) Planning Commission hearings and before County Commissioners in 1997, 1999, and 2002. Radio Wave Propagation. Employs computer models to predict geographical coverage of broadcast, PCS, and cellular radio systems. Uses method of moments technique to predict the impact of PCS radio towers on AM broadcast antenna patterns. Recent clients include Qwest Wireless, Bear Creek Development Corporation and Cheyenne Propagation Company. Selected Publications “A cost-effective master FM antenna system,” NAB ‘97, Las Vegas, NV, April 1997. “Congestion relief on power-controlled CDMA networks,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, December, 1996, pp. 1758-1761. “The new private LMR refarming rules and their effects on receiver performance,” UTC ‘96, Kansas City, MO, June 1996. “The new location and monitoring service (LMS) and its effect on wireless metering,” UTC‘95, Minneapolis, MN, August 1995. Affiliations Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE), National Association of Broadcasters, Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), Air Force Association (AFA). Honors Who's Who in the Science and Engineering, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Distinguished Young AFCEAN, AFCEA Meritorious Service Award. Professional Certification Licensed Professional Engineer in State of Colorado. Patents One U.S. patent issued (5,541,955) and two pending on wireless data technology. M. Daniel Mieszala Vice-President Radio Planning & Engineering Pericle Communications Company Summary Dan Mieszala has over fifteen years experience in wireless network design and radio frequency engineering. Prior to joining Pericle, Mr. Mieszala was the Director of System Performance and RF Engineering for Verizon Wireless in the Mountain Region. In this role Dan managed a large engineering staff and capital budgets exceeding $100 million for a wireless network covering four states. He has held senior technical management positions for wireless carriers in increasingly responsible roles since 1990. Prior to his work in commercial wireless, Mr. Mieszala worked as a defense contractor on Electronic Warfare and Automatic Test Systems. He has also contributed to several publications including: Feed the Beast a Workbook for Effective Communications Planning (a response to the Columbine tragedy) and SANDAG Site and Zoning Considerations for Cellular Communications Facilities. Education B.S. University of Colorado , 1985 M.B.A. University of Phoenix, 2001 Major: Electrical Engineering Major: Business Administration Experience Radio System Design. Manages and designs radio communication systems for both indoor and outdoor applications. Outdoor systems include Macro, Micro and Pico cell designs and site placement. Indoor systems include RF, fiber, copper and hybrid fed type systems. Large systems include the Denver Metropolitan Area, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City Utah, and Boise Idaho. Indoor systems include Invesco Field at Mile High and several large private office buildings. Radio Frequency Safety. Conducts radio frequency exposure studies and performs measurements for site owners, broadcasters, wireless service providers, and local governments. Employs proprietary software to quickly and accurately assess impact of planned and existing facilities to ensure compliance with FCC rules. Thoroughly familiar with U.S. standards for radio frequency exposure. Radio Frequency Interference. Performs radio frequency interference studies and measurements to identify and correct co-site interference problems. Facilitates the resolution of interference issues with involved parties. Locates and identifies interfering signals from non-collocated sites using direction-finding techniques. Project Management. Manages the implementation of radio system design projects of all sizes from single site to green field deployments. Performs estimating, budget, scheduling, real estate, construction and integration activities. Tools used are Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project along with enterprise databases Oracle and People Soft. Radio Frequency Propagation Modeling. Models single sites and large radio systems using GRANET, Phoenix and GEOPLAN modeling tools. Adjusts path loss slopes and clutter models to fit empirical data. Generates automatic ad hoc frequency plans for large wireless systems. Generates Cary contours and alternative filing contours for 800 MHz carrier FCC filings. Affiliations Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Other Professional Courses Intelligent Networking IS-41, TRA: 3G CDMA, Dr. Ernest Simo; Traffic Engineering, University of Wisconsin; CDMA Performance Analysis, Qualcomm CDMA-250; CDMA Communication Engineering, Qualcomm CDMA-330; Advanced Digital Transmission Systems, Dr. Ernest Simo; EMS 2500 Switch School; Motorola, Staff; Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Modulation (CDMA), Qualcomm, Staff; UNIX; University of California at San Diego; Dr. Anka Kamratha; GRANET Propagation and Modeling, GTE Labs; Staff; Advanced Digital Transmission Systems, Dr. Ernest Simo