Single channel system perfect for ports

However, some traditional wireless networks struggle to keep afloat in the ever-changing environment as containers are shifted continuously.

Meru’s single channel deployment capability, already proven in delivering wireless access to classrooms full of children with laptops, is tolerant of the changes in the ‘metal maze’, he says.

“As containers are unloaded from the ships and put into stacks, from which they will later be unstacked for onward transport, the RF characteristics of the container yard change dramatically. For wi-fi technologies which are obliged to deploy with a micro cell architecture, this wreaks havoc with their wi-fi coverage and diminishes their ability to send over-the-air work schedules to their assets,” says Mr Thompson.

US-based Meru has been particularly successful in delivering wireless solutions to the education and healthcare sectors but the same technology is ideally suited for ports, industry and other sectors, he says.

Meru has just installed a wi-fi network at a major container port covering 800 acres.

Now it is focusing on two potential developments: first, the use of wi-fi technology to identify the precise location of any mobile equipment, so that controllers can allocate each job to the piece of kit that’s nearest to the container, and secondly, a benchmarking system to run periodic health checks of a wireless network, looking out for any signs of potential failure.

“Wi-fi must be as resilient as possible,” says Mr Thompson. “But supposing a container brushes up against an access point and there is a gradual loss of alignment – the network could just fail without warning one day.

“We have developed a piece of equipment that sends a tracker around the network to see if delays are increasing or there is any loss of signal. This should see problems emerging before they become real problems.”