Frequently Asked Questions About CPAT Products
1. How long has VGI Solutions been in the cable leakage/ingress detection business?
We have been offering cable leakage/ingress audit patrol services since 1995 and a fully automated continuous leakage monitoring solution since 2005 to the Canadian market. Our CPAT solution was introduced to the US market in 2008. Every member of our senior technical team averages 25 years of cable TV experience. VGI Solutions started operations in 1991 and built its reputation on developing custom business solutions for a wide variety of customers requiring GPS/GIS technologies. VGI Solutions is currently a technology solution provider to mainstream world-class GPS equipment manufacturers.
2. Does the CPAT system rely on any third party software or hardware solutions to provide my leakage information reports and system CLI calculations?
No. VGI Solutions has developed all of its hardware and software design in-house to prevent its CPAT system from becoming technologically obsolescent. VGI Solutions’ engineering department has extensive RF, cable TV and GPS/GIS software and hardware design expertise. At VGI Solutions, we strongly believe that to properly control the design, operation and future development of our system, we must create a unique, complete and fully integrated solution from a hardware and software perspective.
3. What level of plant coverage can I expect from the CPAT system?
Our continuous leakage/ingress patrol design calls for a minimum coverage of 75% of your HFC plant for any quarter in order to acquire significant patrol data results compliant with the FCC’s leakage patrol regulatory requirements. Our skilled engineering team will evaluate the proper number of units needed to achieve any specific coverage objectives set by the cable operator. See our white paper on this subject.
4. Is any training required to operate the CPAT system?
We do offer free training for CPAT application users.
No training is required for the technicians, since the ARD4/DRV1/ITX1 boxes installed in the vehicle operate automatically, without any user intervention.
5. Do I need any support staff to operate the CPAT solution?
No support staff is required, since the CPAT solution is fully automated. With CPAT, there is no data storage device to manipulate. Leakage/ingress drive-out results are available to users via our secure Web GIS server. You only need a PC/Web browser and secure access to our service to view the results. The CPAT database maintains a log of signal leakage sources detected and repaired for a minimum of two years as required by FCC regulations. Operators will only need to upload the annual FCC leakage filing requirements for reporting purposes.
6. How does CPAT assign work orders to my technicians?
Work orders can be assigned by a centralized dispatch center or self-assigned to technicians by using our integrated dispatch application. Your technicians only need to login to the CPAT server to get their respective leakage repair work orders.
7. Can CPAT be interfaced with third party work force management (WFM) applications?
Yes. CPAT already interfaces with leading workforce management applications to provide seamless integration into your current business operation.
8. I have co-located system plants operating on different authorized leakage frequencies and patrolled by a single service vehicle. How will CPAT handle this situation?
Since the DRV1’s operating frequency is agile, it will tune itself instantly to the proper allocated leakage patrol frequency and tagging system while driving through the system plant, with no intervention required from the technician.
9. How fast can CPAT process recorded data events (leakage, ingress, AVL, etc.)?
The CPAT system processes all recorded data in real-time mode when the ARD4 recording device is connected to an internal or external cellular communication device.
10. Can operators use a single cellular card per vehicle for CPAT and other third party application data uploads?
Yes. A typical telecommunications setup is a vehicle equipped with a laptop/cellular card for daily fulfillment work. When the ARD4 module is connected to the laptop’s Ethernet port, it uploads all recorded data through the laptop’s cell card. With the ARD4 design approach, we can leverage the use of a single cell account for all of the vehicle’s data upload requirements.
11. How does the CPAT ingress monitoring system differ from other leading ingress monitoring systems?
The majority of ingress monitoring systems may do a very good job in a ‘trending’ return node behavior regarding interfering carriers/noise impairments over time. However, these systems have inherent limitations for the precise physical localization of ingress impairments, even when paired up with remotely controlled attenuation/switching systems. Current ingress localization methods take hours, if not days, to precisely locate an ingress impairment.
With the use of GIS technology, CPAT is the only system that precisely locates ingress impairments in real-time mode, within a precision of 2.5 m of central error probability (CEP). Ingress source localization is now reduced to minutes, which drastically reduces the upstream service downtimes that are affected.
12. How will CPAT locate recorded events when there is no/poor GPS reception?
The ARD4 can be equipped with our dead-reckoning option that enables it to track recorded events in the harshest GPS reception environments (skyscrapers, tunnels, metallic bridges, mountains, etc.)
13. If an operator purchases a CPAT FLEX system today, how will it continue to operate when he transfers to an all-digital network?
Our R&D team is currently addressing the issue and is already working on some potential solutions. Since our CPAT system is modular, our all-digital leakage detection solution will only require a module swap or module upgrade.
|