Benefits of Remote Power Management Over Ethernet

November 27th, 2018

In the wireless industry, it’s very common to have remotely located sites. In the winter it might be necessary to use a snowmobile to reach the site or even a helicopter. Sometimes the sites are not far away but even still, a site visit can be a hassle, and it is a major problem to have a site down altogether.

Power might not always be the defining product when you design a site, but we would argue that it should get a lot more attention than it often does. There are many choices for power systems but it’s often difficult to understand why to choose one versus another.

Alliance partner, ICT, provides DC power conversion products for the land mobile radio, fixed wireless broadband, small cell, DAS and industrial DC power markets. ICT N+1 redundant, hot-swappable DC power systems, voltage converters, battery chargers, power inverters, DC UPS backup systems, and Ethernet-enabled intelligent power supplies and DC power distribution panels are used in wireless communications and industrial power sites around the world.

Why should you choose a DC power product from ICT?

Remote Monitoring & Control

One of the most important reasons to choose a DC power product from ICT is the ability to remotely monitor the power status of your site as well as each individual connected load via Ethernet.

ICT technology allows you to receive email alarms from your site(s) and in many cases, a problem can be resolved by simply power cycling the affected device(s) until a maintenance visit is scheduled. Suitable for wireless ISPs, ICT rectifiers can provide up to 5,600 Watts of power and can handle multiple 12, 24 and/or +/-48VDC devices.

Some ICT products have the ability to maintain Ethernet connectivity even during power outages. For example, the Modular Power series can still operate as well as provide system and alarm statuses via the Ethernet connection, even on back-up power.

The ICT-IPS-BMM-LDM is an excellent example of a power system that offers remote power cycling.