CATV Leakage Detection Flyovers with Pinpointing...

Copyright © 2014 INNOVAERIAL Systems Inc.

CATV Leakage Detection Flyovers with Pinpointing Capability

Cumulative Leakage Index (CLI) – FCC and IC Compliancy

Leakage Detection from Broadcast Analog and Digital Channels without Head End Injection

Geo-Location “Pinpointing” of both Analog and Digital Channel Leakage Sources

Measurements across Full CATV Spectrum (such as at New LTE 700MHz Bands)

Wideband Leakage Measurements (up to 20MHz)

2 Copyright © 2014 INNOVAERIAL Systems Inc.

Flyovers Advantages

Flyovers provide the quickest and the most

efficient way of detecting signal leakage from

the extensive cable network and all at a fraction

of the cost of deploying and operating a ground

leakage patrol scheme (see Comparison Table).

Leakage results are available after a few hours

of flight time for the entire cable system. This is

in contrast to protracted period of weeks or

more provided by the ground vehicles. The

quick turnaround allows a single equipped

airplane to be utilized more often with sufficient

availability to provide measurements across

entire region of cable systems for a medium

sized MSO (1 to 4 million homes). Because of

these time savings and high utilization, the costs

of the flyovers are inherently lower.

Faster results provide better consistency of

measurements, as cable plant condition can

change over longer periods due to ongoing

maintenance and environmental changes. This

helps with accurate assessment of the

effectiveness of the maintenance efforts in

different regions and provides more reliable CLI

measurements (see next page for more

discussion on CLI).

Besides being faster, flyovers also provide better

detection coverage. The airplane can sense

leakages coming from high rise building from its

flying altitude, something that ground vehicles

are less capable to detect, mainly due to the

type of vehicle antennas and equipment

installed.

Advantages over Ground Detection

Ground Airborne

Much Lower Capital and Operating Costs

(compared to the cost of both CPAT deployment and operation for over 7-10 years)

�

Fast Results �

Better Area Coverage �

Proven Method and FCC & Industry Canada CLI Compliant �

Measurements across Full CATV Spectrum �

Leakage Detection from High Rise Buildings �

Leakages Pinpointing in 3 Dimensions �

Hassle Free Operation

(no intervention required to the Head End operations)

� �

Leakage & Hotspots Reports � �


The flyovers’ intrinsic advantages are further

improved with the advanced leakage detection

technology developed by INNOVAERIAL

Systems. Our advanced flyovers can pinpoint

leakage locations accurately and not just detect

typical hot spot regions as traditionally done

with the flyovers. Moreover measurements can

be done on any analog or digital broadcast

channels at any frequency within the CATV

downstream spectrum, without requiring

injection at the Head End. These advanced

capabilities will be discussed in detail in the next

sections.

Figure 1 - Typical CLIa Flight Grid

Cumulative Leakage Index Testing

– Airborne (CLIa)

Our flyovers can test cable plant’s Cumulative

Leakage Index (CLI) compliance per FCC (Title 47

Section 76.611) and Industry Canada (BPR-8

Section 5.4) rules. CLI testing is required for all

cable operators utilizing channels (A-1, A-2, EE,

FF) in aeronautical frequencies and is specified

as “CLIa” by the regulators (the added “a”

stands for aerial method). It is conducted by the

airplane flying a grid pattern over a cable plant

system at 450 meters above ground (~1,500ft

AGL) while making leakage measurements from

any CW frequency in the aeronautical band.

Typical flight pattern over a cable system is

shown in Figure 1. Note how leakage intensity

drops over unpopulated areas as shown by the

green colors, while higher intensities are shown

in orange and red.

CLIa testing is advantageous over equivalent

CLIg method (“g” stands for ground) due to

faster results and inherently lower costs of the

flyovers. It takes on average of two to four

hours of flying time to get CLIa compliance

results for the entire cable system, as opposed

to protracted period of weeks or more driven by

CLIg test vehicles.

The faster CLIa results ensure consistency of

measurements that is lost by the ground

method, as cable conditions can change over

longer periods. For this reason CLIa are better

for keeping track of CLI compliance efforts.

Our testing is fully compliant with FCC and

Industry Canada required specifications, unlike

our competitors. The airborne equipment and

antenna are properly calibrated at 450 meters

above ground (~1,500ft AGL) utilizing specialized

ground antenna as stipulated by the rules. This

calibration method ensures more accurate and

reliable results than ground calibration as it is

less affected by obstacles and is in the far-field

of the antennas.

Leakage Pinpointing

Our advanced flyovers are capable of three

dimensional pinpointing of leakage locations.

Unique to the market, this new capability saves


time and costs for leakage detection crews in

searching for the actual source.

A typical pinpointing area is shown on Figure 2

with the ability to distinguish separate leaks in

proximity to each other with the resolution of

about 200 meters. Under certain conditions

even better accuracy (smaller area) can be

achieved.

Figure 2 - Typical Pinpointing Area

Additionally, the system provides MSL elevation

of the leaks that if superimposed in Google

Earth maps can indicate if the leak is radiating

from a high rise building or from a hill.

Digital Channels Leakage

Pinpointing

Leakage pinpointing by our flyovers can be done

both on broadcast analog and digital channels

without the need to inject or intervene in the

video Head End. The detection is done precisely

on a signal, which can distinguish between

signals of adjacent cable systems in the

overbuilt areas.

The exception to this convenience is when

leakage detection is required in the frequencies

of the narrowcast channels. In this case that

would necessitate re-provisioning and muting of

narrowcast QAMs, in order for us to inject a

simulated broadcast digital channel (or

channels) into the broadcast combiner. In this

scenario our flyovers can be done during

maintenance window to minimize any impact

risks with reduced capacity to one of the

narrowcast services.

Our team is highly experienced with the

narrowcast services platforms (SDV, VOD, and

DOCSIS) and can help with the automation of re-

provisioning of QAMs carrying these services,

which saves time and eliminates errors caused

by the manual process.

Measurements across CATV

Spectrum (such as in the New LTE

700MHz Bands)

Performing leakage detection in the traditional

aeronautical band may not be sufficient to

uncover all cable plant faults, because leakage

intensity varies across frequencies in the CATV

spectrum. The current demand in the industry is

to proof-test cable leakages at several

frequencies that present greatest risks from

outside interference. For instance, the recently

deployed 700MHz LTE cellular bands in North

America are of a particular concern to cable

MSOs because they occupy large bandwidths

and are utilized in proximity to the cable plant

with the potential to impact multiple channels

at the same time.

Our flyover technology offers the most efficient

solution with the capability to perform leakage

detection in any chunk of CATV spectrum.


Wideband Leakage Measurements

Measurements from a single channel will not

reveal the true extent of the problem as

potential ingress sources might have wider

bandwidth than a single CATV channel. Our

system can provide MSOs with leakage

measurements on multiple adjacent channels or

a composite measurement on any choice of

frequency spans (up to 20MHz). The latter

option, if applied to contiguous span such as an

LTE band, can indicate the true ingress potential

from that specific cellular band.

Work Orders Management Tool

As a means of facilitating our leakage reporting

we have started the development of a work

orders management tool. The goal of the tool is

to aid MSOs in managing work orders for the

repairs of the leakage sources after the flyover

is complete.

The tool will allow management to distribute,

either automatically or manually, work orders

for leakage repairs and monitor any ongoing

repairs. It will also enable field technicians to

view maps and update any assigned work orders

via specially developed smartphone application

(see illustration on Figure 3).

Figure 3

About INNOVAERIAL Systems Inc.

Our company was formed with the objective of

providing a technologically superior, efficient

and more economical electro-magnetic survey

solutions compared to the existing aerial and

ground based methods.

Contact Us

innovaerial.com

+1 855 391 4061

[email protected]

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