A Measurement of Commercial Outdoor Private Network Deployment in Refinery Industry

Ensuring robust wireless coverage in a refinery's outdoor facilities poses a significant challenge due to the metal and pipe-heavy environment hindering wireless signal transmission. The difficulty arises from the need for numerous Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) to cover the expansive facility and the associated installation costs, switches, and cabling infrastructure. Traditional Wi-Fi deployment is further complicated by the unlicensed spectrum, leading to contention and collisions that impact the reliability of mission-critical applications on the network. While public cellular networks are an alternative, their limited proximity to refinery regions creates challenges. However, these Mobile Network Operator (MNO) deployments are often far from the refinery, and the base stations struggle to penetrate (if the frequency is not in low and mid-band) the metal pipes, resulting in unreliable network connections and frequent application disruptions. Our work addresses the challenge of complex environments by deploying a private network using the 3.5 to 3.7 GHz CBRS spectrum within the refinery. We proposed an optimal placement model and validated it with actual measurements. The deployed private network ensures a strong RSRP signal inside metal pipes, allowing employees to move freely and maintain seamless connectivity for their daily activities.