TELFORD HOMES – GALLIONS REACH

DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY UHF RADIO SYSTEM

BASELINE SIGNAL LEVEL SURVEY

April 2021

 Copyright Simoco Wireless Solutions 2021

All rights strictly reserved. Reproduction or issue to third parties strictly prohibited without written authority from the proprietor

Rev Date: Prepared By: Checked by Approved by:

I1 26/04/21 J. Hollier Peter Brown Andrew Wheelicker

Signatures:

Simoco Document Reference: 1713-BSS-001

Simoco EMEA Ltd. Field House, Uttoxeter Old Road, Derby DE1 1NH Tel: 01332 375500 +44 (0) 1332 375500 FAX: 01332 375672 +44 (0) 1332375501 http://www.simocogroup.com Registered in England No. 4382515 VAT No. GB 974973750

Telford Homes Development April 2021 Signal Survey

1. Revision Schedule

Rev. REVISION DETAILS Originator Checked By

P1 First preliminary draft issue J. Hollier A Wheelicker

I1 Customer issue following internal review J. Hollier A Wheelicker

Doc: 1713-BSS-001 Rev: I1 Date: 26/04/21

SEMEA File ref: Z:\Projects\VIS\VIS 2020-2021\1713.100000 – Telford Homes DLR Impact Survey

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2. References and Related Documents

TITLE REFERENCE ISSUE

1. Working on Railway Manual DRS2012_DOCLIB_60540 9 Oct 2012 ITU Report Protection Ratios and Minimum 2. Field Strengths Required in the Mobile ITU-R 358.5 Services Empirical Formula for Propagation Loss in IEEE Transactions on VT-29 No 3 3. Land Mobile Services (Hata) Vehicular Technology August 1980

Field Strength and Its Variability in VHF and Review of the Electrical Volume 16 UHF Land Mobile Service (Okumura) Communication Laboratory No. 9-10 4. Sept-Oct 1968

The Mobile Radio Propagation Channel 5. ISBN 0-7273-1316-9 JD Parsons DSc(Eng), FEng, FIEE Radio Communications 6. ISBN 0-582-36908-8 DC Green IEE Electromagnetic Waves series 3 7. Radio Propagation Waves ISBN0-86341-156-8 MPM Hall, LW Barclay ETSI ERM Radio Site Engineering for radio V1.5.1 8. equipment and systems in the mobile ETSI EG 200 053 (2004-06) service.

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3. Contents 1. Revision Schedule ...... 2 2. References and Related Documents ...... 3 3. Contents ...... 4 4. Table of Figures ...... 4 5. Abstract...... 5 6. Distribution ...... 5 7. Abbreviations ...... 6 8. Definitions ...... 7 9. Introduction ...... 8 9.1 The Current DLR Radio System ...... 8 9.2 DLR Design Specification ...... 10 10. Developers Overview ...... 11 10.1 The Development...... 11 11. Survey Overview ...... 12 11.1 DLR Channels ...... 12 12. Survey Methodology ...... 13 13. Survey Summary ...... 13 14. Survey Data Key ...... 14 14.1 Survey Data Plots...... 15 15. Survey Graphs ...... 18 15.1 Analysis of Signal Level Graphs ...... 20 16. Conclusions and Recommendations ...... 20 17. DLR Radio System Layout ...... 21 18. DLR Remote Radio Sites ...... 22 19. DLR Remote Radio Site Grid Reference ...... 23

4. Table of Figures Figure 1 DLR Network ...... 8 Figure 2 Aerial View Showing Site and Gallions Reach Station ...... 9 Figure 3 Gallions Quarter Phase 2B Development and DLR Route ...... 10 Figure 4 Phase 2B Site from LRV near Gallions Reach DLR station...... 11 Figure 5 Gallions Quarter Phase 2A...... 11 Figure 6 Gallions Quarter Site Plans...... 12 Figure 7 Survey Overview from Canning Town to Beckton...... 15 Figure 8 Close up of from Cyprus Running Towards Beckton Depot...... 16 Figure 9 Looking East Showing Gallions Reach DLR Station and the Development Site...... 17 Figure 10 Survey Graph – Canning Town to Beckton ...... 18 Figure 11 Survey Graph – Cyprus to Egar tunnel ...... 19

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5. Abstract There are major development/building works to be carried out near the DLR station at Gallions Reach on Atlantis Avenue which have the potential to affect the radio coverage of the DLR radio system. A survey of current signal levels in the area from Canning Town to Beckton DLR Stations was commissioned by Telford Homes to provide a base line RF level Survey to allow the impact of building works to be assessed as the development works are carried out. This document details the results of the survey carried out in April 2021.

6. Distribution Recorded copies of this document are maintained and updated in accordance with Simoco procedures for document control.

Non recorded copies of this document are not subject to the change control procedure and therefore reflect the status of the document ONLY at the date of issue.

Recorded copies of this document are issued to the following companies / persons:

Simoco Wireless Solutions: Project file Telford Homes: Shawn Nudd

Forward distribution of this document by third parties will be under a third party distribution control procedure subject to the restrictions imposed by the copyright notice below.

© SIMOCO Wireless Solutions 2021 All rights strictly reserved. Reproduction or issue to third parties strictly prohibited without written authority from the proprietor.

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7. Abbreviations

BCC Becton Control Centre CGLR City of Greenwich and Lewisham Railway CTCSS Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System DLR Docklands Light Railway ERP Effective Radiated Power FM Frequency Modulation ITU International Telecommunication Union LRV Light Rail Vehicle LUL London Underground Limited MOU Master Optical Unit OFR On Frequency Repeater PAR Poplar Archive Room PCC Poplar Control Centre POD Poplar Depot RBS Radio Base Station RF Radio Frequency RFoF RF over Fibre RSSI Receiver Signal Strength Indication RX Receiver SINAD Signal Including Noise And Distortion SOU Slave Optical Unit TfL Transport for London TX Transmitter UHF Ultra High Frequency

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8. Definitions The following terms are used throughout this document:

Radio Communications The term radio communications includes systems for UHF FM analogue modulation, Digital C4FM digital modulation and digital systems to the TETRA standard as used by the Airwave/LUL Connect and for the DLR and franchise areas.

Operational Area The operational area defines the area over which the radio system is designed to operate and this includes all areas that operations or maintenance staff, the emergency services and the general public (whether authorised or not) may have access to.

This includes but is not limited to all track work, depots, stations, running tunnels, platforms, passageways and corridors plus equipment rooms and train carriages whether in motion or stationary. In general this will also include coverage out to a distance of 50metres from tunnel portals.

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9. Introduction

9.1 The Current DLR Radio System

The UHF radio system currently employed by Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is controlled from the Beckton or Poplar Control Centre providing radio coverage of the stations, in-train operatives, the track, the approach roads and walkways of the complete network using three wide area operational UHF channels. The current radio system is an analogue FM system carrying voice traffic only. A single set of radio base stations is employed with RF over Fibre (RFoF) extension across the system to fill in and enhance coverage where the direct signals from the base stations are inadequate or non-existent due to location (e.g. in running tunnels). There are 24 remote RFoF repeaters used across the system together with a number of Bi Directional Amplifiers and Off Air Repeaters (OFR).

Figure 1 DLR Network

The licensed UHF operating frequencies are

Radio DESCRIPTION Mobile RX MHz Mobile TX MHz CTCSS

Channel (Down Link) (Up Link)

1 Channel 1 ‘SC’ 453.7125 460.2125 151.4Hz

2 Channel 2 ‘SC’ 453.7625 460.2625 151.4Hz

3 Channel 3 ‘SC’ 453.8125 460.3125 151.4Hz

4 Channel 4 ‘SC’ 453.9125 460.4125

Note that channel 4 is not currently in use. There is an additional radio channel in use from Mudchute towards Lewisham, which is used exclusively by CGLR. The main radio base stations are located at the north eastern corner of the DLR Poplar Depot, approximately 5.8km from the DLR route closest to

Doc Ref: 1713-BSS-001 Page 8 Rev: I1 Telford Homes Development April 2021 Signal Survey the Gallions Quarter development. The antennas at Poplar are at a relatively low level which means that the direct radio path is largely obstructed so direct signals are subject to high attenuation and reflections from the high level buildings. The Effective Radiated Power (ERP) from the radio base stations at Poplar is limited by OfCom license at 37dBm ERP. The track bed between Gallions Reach and Cyprus is at a raised level. There is an OFR at EGAR Underpass and remote SOU sites at Beckton Station and Beckton Depot. Another SOU site is located at Cyprus but this does not feed an external antenna. The antenna at Beckton is positioned to face directly along the track. The antenna in Becton Depot faces south-west to cover the Depot entrance. The radiated power from the OFR and SOU antennas at these locations is approximately +30dBm.

Figure 2 Aerial View Showing Site and Gallions Reach Station

Above is an aerial view showing the DLR track between Cyprus, Gallions Reach Stations and the Beckton DLR depot in relation to the proposed building site at Atlantis Avenue.

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9.2 DLR Design Specification

The DLR radio system has been quoted as being originally designed to provide the following performance: Minimum radio signal coverage inside trains within the specified areas was defined as ITU Grade 4 which according to ITU (CCIR) Report 358-5 gives median field strengths of approximately 40dBµV/m for high grade and 30dBµV/m for medium grade. These field strengths when converted to RF power levels at a frequency of 460MHz, give power levels of -88.4dBm and -98.4dBm respectively. The figures in ITU 358-5 were based on a minimum usable receiver input of 0.7µV emf (-116dBm) and assume a hand portable radio antenna (in) efficiency of -6dB.

Using these figures for probability evaluations gives values of margins of signal above the receiver threshold (-116dBm) of 28dB and 18dB respectively. Therefore using fade margins of 28dB and 18dB will give probability results of >99% and 98% respectively.

Simoco EMEA have evaluated the RF levels using the LUL Section 12 station signal level requirements as a baseline which is widely used and have assumed a receiver threshold of -113dBm, to give a median signal level of -93dBm, a margin of 20dB above the receiver threshold. Using this fade margin to evaluate the probability gives a figure of 99% for making and receiving calls. A figure of -113dBm will generally result in a receiver SINAD of 20dB or better, broadly equivalent to the requirements for a grade 4 signal.

Site of Development

Figure 3 Gallions Quarter Phase 2B Development and DLR Route

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10. Developers Overview

10.1 The Development

This development forms Phase 2B of the Gallions Quarter development.

Figure 4 Phase 2B Site from LRV near Gallions Reach DLR station.

It is located to the east of Phase 2A which is currently under construction as seen in the photo below.

Figure 5 Gallions Quarter Phase 2A.

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Figure 6 Gallions Quarter Site Plans.

11. Survey Overview This survey was commissioned by Telford Homes to determine the existing radio system coverage currently operational along the section of DLR track adjacent to Gallions Reach Station. The Phase 2B development is close to this part of the track although it is behind the Phase 2A development which is adjacent to the running track. It would be expected that this new development would have little and presumably less impact than the 2A site.

11.1 DLR Channels

The DLR channels originate at the Poplar Radio Cabin with an RF over Fibre feed from the Poplar Archive Room (PAR) and are fed via optic fibre to an SOU at Beckton Depot. There are three DLR channels in use: Operations, Maintenance and Incident. The survey was conducted using the DLR channel 4 as this has the least operational impact. This channel keyed with a test base station at the Poplar BN Shed location.

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12. Survey Methodology The baseline survey, carried out on the 21st April 2021, records the current signal levels along the DLR track from Canning Town Station to Beckton Station. Only the RF levels from Channel 4 were recorded, but these may be regarded as representative of the coverage also from channels 1, 2 and 3, since all signals are radiated from the same location at Poplar and Beckton. The survey methodology is to measure the carrier level of the service along the whole section of track from Canning Town through to Beckton DLR Stations recording the results to enable signal level charts to be produced.

A portable measuring device was used with a ¼ wave antenna, recording carrier level at 1 second intervals. The equipment used for this survey was the Rohde & Schwarz TSMW test receiver using the ROMES RF Power scanner software connected to a unity gain ¼ wave antenna. The survey was done from an in service LRV with the survey equipment at the front of the train. The signal level data was saved to an external memory device for later manipulation. Waypoints are recorded to enable the location of the recorded signal levels to be determined and marked on the signal level charts.

13. Survey Summary The surveys were done on the Channel 4 downlink (Base TX) at a frequency of 453.9125MHz. The signal level charts show a limit line of -93dBm (37.8dBµV/m) for the DLR analogue UHF services which was the LUL limit for a Section 12 station. A typical receiver threshold is -113dBm for a 20dB SINAD figure so the -93dBm line represents a level 20dB above the threshold point. This may be taken as a probability of calls to be made and received of 99%.

Below is a table of the equipment used in this survey:

Equipment Manufacturer Calibration Status

SRP omnidirectional whip antenna Simoco N/A

TSF2025 Transceiver (R19.11) Simoco N/A

TSMW Receiver s/n 101808 Rohde &Schwarz 02-03-22

ROMES software ver: 4.87 Rohde &Schwarz N/A

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14. Survey Data Key These levels are referenced to the ETSI specification 358-5 as grades of communication; these are of course subjective from one person to another and based on data that is now 30 years old and has never been updated.

Green Grade 4 Noticeable interfering effects

Yellow Grade 3 Annoying interfering effects

Red Grade 2 Unusable speech communications

Survey Data Key A more useable definition in layman’s terms would be the following:

Green Probability of communication 99%

Yellow Probability of communication 90%

Red Probability of communication less than 50%

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14.1 Survey Data Plots.

Figure 7 Survey Overview from Canning Town to Beckton.

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Figure 8 Close up of from Cyprus Running Towards Beckton Depot.

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Figure 9 Looking East Showing Gallions Reach DLR Station and the Development Site.

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15. Survey Graphs

Canning Town to Beckton 21st April 2021 Data Points @1sec intervals

0

1

13 25 37 49 61 73 85 97

109 121 133 145 157 169 181 193 205 217 229 241 253 265 277 289 301 313 325 337 349 361 373 385 397 409 421 433 445 457 469 481 493 505 517 529 541 553 565 577 589 601 613 625

-20

-40

Royal Albert Royal

Canning Town Canning

Prince Regent Prince

Egar Tunnel Egar

station

Royal Victoria Royal

Beckton -

-60 Cyprus

Gallions Reach Gallions

Beckton Park Beckton

Level Level (dBm) Customs House Customs

-80 Lower Lea Sub Lea Lower

-100

-120

Figure 10 Survey Graph – Canning Town to Beckton

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Cyprus to Egar Tunnel 21st April 2021 Data points @1sec intervals

0

1 4 7

10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97

100 103 106 109 112 115 118 121 124 127 130 133 136 139

-20

-40

-60 Cyprus

Egar Tunnel Egar

Gallions Reach Gallions Level Level (dBm) -80

-100

-120

Figure 11 Survey Graph – Cyprus to Egar tunnel

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15.1 Analysis of Signal Level Graphs

On the whole the recorded levels are well above the -93dBm limit line with the obvious exception in the cut and cover section of the running track just to the east of the Cyprus DLR station. The problem with this section of track is known about and is suspected to be due to faulty cable at the Cyprus DLR station. The system was designed so that this section of track has RF power fed via a leaky feeder. It was not designed to give any coverage to the area in question for the purpose of this survey and therefore the issued can be ignored. In any case the problem is expected to be investigated and corrected in the near future.

The sweeping left hand bend just to the south of the Gallions Reach DLR station is the main area of concern and this will be receiving the majority of its RF power from an antenna at the Beckton DLR depot, some 550m away, with some minor contributions from other system antennas. The results show RF levels in the region of -60dBm to -80dBm on the running track closest to the development.

Using the original system design levels of for a grade 4 with 90% probability of communication the signal level is -88dBm and the signal levels are seen on the charts to be above this point.

16. Conclusions and Recommendations The prediction of radio signal level in an urban environment can be an inexact science, the accurate assessment of signals is by carrying out a survey. Many of the prediction methods used are based on experimental data carried out in some cases many years ago: the work of Okumura and as further developed by Hata was carried out in Japan in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. A survey, however, can only measure the existing signals and cannot predict the potential effect on signals as a result of the (as yet un-built) environment. The signal level survey evaluates only the downlink (base TX) signals and assumes that the path from the handheld to the base receiver is reciprocal. The survey does not evaluate the ambient noise levels and these are likely to change depending upon time of day and over weeks or months.

It would appear to be unlikely that the new Gallions Quarter Phase 2B development will have a direct substantial effect on the coverage from Beckton Depot as the distance is fairly small. Any changes are almost certainly going to be due to reflections and multipath effects rather than direct obstruction of the signal as the Phase 2B development is to the east of the DLR track. Previous surveys carried out for other developments show that the signal level is good in the area around Gallions Reach Station.

The close proximity of the buildings to the DLR track may increase the basic ambient RF noise floor in this section of track and this would need to be evaluated when the site is fully occupied. The actual RF levels from the DLR radio system are basically between -30 and -80dBm at this point so any noise from the building would have to be in excess of -6dBr to have a negative effect on the downlink signals received at a hand portable. (Assuming a typical receiver noise floor of -120dBm, noise at -120dBm would degrade the receiver by 3dB, noise at -126dBm would result is degradation of <1dB.)

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17. DLR Radio System Layout

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18. DLR Remote Radio Sites

DLR Remote Radio Sites - Full List

Master Alarm Site Slave Site Comments Site Fibre PAR Abbey Road FCAPC SCADA PAR Bank (SOU) FCPC Radio PAR Beckton FCPC PAR Beckton Depot FCPC Radio PAR Bow Church FCPC Radio PAR Custom House FCPC PAR Cutty Sark +Fire/Station local only (BTP by others) FCPC SCADA PAR Cyprus FCPC Radio PAR Deptford Bridge FCPC SCADA PAR Heron Quays FCPC Radio PAR Island Gardens +Fire/Station local only (BTP by others) FCPC SCADA PAR King George V FCPC SCADA PAR Langdon Park FCPC PAR Lewisham FCPC SCADA Lower Lea

PAR Substation in HV Room FCPC PAR Pontoon Dock FCPC SCADA PAR Pudding Mill Lane FCPC SCADA PAR Royal Albert FCPC Radio PAR Shadwell FCPC Radio PAR Star Lane FCAPC SCADA Stratford SCADA PAR International FCAPC PAR Stratford Regional +Fire local only FCAPC SCADA PAR Woolwich Arsenal +BTP & Fire local and to MOU FCPC SCADA Woolwich Shaft SCADA PAR Substation (SOU) FCPC

Bank MOU +BTP & Fire BAN Royal Mint Street +BTP & Fire via 4 fibres from BAN

WOA North Woolwich Sub BTP & Fire via fibre from WOA FCAPC SCADA Woolwich Shaft SCADA WOA Substation BTP via fibre from WOA FCAPC

OFR only Egar Underpass Radio Westferry Radio Canning Town Out of Service

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DLR Remote Radio Sites - Full List

Master MOU Site Slave Site port Grid Ref Phone Main radio site - POD TQ 38034 80671 4725 Master OFR/MOU - PAR TQ 37927 80604 3909 PAR Star Lane 11 TQ 39157 82110 3309 PAR Abbey Road 12 TQ 39101 83348 3332 PAR Stratford Regional 13 TQ 38639 84267 3336 PAR Stratford International 14 TQ 38130 84858 3352 PAR Pontoon Dock 21 TQ 41196 80105 3512 PAR King George V 22 TQ 43261 80118 3527 PAR Woolwich Shaft Substation 23 TQ 44192 79475 3036 PAR Woolwich Arsenal 24 TQ 43788 78827 3108 PAR Pudding Mill Lane 31 TQ 37842 83496 4720 PAR Shadwell 32 TQ 34978 80985 4710 PAR Royal Albert 33 TQ 42054 80805 5063 PAR Beckton Depot 34 TQ 44220 81313 5173 PAR Bank 41 TQ 32771 81051 3704 PAR Cyprus 42 TQ 43364 80851 5033 PAR Heron Quays 43 TQ 37423 80045 4715 PAR Bow Church 44 TQ 37378 82846 4703 PAR Langdon Park 51 TQ 37908 81420 4611 PAR Lower Lea Substation 52 TQ 39536 81031 3305 PAR Custom House 53 TQ 40761 80915 4843 PAR Beckton 54 TQ 43253 81503 ? PAR Island Gardens 61 TQ 38233 78440 6754 PAR Cutty Sark 62 TQ 38223 77730 6721 PAR Deptford Bridge 63 TQ 37442 76855 6710 PAR Lewisham 64 TQ 38118 75916 6701 Egar Underpass none TQ 43618 81527 5035 Westferry none TQ 37050 80770 ? BAN Royal Mint Street BAN 1 TQ 33995 80840 none WOA North Woolwich Sub - BTP WOA 1 TQ 43535 80118 3032 Woolwich Shaft Substation WOA - BTP+LFB WOA 2 TQ 44183 79478 3036

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