Tài liệu Recabling of Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport far from plain docx

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nformation and control are of the utmost importance when
moving millions of people and billions of dollars in air-
planes and cargo. So it was no surprise when the Greater
Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) began planning major
changes to Lester B. Pearson International Airport, named af-
ter the former prime minister. The airport is Canada’s busiest
and among the top 25 in the world, which is another reason
communications was a top priority.
A critical contribution to the growth and vitality of Ontario’s
capital city, the airport was previously operated by the Canadian
Government and was recently leased to the GTAA. Facing the
task of increasing passenger traffic and revenue, the GTAA be-
gan a comprehensive, 15-year Airport Redevelopment Program
in 1997, addressing all aspects of the airport infrastructure. The
extensive reconstruction of existing facilities at new locations
could have placed existing communications facilities at risk, so
it was deemed an ideal time to redesign and rebuild the com-
munications infrastructure as part of the project.
One of the first phases of the project included moving from
the existing administration building in preparation for the de-
molition of one terminal and the construction of a new one.
The GTAA administration building, a primary communica-
tions center for the entire airport complex, was relocated 3 kilo-
meters away from its original location to make room for a new
parking area. This relocation called for rerouting a great deal of
optical-fiber and copper cabling, supporting a complex of data
systems, security systems, cameras, and radar display feeds—all
vital to daily airport operations.
Fresh start
The existing communications facilities had been installed over a

17-year period to serve a variety of needs. Paul Midgley, one of
the project managers for the renovation, described the existing
facilities as “a mishmash of standards, very inconsistent, and not
as well-documented as we would have liked.” Some of the in-
stallations, he adds, included panels with no labeling and fiber-
to-fiber connections with no panels at all. “We saw it as an op-
portunity to upgrade the entire network and set standards and
procedures for the future,” Midgley says.
Issues of reliability and security figured heavily in the new de-
sign of the revamped network. There had been no serious secu-
rity problems, but due to the nature of airline travel, security is
always a top priority. There had not been an unusual number of
failures, but the lack of standardization and documentation
could slow response to potential network crashes. Chris Lang-
ley and Dave Sage, both electronic-system technologists, agreed
that the job facing them would be unique.
At the heart of the project was a 3-km duct bank running
from the new administration center to Terminal 2. The duct
bank consisted of six 4-inch ducts, reinforced with steel and en-
installation
The Toronto skyline appears dwarfed by Lester B. Pearson Interna-
tional Airport, which is Canada’s busiest airport and among the top
25 in the world.
Sandra McWilliams / ADC Telecommunications
Reliability and security
figure heavily in the new
design of the revamped
network.
Recabling of Lester B. Pearson
Int’l Airport far from plain

Reprinted from the September 1999 edition of CABLING INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE
Copyright 1999 by PennWell
cased in concrete. Access was gained through a series of secure
maintenance holes. From Terminal 2, the network splits to car-
ry traffic to both Terminal 1 and the airport’s power plant.
Concern with security and reliability of the new cabling
was perfectly natural, since much of the traffic on the new
lines is specifically security-oriented. The network supports a
number of security cameras that will ultimately exceed 500 in
three terminals. The cameras range from fixed devices for
door control to panning rooftop cameras for real-time sur-
veillance. The network also powers fire alarms, card-access
systems, and other security devices. Other applications in-
clude “apron-control” radar display systems and the PC local
area network between buildings.
The high priority of these critical issues can be seen through-
out the system, in what Sage describes as “an equipment-in-
cabinet philosophy. Many areas are accessible to airport person-
nel,” he says. “It’s the kind of equipment that is normally
protected by its location in a locked equipment room. Since we
didn’t have that option, we provided security with lockable cabi-
nets.” In addition, Sage says much of the equipment is located
in heating- and cooling-pipe tunnels. “You never know when a
pipe could burst and damage equipment in an open rack,” he
says. “The waterproof cabinets provide protection against po-
tential leakage.”
At fiber entry points, the team specified secure termination/
splice enclosures. In all four buildings—Terminals 1 and 2, the
new administration building, and the power plant—the 23-
inch FL2000 series equipment from ADC Telecommunica-

tions is installed in dust-proof, waterproof, and lockable envi-
ronmental cabinets. The 23-inch format was something new,
according to Midgley. “We were accustomed to using smaller
19-inch racks,” he says. “But the 23-inch racks give us space for
the cable management we use to manage our patch cables.”
The decision to go with ADC was made after a recommen-
dation from a consultant to the airport’s IT department. “We
took a look at ADC’s solutions and liked their compactness, ca-
ble management, and overall efficiency,” Sage says. “They had
all the necessary approvals and certifications, so it was a very
easy decision.”
Planning the installation, on the other hand, was not so easy.
Despite the scope of the project, shutting down or curtailing
even small segments of the airport’s operation was not an op-
tion. Instead, new facilities were installed parallel to the existing
ones. Cutovers were generally done at night with, at most, a
few seconds of interruption of service. Once the cutover was
done, the old facilities were removed. Every step of the opera-
tion had to be meticulously planned and carried out.
The planning process covered everything from the kilome-
ters-long cable runs to rack layouts to the parts numbers of
individual components. “We weren’t just looking to move,”
says Langley. “We wanted to upgrade everything about our
installations. This airport project is going to continue for
years, and we won’t have time to go back and redo things.
We’re setting standards and procedures now that will be in
place for years to come.”
After all the planning, the actual implementation was almost
too easy, according to Langley. It did, however, take contractors
a little time to get used to the new systems. The cable manage-

ment, he explains, is very specific in how it works and where
things go, which fit well with the emphasis on standardization.
“Now,” Langley says, “every patch cable is properly dressed.
They run up racks, not through them. They are all the same
length, with built-in cable-management systems taking up the
slack. You can find things when you need them. Once the con-
tractors got the hang of it, they could use the initial installations
to train installers for the subsequent installs to make sure we got
exactly what we wanted.”
ADC Telecommunications’ FL2000 Fiber-optic Management System
is used in Pearson Airport’s main computer room to run video-
surveillance systems.
The fiber
distribution center
for the airport is
located in an
underground
tunnel.
Directional-boring system
Langley admits there were a few problems that couldn’t possibly
have been foreseen. To avoid having to excavate a long cable
run through a hill, one contractor brought in a remote-con-
trolled directional-boring system. “It had to dig down, run hor-
izontally, and drill back to the surface,” he recalls. “I asked how
a pipe that is 18 inches in diameter and 250 feet long could be
supported simply by welds, and what would happen if it broke
during installation.”
Langley was assured that the welds would be as strong as the
pipe, and that it wouldn’t break. “It broke,” he adds. “They end-
ed up having to dig up the hill with a power shovel to mend the

broken weld. The other problem occurred during the boring
process, when a directional cutting head broke.”
There were also some minor but nevertheless unexpected sit-
uations that required creative solutions. Despite the emphasis
on fiber, the project did involve some copper.
Because some of the older control systems could not be
made compatible with fiber, they ordered 2.5 km of 19-gauge,
100-pair copper on a single, 9-foot-tall reel. “We intended to
pull it as a single unbroken run until we discovered that it was
so stiff that it couldn’t make the necessary bend when being
pulled back into one of our maintenance holes,” he adds. “We
ended up cutting it and splicing all 100 pairs inside the main-
tenance holes.”
The time spent in planning paid off handsomely. Aside from
the few surprises, there was only one instance in which a facility
was not ready for a scheduled cutover, although Langley was
ready and waiting with the cable. That aside, the entire project
ran right on schedule. “We would split staff between the exist-
ing system in the original location and the replacement system
in the new location,” he says.
Changes in old procedures
ADC recommended some changes in old procedures, and
Midgley says those suggestions made a big difference. “We had
always used site-prepared connectors. They suggested that we
use factory-installed connectors instead,” he says. “The way we
were doing it, we lost 0.5 decibel at each connector. Factory
connectorization reduced the loss significantly.”
Midgley explains that the savings over a number of connec-
tors added up, and the higher loss budget allowed them to reuse
a lot of their existing video-transmission equipment. “If we had

installed our own connectors, the accumulated loss would have
forced us to buy all new video equipment.”
With those accomplishments under their belts, Sage says the
overall airport fiber and copper-backbone project is about one-
quarter to one-third completed. “Before we’re finished, we’ll be
running another 4 km of duct bank so when we’re done, the
overall installation will be a ring,” he says. “We’ll be serving five
more facilities, including the central workshops, a de-icing facili-
ty, the new west communications hub, and the new control tow-
er.” In all, Sage says there will be 288 multimode and 144 single-
mode fibers, with smaller runs branching off. “And, of course,
there will be a lot more equipment in the administration build-
ing,” he adds. “It’s going to take five to 10 years to complete.”
This first phase of the project creates a partial fiber and copper
ring, which now reaches about halfway around the airport. The
next phase will continue with the ring linking additional build-
ings through a large, secondary communications facility. The
next two phases will complete the ring encircling the airport and
connect six new buildings currently under construction.
The overall sentiment after the one-and-a-half-month pro-
ject, Sage says, is that recabling Pearson Airport has been very
clean. “We can’t help but be impressed with the way it all fits
together. It’s very easy to expand by simply adding panels, and
we have several options as we grow and change,” he adds. “It
was the planning that made it go so smoothly. It’s all there:
every nut and bolt and every cable tie. With years of this still to
come, I can actually say I’m looking forward to it.”
Sandra McWilliams is the fiber-cable-management program man-
ager for ADC Telecommunications (Minneapolis, MN).
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