Rostock Airport - Case Study

With its strategic location in northern Germany, 1 million passengers per annum capacity, Rostock Airport serves both tourists and business travellers visiting the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Baltic Sea recreational area.

The airport handled over 250,000 passengers on more than 14,300 flights in 2016. In addition to its passenger services, Rostock Airport is also an important regional hub for cargo distribution.

The airport has a permit to operate 24 hours a day, which allows cargo and transport aircraft, up to a Boeing 747, to take off and land around the clock in any weather. July 2017 proved to be a record month with 54,533 passengers flying from the airport.

To ensure their operations' critical radio communications system could cope with further growth and expansion, Flughafen GmbH, the airport operator, recently replaced its analogue radio system used in passenger management and aircraft control on the apron with a state-of-the-art KENWOOD DMR digital system.

Two talk groups for passenger and aircraft management

According to Bernd Lepschinski, the person responsible for IT and Systems at the airport, the system and TK-D340 portable DMR radios are configured to provide two talk groups under normal operating conditions.

The first talk group is allocated to Airport Services, including check-in, boarding and all aspects of passenger management; while the second is for Ground Handling Services, including refuelling, fresh water supplies, aircraft cleaning and catering – everything required for an efficient turnaround.

Eight of the mobile radios are configured to monitor either of the two talk groups. This allows appropriate users to listen to the two main talk groups and participate as required. “During normal operation, the two talk groups are coordinated by a dispatcher equipped with a base station”, explains Mr Lepschinski.

 

Regional dealers provide the know-how across the country. JVCKENWOOD Deutschland GmbH is based in the Rhein-Main area close to Frankfurt, where it maintains a close working relationship with its network of resellers and expert partners that serve end-users and customers throughout Germany.

Frank Seibert, Managing Director of Mobilfunkcenter Rostock, was the regional partner for JVCKENWOOD on this important project. Mr Seibert designed and commissioned the radio system using KENWOOD DMR equipment.

In addition to detailing the technical specifications, installation and commissioning of the system, Mobilfunkcenter Rostock also advised the customer’s team on how to deploy and reprogram the DMR radios to ensure 24/7 system availability.

DMR Tier II Digital Conventional

KENWOOD’s DMR range of hand portable, mobile radios and repeaters are fully compliant with ETSI TS 102 361 standard for radios operating in DMR Tier II digital conventional mode.

The standard covers conventional and repeater applications of the spectrum-efficient, two-slot 12.5 kHz TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) method employed in the DMR protocol.

The TDMA method allows both talk groups to be operated on a single 12.5 kHz channel. Among the other benefits, the new KENWOOD DMR system at the airport has also significantly increased coverage when compared to the analogue system.

KENWOOD durability and sound quality Optimised for Data

The harsh operating environment of an airport can pose real challenges to equipment in use, requiring radio devices to be rugged, reliable, and able to withstand all weather conditions. The KENWOOD TK-D340 hand-portable radios used in this project meet the MIL-STD C/D/E/F and G standards and are IP54/55 rated against dust and water ingress.

“Given the ambient noise levels in the terminal building and on the apron, the audio quality of the radios really is excellent; a virtue of KENWOOD DMR noise cancelling technology that is greatly appreciated and valued by the customer“ explains Mr Seibert, adding: “The system is also easily scalable in terms of number of radio subscribers and additional functionality”.