Communications Enclosure

Protecting Critical Communications across the World

In an overseas environment, protecting communications infrastructure and equipment is a critical task. EKFox was tasked with developing a secure and reliable critical communications enclosure for deployment in a harsh overseas location. The project was completed and installed in August of 2011 and required a creative, custom approach from our engineering team that included multi-disciplinary design, material specification, procurement, fabrication, construction, and overseas installation.

Challenges

This project was unique, and it demonstrated the EKFox team’s versatility and our ability to overcome significant technical challenges. We needed to create a final design to be a turnkey approach to addressing all challenges. These challenges included severe utility power quality problems, harsh environmental conditions, limited available footprint, physical security concerns. and remote monitoring of the unmanned site, just to name a few. Additionally, the project’s success hinged on the perfect execution of a plug-and-play style installation with a very tight schedule at a site on the other side of the globe.

Our Problem-Solving Approach

An evaluation of the electrical power available to the build site revealed daily brownouts and outages ranging from minutes to hours. Our team decided to utilize a redundant backup and emergency power system, consisting of a fully rated standby generator and parallel uninteruptible power supplies (UPS), to condition the power and provide backup power seamlessly when needed. Extreme temperatures, often reaching 120℉ or higher, drove our decision to design a fully redundant HVAC system. A custom remote monitoring and controls package was developed in-house, fabricated, and installed to alert personnel of any problems the instant they occur. Also, to ensure the physical security of the communications enclosure, the exterior structure for equipment was constructed from double-layer steel plate. Also, all personnel access and equipment ventilation was fabricated to maintain a fifteen minute forced entry ballistic resistant (FEBR) rating.

EKFox performed the majority of the construction and testing of this communications enclosure locally at our fabrication and testing facility prior to being shipped to its final location overseas. Our field team of engineers and technicians transported the enclosure to the build site and completed the final installation for the customer. To this day, the communications enclosure remains a foundational piece of the customer’s secure and reliable communications infrastructure.