Raymond James Stadium

Tampa, Florida

 
Raymond James _Stadium.jpg

Connecting fans at Super Bowl LV in the Raymond James Stadium and delivering a world-class communication experience across a converged fiber network.

Raymond James Stadium, also known by the nickname "Ray Jay", is a multi-purpose stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) as well as the NCAA's South Florida Bulls football team. The stadium seats 65,618, which can be expanded to about 75,000 for special events with the addition of temporary seating. Opened in 1998, it is known for the replica pirate ship located behind the stands in the north end zone.

M-Communications worked directly for a major Carrier to build out their new

Head End for the 2021 Superbowl LV.

Scope of Work

  • New major Carrier head-end build out for stadium and external sectors, including Civil Construction.

  • Installation of 5G mmWave and FirstNet equipment.

  • Construct and connect major Carrier signal to the new Neutral Host DAS.

  • Highlights of the new system: New major Carrier-only equipment shelter with FM200 protection and 5 x 22ton HVAC units, add 5G mmWave & FirstNet coverage inside and outside the stadium, new baseband units and radios, Voltserver upgrade.

  • Completed February 2021.

Civil Construction :

  • 480VAC electrical service to stepdown transformer, 480/208/120VAC Service to five (5) service panels

  • Generac SD500 500KW (625KVA) transformer

  • Six (6) x 22 ton CRAC units with associated CU’s

  • FM200 fire suppression system to include hydrogen sensor and automatic closure exhaust dampers

  • Installation of four (4) Vertiv 7100 power plants to support DC power distribution to shelter hardware

    • Installation of eight (8) 1000AH battery plants to support uninterrupted power to shelter hardware

BTS/DAS support infrastructure construction :

  • Design and installation of two-tier ladder rack system for cable and fiber management

  • Installation of h-frame system to support the installation of two-hundred seventeen RRU’s

  • Installation of relay racks to support the installation of Transport and RAN hardware to include (Had to modify original design provided by VTDG to accommodate actual numbers and layout)

    • Fourteen (14) Cisco 5501 Dual UNI SIADs

    • One hundred thirty-six (136) Ericsson 6630 baseband units

    • Four (4) Ericsson 6675 ERAN Routers

  • Field planning for the routing and installation of 1260 lines for connection from RRU’s to NH iDAS/oDAS

  • Field planning for the routing and installation of 446 fiber connections

Fiber network design and implementation:

Dedicated 864 strand backbone from new shelter to legacy shelter to support:

  • Thirty-two (32) 5G mmW nodes

  • Backhaul rehome of thirty-two LTE nodes

  • ERAN fronthaul extension

  • Dedicated 288 strand backbone from new shelter to ATT Global Video to support LNS needs

  • 288 strand interconnect to support west stadium installations

  • Two, 96 strand interconnects to support relocation of twelve (12) Macro baseband units from 600 level to legacy shelter, these units support sixty (60) RRU’s providing B2/B5/B14(FN)/B17/B30 across twelve sectors

  • Thirty-two (32) 24 strand interconnects to support installation of Ericsson 5331 5G mmW B260 radios

DC Power feed

  • Forty (40) dedicated multi-conductor runs to support power transmission

  • Installation and termination of one hundred thirty-four (134) Voltserver RX548 receivers

  • Installation and termination of thirty-four (34) Voltserver PTX500 transmission shelves

5G mmW Installation

  • Thirty-two DC powered Ericsson 5331 AIR Radios

  • Forty-two AC powered Ericsson 5331 AIR Radios

FirstNet Installation

  • Twenty (20) Ericsson B14 2203 radios

  • Twelve (12) Ericsson B14 4478 radios supported by four (4) CCI dual sector, RET antennas, and four (4) CCI single sector antennas

Existing iDAS/Macro modification

  • Relocate twelve (12) DUS41 baseband units from 600 level to legacy shelter and upgrade to 6630 baseband units

  • Decommission nine (9) Ericsson 6201 cabinets

  • Densify 6201 cabinets from two (2) baseband units to four (4) baseband units per cabinet

    • Harvest all band 2 and 5 radios from cabinets

    • Reallocate B17 radios to allow for 20 sectors of MIMO coverage

  • Decommission existing MA1K/2K iDAS

  • Upgrade two (2) existing Emerson 712 power plants to one (1) Vertiv 7100 power plant

  • Decommission twenty (20) 155AH battery strings and replace with ten (10) 190AH battery strings