The Dynamic Walking PBF feature is an enhancement over the walking PBF feature (which was introduced in Release 1.4) to facilitate more frequent updates compared to the previously supported Scheduled Beam Adjust feature.
The Dynamic Walking PBF feature is intended for deployments where very slow mobility is expected or where the optimal Line of Sight may vary at a slow rate. The figure below illustrates how the feature functions. It depicts a typical scan range of the beamforming RF tile, with each cell representing the beam coverage for a specific beam selection.
When enabled, the Dynamic Walking PBF feature iteratively refines the beams at a user-defined rate. During each iteration, the radio’s current beam and its six surrounding beams are evaluated for the best link quality, and the optimal beam is selected. This allows the beam to dynamically traverse across the entire scan range, albeit at a slow rate.
Benefits
The key benefits of enabling Dynamic Walking PBF are:
- Connectivity of very slow-moving targets, such as connecting cranes at a container terminal or floating platforms on seabed where the radio height changes with the tide.
- Improved performance: Iteratively searching for the best beam ensures that the link remains on the best possible beam to achieve the best signal-to-noise ratio. When interference affects a particular direction, selecting an adjacent beam may create a null in the true line-of-sight direction experiencing interference, at the cost of 1 to 2 dB of desensitization.
- Recovery from severe weather conditions: When a link drops due to snow, ice, or rain and subsequently recovers, the beams may reconnect on a suboptimal beam since the radio will link up at the first opportunity. Dynamic Walking PBF enables the beams to iteratively refine themselves as weather conditions improve, ensuring the connection remains on the best beam.
Note: Scheduled PBF is orchestrated by the E2E controller for the entire network, with scans issued as a single refinement at larger intervals, such as every four hours. The refinement of beams is centered on the IBF beams established during initial beamforming. The scheduled beam refinement is designed to operate on a large, fixed network.
In contrast, the Dynamic Walking PBF feature is designed to operate independently of the E2E controller. This feature works best in smaller networks, such as PTP, PMP, or distributed networks with a very small number of hops, and in scenarios with slow mobility or changing RF conditions. The beam refinement is based on the current beam the radio is operating and will iteratively improve on it.
Enabling Dynamic Walking PBF
You can enable the Dynamic Walking PBF feature through the Advanced page in the device UI or the cnMaestro UI.
Note: Before enabling the Dynamic Walking PBF feature, ensure that the Scheduled PBF feature is disabled on the Configuration > Network > Radio page.
Device UI
Using the device UI, complete the following steps:
- Go to the Configuration > Network > Advanced page of the device UI.
- In the search box, type configPbfInterval.
You can view the following radio and link parameters:- radioParamsBase.fwParams.configPbfInterval and
- linkParamsBase.fwParams.configPbfInterval.
- Set the value of these two parameters (radio and link) to the required interval (in seconds) by using the edit icon in the corresponding row, respectively.
The default value of these parameters is 0 (disabled) and the minimum interval is 2 seconds (most dynamic value). The maximum value is 120 seconds.
- Click Submit to save the changes.
cnMaestro UI
Using the Monitor and Manage > Networks > Configuration > Advanced page in the cnMaestro UI, you can search for configPbfInterval and set the value of radio and link parameters to the required interval (in seconds).
The default value of these parameters is 0 (disabled) and the minimum interval is 2 seconds (most dynamic value). The maximum value is 120 seconds.
Note: cnMaestro 5.2.0 and later versions support the UI controls for configuring the Dynamic Walking PBF feature.
