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Exploring the Future of Telecommunications Energy

The Asia Pacific region is now recognized as one of the most dynamic telecommunications markets. The proliferation of engineering challenges in the telecommunications, computing and entertainment industries combined with the rapid rate of change driven largely by economic expansion and regulatory pressures has resulted in producing an exciting and stimulating era.

INTELEC '97 the International Telecommunications Energy Conference is the embodiment of that enthusiasm and energy. INTELEC '97 will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 19 October until 23 October. Among the program highlights will be a paper from Dr. Dennis Flood of the NASA Lewis Research Centre who will describe the effects of the growth in telecommunications traffic on powering communications satellites. This has required the development of higher efficiency solar power modules.

Eighty-eight technical papers will be presented verbally and thirty-six will be prepared for poster presentation. The technical program is structured into three categories - energy storage, energy conversion and energy systems.

Papers in the storage category will explore recent advances and trials of flywheel technology as an emerging competitor to traditional lead acid battery storage technology used in telcos. The development of the Lithium Polymer battery, which promises significant improvement over other Lithium based batteries, is another topical paper to be broached.

In the conversion category, there are a number of papers reporting the efforts and challenges involved with improving reliability and efficiency for better modelling and control of circuit operation. New ideas about how to approach electrical protection (fusing) by using techniques such as polymer-based current limiting devices and not employing circuit breakers will also be discussed.

In the area of energy systems, topics include methods of powering large scale HFC networks and the newer fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) infrastructure.

One particularly topical paper looks at the human health effects of exposure to low frequency magnetic fields which may emanate from telecommunications power conversion equipment.

Delegates at INTELEC '97 will also hear about recent developments in the Vanadium Redox battery. This is an Australian invention developed by the University of NSW under Professor Maria Skylass-Kazacas which is touted as a potential replacement for standby diesel plants in telecommunications applications. It represents a significant step in the push towards environmentally sound energy sources and systems.

INTELEC '97 will host three timely forums of particular relevance to the telecommunications energy industry. The VRLA battery is still proving to be most troublesome to operators and users, particularly when that promised service life is rarely achieved. A forum will workshop the associated issues and help identify pathways for users to gain more confidence in how they use VRLA batteries in their applications and networks.

Access network powering architecture will be addressed when the merits of both distributed power and centralized power will be discussed. Each of the new and emerging access network technologies cable, fibre, wireless, ADSL have their own specific powering requirements and problems.

The Network Power Management Forum (NPMF) is a specific body within the industry established to promote cooperation between users and manufacturers in developing global standardization of network power management systems. This will be the first public forum/workshop offered by this group and will allow the setting of directions and the identification of the important technical elements to be included in the development of interoperable interfaces for network power management.

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