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Connectivity for the Tribal Gaming Industry

When a large tribal nation looked to invest in upgrading their network, they deliberately searched for a telecommunications engineering innovator. And that is exactly what they found in M S Benbow. Applying vast experience connecting large public venues and deploying the latest digital technologies for tech-savvy consumers, MSB brought their A-game.

MSB designed and executed a massive wireless network expansion with a combined Wi-Fi capacity of more than 130,000 users at the three casinos. Building on its relationships from previous marque entertainment complex projects, MSB partnered with Tier 1 technology company Aruba, a partner that has deployed high-density wireless networks and wayfinding systems for leading-edge facilities such as Chase Center, Vivint Smart Home Arena, and Saratoga Racecourse. Better still, this new state-of-the-art infrastructure project delivered on all three of the Choctaw Nation’s desired outcomes: quality, cost, and performance.

At the gaming property, MSB designed and deployed a BLE beacon pathway incorporating some 350 beacons throughout the gaming floor, shops and restaurants, as well as adjacent hotel towers. The new wayfinding system now provides guests with seamless location services to navigate the entire resort property and frees up employees’ time by directing customers throughout the sprawling facility.

MSB’s high-performance, high-density wireless network and location services system delivers leading-edge solutions for this tribal nation’s gaming properties, including:

  • High-density Wi-Fi capacity to allow over 130,000 concurrent visitors across three separate properties
  • Wayfinding technology that integrates emerging technologies to leverage Bluetooth architecture and provide location services on the gaming floor and resort towers
  • 1,590 Wi-Fi access points across three facilities, including a 3,000-seat theater

This project provided a unique set of challenges. Namely, all three projects were to be completed in the fast-paced, 24/7 world of casino operations. There was also the not-so-small obstacle of COVID-19 and social-distancing requirements.

The meticulous delivery and utter success of this leading-edge wireless network and BLE system have helped establish an ongoing relationship between MSB and the tribal market. Along these lines, MSB has since been awarded a Wi-Fi network deployment project for the world-class, $500 million expansion of a leading tribal nation gaming facility that will add 1,000 guest rooms, more than doubling the number of rooms in the process. The project also expects to increase the gaming floor by 80%. Upon completion in 2021, this will be the largest casino in the world and its Wi-Fi network will be twice its current capacity with the ability to serve 128,000 guests simultaneously.

Services Provided:

  • RF & Network Design
  • Technology Consulting
  • Wi-Fi Network Design & Engineering
  • Hardware Procurement
  • Project Management
  • Construction Management
  • Beacon Network Integration
  • PCP Server, DNS, and Firewall Configuration
  • Testing, Optimization & Commissioning
  • System Maintenance

 

Broadband Connectivity for Tribal Nations

It can be difficult for rural communities to find doctors and staff to serve their residents. This tribal nation provides housing to attract and retain competent provider staff, however, the residential neighborhood has only spotty satellite internet service. Native families living on remote reservations often rely on community libraries, schools, clinics, and tribal offices as sometimes their only source of a WI-FI signal, and many homes are located miles from the nearest access point.

Their main medical facility is the hub of healthcare services, covering the entire nation. MSB worked with the facility’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) and IT Director to modernize and improve the nation’s existing wireless internet network by leveraging existing telecommunications assets. The nation had built a wireless ISP fiber backhaul at the healthcare center and attempted to provide internet through three communication towers a few miles from the center, but achieved connectivity delivering only approximately 1 MG per second.

MSB focused its solution on adopting the most efficient and cost-effective means of connecting the healthcare provider housing to the hospital’s WISP. MSB assessed the existing communications towers and determined that grounding and power were deficient, and the cabinets suffered frequent failures due to the lack of air conditioning. MSB supported the nation’s grant application to capitalize on available pandemic recovery grant money to fund tower upgrades. The improvements would make the towers more resilient by replacing nodes, grounding and switching, installing air-conditioned cabinets, and an upgraded power supply to the towers. MSB also performed commissioning and startup of the network and will provide ongoing technical support and monitoring to ensure reliable connectivity.

Services Provided:

  • Engineering Assessment & Cost Analysis
  • Value & Consulting Engineering
  • Schedule & Budget Development
  • Grant Application Support
  • Tower Assessment & Upgrades
  • Hardware Research & Selection
  • Network Build & Integration
  • Permitting & Negotiations
  • Construction Management
  • Commissioning & Startup
  • As-Built Documentation
  • Ongoing System Maintenance & Support

Engineering A Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Offloading Terminal

While MSB’s initial task was the design of the instrumentation and control system, our expanded role entailed an assessment of all the vendors’ products and services involved to ensure performance, availability, and safety targets were met while controlling overall project cost.

As a vendor-neutral company, MSB’s scope expanded to help define and implement how some of the vendors’ products would work within the plant’s existing infrastructure. The integrated multi-discipline engineering team assessed the technologies, systems, vendors, process knowledge and greenfield location to deliver the best possible solution along with anticipating future needs. One of the primary challenges was integrating the new system into the existing plant infrastructure to assist plant operators in the offloading process.

MSB’s team of engineers and designers assisted in developing the feasibility study, FEED analysis and cost estimates to evaluate the practicality of the construction. MSB also delivered detailed design, equipment and materials specification, FAT execution, installation/construction support, and start-up and commissioning services.

Greenfield Assessment

M S Benbow carefully assessed the unique benefits of a Greenfield project – the ability to explore state-of-the-art assets, systems, and processes; connectivity and IIoT or smart solutions – all with an emphasis on improving safety and availability. The benefits of a well -defined design cycle helped not only to improve performance but also minimized operator error by automating some processes that typically required operator intervention.

Because the client had never completed a project of a similar nature, M S Benbow helped to evaluate from an operation and maintenance standpoint what the ideal approach would be for the project in its entirety. Within the entire design cycle, M S Benbow approached the project by assessing the ongoing and iterative improvements they could make in the design process to ensure the most successful solution.

Ensuring Safety and Reliability

Offloading, storing, and transporting LPG safely is critical at all stages of production, distribution and consumption. MSB has helped our client for the past 15 years to upgrade the plant’s storage tank instrumentation and controls infrastructure, providing overfill protection and enabling plant operators to assess tank capacity. Utilizing the existing network infrastructure and control parameters in place at the facility, MSB was able to plan effectively for the new demands of offloading vast amounts of product and integrate the newly created designed system seamlessly.

Delivery and Future Plans

To meet the ambitious construction timeline, MSB provided staged design package deliverables while construction was underway. MSB also tapped its team of seasoned engineers midway through the project to re-engineer the LPG railcar skid vendor’s automation controls from a multi-PLC simplex design to a single TMR Fault Tolerant alternative.

Completed in 11 months, the project was successfully delivered on time and within budget.
Whether a new control system installation, expansion or a need to explore technical obsolescence of your existing control system, our experts offer a vision of how your experts offer a vision of how your instrumentation and control systems could evolve and improve in years ahead.