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Chidi Ogechi Joan 15CK02925 EEE

This document is a technical report submitted by Chidi Ogechi Joan, student number 15CK02925, to the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at Covenant University in partial fulfillment of a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Electronics Engineering. The report details Joan's internship experience at Huawei Technologies Nigeria, covering the equipment and facilities available, knowledge gained, contributions made, and challenges encountered. It includes chapters on the internship placement process, an overview of Huawei, contributions to the company, and conclusions and recommendations.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
144 views54 pages

Chidi Ogechi Joan 15CK02925 EEE

This document is a technical report submitted by Chidi Ogechi Joan, student number 15CK02925, to the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at Covenant University in partial fulfillment of a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Electronics Engineering. The report details Joan's internship experience at Huawei Technologies Nigeria, covering the equipment and facilities available, knowledge gained, contributions made, and challenges encountered. It includes chapters on the internship placement process, an overview of Huawei, contributions to the company, and conclusions and recommendations.

Uploaded by

Ub Usoro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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You are on page 1/ 54

CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)

A TECHINCAL REPORT

CHIDI OGECHI JOAN:


(15CK02925)

SUBMITTED TO

THE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING,


COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
COVENANT UNIVERSITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF


ENGINEERING (B.ENG.), ELECTRICAL ELCETRONICS ENGINEERING,

COVENANT UNIVERSITY, OTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

SEPTEMBER, 2019

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

DEDICATION

I dedicate this report to God, for the strength and grace to be able to partake in this internship and
also to my family for their support.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express deep gratitude to God almighty, for making this possible. He has seen me through,
provided, shown me favor and allowed me to learn and serve.

I also appreciate my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chidi Ogbenna, my siblings, Joseph Jemima Jensina
and Jensine Chidi, for the support they gave me during this internship. I am grateful for the
advice, encouragement and time they spent for me.

I grateful to Covenant University for such an opportunity and the SIWES office for helping get
my placement. I thank ITF and NUC for coming up with such a scheme that has been eye
opening for me. I thank my level advisor, Mrs. Sanni and my supervisor, Mrs. Alao, for their
advice.

Lastly I think the staff at Huawei Technologies Nigeria for a beautiful experience. I thank Mrs.
Dorothy and Mrs. Juliet the HR staff who took care of me, Mr. Kenneth and Miss Jennifer those
who enable me to undergo a certification course, Mr. Fan Jin, Mr. Dayo, Mr. Lucky who were
my supervissors and trainers during this internship. I appreciate Mr. Yaya, Mr. Asade, Mr.
Solomon, Mr. Joel, Mrs. doyin, Miss Ozode, Mrs. Oge, Gabriel, Mr. Peter, Mr. Segun, Mr.
Ubong, Mr. Solomon Christian, Kitch, Mr. Ola, Mr. Fred, Mr. Jason who made out time to care
for me and teach me one thing or the other.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

ABSTRACT

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE 9

1.1 Getting Internship Placement 9

1.2 About Huawei Technologies 9

1.3 Letter Submissions…………………………………………………………………...12


1.4 Internship Overview………………………………………………………………….13

CHAPTER TWO 15

2.1 Equipment and facilities available 15

2.2 Quality of supervision……………………………………………………………….32

2.3 Knowledge Gained…………………………………………………………………...33

CHAPTER THREE 39

3.1 Contributions 39

3.1.1 Knowledge Applicability………………………………………………….39

3.1.2 Practical training versus Theoretical knowledge……………………………


40

3.1.3 Organization culture………………………………………………………41

3.2 Challenges……………………………………………………………………………42

3.2.1 Challenges I Encountered


………………………………………………….42

3.2.2 Challenges Faced by Company…………………………………………….45

3.3 Projects I Identified………………………………………………………………….46

CHAPTER FOUR 47
4.1 Conclusion 47
4.2 Recommendation………………………………………………………………………48
RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………………………………….49

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: HUAWEI ORGANOGRAM………………………………………………………......12

Figure 2: IT ACCEPTANCE
LETTER…………………………………………………………..13

Figure 3:FEEDER CONNECTED TO A JUMPER………………………………………….


…..21

Figure 4:THE WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A


RFU……………………………………………..23

Figure 5: A SINGLE RFU


BOARD……………………………………………………………...23

Figure 6: A LABELLED
RFU…………………………………………………………………....24

Figure 7: RRU CONECTION…………………………………………………………………....25

Figure 8: RFU CONNECTION……………………………………………………………….…


25

Figure 9: LABELLING OF BBU SLOTS…………………………………………………….


….29

Figure 10: LABELLING OF BTS CABINET……..…………………………………………….29

Figure 11: MICROWAVE UNIT


………………………………………………………………..30

Figure 12: SITE, SHELTER AND TOWER


SKETCH…………………………………………..34

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

LIST OF PLATES

Plate 1: Huawei Logo………………………………………………………………………….......9

Plate 2: Ren Zhengfei, CEO Huawei……………………………………………………......


……..9

Plate 3: Equipment for companies……………………………………………………….....


…….10

Plate 4: Huawei Consumer electronics………………………………………………………...…


11

Plate 5: Sectorial Antenna………………………………………………………………………..16

Plate 6: Sectorial Antenna mounted on


tower………………………………………………….....16

Plate 7: Sectorial antenna showing the ports…………………………....…………………….


…..18

Plate 8:Pentaband antenna with one pair in use and ret port in use………………………….
…….18

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 9:Dualband antenna all ports in


use………………………………………………………...18

Plate 10:Singleband with all ports in use…………………………………………………………


18

Plate 11:Triband with one port pair in


use………………………………………………………..18

Plate 12:Triband antenna showing frequency range of the


ports………………………………….19

Plate 13:Remote Control Unit……………………………………………………………………19

Plate 14:Smart Bias Tee……………………………………………………………...…………..20

Plate 15:RET
Actuators…………………………………………………………………………..20

Plate 16:Diplexer…………………………………………………………………………………
20

Plate 17:Feeder cables……………………………………………………………………………21

Plate 18:Fiber cables……………………………………………………………………………..21

Plate 19:din to din jumper cable………………………………………………………..…………


21

Plate 20:din to 4.3 jumper


cable………………………………………………………………….21

Plate 21:RFU cabinet with RFU


boards……………………………………………………..........23

Plate 22: RRU and antenna ………………………………………………………………………


24

Plate 23: CPRI connector………………………………………………………………………...24

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 24:Active Antenna Unit …………………………………………………………..………..25

Plate 25: Cell on wheel Site………………………………………………………………………


25

Plate 26:Tower leg on a plinth……………………………………………………………………


25

Plate 27: Empty plinth……………………………………………………………………………


25

Plate 28: Rooftop Tower…………………………………………………………………………


25

Plate 29:Monopole tower ………………………………………………………………………25

Plate 30: Guyed tower…………………………………………………………………………25

Plate 31: 3 legged Self-supporting tower………………………………………………………25

Plate 32:4 legged Self-supporting tower………………………………………………………………25

Plate 33: BBU board…………………………………………………………………………29

Plate 34: DCDU board. ………………………………………………………………………29

Plate 35:Empty BBU board………………………………………………………………………


29

Plate 36:Empty BBU board………………………………………………………………………


29

Plate 37: BTS cabinet ………………………………………………………………………29

Plate 38: Microwave of various sizes on


tower…………………………………………………...31

Plate 39: GPS


…………………………………………………………………………………….32

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 40: Tape rule……………………………………………………………………………….32

Plate 41: Compass……………………………………………………………………………….32

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: RFU board functions……………………………………………………………………24

Table 2: BTS components……………………………………………………………………......28

Table 3: Boards on the BTS………………………………………………………………………


29

Table 4: Boards on the BBU……………………………………………………………………29

Table 5: Tools for survey…………………………………………………………………………


33

Table 6: Technology and its controller…………………………………………………………36

Table 7: RNC interfaces………………………………………………………………………….36

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 GETTING INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT


I collected my SIWES letter on 9 th November 2018 from the SIWES office at Covenant
university. I was also given SCAF form, Logbook and Form 8. Prior to that date I had begun
searching for IT placements both in the country and abroad. On receiving the letter, I sent to
my parents who in turn sent to other prospective places and people who could help. I tried to
contact other companies in school and was able to get a company that agreed to take me once
I came on holiday given that I could meet certain requirements. I still kept searching for
another one.
During one of the papers opportunity to work in various companies was announced and on
13th November I applied for Huawei Technologies Nigeria through the school. I was told that
I will be contacted that this was a sure placement.
I never got the call. As the proposed resumption date 7 th of January drew close, I called
Covenant University and was told to resume with others. Which I did. On my arrival, I met
other interns there and we were signed in, asked to fill some forms given an orientation and
informed on the companies rules and regulations

1.2 ABOUT HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES

Plate 42: Ren Zhengfei, CEO


Huawei

Huawei Technologies is a multinational company


that manufacture and sells telecommunication Plate 43: Huawei Logo
equipment and consumer electronics. It is a chines
company owned by Ren Zhengfei with its

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

headquarters in  Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. The word Huawei means “Chinese


has promise”. The company is the biggest telecommunication vendor and one of the largest
in consumer electronics like smartphones and laptops.

Huawei provides the equipment, installs and gives operation and consulting services needed
by various telecoms companies to provide 3G, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX to consumers. The
company, that is majorly employee owned, puts great importance in Research and
development and being customer centric. The company has around 140,000 employees
working. 46% of the employees are involved in research & development

Huawei core values include:

a. Integrity: Being honest and abiding by their principles


b. Customer centric: Huawei can only exist with customers therefore their customers come
first. Every decision is made to please the customer.
c. Inspired dedication: The company works to bring out the commitment of the workers as
these is the only way to please their customers
d. Perseverance: Maintaining course when the going gets tough, and not losing sight of
strategic objectives, even if short-term obstacles come along.
e. Growth by reflection: employing wisdom accumulated through experience (sharing) and
thinking, positively impacting on the other core values.
f. Openness: Huawei believes in the power of dissolving boundaries and working
together because building the future they plan for requires a joint effort

The major service they provide include:

a. Telecoms equipment for companies. Equipment like antennas routers switches, modems

Plate 44: Equipment for companies

b. Installation and Monitoring of Equipment

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

c. Production and sale of user electronics like laptops phones, tablets, mobile accessories.

Plate 45: Huawei Consumer electronics

d. Huawei Certificate Training for university students on various technology subjects

They have three main types of customers globally:

a. Telecom operators that provide Internet, broadband, wireless, plus fixed and mobile
phone services
b. Enterprises, organizations, institutions, governments & public utilities, as well as
industries: finance, energy, transportation & manufacturing
c. Consumers, who buy our smartphones, smart watches, laptop computers and other
devices

Ren zhengfei was 42 when he founded Huawei technologies. It was founded in 1987 and in
1993 launched its C&C08 program controlled telephone switch.  The main mission of the
company was to provide consulting and operations services to most of the enterprises in
China and outside the country. The company got its first international project in 1997
for a company in Hong Kong. In 2003, Huawei established their handset department and
shipped their first phone in 2004. As of the end of 2018, Huawei sold 200 million
smartphones. From little beginnings the company now has delivered a revenue of CNY

13
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

401.3billion in the first half of 2019 and is in 170 countries in the world employing about
188,000 people.

Huawei came to Nigeria in 1999 and is now the biggest vendor to MTN, Etisalat, Airtel and
Globacom. Its headquarters is at 3 Lekki Road, Victoria Island, Lagos. It has other offices in
Lagos, Asaba, Ibadan, Kano and Abuja. By 2016 Huawei had a 3117employees out of which
675 have full-time employment and the rest are outsourced. Of the 675 staff, 354 are
Nigerians, while 321 are foreigners. Their organization structure can be seen below.

Figure 13: HUAWEI ORGANOGRAM

1.3 LETTER SUBMISSIONS

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

I received my acceptance letter on the 14th of January and was told that there was no need to
send to school as they had already informed the school about our arrival. Nevertheless, I sent
my acceptance to school later on during my internship.
Three weeks later, on 18th January 2019, I went to the ITF office at No. 15 Elsie Femi Pearse
Street, Victoria Island Lagos, to submit my Students Commencement of Attachment Form
(SCAF) after I had filled it and it had been stamped by our HR.
At the end of my internship on 28th June 2019, I headed back to the ITF office for my
Logbook to be graded. This was after my supervisor had completed signing and the HR and
stamped every page.

Figure 14: IT ACCEPTANCE LETTER

1.4 INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW


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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

I was placed in the Technical Site Survey TSS and solution team for the MTN wireless
department on 8th January 2019. Firstly, I was trained on Technical Site Survey for a period
of four months and Spent one month for solution. The last month I was called back to
Technical Site survey as there was a massive work load and they needed all hands on deck.
My supervisors name was Mr. Fan Jin and he allocated to me two tutors Mr. Lucky Enemiku
for Technical Site Survey and Mr. Adeboye Dayo for Solutions. For TSS, I was shown
various equipment that are needed for telecommunication to be possible. I learnt their
versions, types and application. In solution I learnt how to determine what equipment will be
necessary for a particular technology and also how to configure the equipment installed on
site.
I was regularly graded by my tutors and supervisor on my work done.
On 26th June 2019, My school assigned supervisor, Mrs. Alao from the department of
mathematics came to check on my progress and level of knowledge I had gained. She gave
me advice for better work and commented on work done. I also submitted my Form 8 to her
and filled another one she brought.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

CHAPTER TWO

At Huawei Technology I was placed in the wireless department with the Technical Site Survey
and solution team where designing and analysis of telecommunication sites take place. I was to
aid in providing services for one of Huawei’s customers: MTN. My team deals with planning
and designing the equipment that will be deployed in other to meet the network requirements
stated by MTN. This task has two basic steps:

A. Technical survey: This is involves going to the site to identify the equipment already
available, their operational status and performance, the technology already on ground, the
state of the site and other relevant information.
B. Solution: Based on the survey, this step involves deciding based on calculations and other
methods, the equipment, its quantity and version, that will be added or replaced so as to
meet the required output requested by the customer. It also involves indicating the how
and where deployment will occur.

2.1. EQUIPMENTS AND FACILITIES AVAILABLE

Various technology request requires different equipment and proper knowledge of the equipment
and what they are meant for each is very important. The equipment I was exposed to include:

1. Sector antenna:
It is commonly referred to as a RF antenna in the telecommunication industry.
This antenna is used for mobile point to multipoint communication at base stations. It has
a high gain which it gets by radiating its microwaves in narrow beams. It is called
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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

“sector” antenna because its radiation pattern and hence its direction is in sectors
(60°,90°, 120°, 45°,180°).
Positioning the antenna involves setting the azimuth; compass direction from which the
sunlight is coming, the down tilt either mechanically or electronically by a remote unit on
ground and the direction. A good down tilt reduces
interference and allows cells to overlap. Down tilt is
needed because the coverage area is determined by
the radiation pattern on land, therefore the antenna
does not require line-of-sight.
The antenna is an array of dipoles placed in front of
an aluminum reflector whose size and shape
determines performance. The long narrow shape of
the antenna gives a wide horizontal but narrow
vertical radiation pattern. It has a fiberglass radome that encloses its components and
protects it, keeps it operational irrespective of the weather while still allowing radiation
of the waves.

Plate 46: Sectorial Antenna Plate 47: Sectorial Antenna mounted on tower

WORKING PRINCIPLE:
An antenna is a passive element (does not generate energy but manipulates it) that
“converts” alternating current to radio waves and back to alternating current
(transmission and receiving) and also propagates and directs the generated radio wave at

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

the speed of light. The antenna which is essentially a transducer optimizes the generation
and receiving of the electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) through impedance
matching. Thus, getting maximum power output by preventing reflection of signals.
An antenna usually made up of copper allows the wave energy to constructively interfere
and create large signals.
Basically in the antenna, the electric currents move back and forth in place (as high-
frequency AC,) while the radio waves (generated electromagnet radiation whose
wavelength varies with the frequency of the alternating current) are “moving out”
continuously in a direction: this is transmission. For receiving the antenna traps the radio
waves and their continuous motion leads to the generation of alternating current whose
frequency is of same magnitude with the wavelength.
Hence it is important to note that the antenna does not in actual fact change the current to
waves but only aides in transmitting one of the two entities occurring at the same time
while trapping the other. As the presence of Alternating Current means the presence of
electromagnetic waves.
There various characteristics to consider with an antenna. Some are:
a. Bandwidth: is the range of frequencies an antenna can operate on and exhibit an
SWR close to 1:1. This is important as a narrow bandwidth antenna cannot be used
for wide are operations.
b. Directivity and Gain: Directivity deals with focusing or receiving energy in a
direction while Gain is the amount of energy radiated in a direction. A low gain
means wider angle of radiation but a high gain means energy is radiated in a
particular direction.
c. Radiation pattern: This is the strength of the radiated field: the distribution of the
radiated energy. The pattern varies with frequencies.
d. Polarization: The orientation of the electric field of an electromagnetic wave.
Polarization mismatch at both ands leads to reduction of the power transfer
e. Return loss and VSWR: Return loss is the power reflected by the antenna due to
impedance mismatch. SWR (standing wave ratio) is the ratio of reflected and
transmitted wave and is should be as close as possible to 1:1. Standing wave occurs
when two waves of same wavelength pass in opposite directions in the same medium

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Application: Sector antenna was characterized based on bandwidth. There was various
type but I encountered: singleband, pentaband, dualband, hexaband, twin beam and
triband.
A singleband allowed for only one frequency range, pentaband five different ranges, Dual
two, Triband three and hexaband six different bandwidth. A twin beam provides to
different port pairs but with the same bandwidth.
The frequency range needed was choosing depending on the technology (3G,2G or LTE)
needed to be deployed. Usually 2G uses 900 and 1800 Hz, 3G uses 2100 Hz, and LTE
2600 Hz. This is not in every case new technologies allow 3G and 4G to work on 900 and
800 Hz hence names like U900 instead of 3G. This innovation is needed because the
lower the frequency the faster the transmission.
A Triband can be used for 2G of both 900 and 1800 Hz and also 3G of 2100 Hz. Rather
than using a singleband for each technology.
A Twin beam was used when a need for multisector aroused. This need arises from an
increase in number of users in a sector which slows the performance. Therefore, the same
technology is deployed for the same sector-Multi sector.
The antenna has to ports per band with for upper and lower frequency. It is usually
properly labelled so as not to make mistakes. It also has ports for RET (Remote Electrical
Tilt) to help remotely down tilt the antenna.

Plate 48: Sectorial antenna showing the ports. 1) indicates the ports for the upper and lower bandwith of one frequency range
2) indicates the ports for the upper and lower bandwith of another frequency range 3) indicates the RET ports

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 49:Pentaband antenna with one pair in use and ret port in use Plate 50:Dualband antenna all ports in use

Plate 51:Singleband with all ports in use Plate 52:Triband with one port pair in use

Plate 53:Triband antenna showing frequency range of the ports

2. RET (Remote Electrical Tilt) Equipment:


The RET allows the antenna to be electrically tilted at the base station or on a computer
through a software. This is possible due to the phase taper in the array of the antenna that
allows it to tilt its angle downwards.
The equipment needed to carry this out includes:

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Remote Control Unit (RCU): It is mechanically connected to the electrical phase shifter
of the antenna in compliance with AISG (Antenna interface standards group) standards.
Smart Bias Tee (SBT): It aids to modulate and demodulate the remote signals from the
RCU to the Antenna.
RET Actuator: It enables remote optimization of the down tilt on a continuous basis in
response to change in traffic pattern.
Control Unit: This is either in the Base station or portable. This is where the adjusting of
the tilt occurs with the aid of a software programmed on a computer.

Plate 54:Remote Control Unit

Plate 55:Smart Bias Tee Plate 56:RET Actuators

3. Diplexer:
This a frequency selective device used for splitting and combining frequencies
transmitted on the same medium. It allows two devices of different frequencies to use
same channel. In a situation where a single band antenna was used for 2G instead of a
dual band for each
of its frequency range, it used to split the single band to respective frequencies before
being analyzed by the BTS.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 57:Diplexer

4. Feeder or Fiber cables:


Feeder cables usually known as RF coaxial cables are used to transmit signals from
Antenna to BTS and back with low loss and high transmission efficiency.
It is made up of an inner conductor surrounded by an insulating dielectric that has a
braided otter conductor all in another insulator. The conductors both inner and outer
carries the current that is both equal and opposite thus confiding the fields within cables.
It is usually connected to a Jumper cables of ½ inch or less at ends to aid connecting to a
BTS or an antenna. This is needed because the feeder cables of 7/8 inch or larger is not
flexible and cannot be bent easily to connect to equipment. The jumper cables however
lower the efficiency so newer feeder cables have been made that combines both the
efficiency of the coaxial and flexibility of the jumper cables.
Fiber cables are also used to transmit data between the BTS and antenna, except
transmission is done through light particles not current or waves. The light signals reflect
off the glass fiber core in a zig-zag series which has a different refractive index from the
core allowing light to be bent a certain angle. The fiber cable has better efficiency as
there is less interference and loss and it also has more bandwidth for transmitting more
data.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Figure 15:FEEDER CONNECTED TO A JUMPER

Plate 58:Feeder cables

Plate 59:Fiber cables

Application: Calculating the Feeder and Fiber length is of utmost importance as longer
length more the loss and cost. This is one of the things I was able to learn in Solution.
The basic calculation for feeder length is

Distance from antenna to base + Distance of tower to BTS cabinet+5m

This is the basic one but in different situation different things will be taken into account.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Also deciding when to use a fiber over a feeder is another step to consider. This decision
depends on cost, equipment on ground and also situation of the traffic on site.

The jumper cables I encountered where categorized based on the connection (male and
female) end: Din to Din, Din to 4.3 and 4.3 to 4.3.

Plate 60:din to din jumper cable Plate 61:din to 4.3 jumper cable

5. Remote Radio unit and Radio Frequency unit:


Radio frequency unit RFU converts RF to IF (Intermediate Frequency) and amplifiers it.
It is connected to a branching unit that divides signals based on channels and sends to the
BBU board in the BTS and also combines signals from BTS to one signal. The RFU
makes use of feeder cables and is located on ground.

Figure 16:THE WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A RFU

The boards on the RFU can be:


RFU boards
MRFU (Multi-mode Radio Supports a maximum of 6 carriers in GSM, 4 carriers
frequency unit) in UTMS and 6 carriers in GSM+UTMS mode.
DRFU (Double Radio Supports maximum of two carriers.
frequency unit)
GRFU (GSM Radio Supports maximum of six carriers
25
Frequency)
WRFU (WCDMA Radio Supports a maximum of 4 carriers
Filtering unit)
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Table 8: RFU board functions

Plate 62:RFU cabinet with RFU boards Figure 17: A SINGLE RFU BOARD

Figure 2-18: RFU cabinet with Rfu boards Figure 2-19: A single RFU board

Remote radio unit (RRU) converts electrical signal to optical signal and amplifies it. It also aids
the remote control unit RCU and remote electrical tilt RET. It has a Duplexer that allow as both
optical to electrical and electrical to optical to occur at same time. It also includes a digital to
analog converter, a power amplifier and low noise amplifier. It connects to the Fiber cable by
Common Public Radio Interface CPRI; a standardized protocol for communication between the
RRU and BTS. It is located on the tower near the anenna and makes use of fiber cables.

Figure 18: A LABELLED RFU

26
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 63: RRU and antenna Plate 64: CPRI connector

Application: Deciding between RFU and RRU depends on cost. Though during my
internship, due to the RRU superiority most RFU equipment and their feeder cables
where being replaced with RRU and fiber cables. This improved transmission efficiency
and reduces loss by transmission.
Huawei has an equipment called Active Antenna Unit (AAU) that is a combination of a
sectorial antenna and RRU. It increases efficiency and reduces installation time as only
one equipment is installed instead of an antenna and RRU.

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CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

Plate 65:Active Antenna Unit Figure 19: RRU CONECTION Figure 20: RFU CONNECTION

6. Tower:
A telecommunication tower is used to provide an elevated platform for telecoms
equipment. It is necessary to install telecoms equipment at a height because radio signals
are stronger above ground levels. The tower is insulated, grounded, lightning protected

28
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE

and installed on a plinth. It is designed for ease of installation of antennas and other
equipment.
There various tower types like: Self-supporting, Monopole towers, Guyed (used where
space is limited), rooftop towers (the towers are attached to the roof of buildings), mobile
towers (there can be moved around and are found in Cell on Wheel COW sites),
Billboard towers (the towers are billboards used for advertising but also have provision
for antenna to be attached) and others.

Application: Huawei did not install the towers but worked with companies which did.
When the tower in a particular site was too congested a new one needed to be built. The
most common tower was self-supporting tower which could either be 4-legged or 3-
legged, where each leg was for a sector. The height of the tower was important for
calculation and to know if it is was feasible to install equipment on the site.
I was taught how to measure a self-supporting tower without an instrument. Due to the
height safety was emphasized. The tower is one of the most important because no height
or line-of-sight, no transmission of any kind.

Plate 66: Cell on wheel Site Plate 67:Tower leg on a plinth Plate 68: Empty plinth

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Plate 69: Rooftop Tower Plate 70:Monopole tower Plate 71: Guyed tower

Plate 72: 3 legged Self-supporting tower Plate 73: 4 legged Self-supporting tower

7. Base Transceiver Station BTS Cabinet:


A BTS connects the user equipment (like a phone) to the network. It receives radio
signals and converts to digital signal to transmit from one terminal network to another. It
is the interface to the base station controller (BSC) for 2G oar Radio network controller
RNC for 3G. It encodes, encrypts, multiplexes and modulates the signal for protection
during transmission. It also performs time synchronization.
The BTS operates with DC and usually produces a lot of heat, hence it is placed in a
shelter with Air conditioners for cooling.
It comprises of transceiver, power amplifier, combiner, multiplexer, control function,
baseband receiver unit, alarm extension,

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BTS Component Function


Transceiver Provides transmission and reception of signals.
Power amplifier (PA) Amplifies the signal from Transceiver for transmission
through antenna.
Combiner Reduces the number of needed antenna by combining the
signals from several Transceivers so that they could be sent
out through a single antenna.
Multiplexer Separates sending and receiving signals to or from an
antenna.
Alarm extension system Collects working status alarms of various units in the BTS
and extends them to operations and maintenance (O&M)
monitoring stations.
Control function Controls and manages the various units of BTS, including
any software operations like On-the-spot configurations,
status changes and upgrades.
Baseband receiver unit Frequency hopping
Table 9: BTS components

Application: I was able to encounter various Huawei models of a BTS cabinet. Each was
choosing based on various situations. Some were located outside a shelter (outdoor),
some inside a shelter (indoor), and some both had some parts in and others outside the
shelter.
The BTS cabinet consists of basically a DCDU (direct Current distribution unit), BBU
(baseband unit), RFU (Radio Frequency Unit) board and amplifier.

Board Application
DCDU Supplies DC power to each component in
cabinet
BBU Carries out baseband processing and provides
ports for connecting BTS and BSC
RF Cabinet It converts the Wave signals to intermediate
frequency (RFU) or light signals(RRU)
Fan Box It dissipates heat from the cabinet
Table 10: Boards on the BTS

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BOARD SLOT SLOT USE


MPT (Main processing and 7 It is the main control and
transmission) transmission board that
processes the signals and
manages the resources for other
boards.
GTMU (GSM Transmission Timing 5 or 6 Controls the BTS in GSM mode.
and Management Unit)
BBP (Baseband Process Unit) 0 or 3 Process baseband signals from
the MPT
UPEU (Universal Power and PWR1OR PWR2 Converts -48v or +24v to +12v
Environment Interface Unit) (Preferred for a (DC)
single UPEU)
UEIU (Universal Environment Unit) PWR1 Supports multiple environment
monitoring systems. It is
optional
UELP (Universal E1/T1 Lightning 0 or 4 It is a surge protection unit.
Protection)
Fan Fan slot To cool the BBU board
BASE BAND UNIT: It houses the boards used for processing signals that will be transmitted to
the BSC Base station controller.

Table 11: Boards on the BBU *WBBP/WMPT is used for 3G. UBBP/UMPT used for any technology. GTMU carries
out both MPT and BBP functions for 2G. W-WCDMA and U-Universal

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Plate 74: BBU board

Plate 75: DCDU board

Plate 76:Empty BBU board

Figure 21: LABELLING OF BBU SLOTS

Plate 77: BTS cabinet Figure 22: LABELLING OF BTS CABINET

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8. Microwave Antenna:

These antennas are meant for signal transmission from one point to another. They are
used instead of fiber-optic lines to transmit between BSC as there are easier to build in
adverse terrains and can be recovered quickly after natural disasters. Yet it is not as
efficient as fiber cables as it is affected by weather and frequency license is needed as
spectrum resources are limited.

It uses a beam of radio waves in the microwave frequency range to transmit data, image,
video and audio over meters and kilometers through line of sight (LOS). This signals
suffer from signal degradation with increase in distance so in each cell many antennas
are needed in between points to maintain integrity of data.

Microwave antenna are used:

 Where building optical networks is


costly or when it can not to be
deployed due to geographical
location.
 As a service backhaul at mobile
base stations to transmit signals to
the BSC, RNC or MME for Figure 23: MICROWAVE UNIT
switching.
 As a backup for links in optical transmission.
 In enterprise private networks for industries like oil pipeline and power that
transverse adverse terrains.
 In VIP customer private line to transmit services to carrier networks.

A microwave unit is made up of:

 Baseband unit - modulates the data


 IF (Intermediate Frequency) unit - modulates the baseband signal to intermediate
frequency

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 RF (Radio Frequency) unit - convert IF signal to


microwave frequency
 Antenna - transmits the microwave frequency

In modern units the service processing board represents the


BBU unit and the IF board represents the IF unit and both are
in the Indoor unit (IDU). The outdoor unit (ODU) represents
the RF unit.
Plate 78: Microwave of various
The IF cables connect the IDU and ODU. The ODU is sizes on tower
mounted on the antenna directly or connected by flexible
waveguides.

It can be installed

a. fully indoor (IDU and ODU inside connected to antenna with flexible waveguides or
optical fibers)
b. fully outdoor (ODU, IDU and antenna mounted outside)
c. Split (IDU inside or in outdoor cabinet connected to the ODU outside with IF cable
with high system gain)

Application: Microwave was used instead of fiber cables, because of the cost. The
microwave dish is classified based on size. On a tower many microwaves can be on the
site as they work with line of site unlike the sectorial antenna.

9. Software:
Huawei had various confidential software used to perform various task like software
setup for various equipment, monitoring various task, survey monitoring and a number of
other task. Excel spreadsheet was used for report collating, minor calculations and some
data analysis.

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10. Measurement Tools:


Taking survey requires a number of tools like:

Tool Function

Tilt Indicator For attaining the mechanical tilt of the


sectorial antenna.
Tape Rule For taking antenna and tower height and
distance between tower and
shelter/cabinet.
Compass To get angle of the antenna.
Digital Compass and GPS To locate the exact location of the site for
survey.
Camera To take pictures of site for documentation
Table 12: Tools for survey

Plate 79: GPS Plate 80: Tape rule Plate 81: Compass

2.2. QUALITY OF SUPERVISION

As an intern I was given a supervisor and two tutors. Each tutor was in charge of teaching each
of the two aspects my supervisor stated I would learn. I was paired with another intern to learn
under the tutors.

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For technical survey, my tutor Mr. Lucky Enemiku, spent the first week explaining the
underlining background of the task. He began to give task once I was assigned my company
laptop. He gave task and deadline for each task. At the beginning he was always available to help
when I did not understand or could not tackle a particular hurdle. Overtime I was given more
difficult task to handle and he gradually stopped giving assistance except when totally needed.
The gravity of the task increased and the deadline became shorter. He pushed us past our limit
and this aided our proficiency and allowed us to gain a lot of knowledge in a short time.
Eventually, he gave us the task of explaining and teaching new intakes.

Our time with our second tutor, Mr. Adeboye Dayo, was shorter but sill impacting. He gave us a
lot to read and after reading he was available to answer questions. His department was quite
sensitive and temporary staff needed a lot of permissions (which took a while to get) before they
can access the software. While waiting we watched as he completed each task. We also met other
people in his department who handled other aspects of the task to see how they were carried out.

As requested by our supervisor, weekly my Partner and I were assessed and graded by our tutors.
An increase in performance allowed us to handle more task. At the end we were given
permission to aid other departments. The two tutors had different methods but both were
effective and impactful.

My University supervisor, Mrs Alao came to check up on me towards the end of my internship,
she spent a long time with me. During the that time she made corrections gave me advice and
completed all other necessary things she was required to do.

2.3. KNOWLEDGE GAINED

The opportunity to carry out my internship at Huawei Technologies, has impacted me with skills
and knowledge.

A. Report and Documentation:


One of the task that was assigned to me was reporting and documentation. I gave report
on the team progress and also report of progress of task for the customer to keep track of
work done. I collated and updated data, I retrieved specifications of various equipment
from different vendors. Some of the reporting required various calculations.

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Due to repetition of work and limited time to


carry out task, I learn more effective ways of
reporting. I also learnt various ways of
presentation for easy understanding of the
customer.
B. Technical survey:
Survey is very important for a project. A wrong
survey can lead to loss of time and money.
I gained skills on how to carry out a proper
survey. I learnt how to extract data needed for various scenarios.
Survey involves being on site and various problems arise on site from community to
equipment issue, I learnt through teaching and experience how to manage situations.
It allowed to gain knowledge on various telecom equipment and their versions and
vendors. I learnt how to draw, read and understand survey diagrams and take accurate
measurements.
To carry out a survey one needs to:
 Locate the site using coordinates giving. Figure 24: SITE, SHELTER AND TOWER SKETCH

 Take clear pictures of the site from antenna to on tower to the site overview and
the cabinets. This pictures are used if in the future something needs to be looked
over again.
 Take measurements of everything including height of antenna and equipment
distance from tower
 Next a sketch of the site and shelter is drawn. The sketches show where
everything is positioned, the distance between equipment and the dimension of
the site. It indicates any available space and if plinths are also available on site.
Take a shelter sketch if there is one on site
 Then take a tower sketch indicate the equipment on the tower and their height
 Finally, accurate data on the type of equipment on site, what it is used for and its
present working capacity is taking. This is also documented
C. Configuration:

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Configuration has a standard pattern but can differ depending on scenario available,
getting the ability to learn this allowed me to learn the technology hitches that arise in
telecommunication. I learnt how to clear alarms that arise during or after configuration.
I learnt how to configure different boards on the Baseband Unit and RFU.
I also learnt how to configure a RNC the session controller for 3G. From the BTS cabinet
the data is transmitted to its destinations through the Base station controller. The
connection between a base station its controller could be through fiber cables or
microwave antennas.

TECHNOLOGY CONTROLLER
2G (GSM) Base station controller BSC
3G (nodeb) Radio Network controller RNC
LTE (enodeb) No controller
Table 13: Technology and its controller

To set up a new RNC one needs to:


 Firstly, in a cluster of sites, a site at the edge of the cluster with little use is chosen
 Then you input the basic parameters like the name and ID number
 Then map the parameters to that of a RNC that is up and running. This tells the
RNC to follow the configuration of the old RNC.
 Set up the interfaces

INTERFACE FUNCTION
IU-CS Interface between RNC and Mobile
Switching Centre MSC
1 RNC for all MSC in a pool
IU-PS Interface between RNC and Serving
GPRS Support Node SGSN (for
services within the network) or
Gateway GPRS Support Node GGSN
(for connection to internet)
IUB Interface between RNC and NodeB.
1 RNC for 1 NodeB
IUR Interface between RNCs. It makes the

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move of user equipment coordinated


by the MSC or packet core (depending
on what activity to be carried out
during the move) faster and efficient
Table 14: RNC interfaces

 Migrate a few other sites in the cluster to the RNC.


 Carry out a drive test to ensure its proper operation
 Once it is working satisfactory, more sites can be added as the need arises
D. Security:
Huawei emphasis greatly on security of both their work and that of their customers,
emphasizing on effect of noncompliance and enforcing strict adherence to the company’s
cyber security Policies.
I was therefore privileged to attend various security seminars and training and hence gain
network and cyber security skills, where some apply to even basic life tasks.
Elaborating on its effect, enforcing strict adherence to the company’s cyber security
Policies.
E. Customer Relation:
Huawei most important value is pleasing the customer. This is a very needed skill for an
equipment vendor as profit and growth depends on the customers.
I gained skills needed for relating with customers. Most importantly how not to impose
one’s idea on a customer but rather provide a service that both incorporates their wish
and lets them see the more effective way.
F. Use of Microsoft Excel:
This was often for data analysis and calculations. I was able to improve on my knowledge
of excel especially from calculations.
Using Excel comes with a few hitches with I also learnt how to resolve.
G. Team Management and People relation:
I was privileged to be given the responsibilities to manage Sub contractors that worked
for Huawei.

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This was a challenging task at the beginning but I was able learn how to properly relate
and manage the teams. I was able to increase their efficiency my learning to be firm yet
polite. Working with various teams allowed me to gain a number of managerial skills.
H. Problem solving:
Various issues arouse during my six months of internship. I learn how to effectually
resolve them with little or no assistance.
Issues from alarms to subcontractors less than effective work, to hardware and software
issues and customer complaints, I was able to resolve each and every one through
continuous practice and advice.
I. Office Conduct:
Huawei has various laws on how to behave in the office including dress laws. The office
environment can be very tense due to pressure on staff by customers and managers.
Therefore, I learnt to how to conduct myself under pressure and still deliver. I learnt the
importance of appearance in a customer centric industry. I also was able to improve on
my mailing skills as I often had to send various mails to different people including
customers and managers. I learnt the write way to demand for a particular thing without
sounding commanding and other useful skills.
J. GSM architecture:
I was able to get the overview of how telecoms.
 Firstly, a consumer makes use of their phone, laptop or any other UE user
Equipment, to either send a message access a network or the internet. They
communicate with antennas either through line of site or not.
 The sectorial antenna or omnidirectional antenna receives the wave signal from
the phone and transmits it down through a coaxial or fiber cable to the base
transmitter station
 The BTS with the aid of its various components converts the signal to readable
information, gets the needed information on type and destination data.
 Then the transmitting unit takes over which could be directly transmitted by a
fiber cable or a microwave antenna. The transmission board converts the digital
data to analogue (light signals for fiber and microwaves for microwave). For the
microwave it passes through an IDU to ensure it is at the needed frequency, then

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its sent to the ODU and antenna that ensures good impedance matching and
transmits the waves.
 The transmitting media now sends it to the Base station controller. As the BSC is
in a central place the data is bounced of various microwave dishes through line of
site. The rate of transmission depends on the frequency and the size of the dish.
At each tower the signal is received and processed and sent back to another
antenna or the same to continue the transmission.
 At the BSC, depending on the type of data it is sent to its sent to the next
controller. It is sent to the MSC if its calls or the GGSN for data related task.
 Each controller carries out its task. The MSC connects the user equipment while
the GGSN retrieves the necessary information and sends back to the user
equipment the same way it came. It is important to note that locations are saved at
the BSC so the MSC still needs to retrieve both sender and destination locations
from the BSC.

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CHAPTER THREE

3.1 CONTRIBUTIONS

Having the opportunity to not just undergo an internship but also work at a prestigious industry
as Huawei technology, I have been able to observe and make some inference that will be an
improvement in my life and future plans.

3.1.1 Knowledge applicability.

The various skills and knowledge I was privileged to acquire can be applied to various aspects of
life.

 APPLICATION TO MY FIELD OF STUDY AND EDUCATIONAL CAREER

As an aspiring Electronics engineer, the telecoms industry is one of the many fields I can render
my knowledge.

Being able to get a firsthand experience of the telecommunication industry and gain knowledge
of their equipment and needs, I have been equipped with better insights as to how I can be of
help to the industry. Effectively repairing and improving on telecoms equipment can only be
possible when one has used the equipment and seen where its lapses are. During my internship I
was able to look and identify areas that need improvement.

The privilege to carry my internship in the top telecoms vendor in the world is a great credit to
my career, as it gives me an edge over others. Having the opportunity to see how a multi-national
company operates and being able to learn and practice the values its built on has been an
improvement to not just my life but my future plans.

Working in a telecoms industry has given me a better understanding of the topics covered in
school, like communication principles, signals and systems and data communications. I was able

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to see the application of such knowledge and the need of learning it. My internship has given me
a better understanding of many terms taught in the classroom.

 APPLICATION TO THE GOALS OF COMPANY OF ENGAGEMENT

Having a good understanding of how a company operates, its values and position on things gives
one an upper hand to other employees. Since I have worked with them and learnt their way of
operation, continuing to work there will be of great value to the company, as time and resources
need not to be wasted in training a new person.

Coupling my knowledge from school and the skills gained there I have become a better asset
than my peers. I have been able to gain some skills from Huawei, which I will be able to improve
on in school and hence be able to aid accomplishing their goal.

One goal of the company my newly acquired knowledge can be applied, is in the area of team
work. Huawei takes good teamwork serious. I have been able to learn good team work skills as
well as managerial skills which are both needed to improve efficiency of work done.

 APPLICATION TO THE LARGER SOCIETY

I gained people skills and customer skills which will aid my relation to situations and people
around me. For instance, my customer as a student are my lecturers, in that they require certain
things from me and the extent of my delivery determines my grade. Being able to identify my
customer and relating to the them well is beneficial to my society, because a good service
rendered leads to a happy customer.

The educational skills I acquired will aid in providing solutions the telecommunication industry
in Nigeria still faces. From community issues to availability of equipment repair in the country to
effective coverage in areas.

Huawei teaches dedication and speaks a lot about loyalty and integrity. I have been to put those
values in a working environment and taking those to the society will bring, just as it has done for
Huawei, development and growth.

3.1.2 Practical training versus Theoretical knowledge

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Relating to communications I have been taught three major courses. I am proud to say that they
were a good foundation for understanding the practical world.

From being taught about frequency and bandwith to understanding electromagnetic waves and
lastly data communication basis, I was very excited each time I was able to pinpoint the
application of this knowledge.

Yet I have to mention the fact that though these topics were covered, their relation to real life
situation was neglected. I was taught what each technology was about but not what it was used
for. We were taught the difference between amplitude modulation and frequency modulation but
why the difference was necessary and where one can see them play effect in life was not
emphasized. Therefore, at first during my internship when I encountered their application, it
seemed like a new occurrence but once its foundation was brought up, it turned out to be
something I had a good understanding and could build up and understand the equipment.

This is a downside because the time spent in dissecting the equipment and going back to
understand was wasted. So it will be more appreciated if not just the concepts (which one can
read up personally) are covered but also how it used today in the present world.

3.1.3 Organization culture

Huawei is a Chinese owned company and holds proudly to their way of life. The difference in
culture could not go unnoticed.

One culture difference was their tendency to overwork themselves. It came as a shock at first as
they continually worked like robots. Everything seemed automatic, there was one of the reason
that though they were able to work together there was no affection between staff of different
cultures. There were always working and expected others too even after closing hours any form
of humor was usually seen as laziness. This was had to adapt to at first because even if one has
finished ones tasks earlier or efficiently it was not enough. At the end I learnt to go way more
than the extra mile.

There was poor relation between staff from different background due to difference in culture. For
instance, there was lack of the respect that we are used to as Nigerians. Also majority of the
Chinese staff I encountered lacked the theoretical knowledge but rather a little training for the

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particular task there were sent here for. This led to a quite a considerable amount of tension
between staff.

Though there way of overworking and using less capital for more work increased their revenue,
it has left them with a not so loyal staff and a lot of inter employee tension.

Strict adherence to rules and procedures is one culture I admired. There was no deliberation
about the protocols and everyone had learnt or was learning to work that way. Licenses were
constantly renewed and trainings were held to refresh the mind. It brought about productivity and
proved greatly the integrity. There was a culture of reviewing and revaluating. Regular meetings
were held to see how far they had gone what can be improved or continued. This was one of the
factors that led to their growth.

Yet another culture, is the humble nature. The office arrangement was open space and two
people of different ranks may seat right beside each other without even knowing. Getting to
know who was above was hard as there was no special seat or office for most of them, but
eventually I was able to learn the ranks of those I needed to know.

Lastly, they made every effort to ensure that the working environment was clean, comfortable
and conducive. This very important to the employees as it added to their efficiency. They also
organized sports and celebrated holidays to make the employees feel relaxed.

3.2 CHALLENGES

Despite the experience there were a number of challenges I faced and a couple the company
encountered during my stay.

3.2.1 Challenges I Encountered

 Posting to the department:


I was assigned my department by the Human resource department. At first it seemed I
will not learn enough or anything related to my course. I applied for change of
department but the only places available was for NYSC coopers. I was disappointed at
first but I decided to make the best of it and asked a lot of questions, and when I was free
I went to other departments to learn. That decision was beneficial because I learnt more
than I was supposed to.

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 Communication Barrier:
On various occasions the people I had to interact with for a task knew little or no English.
This was frustrating as it made carrying out a task very difficult. To overcome this, I
looked for people who translate but though they were many they were occupied.
Therefore, I resolved to sending them mails and messages which when they receive they
could translate to their languages. This was a bit slower but it got the work done.
 Adjusting to the working environment:
Getting my body adjusted to the way things were done took a bit of time but I learnt
eventually. First difficult task was learning that knowing a better way does not mean
doing it that way or speaking up. I also learnt that everything had to be follow the
standards stated from head office in china, whether or not it was convenient for staff or
whether there was a better way. Sometimes these law slowed us down but there was
nothing to be done so I leant to adjust.
Due to the mental stress and physical strain of the work one usually got tired, so there
was an hour thirty minutes break given. Usually at the time assigned I am not tired so I
continue to work but eventually towards the end of the day I will feel weak. So, I had to
teach myself, whether I was tired or not, to go to bed like the others when the light was
switched off and automatically wake and start working when the lights came on.
 As our internship was coming to an end we discovered that Huawei offered free training
for students in various telecoms aspect like cloud computing, routing and switching and
even artificial intelligence. The problem was Covenant University had put a hold on the
registration. This was important because it was only available to students in universities
registered with Huawei. A group of us work together to find a solution to this. We called
school, asked around and did some other things. Finally, we discovered that as staff,
though temporary, we could undergo the training as long as we were still working there.
Then another problem came up. We had very little time to take the course and our stay
could not be extended. I was in charge of the few of us who finally decided to take the
course and I was able to work out a way that even after we had gone we could still do it,
though for a limited time.
 Monotonous work:

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In Huawei, each person is giving a certain task. Doing the same thing regularly was a big
challenge for me as I always wanted to learn something new. Therefore, the first thing I
did was to alternate the task I had to do. This made the work seem less autonomous. I
also asked around if I could be of help to anyone. Lastly I tried to read up new things
when the work was getting to trying.
 Overworked:
At the beginning I worked hard to finish my task on time. As I finished each task more
was given. At first it was alright but when the gravity of the work increased it was
difficult to keep up. I was later given an advice to slow down, that everything did not
have to be done in a day, that I should complete task at my pace so that I would not crash.
At first I didn’t want to slow to down so as not to seem lazy but after almost falling sick I
learnt.
 Team management:
I was given, for a period to manage the subcontractors. Getting them to accomplish a task
correctly was hard. They just wanted to complete a task quickly so they would get new
ones as the more work they did the larger their pay. I had to learn to stand my ground or
else I will pay the consequence. I learnt that though they were older I was their boss so I
had to get them to listen and obey without being disrespectful.
 Untimely delivery required things.
To carry out some of my task I needed data from another team, who often sent it late and
led to my task being completed later than planned. I sent a mail asking them to please
send earlier but that did not work and escalating was not an option. Therefore, I resolved
to reminding them. I will send them a short message at intervals reminding the time I will
love it to be sent. Sometimes I will go to their desk to remind them. This was tiring for
me but I had to do it. They were busy and my work was not as important to them so
constant reminder was needed.
 Getting PPE and company assigned Laptop:
No work could be done without a laptop and due to security reasons I had to either use
the office laptop or have my personal laptop formatted and locked to be only used for
work related things. I submitted my laptop but it was not compactable, so I had to wait
till there was a free laptop I could use. This took a while. I spent that time reading up on

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what I was taught and my tutor took out time to teach us allowing us to watch as he
worked.
Before going to any site one needed PPE, and there was none available in my department
for Interns. That limited my ability to visit site so I monitored what was done on site on
my laptop and asked questions from those who went.

 Restricted from doing certain task:


There were things I wanted to do that I was not allowed to do, either because they did not
think I could or because company laws would not allow it. The latter was what I faced
when I spent time with my second tutor since there was no way around it, I watched and
asked questions. One of the persons I learnt from gave me the opportunity to tell him
what to do and it was like I was doing it but without touching the keyboard.
When it came to people not thinking I could do it, I had to prove them wrong. Sometimes
it involved me explaining the knowledge I had about it other times it involved pestering
them, in the end I was no longer underestimated.

3.2.2 Challenges Faced by Company

 Subcontractors:
Huawei pays contractors to aid them with some task mostly equipment installation. The
subcontractors sometimes can be difficult to work with or to get them to be as efficient as
you want them to be. They sometimes aid in bringing down the KPI of staff and teams.
My contribution to the company concerning this issue was little but needed. For the
subcontractors I worked with I ensured, with much difficulty, their efficient completion
of task. It helped that I was young and female, they were quite embarrassed to have a
young person caution them continuously so they picked up on work.
 There was an excel sheet the department was using for tracking. Due to continuous use
and increase in data for it to analyze, the sheet became too large and hence walked very
slowly. I tried various methods to both keep the data and reduce the size but it was futile.
Finally, I decided to reconstruct the whole spreadsheet and with aid of another staff I was
able to do that.

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 On my arrival the company had a back log of over thousands of sites with incorrect
survey and this was greatly slowing down the work. Every task is built on the survey and
with the database compromised, each time a new task came up time was spent retaking
the survey. My partner and I worked to correct all errors and before the end of the
internship completely corrected thousands of data in my department and even proceeded
to aid another department with the same issue.
 During my stay, my department was short staffed and hence the staff available were
continually overworked. I aided to reduce the work by giving advice, taking the work
load of training new people from my tutors, taking over creating the work orders,
preparing bill statements, preparing customer report, and other minimal work I could help
do without supervision and did not require the staff to take time to train me. All these I
did apart from my daily task.
 Huawei has a strict rule against smoking in the office, but one of the senior officials had a
habit of disobeying the rules. The staff were a bit intimidated to report and had to bear it,
but since as an intern I did not have the same constraint I was able to report which
allowed the situation to be handled when.

There were other challenges the company faced like vandalism, terrorist attack and community
disturbance that were beyond my abilities but with the time I had there I worked to make an
impact. One that I was sure was noticed, because at the end of my internship I was asked to stay
back on numerous occasions and was also offered a place in one of the subcontractor companies.

3.3 PROJECT I IDENTIFIED

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 Conclusion

In conclusion, being able to see the application of the theories I have been taught, was a very
exciting and informative experience for me. It has made me more prepared in terms of skills,
knowledge and built relationships for the career in Electronics Engineering still ahead of me.

My internship has given me real life insight to the telecommunication industry. Learning the ins
and out of an aspect in telecoms not being taught in details in class. Gaining ethics and
engineering principles. Being able to learn how a Multinational company as Huawei Technology
operates that brings their rapid development. Learning at the feet of experts and gaining their
views, help and advice. The opportunity to see, operate and learn about various equipment. This
is one experience I would not forget.

I am very proud of the heights Nigeria has attained in this sector even up to trials in technology
that is still a myth in a number of countries. Despite the great achievement, the journey to
success is continuous and I am grateful to the Industrial training fund ITF, National University
Commission NUC, Covenant University especially the Student Industrial Work Experience
Program SIWES department and Huawei technology for the opportunity to be part of the
telecommunication revolution, though for a short time.

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4.2 Recommendation

In every system, there is always room for improvement and from observations I have been able
to come up with some suggestions for improvement in various aspects.

Huawei had to constantly deal with community disturbance, vandalism and terrorism. The basis
of these attacks is lack of understanding as well as the state of the country. I believe that while
hoping for a better Nigeria, Huawei and other bodies can aid in enlightening the community on
the repercussion of their actions, telling them what will happen if their violence leads to the
company leaving the country. They should also help them understand what they bring to the
community and also hold community projects that will build the loyalty and gain their respect
hence stopping vandalism.

At school a lot of emphasis is placed on the technology behind telecommunications but little on
the equipment that makes this possible. It will be of great help if this was incorporated to our
learning program. Also Huawei offers free training and competitions in various aspects from
routing and switching to artificial intelligence. Students however can only access this through
their school. Therefore, it will be of great benefit if Covenant University can partner with them
and provide these trainings at school. Lastly, I was privileged to get the opportunity of Huawei
technologies through covenant university. The university should continue to partner with more
companies so as to make it less difficult for their students to find placements.

In Nigeria Telecommunication still has a long way to go. Moving forward will require the
government active involvement. Firstly, they should provide all things required for these telecom
equipment to be manufactured here in Nigeria. Secondly, provide a more conducive environment
in terms of economy and security for this sector to thrive. Thirdly, the government should
enforce laws that require a company to employ more indigenous than foreign staff. The telecom

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sector is a large sector with a lot of opportunities if it is open to indigenous people rather than
foreign people.

REFRENCES

 American Journal of Civil Engineering: Telecommunication Cell Tower Most Common


Alternatives by Al-jassani Azhar Abdulkareem Majeed, Al-suraifi Inam Jabbar Hraba
 www.adrftech.com
 www.quara.com
 www.allaboutcircuits.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.electronics-notes.com
 Wireless TICT4D lab handbook
 www.explainstuff.com
 www.everythingrf.com
 www.indiamart.com
 www.controleng.com
 www.kathreinusa.com
 www.telecom4eng.blogspot.com
 www.lianstar.com
 www.3yuangroup.com
 www.microwavejournal.com
 www.fastmetrics.com
 www.searchnetworking.techtarget.com
 www.support.huawei.com
 www.telecomtowers.typepad.com
 www.hongtelecom.com

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 Mobile telecommunications for data network by Anna Hac


 www.telecomkhabar.com
 www.garnet.com
 American Journal for civil engineering: Telecommunication cell Tower most common
alternatives
 www.successstory.com
 www.huawei.com
 www.allafric.com
 www.saharareporters.com

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