Chidi Ogechi Joan 15CK02925 EEE
Chidi Ogechi Joan 15CK02925 EEE
A TECHINCAL REPORT
SUBMITTED TO
SEPTEMBER, 2019
1
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.
2
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.
3
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
ABSTRACT
4
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE 9
CHAPTER TWO 15
CHAPTER THREE 39
3.1 Contributions 39
3.2 Challenges……………………………………………………………………………42
CHAPTER FOUR 47
4.1 Conclusion 47
4.2 Recommendation………………………………………………………………………48
RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………………………………….49
5
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2: IT ACCEPTANCE
LETTER…………………………………………………………..13
Figure 6: A LABELLED
RFU…………………………………………………………………....24
6
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
LIST OF PLATES
Plate 8:Pentaband antenna with one pair in use and ret port in use………………………….
…….18
7
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
Plate 15:RET
Actuators…………………………………………………………………………..20
Plate 16:Diplexer…………………………………………………………………………………
20
8
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
9
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
LIST OF TABLES
10
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
CHAPTER ONE
11
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
a. Telecoms equipment for companies. Equipment like antennas routers switches, modems
12
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
c. Production and sale of user electronics like laptops phones, tablets, mobile accessories.
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.
14
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.
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.
16
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.
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
17
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
18
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
19
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
20
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
21
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.
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.
22
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
Plate 57:Diplexer
23
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
This is the basic one but in different situation different things will be taken into account.
24
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
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.
26
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
27
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
29
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
30
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
31
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
32
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
33
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
34
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
35
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
Tool Function
Plate 79: GPS Plate 80: Tape rule Plate 81: Compass
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.
36
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
The opportunity to carry out my internship at Huawei Technologies, has impacted me with skills
and knowledge.
37
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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:
38
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
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
39
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
40
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
41
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
42
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
The various skills and knowledge I was privileged to acquire can be applied to various aspects of
life.
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
43
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
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.
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.
44
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
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
45
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
46
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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:
47
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
48
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
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.
49
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
50
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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.
51
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
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
52
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
sector is a large sector with a lot of opportunities if it is open to indigenous people rather than
foreign people.
REFRENCES
53
CHIDI OGECHI JOAN 15CK02925 EEE
54