Two-way CBRS communication system and method

Abstract

Adapting the cellular components to end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) addressable traffic provides efficient two-way communication using broadband cellular technology. In this manner, broadband cellular systems can efficiently transfer data over a flat network architecture using end-to-end IP traffic, bypassing features such as network address translation (NAT), tunneling, and other LTE cellular carrier features.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 292,718, filed December 22, 2021, and entitled "BI-DIRECTIONAL CBRS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS AND METHODS," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to efficient communication systems. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to low latency, high bandwidth, two-way communication facilitated through the use of Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), a form of private Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication operating in the LTE spectrum from 450 MHz to 3.8 GHz (e.g., the 3.5 GHz frequency band). [Background technology]

[0003] As information technology (IT) becomes more and more sophisticated, new technology applications may be relied upon to evoke enhanced operational experiences across environments. Traditional IT infrastructures utilize separate / isolated networks to perform independent tasks. This is especially true for security and / or safety tasks, which are often set high priority and isolated from surrounding tasks to ensure no interference by the surrounding tasks. Furthermore, in many cases, these security and / or safety tasks may be implemented over physical rather than wireless connections to ensure reliability and / or meet network requirements (e.g., threshold maximum latency requirements, etc.). However, using separate networks and / or physical rather than wireless connections may introduce significant complexity to the IT infrastructure, resulting in higher infrastructure spend and maintenance costs. Also, limiting some networks to wired connections may hinder the flexibility to rearrange components in the environment. Furthermore, the use of traditional Wi-Fi networks (e.g., over the 2.4Ghz range) may not be desirable for safety systems, as many electronic devices operate at similar frequencies, which may cause interference and reduce reliability. Furthermore, Wi-Fi networks can introduce variable latency into moving components (e.g., vehicle) since handoffs between Wi-Fi access points can be complex and latency intensive. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] These constraints can be particularly prohibitive in large and / or dynamically changing environments such as amusement parks, where attractions may span significant distances and / or be constantly changing to enhance the user experience. Thus, new techniques are desirable that enable improved network functionality over wireless networks. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The systems and techniques described herein enable enhanced wireless networking communications (e.g., reduced latency and reliable two-way communication). This may be useful for enabling reliable two-way wireless communications between devices on a network while meeting certain system constraints (e.g., threshold maximum latency requirements). The description provided herein is primarily directed to amusement parks, but is in no way intended to be limited in scope to such environments. Indeed, the systems and techniques provided herein may also be used in many environments, including enterprise IT environments, home network environments, and the like. For example, many environments use PLC safety systems, such as manufacturing plants, oil rigs, blast furnace environments, or other environments where safety control may be desirable. Although the techniques are described with respect to CBRS, these techniques may also be applied to other broadband cellular technologies (e.g., the fifth generation technology standard (5G) for broadband cellular networks).

[0006] Specifically, efficient bidirectional communication is provided by adapting CBRS system components for end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) addressable traffic. In this manner, CBRS systems can be stripped of inefficient LTE features that are unnecessary for end-to-end IP traffic, such as Network Address Translation (NAT), tunneling, and other LTE cellular carrier features.

[0007] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood when read in conjunction with the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are designated with like reference characters throughout. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an information technology (IT) environment utilizing an efficient two-way CBRS system to facilitate programmable logic controller (PLC) security between a server and a remote wireless client, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a roaming robot that can utilize the CBRS network described herein, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system in which a temporary interactive component uses a CBRS system, according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The present technology relates to the use of secure two-way communication using Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) (Private Long Term Evolution (LTE) band 48 Mhz-3.5 Ghz). Specifically, a modified LTE network provides reliable two-way communication between programmable logic controllers (PLCs) operating under a safety protocol (e.g., common industrial protocol (CIP)) that includes communication requirements that may not normally be met by traditional wireless communication networks. PLCs can be considered as safety devices and are typically used with volatile / high-risk devices that may be dangerous without instantaneous response. These devices provide safety measures by looking for a predicted state of the volatile / high-risk devices and triggering a safety control action if such a predicted state is not found (e.g., a fault condition occurs).

[0010] Broadband cellular network infrastructure / safety system applications With all this in mind, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an information technology (IT) environment 100 that utilizes an efficient two-way CBRS system 102 to facilitate program logic controller (PLC) security between a server 104 and a remote wireless client 106 (e.g., an amusement ride vehicle at an amusement park) in accordance with some embodiments.

[0011] The server 104 and the remote wireless client 106 may each be associated with a safety PLC (e.g., a wayside safety PLC 108 and a ride vehicle safety PLC 110, respectively). The wayside safety PLC 108 and the ride vehicle safety PLC 110 are each responsible for providing heartbeat signals to each other to verify that there is near-instantaneous communication between the PLCs. The wayside safety PLC 108 is responsible for triggering a fault condition if it does not receive the required number of heartbeat signals from the ride vehicle safety PLC 110 within a prescribed time. Furthermore, the ride vehicle safety PLC 110 is responsible for triggering a fault condition if it does not receive the required number of heartbeat signals from the wayside safety PLC 108 within a prescribed time. In this way, a fault condition can be triggered if the wayside safety PLC 108 does not receive communication from the ride vehicle safety PLC 110, or vice versa. This is useful to ensure safe and effective control of the system when needed.

[0012] In one example, a PLC heartbeat scheme may be facilitated by a safety system (e.g., CIP Safety™) that has certain requirements that are not met using traditional private LTE networks. CIP Safety™ is an application layer service that provides high integrity safety services and diagnostics for node-to-node communications on the network. The safety system may require a minimum number of heartbeat signals (e.g., three) to be received between PLCs over a period of time (e.g., every 100 milliseconds) to provide safety integrity. These heartbeat signals may be transmitted at regular intervals (e.g., every 30 milliseconds). As can be appreciated, the latency requirements for these heartbeat signals are therefore quite stringent, as even the loss of a single heartbeat can result in a safety fault. As traditional LTE networks may not be able to meet these latency requirements, and bidirectional communication is atypical in LTE networks, this latency requirement, and the need for bidirectional communication between PLCs, have resulted in a need to enhance LTE communications. In fact, a typical LTE cellular communication at 3.5 GHz frequency includes a fixed latency of about 20-30 ms for downstream communication and a fixed latency of 30-50 ms for upstream communication. Therefore, since the upstream communication has a fixed latency close to the regular interval of the heartbeat signal transmission, the conventional fixed latency of the LTE network will almost certainly result in the loss of the heartbeat signal, and may not meet the safety system's requirement of three heartbeat signals every 100 ms.

[0013] Additionally, conventional LTE networks do not provide network layer addressing capability (e.g., via IP addresses), which may be a requirement for providing heartbeat signals between a server side PLC (e.g., a PLC in a server environment) and a ride vehicle PLC (e.g., a PLC attached to the controller of an amusement park ride vehicle).

[0014] To provide two-way communication with reduced latency that can meet the maximum latency requirements of the security system, the LTE components of the CBRS system 102 can be stripped of components that are unnecessary for inter-PLC communication. Typical LTE deployments include functionality for cellular carriers to facilitate cellular telephone service. These LTE deployments involve the use of many cellular carrier service features, such as billing, authorization, and authentication functions, each of which can increase the fixed latency of the LTE network. Furthermore, since the requirement to access the LTE network with a SIM card is already considered more secure than traditional network communications (e.g., Wi-Fi) that require only a password, many security services required for cellular telephone service providers may be unnecessary for end-to-end IP-based communications (e.g., communications from one PLC to another). Thus, to reduce the fixed latency, these features can be removed, leaving only the basic functions necessary to facilitate LTE communications, and all tunneling and network address translation (NAT) can be removed to utilize a flat network architecture that can still operate over LTE. In practice, NAT and tunneling have been found to have high latency. NAT is a method of mapping an IP address space to another by modifying the network address information in the IP header of a packet while the packet is in transit. This feature has high latency and is unnecessary for end-to-end IP transmission. Furthermore, traditional LTE may contain system-to-system tunnels that are established upon timeout and torn down and re-established after a given period of time (e.g., every 3 hours), which is unnecessary for end-to-end IP communication. This re-establishment process may take up to 1.5 seconds, which essentially breaks the continuous stream of heartbeat signals and creates a fault condition between the PLCs.Accordingly, a new broadband cellular technology system is described herein that utilizes tunnel-less communication that does not rely on network address translation (NAT), resulting in reduced communication latency compared to conventional broadband cellular technology that uses tunnelled communication with network address translation. As such, the new broadband cellular technology system can be used to ensure that communication latency does not impact latency-dependent features such as the ability of a receiving PLC to receive a threshold number of heartbeat signals, as described in detail herein.

[0015] For example, the CBRS system 102 may include a Core 112, a Baseband Unit (BBU) 114, and a Radio Unit / CBRS Antenna 116 (e.g., an Indoor Radio Unit (IRU) / antenna). The BBU 114 is responsible for facilitating communication between the Core 112 and the Radio Unit / CBRS Antenna 116, which transmits / receives signals wirelessly (e.g., heartbeat signals from the Roadside Safety PLC 108 and / or the Vehicle Safety PLC 110). The Vehicle Safety PLC 110 may require a hardwired connection, which may be facilitated via a Customer Premise(s) Equipment (CPE) Bridge 118 and a hardwired connection 120 that connects the CPE Bridge 118 to the Vehicle Safety PLC 110 (e.g., via an Ethernet wired component). The CPE Bridge 118 may convert signals received from the hardwired connection 120 (e.g., heartbeat signals) into wireless signals that are transmitted to the Radio Unit / CBRS Antenna 116. As mentioned above, the CBRS system 102 can utilize flat end-to-end IP addressable communication that allows signals to be addressed to the Roadside Safety PLC 108 via the Roadside Safety PLC 108's IP address. The Core 112 and BBU 114 can be modified to remove all NAT and tunneling and instead rely on IP-based addressing without NAT. In this way, the latency of providing signals from the Vehicle Vehicle Safety PLC 110 to the Roadside Safety PLC 108 can be significantly reduced, allowing signals to reach the Roadside Safety PLC 108 within the prescribed requirements set by the safety system. In some embodiments, a virtual network protocol (e.g., Open VPN) can be deployed on both the Server 104 and the Client 106 to form an encapsulation bridge 122 between these devices. As can be appreciated, this can facilitate two-way communication over the cellular network.Additionally, virtual private networks, by design, add an additional layer of security to network communications.

[0016] As mentioned above, a requirement of the safety system is that the PLCs must be able to see each other and establish a dedicated connection. In the case of two PLCs (e.g., Roadside Safety PLC 108 and Vehicle Safety PLC 110), the first PLC (e.g., Vehicle Safety PLC 110) communicates a heartbeat signal to the second PLC (e.g., Roadside Safety PLC 108), and the second PLC (e.g., Roadside Safety PLC 108) communicates a heartbeat signal to the first PLC (e.g., Vehicle Safety PLC 110). If either PLC does not receive the required number of heartbeat signals within a prescribed time, a fault condition is triggered by the receiver that expected but did not receive all heartbeat signals. Thus, the PLCs should be connected in a bidirectional communication. This introduces inherent complications when using CBRS networks, since these private LTE networks are unidirectional in nature and do not support bidirectional communication between the server (e.g., Roadside Safety PLC 108) and the client (e.g., Vehicle Safety PLC 110). Thus, to enable bidirectional communication over CBRS / Private LTE, a route is added that allows IP traffic to return to the originating client PLC (e.g., vehicle vehicle safety PLC 110). This route can be added by updating the routing table to provide a reverse route indicating the components that can be traversed to get from the server PLC (e.g., roadside safety PLC 108) to the client PLC (e.g., vehicle vehicle safety PLC 110). In this way, once Roadside Safety PLC 108 knows the IP address of Vehicle Vehicle Safety PLC 110 (e.g., via receipt of a heartbeat signal originating from Vehicle Vehicle Safety PLC 110 that includes an indication of the source IP), it can address its heartbeat signal to Vehicle Vehicle Safety PLC 110 via the IP address of Vehicle Vehicle Safety PLC 110.Thus, the switch 124 can direct communications from the Roadside Safety PLC 108 addressed to the Vehicle Safety PLC 110 to the CBRS system 102 that can be responsible for providing signals from the Roadside Safety PLC 108 to the Vehicle Safety PLC 110, as indicated by the reverse path routing table entry. Thus, bidirectional communication between the Vehicle Safety PLC 110 and the Roadside Safety PLC 108 can be facilitated.

[0017] Roaming Robot Applications While FIG. 1 primarily describes a safety PLC application of a low-latency bidirectional CBRS network, there are many other applications that can utilize such a low-latency bidirectional CBRS network. For example, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a roaming robot system 200 that can utilize the CBRS system 102 described herein, according to some embodiments. In the case of a roaming robot, a low-latency bidirectional CBRS network can provide many benefits that facilitate the functionality of the robot 202. For example, the robot 202 can be equipped with a safety PLC 204 as described above, allowing control of the robot via a PLC safety system. Additionally, the CBRS network provides relatively high bandwidth operation that may be useful in facilitating computer vision processing and / or autonomous activity processing between the sensors 206 (e.g., cameras) of the robot 202 and the processing server 210 tasked with processing the sensor inputs. As can be appreciated, each task set may require bidirectional low-latency communication that can be facilitated by the CBRS network provided herein. Upon receiving the inputs, the server 210 can provide control commands (e.g., based on computer vision processing and / or autonomous activity processing) to the controller 208 of the robot 202.

[0018] Additionally, as the robot 202 may roam within an area, communications between the robot 202 and the server 210 may require occasional transitions between the access points connecting the robot 202 to the server 210. For example, when the robot 202 transitions from a first region 212 of the environment served by a first access point 214 to a second region 216 of the environment served by a second access point 218, a communications handoff to the second access point 218 may be required. The CBRS system 102 has been shown to have a relatively low latency access point handoff when compared to Wi-Fi access point transitions.

[0019] Edge-based deployment of interactive processing The benefits of low latency handoff between access points may also be useful for other applications. For example, in the case of an amusement park, portable or temporary interactive components may be deployed within the park to provide dynamic user experiences within the park. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a system 300 in which temporary interactive components 302A and 302B use a CBRS system 102, according to some embodiments. CBRS allows for a large number of antennas and access points using a single computing platform. Thus, the CBRS system 102 described herein may facilitate edge computing by efficiently deploying the computational processing of the portable and / or temporary interactive components to the processing components closest to the access points to which the interactive components are connected. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, interactive component 1 302A is closest to access point 1 304A. The first processing component 306A is the processing component closest to the first access point 304A and may therefore be responsible for processing interactions with the first interactive component 302A. To do this, upon identifying Access Point 1 304A as the access point to which Interactive Component 1 302A is connected, the CBRS system 102 and / or processing server 308 can provide Interactive Component 1 Deployment 310A to Processing Component 1 306A. Interactive Component 1 Deployment 310A provides computer readable instructions that enable Processing Component 1 306A to process input received from Interactive Component 1 302A (e.g., via Access Point 1 304A), thus providing efficient localized processing without hopping back (e.g., transmitting packets over one or more network segments) to the processing server 308.

[0020] Similarly, interactive component 2 302B is closest to access point 2 304B. Processing component 2 306B is the processing component closest to access point 2 304B and therefore may be responsible for processing interactions with interactive component 2 302B. To do this, the CBRS system 102 and / or processing server 308 may provide processing component 2 306B with interactive component 2 deployment 310B upon identifying access point 2 304B as the access point to which interactive component 2 302B is connected. Interactive component 1 deployment 310B provides computer readable instructions that enable processing component 2 306B to process input received from interactive component 2 302B (e.g., via access point 2 304B), thus providing efficient local processing without hopping back to the processing server 308.

[0021] As can be appreciated, this can significantly reduce the latency of processing interactive input provided at the interactive component, thereby speeding up responsiveness as the processing component can provide control signals back to the interactive component based on the results of the unfolding process.

[0022] Multi-purpose on a common network infrastructure Another feature of the CBRS system 102 described herein is its ability to facilitate multiple applications over a common network infrastructure. For example, in an amusement park environment, a safety system can be facilitated in parallel with a high-bandwidth streaming content delivery service (e.g., presented via a headset capable of communicating over the CBRS system 102 and / or a separate module capable of communicating over the CBRS system 102 and having content rendered on the headset) and / or a high-bandwidth analytics tracking service, which was not possible with prior systems. In fact, as discussed above, network infrastructure prior to the present system was either high bandwidth with relatively high latency that could support high bandwidth applications but not safety systems, or relatively low bandwidth with relatively low latency and / or high latency when transitioning between access points. This is not the case with the present system. In fact, the CBRS system 102 described herein is relatively low latency and relatively high bandwidth that allows multiple applications to exist over a common network infrastructure. As a result, since dedicated network infrastructures for different applications are no longer necessary, the cost of forming and maintaining the network infrastructure can be significantly reduced, and the effort required for implementation and maintenance can be reduced.

[0023] As described in more detail below, CBRS allows for the slicing / segmentation of the available spectrum for different tasks. Thus, each use or subset of uses can be assigned a specific slice of spectrum in which it is permitted to communicate, even though the different uses may be facilitated by a common network infrastructure. In this way, safety uses can reside on a separate slice of spectrum from content streaming services, ensuring that there is no interference between these uses and no unauthorized / undesired access to specific uses.

[0024] Reliable communication via Interference Reduction and Parallel Redundancy Furthermore, by communicating in the 3.5 GHz frequency band, much less interference can be experienced when compared to traditional network infrastructure. For example, an amusement park can have many users, many of whom carry personal electronic devices that access the Wi-Fi network. These numerous devices can cause interference with other devices utilizing the Wi-Fi frequency band (e.g., via a fluid mesh network), resulting in an unreliable network experience.

[0025] To further increase the reliability of communications in the CBRS system 102, a Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP) can be implemented in the CBRS system 102. PRP can simultaneously provide two signals to a target (e.g., a PLC) via two different routes in the system. As long as one signal reaches the PLC, the data will reach the target, which in the case of the PLC will refrain from triggering a fault condition.

[0026] Access Authentication and Authorization The CBRS system 102 may also provide enhanced authentication and authorization. For example, in contrast to traditional Wi-Fi networks that require only identification of a network service set identifier (SSID) and associated password, the CBRS system 102 may authenticate and authorize an electronic device to access certain portions of the network based on the presence of an individually configured subscriber identity module (SIM) card in the electronic device, which in some cases may be an eSim card embedded in the electronic device, configured via an eSim profile, or a traditional SIM card that is a physical card configured for access to the network. In this manner, access to the CBRS system 102 network may be more tightly controlled than traditional Wi-Fi networks, allowing for enhanced security, which may be particularly useful for safety or two-way systems.

[0027] A SIM card (or eSIM profile) may be configured with an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), which may be a unique identifier associated with the SIM card. A network administrator may register the IMSIs of authorized SIM cards / eSIM profiles, which indicate specific parts of the network that an electronic device associated with the SIM card / eSIM profile may access (e.g., receive data and / or transmit data).

[0028] The SIM card / eSIM is used to communicate with a cloud-based Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) so that the SIM card can be assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) and the device can be authenticated as valid and authorized on the network. This process provides an additional level of security and authentication by isolating certain functions (e.g., ride safety systems and / or show networks within the attraction) from the main private cellular network that guests can access.

[0029] Sub-Band Slicing for Dedicated Communications As mentioned above, CBRS allows for slicing / segmenting the available spectrum for different tasks. Thus, each use or a subset of uses can be assigned a specific slice of spectrum where it is allowed to communicate, even though the different uses can be facilitated by a common network infrastructure. In this way, allocating a slice of spectrum separate from content streaming services to safety uses can ensure that there is no interference between these uses and no unauthorized / undesired access to specific uses. IMSI registration defines the specific portion of spectrum that an electronic device is allowed to access, thus implementing a robust security implementation. Since there is a special interest in protecting safety systems, a slice dedicated to these systems can be allocated and each PLC performing safety system functions can be associated with a SIM card / eSIM profile that has an IMSI associated with access to this slice.

[0030] The slices can be divided into different ranges. For example, if the available spectrum is 100Mhz, the spectrum can be divided as ten 10Mhz slices, two 50Mhz slices, or two 25Mhz slices and one 50Mhz slice. In this way, slicing can address the bandwidth needs on the network. For example, a safety system may not require significant bandwidth if it is only providing a heartbeat signal throughout the network. Thus, the slices for the safety system can be very small compared to high bandwidth applications such as streaming content transmission. Thus, one can have different sized slices for different bandwidth applications while ensuring that these different applications are in different frequency bands and therefore do not interfere with each other.

[0031] Slicing can provide many implementation benefits. In one embodiment, a dedicated slice (e.g., 50 Mhz in size) can be allocated to an exclusive guest network. The guest can scan a QR code that allows payment for access to the guest network. In exchange for payment, the guest's electronic device can be provided with an eSIM profile to enable access to the dedicated slice allocated for the guest network.

[0032] Slicing can also be used for capacity planning. In contrast to Wi-Fi, where many devices can connect based on a known password, CBRS can be used to ensure that only specific SIM / eSIM card equipped devices can access the network slice. If a dedicated premium fast network can handle a maximum threshold of guests, then as more and more electronic devices access this network slice, supply drops and demand rises, so a variable price increase can be required for subsequent electronic devices accessing the network slice.

[0033] CBRS can also restrict access to a particular slice of the network based on the current location of the electronic device. In the amusement park example, it may be desirable to provide exclusive streaming content related to a certain entertainment venue to a user only if the user is present near the entertainment venue. CBRS can provide this type of functionality in many different ways. In one embodiment, to perform this location-based restriction, a SIM card can be allowed to access a particular slice only from a particular access point present near the entertainment venue. In this way, only electronic devices that access the network through an access point present near the entertainment venue can access the streaming content provided through the restricted slice.

[0034] In one embodiment, when a guest accesses the CBRS system 102 network, a Domain Name System (DNS) entry can be utilized to redirect Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) from external network resources to the local content delivery network so that particular content is provided by the local network rather than the external resource. In this manner, content can be provided more efficiently and bandwidth to external resources can be reduced.

[0035] The CBRS system 102 may also provide peer-to-peer capabilities between devices on the network. For example, interactive devices equipped with SIMs / eSIMs may communicate with each other over a bidirectional CBRS network. Additionally, subsets of devices may be assigned specific slices of the network to enable secure peer-to-peer communication between devices within the subset of devices.

[0036] Broadband Cellular System Use Cases The CBRS system 102 network described herein can be utilized by many different electronic devices. For example, NFC devices such as electronic wearables can interact with 5G networking capabilities through a connection to the network. Other devices such as interactive wands, headsets, or intermediate modules that connect to a headset can be client devices on the network.

[0037] Another use case for the CBRS system is a wireless camera system that provides streaming video over the CBRS system 102. Wireless cameras can be mounted on the ride vehicles and batteries that capture video of the ride vehicles and provide low latency data to the server 104 in a manner similar to the ride vehicle safety PLC 110. Because the CBRS system 102 provides relatively high bandwidth uploads, the ride vehicle wireless uploads can be very efficient and of high quality.

[0038] The cameras can also be used in other environments, such as construction environments where wired cameras may be difficult to place or prone to damage from equipment (e.g., backhoes, etc.).

[0039] While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art and it is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

[0040] The technology presented and claimed herein refers to and applies to tangible objects and specific examples of a practical nature that positively improve the art and are therefore not abstract, intangible, or purely theoretical. Moreover, if any claim appended at the end of this specification contains one or more elements designated as "means for [performing] ... [function]" or "step for [performing] ... [function]," such elements are to be construed pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 112(f). On the other hand, for any claim containing an element designated in any other manner, such elements are not to be construed pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 112(f). [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 100 Information Technology (IT) Environment 102 UE CBRS (User Equipment Bridge to CBRS Network) 104 Network device server 106 Network Device Client 108 Roadside Safety PLC 110 Vehicle Safety PLC 112 cores 114 Baseband Unit (BBU) 116 CBRS Antenna 118 CPE Bridge 120 Wiring connection 122 Encapsulation Bridge 124 Switch

Claims

1. 1. An information technology system for cellular communications, comprising: A client device; A server device; a broadband cellular technology system configured to provide bidirectional cellular communications between the client device and the server device via end-to-end Internet Protocol traffic; A system comprising:

2. the broadband cellular technology system comprises a Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) system; The system of claim 1 .

3. The CBRS system provides end-to-end Internet Protocol traffic by bypassing the network address translation (NAT) and tunneling of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for wireless broadband communications for mobile devices. The system of claim 2.

4. the client device includes a first programmable logic controller (PLC) and the server device includes a second PLC; The system of claim 1 .

5. the first PLC and the second PLC are configured to provide a heartbeat signal indicative of active communication between the first PLC and the second PLC via the bidirectional cellular communication. The system of claim 4.

6. the first PLC is configured to trigger a fault condition if a threshold number of the heartbeat signals are not received from the second PLC within a specified time; the second PLC is configured to trigger the fault condition if the threshold number of heartbeat signals is not received from the first PLC within the specified time. The system of claim 5.

7. the broadband cellular technology system is configured to utilize tunnel-less communication without network address translation to reduce communication latency between the first PLC and the second PLC compared to tunnel-less communication with network address translation to ensure that the communication latency does not impact an ability of a receiving PLC to receive the threshold number of heartbeat signals. The system of claim 6.

8. the first PLC is associated with a ride vehicle of an amusement park attraction; The system of claim 4.

9. The CBRS system comprises: A core, A CBRS antenna; a baseband unit configured to facilitate communication between the core and the CBRS antenna; a customer premises equipment (CPE) bridge coupled to the client device via a hardwire connection to provide a hardware network connection to the client device; the CPE bridge is configured to convert radio signals received from the CBRS antenna into hardwire signals that are transmitted to the client device via the wired connection. The system of claim 2.

10. a routing table that stores a reverse routing path from the server device to the client device to facilitate the two-way cellular communication; The system of claim 1 .

11. a SIM card, an eSIM card configured with an eSIM profile, or both, and authentication and access to the two-way cellular communications is provided via an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the SIM card, the eSIM profile, or both. The system of claim 1 .

12. the broadband cellular technology system is configured to segment an available frequency band for the two-way cellular communications into a plurality of sub-bands, with each use of a plurality of uses being assigned to a particular sub-band of the plurality of sub-bands to separate the uses into different sub-bands; The system of claim 1 .

13. one application of the plurality of applications includes a safety system separated into a dedicated sub-band for safety system traffic; The system of claim 12.

14. One of the applications includes a prioritized guest network separated into a dedicated sub-band for higher speed two-way cellular communication traffic. The system of claim 12.

15. The client device includes: accessing the preferred guest network via a graphical user interface display in response to scanning a quick response (QR) code; receiving an eSIM profile including an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) registered for access to a dedicated sub-band for higher speed two-way cellular communication traffic in response to interacting with the graphical user interface display; using the IMSI to access a dedicated sub-band for the higher speed two-way cellular communication traffic; The system of claim 14 configured to:

16. the client device includes a camera capable of capturing and streaming video content over the two-way cellular communication; The system of claim 1 .

17. the camera includes a mobile camera mounted on an amusement park attraction ride vehicle; 17. The system of claim 16.

18. The client device includes a roaming robot including a sensor, a safe programmable logic controller (PLC), and a controller, the roaming robot being: transitioning between access points as the user moves into an area served by a different access point; performing computer vision processing by providing sensor input to a computer vision processing server via said two-way cellular communication; providing a heartbeat signal to a server PLC via said two-way cellular communication to provide safety control; or Do any combination of these: The system of claim 1 configured to:

19. The client device includes an interactive component configured to receive input that is processed by an external processing system, and the broadband cellular technology system includes: identifying an access point to which the interactive component is connected; identifying a processing component closest to the access point that is capable of processing the input received by the interactive component; extracting instructions to the processing component to complete processing of the input, causing the processing component to process the input; The system of claim 1 configured to:

20. the broadband cellular technology system is configured to form an encapsulation bridge between the server device and the client device via a virtual network protocol to facilitate the bidirectional cellular communication; The system of claim 1 .

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