Cisco Technologies Star for Arizona Cardinals' State-of- the- Art Communications Infrastructure

September 6, 2005

by Charles Waltner, News@Cisco

The Arizona Cardinals are building a stadium that is virtually unrivaled for its innovation and advanced design. They turned to Cisco Systems for a communications system to match.

When finished building its Cisco-equipped converged Internet protocol (IP) network, the Arizona Cardinals will operate the most advanced communications system in the NFL, if not in all of sports. From the cabling to the software, the Cardinals are using nearly every play in the IP networking book, with the goal of creating the most efficient, flexible and scalable infrastructure possible. By the time it is completed, the network will support multiple business operations in two locations, multiple mobile or remote locations, dozens of voice, data and video devices and applications, and a widely diverse array of users.

The state-of-the-art IP network is only fitting, given the revolutionary design of the Cardinal's $450 million stadium. The stadium is not only for football but for the future of the Phoenix region. The structure will boast one of only three removable fields in the world, making it possible to host a variety of business and consumer events such as trade shows, concerts, rodeos, and motor sports.

The stadium's natural grass surface will sit in a 12-million pound tray that rides on steel wheels running along a track, making it possible to move the field in and out of the stadium as needed. A utility grid embedded in the stadium's floor under the field will house all the cabling and conduits necessary for wiring any event the venue can hold. The stadium also features a retractable roof that can close during the hot summer months and provide an air-conditioned environment and protection from the elements.

While the Cardinals plan to have the stadium ready by next August in time for the start of the 2006 season, they have already deployed the Cisco networking infrastructure throughout their administrative headquarters and practice facility in Tempe, a project that Mark Feller, technology director for the Cardinals, describes as a "nice warm-up" to the stadium network, which is five-times the size and complexity.

The Cardinals' headquarters is equipped throughout with Cisco IP phones, complemented by Cisco's call management and contact center software for customer services, call routing, voice mail, and other office phone functions. The network also hosts the teams extensive digital video system, which coaches and players use to review game footage, as well as supporting the team's television broadcasting operations. In addition, the headquarters boasts a full Cisco wireless network. The headquarters' network also supports various remote and mobile connections for training camps and for when the team is on the road.

"Compared to a typical business, the Cardinals are logistically an extremely dynamic organization," says Brian York, the director of services with Insight, which is designing and implementing the network. "The organization frequently moves between facilities during parts of the pre-season and almost weekly during the regular and post-season."

Despite the high demands placed on the network, Feller says Cisco IP technology is proving as good as its scouting reports. This summer Insight only had three weeks to install the entire network for the Cardinals' headquarters and training complex. Despite the demanding timeline, Insight's networking experts were able to replace the team's entire phone system, swapping out the facilities' old PBX system with a new Cisco IP Communications network, which included Cisco CallManager, Cisco Unity, and Cisco IP Contact Center products. Insight also upgraded the data network for voice and video and installed a comprehensive Cisco wireless sub-network. So far, the entire IP communication system has run without a glitch, Feller says.

Security, both at the headquarters and in the stadium, was a top-of-the-list concern for Feller and another reason he turned to Cisco technologies. The company is using a wide variety of products, following the Cisco approach of layered, system-based protection. The Cardinals have Cisco PIX Firewalls for network perimeter defenses and Cisco VPN devices for creating virtual private links between various locations (particularly when the team is on the road). It is also using Cisco Access Control servers and Cisco intrusion protection devices to keep a careful watch on ingress to the network. And the Cardinals will use client-based Cisco Security Agents to stifle any virus or malware infections.

"We would have never decided to rely entirely on a converged IP infrastructure if we didn't have complete confidence the network would be safe and secure," Feller says. "It gives me a lot of comfort knowing that we have many different Cisco security products working together to provide an integrated defense."

Cisco technologies, however, are not the only stars of this technology team. For every aspect of the project, the Cardinals are deploying some of the most exciting and innovative technologies available, all with the goal of creating the most efficient, flexible, and scalable network infrastructure possible.

The stadium, for example, is fitted with cutting-edge FutureFlex, a fiber optic product from Sumitomo Electric Lightwave. Unlike traditional approaches to managing fiber optic cabling demands that require companies to pre-purchase and pre-install "dark fiber" that can be turned on as an organization requires extra capacity, the Sumitomo product uses conduits that allow new fiber to be quickly blown through them with an air compressor on an as-needed basis, saving initial costs and avoiding disruptions from cabling installation construction.

"The FutureFlex products make it possible for us to bring on new capacity in hours or days, rather than weeks or months," Feller says. "This will be especially valuable given the stadium's ability to support so many different types of events."

The Cardinals are also using Category 6 (Cat 6) cabling for all device connections and data ports. Cat 6, unlike the common Cat 5 cable, can be split or divided so multiple devices can run on the same cable without any loss of bandwidth capacity. Again, another technology for bringing greater scalability and flexibility to the Cardinals' network.

"It sounds mundane, but the number of device connections we have are in the thousands," Feller explains. "By consolidating those drops as much as possible, we're cutting down on a lot of cable runs while still providing the flexibility we need."

The stadium will also feature an innovative wireless system that will use a common antenna infrastructure that can collect signals running on a variety of frequencies. The antenna system will support public service radios (police, first aid, etc.), cellular phones, and the stadium's wi-fi network for laptops and PDAs. Once received by the antennas, the various signals will be processed and routed through the IP network to the appropriate destinations.

Though these technologies are impressive, the extensible markup language (XML) capabilities of Cisco's IP phones have Feller especially intrigued and eager to deploy applications at both the headquarters and the stadium. Feller plans a news notification application, which will post various press releases and other statements from team management to the organization's staff. The news text will be stored in a database, which an XML application will tie into for displaying on the IP phones' LCD screens. Control keys on the phones let users scroll through the text and look up archived messages.

Customers of the high-end corporate lofts in the stadium will be able to use the phone's XML applications for a variety of tasks, from ordering food to looking up player statistics. Feller says the team plans to test out various applications to find the most popular ones.

"We won't be including desktop computers in the lofts because the Cisco IP phones can run any of the applications we might want to offer our customers," Feller says.

Over the next six months, Insight will be installing the communications system for the stadium, but given the success of the headquarters deployment, Feller and the Insight team are confident the Cisco network is the perfect match for the Cardinals' peerless stadium.

The Cardinals initially called on eight information technology integration companies to provide recommendations for the communications project. The bidders had different ideas but one of the common denominators was Cisco.

York says Insight recommended Cisco as the equipment supplier for the project because its technology is "battlefield proven." And Feller says he conducted extensive research before accepting bids, talking with outfits such as NFL Films, which uses a Cisco IP network for managing its extensive digital video operations. The discussions convinced Feller that a totally converged IP network was the best investment for the team and the Phoenix region-- now and, more importantly, into the future.

"It's not that I'm some sort of visionary," Feller says. "A lot of people are already having great success using Cisco converged IP networks for all their communications needs. I'm just following the trend."

Charles Waltner is a freelance journalist in Oakland, Calif.