Taking pride in excellence
URSYS has designed, implemented and managed complex and bespoke networks in just about every part of Australia. Here are a few project highlights.
Case studies
Our clients span a wide range of industries, including mining, oil and gas, construction, energy, water, health, emergency services, outback communities and all tiers of government.
Santos: Pipeline monitoring
Challenge:
Santos operates a 659 km pipeline to carry hydrocarbon liquids from Moomba (SA) to Port Bonython (SA) for processing prior to export to national and international markets. Real-time SCADA analysis is crucial to maintaining the safe operation and functionality of the gas pipeline.
Solution:
URSYS designed and implemented a bespoke network capable of transferring real-time and encrypted SCADA telemetry from each section of the pipeline back to the Santos integrated operations centre (IOC) for analysis and decision-making. Dual WAN links provide redundancy, improve resilience and mitigate potential downtime.
APA: Complex network management
Challenge:
APA relies on a highly complex network system to manage processes, track key parameters and monitor components across its gas pipelines. Network uptime is essential for monitoring and managing the pipeline’s operations and to detect potential issues before they lead to costly systems failures. However, the infrastructure underpinning this network includes over a thousand operational network devices and more than 400 satellite dishes, all of which need to be managed and maintained.
Solution:
URSYS manages APA’s entire network infrastructure to ensure continuous data transfer between more than a thousand sites and the client’s integrated operations centre (IOC). We also handle the entire systems development life cycle (SDLC,) including systems, network and security design; inventory management; systems testing, deployment, configuration and installation; as well as ongoing monitoring and support. Because of the level of orchestration involved, URSYS developed and implemented a bespoke classification convention for APA.
Vintage Energy: Collaboration and Design
Challenge:
Vintage Energy Limited, an Australian oil and gas company, faced challenges in retrieving telemetry from remote assets. These included network design, capacity planning, terrain diversity, and security requirements. URSYS has been maintaining the SCADA WAN Network for the Vali gas field through satellite communications.
Solution / Results:
URSYS and Vintage Energy collaborated closely to ensure uptime and resilience. This involved comprehensive network design and redundancy, security considerations, bandwidth capacity planning, system configuration, site installation, and commissioning. URSYS provided systems monitoring, management, and support to ensure uninterrupted telemetry for mission-critical decision-making. The collaboration resulted in maintaining the uptime SLA (excluding uncontrollable factors like weather events and power outages) and rapid incident response and resolution.
APA: Satellite service migration
Challenge:
In 2023, Optus announced the end-of-life (EOL) of its D2 satellite. APA needed to urgently migrate hundreds of locations to alternative satellite services.
Solution:
URSYS supported APA through this migration from Optus D2 to Eutelsat and Measat satellites. The major scope of work included the physical repointing of satellite dishes in remote areas of Australia, as well as providing remote technical support from the engineering team.
APA: Cisco hardware switchover
Challenge:
In 2021, Cisco announced end-of-sale (EOS) and end-of-life (EOL) dates for its IR829GW-LTE-GA-*K9 Industrial Router. With maintenance and security patches coming to an end, along with overall support for the technology, APA needed a suitable replacement with similar ruggedness, LTE capabilities and regulatory compliance.
Solution:
URSYS identified a suitable hardware replacement and mapped out the necessary scope of work covering hundreds of remote locations, breaking the project down into achievable phases.
The switchover began in 2023 and all devices have been replaced. APA will now be able to ensure ongoing compliance and will also be prepared to seamlessly connect to 4GX upon the decommissioning of 3G.
