CIE Components in Electronics
CommScope has launched what is believed to be the world’s first ultra-wideband antenna system that is capable of supporting the four major air-interface standards in almost any wireless frequency range. The UltraBand has been designed to enable operators to reduce the number of antennas in their networks, lowering tower leasing costs while increasing speed to market capability.
Every iteration of wireless technology typically requires operators to deploy new antenna equipment in their networks. As a result towers get cluttered with multiple antennas while installation and maintenance become more complicated. UltraBand looks to solve this problem by supporting multiple frequency bands and technology standards from one antenna. For example, operators will be able to deploy LTE in 2.6 GHz and 700 MHz while supporting W-CDMA in 2.1 GHz—all from the same antenna.
Deploying UltraBand can save operators time and expense during their next technology rollouts, according to Philip Sorrells, vice president, Strategic Marketing, Wireless, CommScope. “The UltraBand antenna is a dynamic, future-ready solution for launching a high performance wireless network with multiple air interface technologies using multiple frequency bands,” said Sorrells. “The ability to deploy a flexible, scalable and independently optimized antenna technology simplifies the network while providing the operator with the maximum degree of future-ready capacity.”
The UltraBand antenna system is optimised for high performance in capacity-sensitive, data-driven systems. It uses pattern shaping technologies pioneered by Argus, a leader in antenna technology innovation that in 2011 became part of CommScope and its Andrew portfolio of global wireless solutions. The antenna system supports MIMO implementation for advanced capacity solutions.
“UltraBand is extremely versatile, ready to support multiple bands now and in the future as new standards and bands emerge,” said Sorrells. “UltraBand will protect operators from some of the uncertainty inherent in wireless technology evolution.”
The new UltraBand antenna system provides a multi-band solution, adding five lower frequency bands to support a total of nine frequency bands across the wireless spectrum: US700, EU Digital Dividend, US cellular and GSM900 for the lower bands and DCS1800, PCS, AWS, 3G, and WiMax for the higher bands.
