Powerwave Enhances Antenna Family for Emerging Wireless Markets

At the Mobile World Congress (News - Alert), Powerwave Technologies, a provider of end-to-end wireless coverage and capacity solutions, announced that it has optimized its antenna product line to address the needs of emerging wireless markets and help bridge the digital divide.

 

The new antenna products from Powerwave (News - Alert) Technologies offer high efficiency and remote electrical tilt functionality, company officials said. They are ideal for emerging markets, enabling operators to cover more range with less network downtime and financial burden.

 

While the number of mobile subscribers is expected to climb to 5 billion by 2015, Powerwave says that a large proportion of those new users will be in developing nations and/or in rural areas with little to no existing infrastructure.

 

Added to these challenges is the wide range of wireless protocols – from GPRS to WiMAX (News - Alert).

 

“There is great potential for mobile broadband to become a viable fixed-line alternative in emerging markets, but also great challenge for operators to build and run highly efficient networks to counteract lower Average Revenue Per User,” Khurram P. Sheikh, chief product and development officer, Powerwave Technologies, said.

 

The key criteria they all share are the need for reliable, cost-effective wireless infrastructure, according to the company.

 

Powerwave’s optimized antennas offer high efficiency, low interference and superior gain per length, enabling operators to quickly and cost-effectively deploy new services leveraging frequencies in all major frequency bands – including 700, 800, 900, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, and 2600 MHz.

An important feature of Powerwave antenna includes fixed electrical tilt support, as well as remote electrical tilt functionality under one antenna radome.

 

The technology also provides consistent performance across frequency bands and down tilts via Powerwave’s patented Aperture Coupled Patch technology. This results in reduced total cost of ownership as operators can cover more area with fewer cell sites.

The Aperture Coupled Patch also offers superior azimuth tracking, translating into less optimization needed by the network, according to company officials.

 

Other important features of Powerwave antenna include superior upper side lobe suppression for reduced site-to-site interference – a critical requirement for 4G networks – as well as an advanced design that enables operators to boost capacity by reusing frequencies at adjacent sites.

 

At the Mobile World Congress, Powerwave also announced the expansion of its popular OS Micro Cabinet family of Multi Carrier Power Amplifier or “MCPA” Booster systems to include two new models.

 

Powerwave's MCPA Booster Systems amplify the downlink signal for coverage and capacity enhancement while providing an optional low noise amplifier and RF filtering to improve overall uplink noise figure and receive sensitivity, according to the company.