Picocells and distributed antenna systems (DAS) solutions are not necessary competing solutions, on the contrary, they are complementary. Recently, TE Connectivity and Ip.access announced they have teamed up to integrate picocell technology into a distributed antenna system.
During Mobile World Congress 2012, TE Connectivity is announcing an integrated femtocell and DAS for WCDMA, along with support for new frequencies for its DAS products. “It makes a lot of sense in terms of efficiency and economic versus in-building DAS only or picocell only,” John Spindler, TE Connectivity’s director for product management, told RCR Wireless News.
>>> Listen to excerpts of Spindler’s interview about femtocell, DAS integration.
Spindler has also explained the solution’s challenges, when he noted there’s a lot of interest from carriers and said there’s a huge potential for growth, although company did not make any pilot project yet. “It can be quite big, because what it does is make a whole proposition into a more efficient and economical purpose.”
According to Spindler, “we see a shift toward use of DAS for capacity and coverage, but there are some cases, due to several costs, where it makes more sense have small packages.”
TE Connectivity will focus sales in mature markets, and said the range of applications is huge.
>>> Listen to Spindler talking about challenges, perspectives and expectations.
The US $14 billion global company made announcements at the show related to new products that are extensions to its InterReach and FlexWave Prism DAS product lines, including support for new frequencies for its DAS products.
Solutions launches at MWC 2012:
- eDAS – the world’s first all-digital integrated DAS and base station for WCDMA, which uses ip.access E-16 femtocells integrated with TE’s FlexWave Prism or InterReach Spectrum DAS products to provide a one-stop system for enterprises wishing to improve mobile service in their facilities;
- FlexWave Prism high power DAS high density module (HDM) – a new RF module for doubles the number of frequencies a Prism unit can support or doubles its output power, for a per node maximum of eight services or 40W power;
- FlexWave Prism in-building remote unit (IRU) – an in-building high power hybrid fiber coax DAS for indoor 850 APAC, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz applications;
- InterReach Express in-building DAS– a single-band, all-Ethernet in-building DAS for 850, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz applications in small and medium-sized buildings that offers many benefits of TE’s higher-end solutions including distributed power at a much lower price point; and
- InterReach Fusion in-building DAS 2600 MIMO – this industry-leading solution now supports AWS and LTE services in the 2.6 GHz frequency band.
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