NEW YORK-Armstrong World Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa., has produced conventional looking, pop-out ceiling tiles that hide radio-frequency antennas in their upward facing sides.
“Providing in-building coverage for voice and data communications is a new frontier for the wireless and ceiling industries. Ceilings can eliminate the last wire that tethers workers and stop the habit cell-phone users have of hanging out near windows,” said Gregg A. Maberry, general manager of new businesses for the company’s Building Products Operations.
“Ceiling antennas today are very intrusive and can be easily damaged. They (their visibility) also raises issues about perceived RF health effects and concerns by employees that they’re being watched.”
The new i-ceilings Wireless Systems Ultima Antenna Panels are one of the first products to result from an 18-month consultation with representatives of various sectors, including wireless operators, building owners, architects and interior designers, Maberry said.
“We actually are talking with wireless carriers about bringing them in as partners because there are questions we can’t answer, like bit error rates on data,” he said.
The ceiling panels have embedded antennas for 2.4 GHz data and for 800 MHz and 1900 MHz wireless telephony. They are compatible with CDMA, TDMA, IEEE 802.11b and Bluetooth standards.
Armstrong also has partnered with Centurion Wireless Technologies Inc., Westminster, Colo., the antenna supplier, for future production of ceiling tiles that work on the GSM standard and the upcoming 5 GHz data standard. Their plan is to produce new generations of individual panel tiles that incorporate all currently available and additional RF technologies, along with models designed for retrofit that incorporate just the add-on RF capabilities, Maberry said.
At a recommended rate of one Ultima Antenna Panel per 1,000 square feet, the estimated cost premium on an installed basis is about 10 percent to 15 percent above that of the company’s conventional ceiling panels, he added.
Armstrong has applied for a patent for the system, said Enrique Cuellar, vice president of marketing for LGC Wireless, San Jose, Calif. LGC makes and provides the hubs that transport the RF signals to the antennas embedded in the i-ceiling antenna panels, he said.
“There are two ways to configure the handoff. A bi-directional amplification system to solve a coverage problem extends the network into a shadow area with poor reception using a donor antenna on the roof pointed at a macro site,” Cuellar said.
“Sometimes, it’s not a coverage but a capacity problem where many users inside a building block the network. A distributed antenna system will create a micro base transceiver station that connects to a hub and is distributed via indoor systems.”
Wireless Applications Consulting, Portland, Ore., is providing the systems integration for the in-building installations, said Christian Lindmark, project manager.
