Author
AnilTrehan
Let’s face it—the easiest way for operators to increase coverage and capacity is to just install additional towers and radios. Now ask yourself, is that the best or most economical way of doing this? Trust me, it’s not.
Today, it is more important than ever for operators to make the best use their existing resources. What if I told you that there was a way to do more with what you already have? It does require you to invest in an intelligent solution. Now, you might not want to hear about deploying another solution, but there is a bright side—these intelligent solutions are also energy efficient. Let me explain the benefits.
Most cell sites in heavily populated areas use sectorized antennas to achieve higher capacity. Ideally, each sector would have the same amount of traffic, but in reality traffic flow is dynamic, so distribution is unbalanced—a key cause of capacity inefficiency.
That’s where a smart antenna solution can help. SmartBeam antennas from CommScope are reconfigurable beam antennas that extend the range of remote beam changes from a single dimension for elevation beam steering (remote electrical tilt) to multiple dimensions. These antennas enable an operator to change the boresite or azimuth direction (panning), as well as the beamwidth (fanning) of the antenna remotely.
SmartBeam antennas help balance traffic over all sectors, avoid peaks and improve capacity efficiency by:
- Redirecting and widening/narrowing the beam
- Shifting traffic from overloaded to underutilized sectors
- Evenly distributing traffic to all sectors
- Significantly reducing sector overload
- Maximizing sector capacity
When compared to installing additional towers and radios, managing the tilt and beam patterns at a cell site to optimize coverage and capacity can result in significantly less power consumption. SmartBeam antennas enable you to continually sense and redistribute traffic evenly across all sectors, so you can make better use of the existing resources.
The CommScope SmartBeam solution has three key components:
- SmartBeam antennas
- One Teletilt®Controller (ATC300-1000) per site (wired and wireless option via modem)
- Antenna Network Management System (ANMS®) software, which connects each site using a wired or wireless network connection. All sites are displayed on one screen for full network visibility and control.
The SmartBeam solution can:
- Reduce OpEx by minimizing site visits
- Lower CapExby increasing capacity efficiency and delaying additional site builds
- Enhance network quality with the new ability to optimize the beam direction and width
- Experience fast, precise configuration updates
- Decrease inventory costs
- Prevent optimization implementation issues
Don’t you think it’s time to deploy a SmartBeam solution for your cell sites?
