As LTE deployment accelerates and more and more frequency bands are introduced, antennae run the risks of becoming over complex and large while site space becomes increasingly limited. Since MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple Output) is widely used to increase system capacity on LTE networks, operators want antennas to be able to provide optimal MIMO performance and meet high-order MIMO requirements, and multi-mode/band antennas are now of mainstream interest. Drawing on 10 years of industry expertise and with a deep understanding of the antenna industry and advanced wireless technologies, Huawei has launched a full series of LTE network antennas to meet operators’ immediate and long-term LTE network requirements around the world, without challenging site limitations.
A full range of multi/ultra-broadband antennas responding to complex LTE band requirements
The full range of Huawei LTE network antennas covers all LTE bands. To meet demand for high-capacity LTE networks, equipment has been evolved to support seven bands and four modes in one cabinet (abbreviated as “7B4M1C”). Supported frequency bands include: GSM/UMTS 900 MHz, GSM/LTE 1800 MHz, UMTS 2100 MHz, LTE FDD 800 MHz, LTE FDD 2600 MHz, TD-LTE 2600 MHz, and TD-LTE 2300 MHz.
Huawei’s series of LTE ultra-broadband antennas also support the industry’s widest frequency range. Low frequency ultra-broadband antennas support 698 MHz to 960 MHz, which covers all the mainstream LTE 700/800/900 MHz frequency bands. Huawei’s high-frequency, ultra-broadband antennas can support 1710 MHz to 2690 MHz, covering mainstream LTE 1800/2100/2300/2600 MHz and AWS frequency bands. Typical penta-band antennas support “7B4M1C” and the following frequency bands: 698-960/1710-2690/1710-2690/1710-2690/1710-2690 MHz. Benefits: Comprehensive solutions with globally scalable relevance.
LTE is poised to accelerate and modernize commercial antenna deployment
Anticipating the unfixed nature of future LTE bands, and helping operators manage limited site resources, the design of Huawei’s current antenna solutions fully accommodate LTE network evolution. Huawei’s triple-band antenna supports the 790-960/1710-2690/1710-2690 MHz frequency bands, which can support GSM 900 MHz and UMTS 2100 MHz. Such an antenna is able to support GSM 900 MHz while still supporting LTE 1800/2600 MHz in the future. Benefits: Secondary deployment costs are minimized and LTE commercial launch can be more cost and time efficiently expedited.
Side-by-side platforms deliver optimal LTE MIMO performance
Huawei’s multi-band antennas are designed to operate “side-by-side” delivering the best possible dipole antenna correlation for optimal high-order MIMO network performance. When LTE 4×2 MIMO is introduced at 2.6 GHz, “side-by-side” antennas are able to increase the average cell throughput by 12.4%, and by 7.8% at cell edge. Antennas typically account for only 5% of the total investment in a wireless network. Benefits: By upgrading antenna systems, operators can now increase network performance and maximize the overall value of base station equipment.
Multi-band, size-optimized LTE antennas overcome space limitations and installation difficulties
If traditional antenna system design is followed, where each frequency band requires a separate array, multi-band antennas require multi-arrays and multi-band antennas will all become exponentially larger challenging site resources and ease of installation; larger than 350 mm, installation becomes difficult or even impossible.
Huawei’s antenna systems adopt the most advanced dipole re-use technology with multi-bands are carried on a common array. Benefits: Easier to install, Huawei antenna are smaller and lighter, with width reduced as much by approximately 40%. Without commanding any greater space, both Huawei quad-band and dual-band antennae offer uninhibited high performance.
Huawei’s EasyRET: the world’s first plug-and-play improves electrical tilt system efficiency and reliability while reducing OPEX
Traditional RET antenna require multiple electrical tilt components, including RCU (Remote Control Unit) and daisy chain cables; multiple band antenna with ALD (Antenna Line Device) systems require added connectors, all within limited antenna width and limited installation space. A complexity of components and connector points also inevitably compound the risks and chances of increasing engineering fault points; during a traditional external RCU installation and maintenance phase, one European operator found 30% errors came from cascade cable connections, 13% from installation, and 20% from incorrect configuration.
Huawei’s EasyRET antenna solution integrates multiple band antennas and traditional RET components, reducing the amount of cable and external connectors (from 12 traditional solution connectors to just one AISG cable and 2 EasyRET solution connectors). Electrical tilt components and the antenna are strictly matched and all related configuration data is preloaded and calibrated before any EasyRET antenna solution is delivered. Benefits: Reliability is increased, potential failure points are minimized, installation is simplified, on-site configuration is eliminated, maintenance time and cost are significantly reduced, automated RCU bar code recognition reduces manual recording of RCU bar codes and prevents adjustment errors.
The viability of Huawei’s innovative, future network oriented antenna systems is evidenced by the more than 1.25 million base station antennas deployed to date for over 350 operators in 155 countries and regions around the world.