Powerwave Technologies announced a number of new wireless antenna and base station subsystem solutions to address the needs of European operations deploying 4G 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) service at the 2600 MHz spectrum.

The products introduced include new single- and multi-port antennas optimized for 2.6 GHz LTE deployments, a new 2.6 GHz LTE, DCS and UMTS Triplexer Cross-band Combiner, and a new Twin 2.6 GHz LTE Tower Mounted Amplifier.  “Powerwave has been recognized in the industry for its vision in advancing the future of mobile broadband through the development of innovative LTE solutions,” said Khurram P. Sheikh, chief product and development officer, Powerwave Technologies, Inc.

“Our new products for 2.6 GHz LTE deployments are designed to address several challenges faced by operators. By providing integrated components that support multiple frequency bands and multiple wireless protocols, Powerwave’s offerings reduce the overall tower real estate requirements and network costs and reduce power consumption by eliminating extraneous components and cabling. This also results in a smaller, more compact footprint for improved aesthetics. Additionally, Powerwave’s new 2.6 GHz LTE offerings help ensure interworking with legacy 2G and 3G networks, which is essential in dense metropolitan areas. “Our portfolio of 4G LTE infrastructure products – including antennas, TMAs, MCPAs and radio heads, along with our service and software solutions – are designed to reduce deployment costs and complexity, and provide network operators with a distinct time-to-market advantage.”

Single- and Multi-port Antennas Optimized for 2.6 GHz LTE Deployments Offering high efficiency, low interference, and superior gain per length, Powerwave’s new family of single- and multi-port antennas cover the 2300-2700 MHz frequency band, enabling EMEA operators to quickly and cost-effectively deploy new services leveraging 4G LTE. Key features include Powerwave’s integrated remote electrical tilt (iRET) functionality under one antenna radome, which delivers maximum performance, improved aesthetics, and eliminates installation and reliability issues that can occur with typical exterior remote electrical tilt modules.

 iRET can save operators operating costs because of reduced costs of tower climbs, lease additions and overall site visits. Further setting Powerwave antennas apart are the products’ ability to provide consistent performance across frequency bands and down tilts via Powerwave’s patented Aperture Coupled Patch technology, ensuring consistent performance over the entire band and the elimination of dead zones, and reducing the total cost of ownership since 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. Additionally, the antennas boast superior upper side lobe suppression for reduced site-to-site interference – a critical requirement for 4G networks. This advanced design enables operators to boost capacity by reusing frequencies at adjacent sites. Powerwave antennas also offer high efficiency – as much as one dB in gain above competing offerings. 2.6 GHz LTE, DCS and UMTS Triplexer Powerwave’s LTE Triplexer is a three channel (1710-1880 MHz/1920-2170 MHz/2300-2690 MHz) multi-port cross-band combiner that allows European 2.6 GHz 4G LTE signals to be combined onto a common antenna or cable feed line with existing DCS and/or UMTS 2G/3G systems.

Ultra efficient, the LTE Diplexer offers one of the industry’s lowest guaranteed insertion loss levels and highest guaranteed RF power handling, along with leading isolation and inter modulation distortion for optimum signal quality. Optional DC Auto-Sense enables the product to meet multiple site needs irrespective of DC/AISG feed options from different base transceiver stations. Additional options include sniffer (coupler) port and Layer 1 AISG parallel-to-serial internal embedded modem, which allows for a convenient and low-cost method to connect the AISG Master Control Unit to the feed line – eliminating the need for separate external Current Injector Layer One Converter (CILOC) and Power Distribution Unit (PDU) components.

Twin 2.6 GHz LTE Tower Mounted Amplifier Powerwave is also introducing a new Twin 2.6 GHz Tower Mounted Amplifier, which has been updated to support forthcoming 2500-2570 MHz LTE frequencies in EMEA. The TMA improves base station receive sensitivity, reducing dropped call rates and improving uplink data rates, for an improved user experience. The new offering builds on Powerwave’s reputation of offering the most field-proven TMA design in the industry with more than 1.7 million installed since 1994, providing customers with a low total cost of ownership over the life of the product. With a balanced amplifier design and bypass functionality, Powerwave TMAs offer the highest level of performance and reliability in the smallest available package size and lowest weight. This industry-leading compact footprint reduces installation costs and complexity by minimizing tower loading.

Roke Manor Research has launched its LTE MAC Scheduler for base stations. Vendors developing Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment can integrate Roke's smart technology to optimise network performance, enhance user experience and reduce service delivery costs for mobile network operators. Roke has developed mobile communication technology for Siemens since the 1990's and has over 50 years of commercial and military communications experience.

The launch of the LTE MAC Scheduler marks a new phase, with Roke using its handset and base station expertise to develop solutions for the wider mobile communications market.  The success of the smartphone, netbook and mobile broadband has dramatically increased traffic on existing mobile networks. The next generation of packet-switched LTE networks offers a solution, however this relies on the efficient and intelligent use of a key asset - spectrum. Roke's LTE MAC Scheduler will enable mobile network operators to optimise spectrum utilisation through the efficient and intelligent use of the air interface.  Base station equipment vendors can easily integrate the Roke smart technology into their in-house or third-party LTE protocol stacks, enabling their products to: 

- Increase cell capacity and reduce cost-per-bit.

- Increase user throughput and enhance user experience.

- Reduce User Equipment (UE) power consumption and extend battery life

- Support quality of service and enable new services and business models.

- Reduce development timescales and accelerate time-to-market.

Traditionally, equipment vendors have developed scheduling technologies in-house. However, with LTE being completely packet-switched, scheduling in LTE is far more complex compared to 3G HSPA and far more critical to network performance. This escalates the cost and risk associated with in-house product development, as well as the maintenance of an upgrade programme. The increased availability of 'commercial off the shelf' (COTS) components for LTE means that vendors can now reduce risk and time to market by sourcing a solution, such as the Roke MAC Scheduler, to integrate into their own commercial products. 

Patrick Fuller, Business Sector Consultant at Roke, said: "Equipment vendors can take advantage of the MAC Scheduler's advanced features to differentiate and future-proof their product. As the LTE market matures, advanced features such as MIMO, UE power management and interference co-ordination will become more important as traffic volume on networks accelerates. Roke has the breadth and depth of expertise to provide and support these advanced MAC Scheduler features".

The rapid growth of data traffic in mobile networks continues, driven by the use of smartphones, laptops and other devices. Wireless access to data services and internet is today a "must".

As 4G network deployments gather momentum, a substantial 22% of device subscription revenues will come from suites of operator-branded premium services. Total 4G mobile consumer service revenue – including mobile Internet services - will grow rapidly to exceed $70 billion worldwide in 2014.

“Operators will take advantage of this market opportunity by breaking down their walls and building open ecosystems”According to ABI Research practice director Philip Solis, “Operators of 4G networks will refuse to be marginalized as ‘dumb data pipe’ service providers. Instead, they will offer suites of ‘smart services’ – some internally developed, others via partnerships with third party suppliers – that will be provided over ‘smart networks’ enabled with all-IP technologies, IMS infrastructure and cloud-based storage.”

These 4G services will be optimized to enable a proliferation of mobile devices, such as smartphones, netbooks and PNDs, and many operators will be offering pooled device subscriptions: one user subscription, many activated devices.

Internet access service will be the “killer 4G service” – no surprise considering 4G networks are data-only. However, a suite of premium services will collectively drive significant consumer adoption, revenues and profits, including:

- Location services, such as turn-by-turn directions and POIs

- Multimedia services, such as VoD and P2P video sharing

- Media broadcast services, such as pay-per-view TV and digital radio

- Gaming services, such as multi-player and augmented reality games

These “Web 3.0” services will be integrated with popular Web 2.0 features, such as personalization, community, interactivity, presence, and localization, and will be delivered simultaneously, seamlessly and transparently to ‘three screens’ – PCs, TVs and mobile devices - over the Internet, over cable networks, and over wireless networks.

“Operators will take advantage of this market opportunity by breaking down their walls and building open ecosystems,” says Solis. “They will partner with third-party service providers from whom they can license and re-brand services; they’ll work with network and handset OEMs to influence infrastructure and device specs; and they’ll join ecosystem development organizations, such as Alcatel-Lucent’s ng Connect program.”

ABI Research’s new study “4G Mobile Consumer Services” (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1004651) provides a market development update and dynamics, mobile consumer services descriptions, selected ecosystem participant profiles, and key insights and opportunities.