Analysis
Ubidyne signs Asia Pac development deal
Ubidyne has signed a deal with a major Asia Pacific-based manufacturer of telecommunications equipment to develop an LTE active antenna for the 800MHz frequency range. The agreement follows successful independent network trials of Ubidyne’s 700MHz active antenna solution with a leading US mobile operator and is the first in a series of new contracts expected in the next 12 months with leading Tier 1 operators and OEMs. It is expected that the new 800MHz active antenna will be deployed with a major regional network operator in 2013.
In t“With the Ubidyne technology proven to exceed our theoretical performance predictions and demonstrate excellent reliability in independent trials, we are now getting a lot of real interest from operators and OEMs who need to meet the exploding demand for wireless data,” said Michael Fränkle, CEO of Ubidyne. “This was reflected at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. While there was a lot of discussion about the move to small cells, this represents a major investment in time and money; whereas visitors to our stand increasingly see active antenna technology as a way to maximise coverage and capacity from their existing macrocells. In addition to the deal announced today, we are in advanced discussions with further companies in Asia Pacific and other regions around the world.”
By removing the need for bulky coaxial feeder cables, remote electrical tilt assemblies and additional amplifiers on antenna towers and masts, Ubidyne’s patented active antenna technology significantly reduces installation costs and energy consumption while improving radio performance, deployment flexibility, coverage and network capacity. OPEX costs and outages are further reduced by Ubidyne’s Self-Healing mechanism that secures antenna coverage in the unlikely event of a system failure.
Unlike other approaches to active antenna systems (AAS), Ubidyne’s LTE 700MHz, 800MHz and 900MHz AAS technology uses one transceiver or M-Radio per antenna radiator. This means that an antenna with 16 radiators - or eight cross polar radiators - will also have 16 transceivers. Results from the US trials demonstrated that only a full AAS can meet critical upper sidelobe suppression requirements with margin, while simultaneously providing the highest possible antenna gain over an electrical tilt range of more than 10 degrees. And because of the Self-Healing feature, Ubidyne AAS still delivers this performance with up to four transceivers out of 16 being switched off.
Ubidyne will be exhibiting at LTE World Summit 2012 in Barcelona from 22 to 24 May and CommunicAsia2012 in Singapore from 19 to 22 June.