CommScope Six Sector sculpting antenna solution

CommScope has a comprehensive antenna solution that enables wireless operators to increase capacity at the cell site.

The Six Sector Solution, part of the Andrew portfolio of wireless solutions, uses advanced antenna technology that can make site acquisition and installation easier by enabling the use of three antennas where six were previously needed.

Implementation of the solution is said to provide almost twice the capacity, increase the gain of each sector by 3 dB for better building penetration and mitigate interference for higher data throughput.

The solution is the latest to address the concept of sector sculpting, an approach to antenna pattern shaping that carves out more capacity, improves coverage and limits interference. Sector sculpting boosts network performance by better controlling interference between sectors and increasing the number of accessible subscriber channels.

These sector sculpting antennas can radiate multiple, tightly defined RF patterns from one antenna unit. The solution uses twin-beam base-station antennas as the primary enabling technology for sector splitting with three antennas. Twin-beam antennas generate two RF beams from one antenna meaning three antennas can do the work of six, saving on tower leasing costs and decreasing wind loading.

By increasing the gain in each sector by 3 dB, twin-beam antennas nearly double the signal power, which means better building penetration. The higher gain also enables higher data rates so that users may be able to stream high-definition videos, for example, where previously they could only stream low-quality video. Twin-beam antenna technology is now available in most frequency bands for GSM, CDMA, UMTS and LTE.