Understanding The Working Of The Cellular DAS

By Edna Booker


There are many situations where some spots have poor cellular network coverage. In some cases, the network is not available at all. This is common in high rise buildings, underground transportation systems and the highly populated areas like shopping malls, hospitals, college campuses, and stop arenas where the existing network system is overwhelmed by the demand such as many places in Raleigh city. The distributed antenna system, also known as the cellular DAS is the technology that boosts network coverage in areas with poor connectivity by installing a network of small antennas in the area that serve as repeaters.

In order to increase the signal reliability while reducing the total power required doing so, the DAS installation is made of a network consisting of several antenna nodes that are separately installed. The nodes are then connected to a single common source using fiber or a coaxial cable. This means that power is transmitted among several antenna elements which in turn reduces the power consumption and increases the network signal reliability.

The system works by simply relying on the presses of additional antennas which in turn increases the chance of a good line-of-sight channel. Since the provision of cellular signals is a very power demanding process due to the problems penetration and shadowing that leads to signal losses, the DAS relies on the active repeater amplifiers or passive splitters and feeder configurations. The two configurations increases efficiency and thus reduce the power consumption.

The DAS on the other hands relies on the active-repeater amplifiers and the passive splitters as the means of feeder configurations. As a result, the efficiency is highly increased while the power consumption is reduced.

The DAS antenna nodes can be installed indoors as well as outdoors since they are very compact. They are also small in size and the power requirement is less. This means that the system can be installed at any remote location where the zoning restriction cannot allow the traditional cell towers to be installed. In some cases, the system is tied to the wireless carriers like the AT&T and the Verizon. In most cases, the neutral-host providers are used given that they come with multiple carrier ability.

The installation purpose, the industry players usually prefer long contracts as direct installation is quite expensive. The ten year contract, for instance, has become the industry norm.

For better installation options, the industry has generally opted for a long contract with the majority of players choosing ten year contracts. However, the carrier owner who bears all the costs related to the purchase and installation of the equipment gets the exclusive rights over the platform. In order to recoup their cost, they charge the competitors and any other users fees for the use of their platform.

The technology comes with the main advantage of less power consumption in network boosting. It is also associated with ease of zoning and antenna placement, reduced site development planning, and reduced number of the BTS (Simulcast reduces Backhaul needs).




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