Data traffic on mobile networks is increasing at an unprecedented rate, putting extreme pressure on networks.
There are a myriad of different solutions to help operators maximise capacity, offering performance improvements from a few percent, to over fifty percent, but there is no one ‘magic bullet’ that can deliver the required expansion in network capacity.
Solutions such as Wi-Fi offloading, femtocells, data capping, additional sites (densification) and LTE all have different challenges, pros and cons.
But no strategy can ignore the next iteration of access network technologies – LTE and LTE-A – which delivers real, meaningful, additional capacity on new frequency bands. It is critical that operators ensure that LTE is implemented in a way that maximises its potential.
The capacity of LTE can be enhanced by up to 65% by the use of active antennas. The technological barriers to adoption have been overcome, largely due to the arrival of high performance miniaturized components.
The current filters used with active antennas create significant loss, detracting from the benefits that active antennas can bring, while less lossy, ceramic filters have remained stubbornly large – more suited to a location at the bottom of the mast. Traditional filters are not doing justice to the new active antenna technologies and are diluting the unquestioned benefits that they bring.
To date, the barriers to widespread adoption of active antenna systems include:
• Active antenna system capacity is being strangled by radio filter performance
• Excessive heat, causing reliability issues
• The inability to deliver a multi-band capability
Mesaplexx’s xCubeTM removes these barriers, enabling active antennas and higher capacity, better performing networks.