RFS, a wireless infrastructure specialist, says it is unveiling a capex reducing, cell tower load minimizing – and technology boosting – portfolio of products for the GSMA Mobile World Congress.
Central to the range is a raft of products designed to smooth carriers' migration to LTE (Long Term Evolution) without the cost and technology issues that caused the industry problems when 3G was first phased in.
"Unlike the last migration period (from GSM/PCS to 3G), the economic framework our customers are operating in is radically different. ARPUs are constrained and capex, as well as associated cell tower loading issues, need to be kept in check. The range of products and solutions we are showing at the GSMA Mobile World Congress is in keeping with this strategy" said Eric Mariette, RFS' vice president of global marketing and strategy.
Spearheading RFS' range of products on show is ClearFill Star, said to be the world's first fully digital RF-over-Ethernet wireless indoor coverage solution.
ClearFill Star uses a digital IP-based approach that improves indoor cellular service by converting radio coverage into a streaming application on an IP Ethernet data network.
Based on innovations in wireless, Ethernet, and packet technology, the system uses the Cat5e switches, cabling, and network administration infrastructure already installed in most office buildings.
This makes the highly cost-effective technology simple and inexpensive to deploy, maintain and reconfigure, claims RFS.
A unique feature of the system is that the capacity of the base stations can be micro-managed by assigning (within software) which indoor Remote Radio Heads (Active Antennas) are allocated to which base station / base station sector.
RFS will demonstrate the ClearFill Star UMTS (W-CDMA) solution on its booth at Mobile World Congress, along with other products.