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Saturday, July 4, 2015

The Cellular DAS: The Basics

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.

The antennas are physically connected using a coaxial cable or the fiber to a central controller. This central controller is in turn connected to some wireless carrier network base station. The system increases the signal reliability and the power consumption is also less. Since the distributed antenna systems operate on RF spectrum that is licensed to a wireless carrier, it is not possible for an enterprise to undertake the deployment of DAS without one or more carriers.

The additional antennas mean better network coverage. The additional antennas are able to increase the line-of-sight channel that is responsible for a better network coverage. In normal systems, the provision of the cellular signals can be very power consuming since the system has to overcome the shadowing effect and penetration problems all which lead to the loss of signal.

In this way, the network is distributed through signal leakage. Since the transmitted power is split among a number of antenna elements that covers the same area as a single antenna, the total power required is highly reduced.

Since the installation is quite expensive, the industry is an option for the long contract terms. The most common of these is the ten year contract that is quickly becoming the industry standard.

In most cases, the cost of the equipment, installation cost, maintenance cost, and upgrading of the system are all borne by the carrier. This means that a carrier is likely to accept to bear the cost if the deployment fits within its network plan and is able to cover a large number of the subscribers. In most cases, the DAS system is shared with multiple carriers to keep the cost down.

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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