Convergence Curbs Wireless Complexity

Hearst's distributed antenna system dramatically reduces the complexity of the company's wireless network.

One of the most technologically advanced features of the Hearst Tower's converged network is its distributed antenna system. By choosing such a system, Hearst dramatically reduced the complexity of its wireless network.

MobileAccess Networks, which provided the distributed system in the new Manhattan high-rise, has delivered a number of distributed antenna systems for large projects.

Besides the Hearst Tower, the Vienna, Va., company designed and delivered the wireless antenna system for the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., which is home to the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals and college football's Fiesta Bowl.

Depending on the needs of individual sites, the antenna systems may handle everything from public service radio to Wi-Fi. The system in the Hearst Tower is used for Wi-Fi and wireless phones and data.

"We have two types of sources: centralized sources, such as base stations, and distributed sources, such as wireless LANs," said Jeff Kunst, vice president of marketing for MobileAccess.

Kunst said the wireless access points are essentially like hundreds of little base stations. "We take them and create an architecture and put them in centralized locations," he said.

Kunst said many of the installations his company implements include both Wi-Fi and wireless phone services. The antenna system at the Arizona stadium covers nearly everything, including public service and emergency service radios, phones, and Wi-Fi.

MobileAccess uses specially designed antennas along with a combination of coaxial cable and fiber to carry radio signals from central locations to the antennas, Kunst said.

"It's a multielement antenna," he said. "We have to create a flexible system that handles the necessary power levels. You can continue to add bands on top of it. We have different variants of our antennas."

MobileAccess is service-agnostic, caring only about the actual frequency band, Kunst said.

The company's antenna systems normally handle frequencies from 400MHz to 6GHz, he said. In addition, MobileAccess provides specialized modules that allow different signals to travel along the same cable.

"Our system also supports voice over wireless LAN, VHF and UHF radios," Kunst said.

The advent of distributed antenna systems such as those from MobileAccess has changed the way some companies plan their building infrastructure.

"Every large building is fundamentally a multiservice environment," Kunst said. "There are a lot of wireless applications, and most people start serving them individually."

MobileAccess is already developing modules for new applications, including the newly available 700MHz band, Kunst said.

One advantage to the distributed approach is that while antennas are spread around a building, radios are not. Those are in one place, where they're easier to service and less expensive to manage, Kunst said.

In addition, because the only things out in the building are the passive antennas, there's rarely a reason to send a technician out to service them. That is the reason Hearst chose the distributed approach - all officials needed in the Hearst Tower were antennas on each floor.

Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International

Related stories:

Broadcom N Router Gets Draft 2.0 Certification
Semiconductor company Broadcom announced today that its line of Intensi-fi routers has received certification for Draft 2.0 of the 802.11n spec by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Mobile Entertainment Reigns Supreme at CTIA 2007
If there was an overriding theme to the Spring edition of the 2007 CTIA trade show, it was entertainment. What buzz existed was all about phones that show movies, television shows, or play music in one or another format or means of delivery.
Wireless in the Sky: Hearst Builds Tower of the Future
Media icon Hearst has built a 46-story, 856,000-square-foot structure designed to utilize the latest wireless technology. Hearst's new tower, with its diamond-shaped windows and distinctive triangular frame, cuts a unique profile against the New York skyline, rising like a faceted apparition above its gray Columbus Circle neighbors.
What's the Buzz? Harnessing Static to Improve Wireless Signals
Can network interference be used to expand and enhance communication for wireless devices such as cell phones, computers and personal digital assistants?
Wireless technologies used today based on decades of work at Virginia Tech
Technologies used today by companies, such as Direct TV, Iridium Satellite, Bluetooth, and Globalstar, are based on satellite communications efforts started at Virginia Tech four decades ago in its Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).
Home IQ: Winning technologies will make people smarter -- not their houses
Someday, we may be getting fashion advice from our mirrors. Instead of digging through our closets to find the perfect complement for a new shirt, we may hold it up to our bedroom mirror for a computer to scan. Using radio-frequency identification technology, our electronic fashion stylist will then offer suggestions based on what's in our closet or how the latest edition of Vogue or Teen Beat pairs up something similar.
Verizon's G'zOne Boulder cell phone is military tough
For all the convenience and security they offer, it doesn't take much to fry a cell phone. Ever bend over to refill Fido's bowl and have your phone tumble out of your pocket and into the water? Or leave it by the edge of a pool only to have some kid come by and cannonball it into oblivion? Even accidentally dropping it onto the pavement or getting sand inside can do serious damage.
Memory chip makers still hurting from supply glut
While chip companies are getting a much-needed boost from stable demand for consumer tech products, the glut in memory products continues to hurt many of them, analysts say.

News discussion:

Technology news