Microwave Photonics unveils AgilWAVE, the world's first switched distributed antenna system for cellular and Wi-Fi applications.

Microwave Photonics, Inc. unveiled recently at the prestigious IDG Executive Forums' DEMOmobile 2003 conference a new switched distributed antenna system for cellular and Wi-Fi applications, called AgilWAVE.

AgilWAVE is a wireless access infrastructure platform based on a new, patented switched distributed antenna technology that enables mobile operators to extend the coverage and improve the capacity utilization of their wireless networks. AgilWAVE provides a service and protocol neutral common infrastructure that allows mobile operators to dynamically configure and provision the location, type and capacity of multiple wireless services concurrently (including 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi) according to user demand. Using the AgilWAVE platform, additional wireless coverage and services can be provisioned for as little as 1/10th the cost of traditional solutions.

"For the last 100 years radio systems have basically been the same: the radio electronics and the antenna have had to be in close proximity to each other. Microwave Photonics' breaks this paradigm, allowing for the first time the expensive electronics of the base station to be centralized and shared through a revolutionary new switch, called a physical-layer wireless switch. The result is a new architecture that allows signals from multiple centrally located base stations to be switched dynamically throughout a wireless network, to provide capacity and services whenever and wherever needed," said Amy Francetic, DEMOmobile's producer.

In an AgilWAVE network, a small and inexpensive distributed antenna unit called the AgilWAVE Antenna POD is used to provide uniform, targeted coverage to fill current coverage holes or extend coverage to locations not served by traditional macro-cells, such as in-building. Each Antenna POD receives a broadband signal from a centrally located AgilWAVE Wireless Switch. This new radio physical-layer device routes the signals to and from each base station to any of the Antenna PODs via optical fiber. Each Antenna POD can transmit and receive up to 35 separate carrier signals simultaneously, in any of the 2G, 3G or Wi-Fi bands. If a particular cell is experiencing congestion, the AgilWAVE Switch uses a technique called re-sectorization to change the mapping of multiple base station sectors to that and surrounding Antenna PODs to alleviate the problem. Conversely, if Antenna PODs are underutilized, the AgilWAVE Switch can share base station sectors to increase trunking efficiency. By controlling the RF power output at each Antenna POD the AgilWAVE Wireless Switch enables each service and coverage cell to be optimized for best performance and minimal interference. "We believe that this unprecedented flexibility will accelerate operators' ability to roll-out new mobile services, especially CDMA-based 3G services and Wi-Fi from a common, future-proofed, managed infrastructure, for a fraction of the cost of traditional approaches," said Maurizio Vecchione, Microwave Photonics' CEO.

AgilWAVE is ideally suited to RF footprint extension applications in dense urban environments. These include in-building applications for mobile infrastructure such as airports, high rise office complexes, rail hubs, underground transit systems, convention centers, shopping malls and sporting venues. "Ubiquitous mobility and new wireless data services will only be realized with scalable, innovative, and low cost wireless access solutions with continuous coverage outdoor and indoor. AgilWAVE is a unique multi-protocol solution which offers unprecedented operational flexibility to a wireless carrier--now both cellular and Wi-Fi can run on the same infrastructure," said Chris Shipley, Executive Producer of DEMO and editor of the Demo Letter.

The AgilWAVE value proposition is that it reduces the number of expensive base stations required to provide the same service and capacity. The AgilWAVE Wireless Switch allows the wireless infrastructure to be continuously and dynamically reconfigured, maximizing base station capacity utilization. "By centralizing the electronics with a neutral physical-layer switch, AgilWAVE dramatically lowers the capital expenditure and operational costs for a wireless operator," added Maurizio Vecchione.

The switch also enables the benefits of neutral hosting to be fully realized for the very first time. The AgilWAVE distributed antenna system can be shared across multiple wireless carriers, enabling operators to share the costs of infrastructure expansion. However, with AgilWAVE each operator is also able to individually access the full functionality of the switch in terms of custom network configuration and dynamic shaping of capacity.