Ethertronics has introduced a complete Wi-Fi Active Steering antenna system solution that improves network performance by up to 3 dB for a wide-range of Wi-Fi devices including access points, set-top boxes, smart gateways and the Internet of Things. The company will demonstrate at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, January 6-9, 2016, its new 5 GHz Wi-Fi reference design platform.
The new antenna system, based on Active Steering technology for Wi-Fi devices, provides 50% more range and reliable performance by using dynamic radiation patterns to direct the Wi-Fi signal to devices for the most optimal connection, regardless of the device's location and position. This technology also makes the process of installing and positioning a Wi-Fi device or access point much simpler and cheaper. The performance of the antenna is a major bottleneck in home Wi-Fi networks. This solution from Ethertronics will improve range, throughput and reliability.
Active Steering optimizes the antenna characteristics to the environment, resulting in better throughput. The Active Steering algorithm continually samples and switches between radiation patterns in the sub-millisecond time-frame to optimize an access point for specific home installations. This allows for a more reliable connection anywhere in the home.
This technology has already been proven for LTE Applications - Active Steering integration for LTE into smartphones resulted in improving spectral efficiency by 30%. They are now extending this field-proven smart antenna platform into a wide-range of Wi-Fi devices.
Industry Leading Antenna Performance
Active Steering technology generates multiple radiation patterns from a single antenna structure, allowing one antenna to operate as four different antennas. When implemented in a standard access point containing four antennas, the result is the capability to generate 16 unique radiation patterns and 256 pattern combinations for the antenna system. Utilizing a unique design that delivers up to a 3dB increase in performance results in a 50% improvement in coverage and quality of signal. The complete Wi-Fi portfolio offers easy implementation, with a single unit, including the antenna, chip and algorithm to replace one or all 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz antennas for in-home Wi-Fi devices.
Wi-Fi Active Steering system solutions enable beam steering from a wireless device by sampling and switching between the multiple radiation patterns, and optimally selecting the antenna radiation pattern that provides the best radio frequency (RF) link performance. This capability provides revolutionary improvements in range, data throughput for applications such as video streaming, interference reduction, robustness in multipath environments and connection reliability.
Key Active Steering Features and Benefits
- Multiple dynamic radiation patterns
- Up to 3 db improvement in antenna system performance
- 50 percent higher range and reliable performance
- Minimizes unwanted interference
Product Details
Ethertronics Active Steering antenna system solution delivers optimized antennas for SISO, MIMO, and beam forming applications for smart access points and wireless cable/DSL gateways. The proprietary algorithm integrated into the EC482, combined with the EC614 can connect to any baseband on the market to control from one to eight antennas and optimize for the best scenario of coverage with fast switching capability. The Ethertronics algorithm can be tailored to benefit the aggregate throughput, and significantly improve one client or the least served client based on the preferences of the carrier or box manufacturer.
Availability and CES Demo
The Wi-Fi Active Steering antenna system solution is available now. Ethertronics is demonstrating its 5 GHz Wi-Fi reference design platform at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, January 6-9, 2016.
