CommScope has introduced a next generation wireless network platform for in-building wireless services. The CommScope Era, is an all-digital C-RAN antenna system that leverages wireless operators’ initiatives to centralize and virtualize baseband radio assets, a foundational design concept for 5G networks.
CommScope Era (Era) enables operators to deploy a centralized head-end that serves multiple buildings with the ability to tap capacity from the operator’s existing centralized radio access network (C-RAN) hubs. Era’s innovative Wide-area Integration Node (WIN) resides in the C-RAN hub and routes baseband capacity to a distribution point within the served building or campus. It allocates baseband capacity where it is needed while reducing the amount of onsite head-end equipment and the amount of fiber needed for signal transport by up to 90 percent.
CommScope holds 164 patent families for the technological innovations incorporated in the Era. Its all-digital architecture enables capabilities that analog DAS simply cannot. Capacity re-allocation, soft re-sectorization, system setup and diagnostics are all software functions in Era, capable of being changed with a few clicks of a mouse. It also transports Gigabit Ethernet backhaul to each remote node, which can be used for separate Wi-Fi networks, IP security systems or to support a small cell overlay needed for future network expansion.
It features a new family of access points that are available in a range of power levels, with copper and fiber connectivity and outdoor and plenum ratings, to serve a wide variety of venue types. It supports interleaved MIMO (multiple input/multiple output) using patented technology that can offer up to 80 percent of collocated MIMO speeds over a SISO (single input/single output) infrastructure. The Era uses IT-standard copper and fiber-optic infrastructure and allows for the sharing of existing fiber networks, significantly reducing fiber costs.
It is built on the all-digital architecture pioneered and proven in the company’s ION-E distributed antenna system. ION-E is CommScope’s IT-friendly enterprise mobility solution that is still an exceptional choice for many enterprise deployments. Existing ION-E systems can be software-upgraded to be interoperable with Era.
CommScope will be showcasing the Era C-RAN antenna system at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2018 (MWC18) event in Barcelona from 26 February – 01 March.
