As more people and organizations demand higher data rates to stream high definition (HD) video for broadcasting, surveillance, or social media applications, the need for capacity continues to increase for wireless communication systems. In addition, once more advanced technology such as 4K video becomes mainstream, performance pressure on the RF data link for mobile applications will increase to a point where current technology cannot provide acceptable performance.
Applications include handheld devices (4G/LTE, 5G), as well as conventional and unmanned vehicle (UGV, UAV, etc.) These RF links are already straining to increase bandwidth. In essence we are already at this point, as many real time videos are distorted, interrupted, or presented in a lower data rate stream than the source content. There are various solutions to these challenges which we will discuss, including Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology, high gain antennas, tracking systems, and Bi-Directional Amplifiers (BDAs). Each come with positive attributes, as well as tradeoffs.
