Hutton Communications

Your Wireless Experts

Welcome to in-building 101

Presented by Professor Mike Brownson

Today’s Topic –

Distributed antenna systems for indoor

cellular and public safety repeaters

Welcome to In-Building 101

Useful Terminology• DAS = Distributed Antenna System, the network that distributes the RF signal

• BDA = Bi-Directional Amplifier = Repeater

• Donor Site = The signal that you are looking to redistribute inside the building (eg: the

repeater site/tower)

• Donor Antenna = outdoor directional antenna pointed toward the donor site

• Server Antenna = indoor antennas

• Downlink = the RF path from the tower/repeater DOWN to the users device, the repeater

transmit frequency

• Uplink = the RF path from the user device to the tower, portable device transmit frequency

• Composite power = broadband power measurement, sum of all RF signals

• RSSI = Received Signal Strength Indicator

• EUD = End User Device, the device we’re trying to allow to talk to and from the tower

• Link Budget = the sum of all gains and losses to derive a theoretical value of signal at the

EUD or at the donor site (downlink and uplink, respectively)

Welcome to in-building 101Useful terminology

Types of in-building systems

• Passive system

– BDA or transmitter connected to a passive network of coax and

splitters

• Active system

– Usually a DAS that uses optical fiber to transfer signals between

a head-end and remote heads located throughout a building or

group of buildings. Also available is a system that uses Cat5/6

cable to do the same.

Useful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Types of in-building systems

Components of a passive in-building system

• Donor antenna

• Lightning protector

• Coax from donor antenna to BDA

• BDA/Repeater

• More coax

• Splitters, couplers, tappers

• Indoor antennas

Types of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Components of a passive indoor system

Components of an in-building systemComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Components of an inbuilding system

When should I use a fiber DAS?

• A fiber DAS allows for co-existence between 800Mhz cellular

systems and 800Mhz SMR or Nextel systems. Not a good practice

on a passive DAS

• A fiber DAS is much more scalable to accommodate large facilities,

even if the structure is millions of sq ft. In facilities like sports

arenas, stadiums, office towers, museums, colleges and hospitals,

this is the only practical solution.

• A fiber DAS provides a future proof design. It allows for expansion

and adding new frequency bands and carriers without having to add

cable and antennas.

Components of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101When should I use a fiber DAS?

Industry Drivers

• For Public Safety

– IFC2009, NFPA and other fire safety codes now specify minimum indoor

signal quality for public safety radio signals

• For Cell Phones

– The proliferation of cellular phones, and especially smart phones, has

caused a much greater need for cellular coverage and capacity indoors

Components of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Industry drivers

RF Signal Sources from

Multiple Carriers

Head-End in

MDF Closet

Remote in

IDF Closet

Antenna

Benefits of Corning Mobile Access DAS Solutions

• Single/Multi Carrier Multi-Service & Public Safety

Solution supporting key combinations of voice &

data services such as Cellular, PCS, IDEN,

AWS, LTE, WLAN and Public Safety (400 MHz –

6 GHz)

• Future-Ready Scalable Platform with modular

service additions to accommodate medium &

large scale deployments and simple upgrade

path for 3G & 4G support

Corning | MorningAccess: Wire-it-once infrastructure

investment

Supporting Carriers &

Public Safety On A DAS

• The Most Effective Solutions in the Industry –Choose from a variety of LTE SISO and MIMO dedicated & partitioned solutions

• Modular Architecture – Invest only in the technology that you need.Easily to add other carrier modules when they join the system.

• Avoid Lease Changing Events – MA modular, architecture means

UMTS, LTE and other upgrades are completed with minimal disruption. Work is done in the Telecom closets not in the ceilings.

• Dedicated Components - carriers are more likely to join a systemwhere operators have their own modules and know that they cannot impact each other

• Industry Leading Healthcare Applications - MA Solutions include the ability to add applications to the DAS like Telemetry, Public Safety

• Leverage WiFi Infrastructure – MA Solutions have100% transparent Wi-Fi support. Cut deployment costs by 50%+

Contact: Marty Mednansky – Director Channel Sales(253) 445-1509 mmednansky@mobileaccess.com

MobileAccessVE is the first

and only “Cisco Compatible”

DAS that supports converged

mobility with 802.11n MIMO,

2/3G Cellular, and 4G MIMO

Cellular solutions.

Passed Cisco’s extensive

testing and certification

requirements.

Corning | MorningAccess:

What do we need to know to get started

• Frequency band(s) and number of channels

• Donor signal strength

• Building characteristics

– Size

– Interior wall materials

– Identify areas needing coverage

• public safety requires 100% coverage in exit pathways and fire

control rooms

– floor plans

Industry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101What do we need to know to get started?

Get permission from license holderIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Get permission from license holder

Importance of knowing donor signal strength

Assumptions = 10dB gain donor antenna, 100 ft donor coax, 80dB gain BDA, 800Mhz

SMR band, average office space propagation, -85 mobile RSSI

• -95 donor = 22,000 sq ft

• -90 = 42,240 sq ft

• -85 = 88,000 sq ft

• -80 = 178,000 sq ft

• -75 = 282,000 sq ft

• -70 = 712,800 sq ft

Disclaimer – actual performance will vary greatly depending on the shape of the building, which will effect cable run

lengths. But you get the idea. Donor signal is critical to a realistic design!

Industry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Importance of know donor signal strength

Composite Power

• Sum of all RF signals passing thru the repeater/BDA

• All BDAs have a max composite power. The BDA goes into

AGC and reduces the gain applied when composite power is

exceeded.

• This means, if the BDA is receiving unnecessary RF signals

you may not be getting the gain you planned on. You should

use either a band specific or channel specific filter on ALL

installations.

Industry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite Power

Composite PowerIllustration of typical spectrum input

Total composite power = -44.24 dBm

-55

-60

-65

-70

-75

-80

851Mhz 866Mhz

Public Safety

block

Everyone else

Industry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite power: illustration of typical spectrum input

Composite PowerUsing a band selective repeater/BDA

Composite input power = -65.62 dBm

-55

-60

-65

-70

-75

-80

Roll-off

point

851Mhz 866Mhz

Industry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite power: Using a band selective repeater/BDA

Composite PowerEven more important to use band filters in the PCS band

-55

-60

-65

-70

-75

-80

1930Mhz 1995Mhz

Composite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite Power: even more important to use

band filters in the PCS band

Composite PowerBut all you wanted was this

-55

-60

-65

-70

-75

-80

1930Mhz 1995Mhz

Composite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite Power: but all you wanted was this

Composite PowerFull band PCS

-55

-60

-65

-70

-75

-80

1930Mhz 1995Mhz

Composite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite Power: full band PCS

Composite PowerOften Cell carriers will have split bands

-55

-60

-65

-70

-75

-80

1930Mhz 1995Mhz

Composite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite Power: often cell carriers will have

split bands

Composite Power

• If you have a specific band that your intended signals

are dominant in then use a band selective filter

– Eg. cellular, PCS, public safety NPSPAC, Nextel (post

rebanded)

• If your desired channels are intermixed with interfering

signals, use a channel selective BDA

– SMR (pre-rebanded) VHF, UHF

• The only way to know is to do an RF site survey from

the intended donor antenna location

Composite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Composite Power

In-Building Solution Provider with a Sales, Support and Partner network world-

wide. US HQ in Plano, Texas

Rapidly growing installed base across 9 countries, including Airports, Hospitals,

Power plants, Government buildings, Leisure, Broadcasting and Sports venues.

Operational systems are all multi-operator and support private PMR, public

safety, commercial cellular, multi-cast WiFi, broadband data service, specialist

telemetry and other services

Unique True Wideband Active DAS solution covering all wireless services

between 136MHz and 2.7GHz with a simple modular design based around just 4

units

3000 SYSTEM COMPONENTS Introduction to Zinwave

3000 SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Hubs Chassis

Primary # 302-001

Used as Secondary -same #

Modules

• Optical Module #302-002

• RF Service Module #302-003

Wide Band Remote Unit -Fibre

# 302 -0007

Remote Power Supply

#302-013

Hutton Offers: Zinwave - 3000 System Components

Link Budget

• Downlink formula– RSSI at donor antenna

– + Gain of donor antenna (assuming previous measurement was done with unity gain antenna)

– - donor cable loss

– + amplifier gain

– - splitter/coupler losses

– -coax cable losses

– + server antenna gain in dbi

– - free space path loss indoors (add in wall losses, body coupling losses, etc…)

– = received signal strength at the handset

Know your dBs

Composite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Link Budget

Link BudgetComposite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Link Budget

• Engineering in-building products

since 1995

• Products available in Wireless Service Provider

and Public Safety frequencies

• North American Tier 1 Carriers use CSI

• Leader in Digital Repeater technology

• All Active products are Made in the USA

• Selling over 45K BDAs and Repeaters

Visit CSI at: www.cellularspecialties.com

About CSI Link BudgetComposite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101About CSI

CSI Product Offerings

Power Dividers

& Couplers

Antennas

Bi-Directional

Amplifiers

(BDAs)

Digital

Repeaters

System Components

PRODUCTS

Visit CSI at: www.cellularspecialties.com

Link BudgetComposite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101CSI Product Offering

Hutton Offers: CorrFlex Jumpers

CorrFlex Jumpers

• Priced competitively

• PIM Certified

• Manufacturer certified assembly process

Are your jumpers factory made or field assembly equivalent?

Thank You!

• For pricing and product availability contact your usual

Hutton sales rep

• For product support and design assistance please

contact

Mike Brownson

303-373-3170

mikeb@huttoncom.com

Link BudgetComposite PowerIndustry DriversComponents of a passive in-building systemTypes of in-building systemsUseful TerminologyWelcome to in-building 101Thank You!