Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/21022-000-beamsteered-antennas-to-be-deployed-this-year

500,000 beamsteered antennas to be deployed this year

November 12, 2013

Mobile Experts has released a new forecast for Active Antenna Systems (AAS), including new information about how beamsteering technology will be adopted in mobile networks. In Active Antenna Systems 2013, Mobile Experts calculates the cost per bit delivered to illustrate the cost/benefit ratio inherent in AAS technology, and applies guidance from more than 20 operators to understand situations where active antenna systems will be used.

With massive deployment of TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE base stations by China Mobile, the Active Antenna market is heating up this year. Roughly 500,000 beamforming antenna units will be deployed this year alone. The new forecast investigates the impact of TDD beamforming on the FDD market, to determine the growth potential of AAS in new LTE deployment.

"Active Antenna Systems represent one more way to boost capacity in a mobile network," explained Joe Madden, Principal Analyst at Mobile Experts. "It's an expensive technology, compared to Small Cells and Wi-Fi, so we looked closely into the scenarios where AAS is the best alternative, where in-band interference rejection is required or other HetNet alternatives are not possible."

Active Antenna Systems 2013 includes 25 different charts and tables, plus 15 exhibits to illustrate deep technical issues such as EVM distortion in AAS. Analysis and the five-year forecast includes:

  • Cost/Benefit estimates and charts of cost for AAS solutions;
  • Integrated Antenna Radio (IAR) shipments through 2018;
  • AAS shipments by beamsteering type (vertical sectorization; azimuthal beamforming; beamtilt);
  • AAS shipments by frequency band;
  • AAS shipments by FDD and TDD;
  • Competitive profiles to illustrate various approaches