The ABC of Wireless Links

Johan FühriBusiness Unit Manager

Poynting Antennas, South Africa

MUM - Brazil 2008

Overview Basic components of a wireless link Why is the antenna so important

Getting your signal from A to B When stuff goes wrong… Getting it right first time!

To the future… Conclusion

What is Wireless Link “The wireless telegraph is not difficult

to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.” – Albert Einstein.

Components of a Wireless Link

Radio

Amplifier

Antenna

Antenna

Radio

Amplifier

Wireless

When stuff goes wrong…

Why is the antenna important No Antenna = NO WIRELESS LINK! Good antenna = Good link Wrong antenna = Inferior link

Low signal strength More interference

Cheapest way to improve link quality Most effective way to improve link

quality

How does antennas work? Antenna focuses outgoing and incoming

signals In a particular direction With a particular pattern

More ‘gain’ = more focusing in the firing direction In TX, less signal sent in other directions In RX, antenna is ‘deafer’ in other directions More signal in the firing direction Lower interference

More signal = higher range/data rates

8 dBi

How does antennas work? More gain = larger size

Panel/dish antennas – gain proportional to area

Limited by physics Size/gain trade-off Must keep losses down

14 dBi 20 dBi

75cm2

300cm2

1200cm2

What antennas cannot do Antenna ‘bandwidth’

Can’t work over arbitrarily wide number of channels Frequency limited

100-119 120-139 140-159 160-179 180-199http://www.trevormarshall.com/waveguides.htm

Getting it right first time Choosing the right antenna

Distribution (WISPs) High site CPE

Point-to-Point Indoor Connecting to the Electronics

Connecting to the Electronics Keep the radio close to the

antenna RF cable kept short Negligible losses – best possible

signal Lower susceptibility to lightning

impulse

Star

t

Fini

sh

Mounting Electronics Outdoor

POE Injector

Wired network Mains AC

Weatherproof enclosure UV stabilised, shielded ethernet cable

Routerboard platform

Integrated panel antenna

Wireless card Infrastructure location

Choosing the right antenna Omni-directional antennas – The Ultimate

Solution?

Choosing the right antenna Sector Antennas

Cover only the areas that you need to cover Multiple sector antennas per enclosure One antenna per radio

Choosing the right antenna Client Premises Equipment – CPE What is important?

Easy installation Aesthetics Good performance Low cost

iPoynt

230mm

240mm55mmCompact aesthetic design

IP67 rated, injection-moulded design

Ethernet disconnect cable gland

MikroPoynt

194mm

134mm

Compact aesthetic design

IP67 rated, injection-moulded design

Water tight cable entry

Pole mount (standard)

Wall mount (standard)

Window mount (standard)

Designed for RB411

Choosing the right antenna Point-to-Point

High gain dish/panels with heavy duty enclosures (long range)

Fully integrated medium gain solution (medium range)

Choosing the right antenna High gain antennas

Narrow beamwidth Cutting out noise

High gain Improved signal strength Higher data rates

Grid Antennas Lower wind resistance

Choosing the right antenna Indoor Antennas

Main problem is Multipath Interference

Space diversity Polarisation diversity

MikroPoynt Dual Polarised coming soon! Relatively low gain antenna – wide

beamwidth Going through walls – unreliable

signal

Choosing the right antenna - Diversity

WLAN-A0033Dual diversity 2.4 GHz 8dBi Omni’s

Integrated 5GHz 20dBi panel

‘Local Access Node’

WLAN-A0030Integrated quad diversity (spatial & pol) 2.4 GHz 8dBi Patch antennas

‘Indoor MIMO AP Enclosure’

WLAN-A0031Integrated diversity 2.4 GHz 7dBi Omni’s

‘Outdoor AP Enclosure’

WLAN-A0032Dual integrated 2.4 GHz 14dBi Panel antennas

‘Indoor AP Enclosure’

‘Outdoor diversity/2 channel link’

To the future High performance antenna technology

Optimisation-based design Wide band Low loss Low sidelobes

To the future Integrated Multi-sector enclosures

Compact integrated outdoor enclosure for 5GHz Quad-reconfiguarable sector array

4x 90 degrees 2x180 degrees 1x360 degrees

4x 90 degrees 2x 180 degrees 1x 360 degrees

To the future Antenna sharing for Nstreme 2

Only one pair of antennas to run Nstreme 2 Minimise installation costs and mounting space Need wideband antenna, diplexer

HI Freq

DiplexerTX Radio

RX RadioLO Freq

Routerboard

HI Freq

DiplexerRX Radio

TX Radio LO FreqRouterboard

LO Band HI Band

To the future Dual polarised antenna enclosure

Two antennas in one enclosure, HP and VP Single Nstreme 2 enclosure

Now Available !!!

WLAN-A0043Dual polarised 5 GHz 20dBi

Integrated panel

Thank you

Johan.fuhri@poynting.co.za