Axell Wireless launches revolutionary intelligent “capacity centric” digital DAS (Distributed Antenna System)

Barcelona, Spain, 24 February 2014 – Axell Wireless, the worldwide provider of wireless coverage solutions, today launched a revolutionary new in-building coverage solution allowing mobile operators to allocate capacity to locations only where and when it is needed. The system provides a more cost-effective way for mobile operators to handle the challenges of large-scale in-building coverage projects. Over 80% of mobile traffic now emanates from within a building and this figure is growing rapidly.

Historically a DAS (Distributed Antenna System) has been used to propagate coverage and capacity around a building or facility by taking single or multiple operators’ base station (BTS) resources and re-distributing them. Axell is a market leader in providing such systems and has deployed solutions in many iconic building facilities including the London 2012 Olympic Park, the Eurotunnel, the US Department of Homeland Security, and Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. With traditional DAS solutions individual base station sectors are effectively “hard-wired” to specific areas of a facility, depending on the peak traffic expected from that location. However mobile traffic is both “bursty” and “sporadic” meaning that maximum capacity is not required all of the time. As a consequence today in many in-building deployments expensive BTS resource can be left idle for significant periods of time.

Axell’s idDAS (intelligent digital DAS) solution provides mobile operators with a revolutionary new approach to handling the challenges and current limitations of in-building coverage systems. idDAS allows mobile operators to dynamically allocate capacity around a facility and, in effect, provide a DAS system that can “breathe” and react to user demands. For example, many large-scale building facilities today have multiple uses, including housing hotels, conference centres, business offices, residential apartments and shopping areas. By using idDAS, capacity can be dynamically allocated by mobile operators to different parts of the facility as and when it is needed. During the day maximum capacity may be allocated to the offices and the hotel, however in the evening extra capacity could be re-routed from the offices to the shopping centre and residential apartments where demand has increased. As a result BTS resource can now be pooled and optimised for maximum utilisation resulting in substantial cost savings for mobile operators. idDAS can be used for either single or multi-operator deployments as it allows each individual operator total flexibility and control over the allocation of different wireless services within a building facility.

Equally idDAS can be deployed to provide the same benefits in an urban environment, where a centrally located base station hotel could be designed to feed multiple buildings including, for example, a hotel, a university, a conference centre and a stadium. idDAS allows mobile operators to move capacity around the different locations when it is needed. During the day the university may require high capacity allocation for the students as they study, then during peak periods at the hotel extra capacity can be switched across to serve its guests. Similarly when an exhibition or event is held at the conference centre, capacity can be moved so delegates can get online, and during the evening further capacity can be directed to the stadium to serve the fans during a music concert.

As with in-building applications, enabling the dynamic allocation of capacity in this way in an urban environment allows mobile operators to maximise base station resources, by not having to hardwire them to particular locations. Thus, minimising the idle time and resulting cost that occurs.

Axell’s idDAS solution is based on advanced digital communications and Axell’s patented signal processing and filtering techniques. As a result it delivers exceptional low noise performance resulting in increased base station throughput. idDAS operates with every major wireless technology including GSM, UMTS, WCDMA and LTE, and supports all major frequency bands used by mobile operators across the world. It is completely cable agnostic supporting both fibre and copper cable types making it easier to implement in a building. It also includes full and easy support of MIMO for increased data throughput.  The system also includes an embedded 1GB IP backhaul per remote, allowing the use of one common cabling infrastructure throughout for WiFi and other IP traffic. Set up and commissioning is handled through an intuitive “wizard” style configuration tool with many auto-setup features, thus saving time and resources during deployment.

Ian Brown, CEO, Axell Wireless commented: 

“idDAS is a revolutionary new concept for distributed antenna systems and one we believe will bring significant cost savings for mobile operators around the world. For over forty years Axell has been a technological leader in the development and innovation of wireless coverage solutions. idDAS once again reinforces those credentials as the first major DAS platform to utilise digital processing in the allocation of capacity on a network. Given our history and huge expertise in digital signal processing, building the world’s first intelligent DAS platform is a natural progression for us. Moreover, mobile operators now have the flexibility  to easily move capacity around a building and in the process substantially reduce both capital and ongoing operational costs”.

idDAS is available for order during Q1 2014. Visit the Axell Wireless Team on stand 6D50 at Mobile World Congress 2014 for a live demo of the new idDAS system.