Everything your parents never told you about antennas

Everything your parents never told you about antennas Johan Führi Design Engineer Poynting Antennas, South Africa MUM, Poland 2008

Poynting Antennas Antenna and enclosure design and manufacture Company size 180 people, 2600 m 2 factory 20 R&D staff (3 x. Ph. D, M. Sc’s, B. Sc’s, Techs) Turnover USD 7. 5 million p/a. About 40, 000 units per month output. Export to Europe, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel and United States. § Various low cost, high performance fabrication technologies developed in-house. § Cutting edge outdoor enclosure portfolio with proven applications globally. § § §

Overview § § § What is an antenna? How does it work? What antennas cannot do Antennas in practice New technologies in antenna/enclosure systems

What is an Antenna? § “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. § Mechanical device that converts an electrical signal into an electromagnetic wave and vice-versa § It is not an AERIAL

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

How does antennas work? § More gain = larger size § Panel/dish antennas – gain proportional to area 300 cm 2 75 cm 2 8 d. Bi § Limited by physics § Size/gain trade-off § Must keep losses down 14 d. Bi 20 d. Bi 2 1200 cm

What antennas cannot do § Antenna ‘bandwidth’ § Can’t work over arbitrarily wide number of channels § Frequency limited http: //www. trevormarshall. com/waveguides. htm 100 -119 120 -139 140 -159 160 -179 180 -199

How does antennas work? § In summary § § § Antennas focus energy to increase signal High gain means less signal in other directions Gain depends on antenna size Cannot cheat physics – must reduce loss Antennas can work differently in different channels

Antennas in practice § Connecting to the Electronics § Choosing the right antenna § Distribution § High site § CPE § Point-to-Point § Indoor

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

Mounting Electronics Outdoor Weatherproof enclosure UV stabilised, shielded ethernet cable Integrated panel antenna Infrastructure location Wireless card Routerboard platform POE Injector Wired network Mains AC

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

i. Poynt 240 mm 55 mm Compact aesthetic design IP 67 rated, injection-moulded design Ethernet disconnect cable gland 230 mm

i. Poynt Wireless electronics Integrated directional antenna IP 67 @ 2. 3 -2. 7 GHz 14 d. Biwatertight seal (x 4. 0 range*) Ethernet clip-off GHz 17 d. Bi @ 3. 3 -3. 8 gland(x 5. 6 range*) 20 d. Bi @ 5. 1 -6. 0 GHz (x 8. 0 range*) * Range relative to 2 d. Bi dipole antenna

i. Poynt Flexible electronics mounting Grounding lug built into mounting structure Pigtail Ethernet disconnect gland RB 133 C/RB 411 ready! Window knock-out N-connector knock-outs

i. Poynt Separate Elevation adjust Pole or wall mounting flange Separate Azimuth adjust

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 Relatively low gain antenna – wide beamwidth § Going through walls – unreliable signal § §

Choosing the right antenna - Diversity WLAN-A 0030 WLAN-A 0032 Integrated quad diversity (spatial & pol) 2. 4 GHz 8 d. Bi Patch antennas Dual integrated 2. 4 GHz 14 d. Bi Panel antennas ‘Indoor MIMO AP Enclosure’ ‘Indoor AP Enclosure’ ‘Outdoor diversity/2 channel link’ WLAN-A 0031 WLAN-A 0033 Integrated diversity 2. 4 GHz 7 d. Bi Omni’s Dual diversity 2. 4 GHz 8 d. Bi Omni’s ‘Outdoor AP Enclosure’ ‘Local Access Node’ Integrated 5 GHz 20 d. Bi panel

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 5 GHz § Quad-reconfiguarable sector array § 4 x 90 degrees § 2 x 180 degrees § 1 x 360 degrees 4 x 90 degrees 2 x 180 degrees 1 x 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 Band LO Band HI Freq RX Radio TX Radio Diplexer Routerboard LO Freq RX Radio HI Freq Diplexer Routerboard TX Radio LO Freq

To the future § Dual polarised antenna enclosure § Two antennas in one enclosure, HP and VP § Single Nstreme 2 enclosure

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