Cutting The Cords – The Rise of Distributed Antenna Systems

Are you tired of being that creepy coworker that spends half of their day in the bathroom armed with an iPad and a list of files to download? By your third trip you find yourself trying to explain to everyone about the dead spot near your desk or how the Internet is strongest in the third stall. But no one believes you and now you are stuck eating lunch alone.

Welcome to one of the biggest problems of 21st century office life – inconsistent indoor wireless and cellular network access. Wireless capabilities and reliable cellular network access are almost necessities in this day and age. In fact, according to Cisco, 1 out of 3 college-age and young professionals say the internet is as important as air, food, and shelter. So, not only does a spotty network connection have a negative effect on productivity, it’s literally snuffing out all of the young professionals in your office.

Did you know that by 2016 there will be an average of 2.5 mobile devices for every person on the planet? Like it or not, wireless technology is a major component of your daily life. You probably use it for everything from waking up in the morning to connecting with loved ones at night. Maybe you rely on it to get your news fix while on your morning train commute, you might even use it to monitor your blood glucose levels. Statistically speaking, there’s a 65% chance that you’re reading this article on a wireless device right now. The fact is, you use it for a lot. And if you don’t, the three people closest to you right now probably do. But let’s face it. Without that strong network signal, your smartphone is basically just an expensive paperweight.

Having a reliable access to cellular and wireless networks at your place of business is vital to your company’s success. Here comes the inevitable impromptu mental number crunch followed swiftly by, “I guess we could cancel this year’s holiday party and maybe not hand out bonuses so we can fix our out of date, poorly designed and inadequately installed wireless infrastructure.” Followed by the inescapable notion that “It would be nice, but we just can’t afford it this year.”

Well I’m here to tell you that you can afford it. In fact, I’m here to tell you that there’s a way you can have your indoor wireless & cellular infrastructure updated for next to nothing. This is the part where you’re faced with a decision that could change the course of your business, and therefore your life, forever.

Here are your choices: you can take the blue pill and stop reading right here – the story ends, you’ll be back in your office, doing what you always do, free to believe whatever you want to believe, living the ignorance of illusion. Or you could take the red pill and keep reading – the story continues, you’ll learn all about Distributed Antenna Systems and how they can benefit your business. I’ll show you how deep the rabbit hole really goes and you can live the truth of reality. All I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more, nothing less.

What is a Distributed Antenna System?

First described in a paper by Saleh et al. in 1987, the goal behind the idea of a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) was to improve indoor wireless network coverage by utilizing a group of low-powered antennas to cover an area that, traditionally, a single high-powered antenna was covering (or failing to cover, as it were). They tested the idea. It worked beautifully. And DAS was born!

Essentially, a DAS is a technique of radio frequency distribution designed to increase coverage, reduce power output, and eliminate wireless signal “dead zones” by seamlessly distributing network frequency signal throughout a large building or complex outdoor environment by using a network of specifically positioned antennas. There are many complex components that make up a DAS – and each and every little one has a large role that could each have a blog unto themselves – but we’re here to cover the broad strokes.

Generally speaking, the body of a DAS can be crudely broken down into three major components: the brain, the nervous system, and the limbs. First up is the brain. Often called the “Head-End” room or “Base Station,” this room is usually located in the basement of a building and serves as a sort of control center. The head-end houses all of the active equipment required to integrate the network signal from outside the building to inside of the building, and feed the rest of the system. This DAS cortex is made up of many hi-tech components that work together control the rest of the system. Instead of discussing all of these components here we’ll discuss them in greater depth in a later article.

The next layer to the DAS anatomy is the sprawling nervous system. This is the part that transmits the signal from the Head-End room to the antennas. For the sake of simplicity, this layer usually consists of (but is in no way limited to) cables, signal combiners, repeaters, splitters, and connectors. It is not uncommon for this layer of a DAS to include hundreds of connectors, thousands of feet of fiber optic cable and, quite literally, miles of half inch coaxial cables. This part of the system is the most difficult to install and, depending on the size of the building, its existing infrastructure, and scope of the project, this phase can take many months of strenuous work to complete.

The last part of the DAS is (to keep the metaphor alive) all of the vital organs. Luckily, there are significantly less DAS components in this layer than there are organs in a body. In fact, this part of the DAS is made up entirely of all the antennas. That’s it. Just antennas. Don’t underestimate them though, these antennas are probably the most important part of the system. Without them we wouldn’t get any signal and thus the rest of the system would be pointless. These antennas are usually small, discreet, easily placed in just about any location, and capable of hosting multiple frequency bandwidths.

A quality DAS is a versatile DAS. Great systems will provide network coverage from multiple wireless service providers, utilize multiple frequency bands, meet public safety network (PSN) requirements, and even incorporate WiFi, all in the same infrastructure. Systems can either be active, passive or hybrid, and the system type will largely depend on the location and the required function of the DAS. The system type will also help determine the necessary components that will be required. For example, an active DAS will be able to service a larger area than a passive DAS. It will utilize fiber optic cables as well as copper cables and will likely require certain electrical components, often called hubs or remote units (RUs), to boost the signal in between the base station and the antennas. (More in depth coverage on system types and component requirements to come in a future article)

How important is improving indoor cellular coverage?

The downside of having poor indoor cellular capabilities goes far beyond the headache of having to find just the right spot to put your phone so a message will send. At its face value this probably seems like a trivial and unavoidable problem of modern existence. But if you dig a little deeper it can actually be having some significant effects on the success of your business. In fact, these little headaches are actually more like tumors, and they are slowly killing your business’s productivity.

Time to bring the mood up with some fun facts! Did you know that 2 out of 3 workers use their personal wireless devices in the workplace? (I know what you’re probably thinking, “Do 1 out of 3 people really not use their phones at work?! Who are these people?!”) Along with that statistic, how about that fact that wireless data traffic is up 50,000% in the last 7 years. Yes, that’s a five with four zeros. And it’s not a typo. Last fact, and definitely the most amazing, watching an average YouTube video on a smartphone uses the same amount of network capacity as sending 500,000 text messages simultaneously! Mind = Blown.

After Saleh et al. solved the coverage issue in 1987, there exists one major hurdle for cell systems, capacity. To help illustrate the importance of this hurdle lets do some simple math. (Calm down, it’s like 2nd grader math) Take all of the aforementioned facts and add them to your outdated wireless infrastructure.

And what do you get? Well, here’s what I got.

Major Network Capacity Issues

And like the old saying goes, “Where there’s capacity issues, there’s fire” (or something like that). In this case, the fire just so happens to be your wireless infrastructure. And the smoke is literally choking the life out of your business by creating disgruntled and unproductive employees.

Seem a little far-fetched? Challenge accepted, all aboard the logic train! Disgruntled employees equal less productive employees. Less productive employees equal a less productive business. Less productive businesses get left in the dust by more productive businesses. These dusty, suffocating businesses are then usually forced to make radical steps in order to survive. But most don’t. They die. This isn’t rocket science, it’s business 101.

If you want your business to succeed in this rapidly changing, technologically-advance world you need to be able to successfully ride the wave of change. Like Socrates said, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” And if you’ve been paying attention, the change is probably pretty obvious by now; You need to upgrade your building’s wireless infrastructure.

It may seem like the “college-age and young professionals” are crazy when they compare the internet to food, water and shelter, but the fact is our lives have become so entwined with the internet and our businesses are so dependent on the freedom that wireless technology provides, that reliable cellular networks need to be considered a necessity. Right after water, gas and electricity, wireless cellular networks are starting to be considered the 4th utility.

Is DAS right for you?

Distributed Antenna Systems are actually not for everyone. Sorry to burst your bubble, I know you must really want one by now, but that’s just not how it works. A DAS is intended to supply network coverage to large capacity venues – like hospitals, stadiums and campuses – and hard to reach locations – like the Holland Tunnel, the northern Taconic Parkway, or the tunnels and platforms of Grand Central Terminal (fingers crossed). Smaller buildings need smaller system applications.

Examples of common DAS venues:

• Corporate Offices
• Multi-tenant high-rise buildings
• University campuses
• Hospitals / Health Care facilities
• Stadiums / Sports venues
• Upscale hotels and high-rise condos

If you want to learn if a DAS is right for your business, or if you want to learn what other wireless system is right for your business, you should contact a qualified and experienced DAS design and installation firm.

The right team for the right job.

Take Telecom Infrastructure Corp for example. They’ve been in the distributed antenna game since the beginning and have established a reputation as one of the foremost experts on DAS integration. In fact, Ed Donelan – President of Telecom Infrastructure Corp and former President of BICSI – regularly speaks at seminars around the world about Distributed Antenna Systems and the DAS projects his company has successfully completed.

Telecom Infrastructure Corp of New York is THE most trusted name in telecommunications and DAS design & installation. “Team Telecom” has successfully integrated Distributed Antenna Systems into many of New York’s most well known buildings. Some of these buildings including the famed Waldorf Astoria, the esteemed Barclay’s Capital building, the Prudential Arena (just in time for Superbowl XLVIII), and one of the most modern and remarkable buildings in New York, 4 World Trade Center.

Call Telecom Infrastructure today to find out how they can improve your business’s wireless and cellular performance and help get you and your business on the road to cord-free success. (And don’t forget to ask if you might qualify to have one of these fancy DASs installed into your building for a drastically reduced cost. Seriously.)