TE & Alcatel-Lucent Solution Cut Cost In Mobile Broadband Access

TE Connectivity (TEL) and Alcatel-Lucent, world leaders in electronic connectivity, have developed a solution allowing mobile operators to reduce the time, materials and power required to connect customers in high-capacity locations such as sports stadiums, train stations and business parks. The solution delivers the first of its kind common digital interface between the Alcatel-Lucent mobile Ultra-Broadband access portfolio and the TE FlexWave, digital Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS). It will be available for commercial deployment during the second quarter of 2014.

DAS networks deliver enhanced coverage and capacity to subscribers in high-traffic locations. With the ability to support multiple service providers across multiple technologies and multiple frequency bands – the TE FlexWave (Prism & Spectrum) digital DAS products enable huge efficiencies for operators. However, even with the efficiencies of TE’s DAS, the DAS still needs to connect to the macro network, which previously required each operator’s base station to be equipped with RF processing and attenuation panels. 

The Alcatel-Lucent and TE pre-integrated solution removes the need for RF processing and attenuation panels on site which reduces physical equipment by more than 50% and cost of materials by 40%. Additional cost savings will also be achieved by using less power (equipment consumption & cooling), space and fiber utilization, resulting in operational improvements and meeting sustainability demands. By deploying the new solution in large, high-traffic shared-operator venues, mobile operators will be able to meet demand for coverage and capacity while lowering their cost of ownership.

Key Facts

*  Alcatel-Lucent and TE Connectivity are teaming up to save costs and power for operators deploying bandwidth in a private shared-operator location owned by a third party – such as sports stadiums or hotel complexes or wherever DAS may already be supplying multi-vendor coverage.

*   Pre-integrated solution cuts the time and space required to deliver mobile ultra-broadband connectivity at these locations.

*   Interoperability has been developed at the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) between the Alcatel-Lucent lightRadio Baseband Unit (BBU) and TE Digital DAS.

*   Alcatel-Lucent will provide a CPRI interface that plugs directly into the FlexWave universal host.

*    This is the first solution of its type. TE’s digital DAS is a patented technology – the only DAS that can accept a direct baseband interface along with legacy RF services over a single DAS network.

*    This solution allows customers to migrate their existing ALU and TE solutions to CPRI and support legacy services and can be applied to existing FlexWave deployments.