The innovative Tri-Beam Antenna uses new lens technology to deliver three beams from a single antenna unit, enabling almost three times the capacity compared to a single-beam antenna.

Part of the Andrew portfolio of wireless solutions, the Tri-Beam Antenna enables wireless operators to avoid finding and building out new sites, whether macro or small cells. Wireless operators can improve traffic load balancing for network hot spots with the highly accurate three beams. They can also use the Tri-Beam Antenna as a venue solution when music festivals and other well-attended events strain network capacity. CommScope also pairs the Tri-Beam Antenna with remote electrical tilt (RET) to offer maximum flexibility for optimizing each beam.

The Tri-Beam Antenna enables wireless operators to avoid finding and building out new sites

"CommScope continues to invest in multi-beam antennas because they are so effective for adding capacity while managing interference in the radio access network," said Kevin Linehan, chief technology officer, Antenna Systems, CommScope. "CommScope expects the Tri-Beam to find major acceptance as a capacity enhancement solution to overloaded macro networks and high-capacity venues."

The Tri-Beam lens focuses antenna signals like a magnifying glass into three narrow beams, sculpting an overloaded sector into three sectors. The result is nearly three times the capacity as the original sector without adding a new cell site. When deployed in cell clusters, the Tri-Beam can achieve up to four times the capacity with the optimized overlap between cells.

"Mobile operators face tremendous competitive pressures that propel urgent capacity expansion requirements," says Ken Rehbehn, principal analyst, 451 Research. "With advanced base station antenna technology driving more capacity into scarce cell site footprints, operators stand to sharply improve their customers' experiences without incurring higher site lease costs."

Cellular-news.com