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Side-Tank Mount Antenna System Uninvasively Advances AT&T’s 4G Capacity Range
 In progressively addressing the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the revolutionary smartphone industry, the nation’s leading wireless carriers are seeking sophisticated antenna mounting solutions on top of strategically located water tower tanks to optimize the increased signal positioning frequency range and speed capacity required for 4G network coverage. As a result of increased competition, the real estate on top water tower tanks and handrails has risen to a congestive premium to accommodate the myriad of carriers’ next generation 4G network speed capacity antenna signal range requirements.
At the forefront of the wireless technology boom, the nation’s second largest wireless carrier AT&T recently sought out an advanced antenna installation solution to replace and expand their 4G network service range for their Los Angeles Market District 3 at the Irvine Ranch Water District. The IRWD’s 1 million gallon water tank towers 25 feet high and provides potable drinking water services to a region encompassing nearly 181 square miles extending from the Pacific Coast to the foothills. The tank features no external tank-top flange to attach antennas to; thus ruling out traditional tank-top mounting so a side-tank mounting solution was required for the installation.
AT&T’s existing antennas were mounted using epoxy bond on the sides of the water tower tank and were loose due to extensive tank movement and a permanent solution was needed to replace them and accommodate their expanded range of 4G antennas. Because of the unreliability of epoxy mounting, the IRWD had mandated an alternative mounting solution also ruling out time consuming Capacitor Discharge (CD) welding and spot welding; both of which would require tank shut down for draining and also presented potential EPA issues involving maintaining the integrity of the tank’s membrane seals.
AT&T’s LA Market District Field Operations Department enlisted their RF contractor Diversified Communications Services, Inc. to source out a permanent, modified turnkey mounting solution to the problem. The goal was to meet IRWD’s installation mandates while also expanding their 4G network frequency range from 700 MG to 2 GB by utilizing eight foot antennas vs. the existing four foot antennas.
Diversified’s VP/Founder Steve Hurley immediately contacted Metal & Cable Corp., Inc. who had developed a patented non-invasive, high-capacity magnetic solution called the Magnemount Antenna Mounting System. The system is engineered with a series of permanent magnets that combine with an independently suspended mounting system to provide a non-invasive solution to adhere to the steel surfaces with varying curvatures of water towers−including side sectors.
Available in five modifiable designs, Metal & Cable Corp. leveraged its newest model; the Magnemount Side-Tank Mount (Model-STM) design for the AT&T / IRWD installation.
Antenova Taps Global Vehicle Black Box Market with GPS RADIONOVA RF Antenna Modules
Antenova Ltd. has announced that their GPS RADIONOVA RF Antenna Modules have been selected by leading Korean Vehicle Black Box manufactures iTronics, AMON and UB1 for the global markets.
“We have seen increasing interest in our GPS RADIONOVA RF Antenna modules from vehicle ‘black box’ and other vehicle tracking device manufactures,” said Greg McCray, CEO of Antenova. “Many of the ‘black box’ drive recorder/tracker devices are manufactured in Korea for the Japanese and European markets. The demand for these devices is being driven by government legislation and the insurance industry for monitoring and recording driver behavior for a variety of reasons from improving driver safety to assessing collision liability, reducing fraudulent claims and enabling pay-as-you-drive (PAYD)/usage based insurance schemes. Our GPS RF Antenna Modules provide the high accuracy and reliable location information, which is essential for these applications, in a small, compact and simple to integrate module.”
Antenova’s GPS RADIONOVA range of RF Antenna Modules comes in space saving, low profile form factors, which include market leading GPS receiver ICs from CSR/SiRF and u-blox. The M10382 is a surface mount GPS Radio Antenna Module incorporating the u-blox 6 GPS chipset with Antenova’s high performing GPS antenna, which also utilizes the latest Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) technology, in a small 24.2 by 9.9 by 3.8 mm³ module. The M10372 GPS RADIONOVA is a planar mount GPS Radio Antenna Module incorporating CSR’s market leading SiRFstarIV GPS chipset with Antenova’s antenna technology in a compact 28 by 13 by 5 mm³ module. All GPS RADIONOVA RF Antenna Modules include all RF front-end and receiver components with Antenova’s GPS antenna, which are optimized to provide high efficiency, robust and reliable performance. Antenova’s GPS antennas are omni-directional and provide good performance regardless of the device orientation.
SkyCross Unveils VersiTune-LTE Tunable Antenna Module for Multiband 4G LTE Devices
SkyCross has announced the commercial availability of the SkyCross VersiTune-LTE tunable antenna module for 4G LTE mobile devices.
For device customers, the SkyCross VersiTune-LTE antenna module improves the user experience with enhanced data speeds and multiband, multifunction operation. For OEMs, the VersiTune-LTE module simplifies 4G LTE device design and reduces antenna volume by up to half, enabling manufacturers to more quickly and easily develop differentiated, high-performance devices with innovative, sleek styling.
“The dominant RF challenge for advanced LTE devices is how to deliver multiband 4G support for high-speed device performance and maintain aggressive device styling,” said Ben Naskar, CEO and chairman of SkyCross. “The VersiTune-LTE tunable antenna module is a powerful tool for OEMs intent on achieving these goals.”
To address LTE spectrum fragmentation and support multiple functions, 4G LTE devices must include:
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Two or more multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antennas to deliver 4G LTE data speeds
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Main and diversity antennas for legacy 3G and 2G voice and data bands
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Additional antennas for functions including WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC
The SkyCross VersiTune-LTE tunable antenna module leverages SkyCross ST-iMAT technology, enabling a single antenna structure to operate over up to 12 transmit and receive bands while providing optimized MIMO functionality crucial for 4G LTE speeds. This solution enables OEMs to deliver greater device performance, but shrinks the volume required for antennas inside advanced 4G LTE devices up to half that required for conventional antennas.
Designed with standardized RF and control interfaces, the architecture of the self-contained VersiTune-LTE antenna module easily integrates with other 4G LTE device components. OEMs can incorporate the SkyCross module in multiple device models within a product family—without the need for custom antenna redesigns.
Anritsu Company Introduces NBFM Test Mode for LMR Master Handheld Analyzer
 Anritsu Company has introduced the NBFM Mode for its LMR Master S412E handheld analyzer that allows users to conduct fast, accurate measurements on Narrowband Analog FM (NBFM) Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems used by public safety agencies, utilities, and other private organizations. With the new mode, the LMR Master S412E extends its measurement and analysis capabilities, and provides field technicians and engineers who deploy, install, and maintain LMR networks with a handheld test solution that helps ensure optimum system performance.
The LMR Master S412E’s NBFM Mode, which is now standard on all new instruments and can be retrofitted to existing instruments via a standard no-cost firmware upgrade, can automatically detect the carrier frequency of an unknown transmitter, tune to that frequency, and analyze the transmitter’s deviation, CTCSS/DCS tone, occupied bandwidth and other parameters. With the NBFM Mode, the LMR Master S412E can support analog LMR systems that use either 12.5 kHz channels or 25 kHz channels, making it a flexible single-instrument solution that can address a variety of networks.
The NBFM Mode expands the capabilities of the LMR Master S412E, which can also support P25, NXDN, and DMR/MotoTRBO systems. The LMR Master S412E significantly reduces the number of tools field technicians and engineers must carry, thereby saving time and money while ensuring accuracy. It features a built-in vector network analyzer (VNA) that delivers excellent transmission dynamic range of > 100 dB, so users can view and adjust the RF performance of RF devices including filters, duplexers, transmitter combiners, receiver multi-couplers and tower-mounted amplifiers. VNA measurements are quickly displayed and updated on the LMR Master S412E’s 8.4” high-resolution TFT touch screen which features a fast 850 μs/point sweep speed.
A built-in spectrum analyzer with excellent DANL of -152 dBm, dynamic range of > 95 dB (both 10 Hz RBW @ 2.4 GHz) and a third-order intercept of greater than +16 dBm makes the LMR Master S412E a well suited tool for finding low-level signals that can interfere with LMR systems, even in the presence of strong nearby carriers typically found at LMR repeater sites. It features low phase-noise reference oscillator (< -110 dBc/Hz typical @ 10 kHz offset) that allows precise measurement of NBFM, P25, NXDN, and DMR system performance, including emission masks, bit-error rate (BER), and modulation fidelity or error-vector magnitude (EVM).
The LMR Master S412E also features an optional high-accuracy power meter that provides RMS measurements from 50 MHz to 6 GHz using a selection of external sensors, including inline sensors capable of handling up to 150 watts.
Oceus Networks Demonstrates Proven Mobile 4G LTE Network at Army’s NIE 12.1 Evaluation to Support US DoD’s Move to Tactical Advanced Cellular Communications
 At the Army’s recent Network Integration Exercise (NIE) 12.1, Oceus Networks successfully demonstrated the capabilities of its market leading Xiphos, a family of mobile 4G LTE tactical cellular communications networks.
“Xiphos networks provide high capacity secure wireless broadband to the warfighter at the edge,” said Douglas C. Smith, President and CEO, Oceus Networks. “Oceus’ mobile ruggedized networks can be installed in tactical warfighter vehicles, placed aboard ships, mounted on UAV’s and other aerial platforms, and can be soldier back-packed into austere environments – wherever robust high-speed voice, video and data communications capabilities are needed.”
Held at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, a company of soldiers belonging to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division leveraged the Oceus 4G LTE commercial-of-the shelf (COTS) networks to use smart phone and tablet applications for real-time streaming media, voice over internet protocol, position location indicator (PLI),
email, and instant messaging to gain improved situational awareness capabilities.
Specifically, as an industry NIE 12.1 SUE (System Under Evaluation), Oceus integrated its networks with existing army programs of record including WIN-T, NETT Warrior, JTRS GMR and the WNW waveform. The Oceus 4G LTE Xiphos network was also seamlessly integrated into its 3G QuicLINK network, advancing Oceus integration efforts from the previous NIE 11.2.
“The NIE exercise is an excellent forum for the military to evaluate the latest commercially available solutions, and test the ability of effective integration of existing Army networking equipment with emerging industry innovations,” Smith said. “Leveraging proven COTS products, such as Xiphos, speeds up the military’s ability to use communications we take for granted in our personal lives, providing soldiers greater capabilities sooner but also at a lower cost to the taxpayer. The government is basically capitalizing on R&D investments of commercial companies.”
Available today, the Xiphos family of ruggedized and mobile 4G LTE networks, which are commonly known as full-featured cellular base stations, currently supports subscribers from 10 to “no practical limit”, has data rates scalable from 37 to 350 Mbps, and has a terrestrial range up to 62 miles per node, enabling networks to cover the Army’s tactical area of operations.
 Kaltman Offers New Paddle Antenna for IWx
Kaltman Creations’ has introduced a paddle-shaped IWxANT Amplified Directional Antenna, for use with Invisible Waves X systems, for RF analysis, promising 10 dB of additional gain through a calibrated onboard amplifier. The inherent directional characteristics of the LOG Periodic antenna allow for directional analysis while excluding background RF.
The IWxANT features a bias "T" power injector with DC blocker (SMA connections); 12V power supply (for applications other than with IWx); a BNC to SMA adaptor, an SMA to SMA jumper and microphone stand mount. Specs include 450MHz to 870MHz frequency range, with usable gain up to 950 MHz; 50 Ohms impedance, close to a 100° beam pattern; 3 dB or 10 dB gain select options and a BNC connection (BNC cable not included).
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