On 22 July 2003 we completed the commissioning of special repeater sites for Vodafone Rt. The donor and remote repeater stations were supplied by our Swedish partner AVITEC AB for trial. Setting up and commissioning these sites closed a coverage gap in the village of Miklósfa near Nagykanizsa. We hope that these cost-effective solutions will continue to support Vodafone's future coverage roll-out.
Cost-effective coverage
Operator's dilemma: networks need to be rolled out quickly and within a limited budget, with the focus on coverage rather than capacity.
Solution: Frequency Translating Repeaters
- Low-cost alternative to base stations
- Easier site acquisition
- No costs for transmission, microwave links, etc.
- Reduced size and power requirements
- Rural, urban and in-building coverage (no line-of-sight required)
- Quick network deployment
Repeater Maintenance Console software
- Windows-based interface
- Live display of all measured parameters
- Detailed traffic information
- Detailed alarm log
- Option to switch to terminal (command) mode for advanced troubleshooting
- Very easy to use
Avitec's Element Manager software enables remote access for operator staff from the operator's OMC. In a typical highway coverage example, a two-sector BTS feeds two frequency-shifting repeaters, each covering an area comparable to a base station. No additional capacity is required — the goal is to extract maximum coverage from a single BTS using a single transmission connection (microwave link or fixed line). A frequency-shifting repeater can even be configured to retransmit two BCCHs, one in each direction, further extending the coverage area from a single site. Because the antenna isolation requirements for frequency-shifting repeaters are very low, omnidirectional antennas can be used at the remote site to provide excellent coverage.
Low-cost, low-traffic coverage with frequency-shifting repeaters
The example below shows coverage extension in an area with low traffic using frequency shifting.
A two-sector BTS is extended with two frequency-shifting repeaters. Both donor units are mounted at the base station site and connected to the base station via directional couplers. Each repeater uses a different link frequency and retransmits the frequency of the opposite base station sector, minimising interference and multipath issues. A normal handover is performed between the repeater coverage area and the neighbouring base station coverage area. Because frequency-shifting repeaters require only modest antenna isolation, the site requirements at the remote location remain very moderate.