16 June 2010
Cobham Antenna Systems has designed a miniature Multi Sector antenna in the 2.0-2.7GHz band for use with COFDM radios.
COFDM provides significant benefits over conventional analogue microwave transmissions, especially in high multi-path environments such as dense urban areas.
It is possible to virtually eliminate fade even in non line-of-sight (NLOS) situations through the use of spatial antenna diversity schemes. For this reason, COFDM systems are being used for National Security, Police and Military applications where it is vital that integrity of video and data links is maintained under the most imposing situations.
The new model, MSA6-2.4V/1795, has 6 antennas. It is unusually small for this type of antenna being contained within a rugged housing measuring just 300mm x 155mm diameter (12 inches by 6.5 inches).
Five of the antennas are sectors, each with up to 9dBi peak gain and azimuth beamwidth of 120 degrees. They provide a high level of overlap so that the COFDM radio can use 3 to 4 sectors’ worth of data at any time for recombination to ensure that localized transient fading is eliminated, which is especially associated with mobile applications.
The sixth antenna is up-looking to provide complete hemispherical coverage. This increases the practical applications and maximises operational flexibility for the antenna for rapid deployment as well as temporary and fixed installation.
