FEATURE WIRELESS
The 60Ghz Band for Fixed Wireless Links Fast Track By Robin George, Huber+Suhner
The 60GHz band has been available for use in several European countries for a while. It brings with it many benefits, not least immunity to radio interference and the ability to transmit huge amounts of data at high speed. Last year, after quite a delay, the UK regulator Ofcom decided to make it available licence-free for fixed wireless links, and all the signs indicate its adoption will be widespread across a wide range of applications. For most users in an office or
Wireless Ethernet networks play an increasingly
important role wherever cable connectivity is either unavailable or impractical. Networks based on the many variants of the IEEE 802.11 standard are ideal where the connection distance is less than 200m and the need for high data speed is not critical. Here, the sheer convenience of wireless connectivity wins every time. What if, however, increased distances and higher speeds are required and it is still not possible to use cable? Enter the licence-free 60GHz band for fixed wireless links.
industrial location, a wireless network operating at frequencies of up to 5GHz is sufficient to satisfy both geographical and performance requirements. There are security issues to contend with in these bands but, for the most part, IEEE 802.11– based networks are all that is needed. Advances in hardware for these industrial and commercial network installations has also meant higher reliability levels and increased security. However, when it comes to the need
for high data speeds and distances of more than a couple of hundred metres, the choice of network becomes more limited. Cable connectivity is by far the preferred solution but cable installation and maintenance is expensive and often impractical. Connecting two facilities on either side of a busy street is one example where the cost of digging up the road will almost certainly outweigh the perceived benefit. A fixed 60GHz point-to-point
Ethernet link brings several inherent
A 60GHz Ethernet network does not require any spectrum coordination effort, so is very suitable for deployment in frequency-dense events such as the Grand Prix.
user benefits. Current equipment provides data throughput as high as 320Mbps Fast Ethernet Full Duplex at distances that can be as far as 1.6km. The highly directional antennas used in 60GHz links mean interference- free, highly secure and very reliable data transmission. Since the antenna dimensions are very small, several units can be mounted together to maximise ‘pole’ space if required. The next generation to be launched second quarter will extend full duplex data rates to Gigabit.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Initial interest has come from those applications that will most obviously benefit from the performance and easy installation characteristics of a 60GHz link. These include temporary installations such as sporting and entertainment events or situations requiring the utilities or the emergency services to provide high speed data links. Towards the end of last year in
Abu Dhabi, Sebastian Vettel won the Formula One World Championship. Like any huge sporting event nowadays, security was of paramount importance and almost 1000 security cameras were deployed around the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix complex. Those responsible for the security
installation opted for wireless point- to-point links for their reliability, data speeds and ease of installation. The network was installed one day before the event kicked off at the Yas Marina Circuit. The number of cameras involved were very bandwidth hungry
12 NETCOMMS Volume I, Issue 4 2011
and to backhaul this continuous and live traffic to the command and control centre and its data servers, the 320 Mbps Full Duplex data capacity was used to its full. This temporary installation will prove
to be typical of the type of ‘out of the box’ high performance network that 60GHz point-to-point systems allow. Sporting occasions such as this are
one-off events. Any data lost through inference or transmission breakdown could prove costly in many ways. In addition, at an event such as a Formula One Grand Prix, many different RF applications are in use covering almost the whole frequency spectrum, from police radio (TETRA), voice systems, and marine radio to Wi-Fi services. And don’t forget that each F1 car is broadcasting its own TV and telemetric data up to microwave TV camera systems. A 60GHz Ethernet network does not require any spectrum coordination effort and is very suitable for deployment in such frequency- dense events. An additional advantage of 60GHz is its immunity towards multipath and reflections that occur when microwaves are deployed on street level. But perhaps the most significant
advantage of this type of point-to-point network system that early adopters will see is the ease of installation which can be performed by non-skilled personnel following simple installation instructions and the fact that, if required, networks can be quickly dismantled and re-used elsewhere.
www.netcommseurope.com
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