Vodafone Tests Integrated Active Antenna on its 3G Network

Nokia Siemens Networks says that it has successfully tested an integrated Active Antenna solution on Vodafone's Italian WCDMA network. Nokia Siemens Networks Active Antenna incorporates elements of the base station within the antenna, reducing the footprint of base stations and lowering power consumption.

"We see Active Antennas as the next logical step in base station site evolution, where the trend is to move RF parts closer to the antenna." said Tommi Uitto, head of Wireless Access Product Management at Nokia Siemens Networks.

For the demonstration of voice and data calls over the Active Antenna system, Nokia Siemens Networks provided the uB900 Antenna Embedded Radio from its partner Ubidyne integrated to be part of a Flexi Base Station system. Vodafone provided access to its commercial network in Italy where the engineering team successfully performed the joint technology assessment.

The demonstration is the first project to be generated through the NICE initiative between Vodafone and Nokia Siemens Networks, based in Madrid, Spain and created for the purpose of joint innovation around new concepts, products and architectures.

Posted to the site on 29th July 2009