ASC - Antenna System Controller

The Antenna System Controller (ASC) is a pre-amplifier that is used in UMTS base station to amplify the received signal. The antenna system controller is a small unit that is mounted very close to the antenna. The ASC can also used to control the tilt of the antenna.

Antenna System Controller - Ericsson.

Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) Products

The Powerwave RET system is designed to meet the high requirements for reliability, flexibility and efficiency in remote control of tower-mounted telecommunication equipment. The system consists of a Master Control Unit (MCU) that controls the Antenna Line Devices (ALDs) and supplies DC power to them via a common bus. ALDs are connected to the MCU using a separate ALD system cable or by using the existing RF feeders in your system.

RET Modules

The RET Unit is a part of the Powerwave RET System and consists of a stepping motor that can be connected to the positioning rod used for adjusting the electrical down-tilt of Powerwave MET antennas.

Antenna Tilt Configuration Files

The antenna tilt configuration files contain information needed by the RET controllers to identify which antenna type it is connected to. They also contain the necessary data about the antenna in order to set the correct tilt angle.

NetWay 7000 (MCU)

Simplifies operations by enabling remote electrical tilting of antennas and setting of TMA gain via Web or SNMP interfaces The Powerwave MCU controls, supervises and provides DC power to the Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) System via a common bus.

CILOC

The CILOC connects an RET module to an MCU using an ordinary RF feeder. It transfers DC supply and data signals to the antenna line device enabling remote electrical tilt of antennas.

RET System Cables

The RET System Cables are a part of the Powerwave RET System. They provide a direct connect option from the MCU to a RET module and are offered in a variety of lengths that can be directly connected in series to create customer lengths.

The RET solution is a convenient and cost-effective solution for monitoring of AISG antenna line devices alarms and setting of electrical down-tilt angle of Variable Electrical Tilt (VET) antennas. A typical RET solution setup is shown in the diagram below:

Remote Electrical Tilt System Diagram The Comba RET solution consists of the following components: A) Central Control Unit (CCU) The CCU is the major component for controlling and monitoring the RCU, TMA and antenna line devices that are AISG compliant. It can be programmed to work with various manufacturers VET antennas by simply uploading the appropriate antenna definition/configuration files into it.

B) Remote Control Unit(RCU RCU-003(II-2) is a compact and light weight actuator that mechanically connects to the electrical phase shifter of Comba VET antenna for remote adjustment of electrical down-tilt angle. It is designed to comply with AISG 2.0 standards and works with AISG compliant Node B and antenna line devices.

C) Smart Bias Tee The Smart Bias Tee is used to inject DC voltage and to modulate and demodulate remote control signals, via the RF coaxial cable, to antenna line devices such as TMA and RCU. It is designed to comply with AISG 2.0 standard and can be used as a lightning protection device for the BTS/Node B.

D) Variable Electrical Tilt (VET) Antenna The VET antenna has an in-built electrical phase shifter module that allows remote electrical tilting of its vertical radiating beam. Comba has a comprehensive range of VET antennas for different frequency bands, different horizontal half power beam width and gain to suit different cellular coverage needs.

E) AISG Tower Mounted Amplifier (ATMA) The ATMA is installed near the antenna at the tower top to improve receiver sensitivity of the base station, and call quality. Combas ATMA is designed to work with RCU in accordance to AISG standards.

Twin TMA unit for WCDMA2100

F) AISG Control Cable The AISG control cable is a five core cable that is fitted with a circular 8-pin Male connector on one end and a Female connector on the other. This cable is used to connect and transmit signals between AISG antenna line devices.

G) COMETS COMETS is a RET system manager software that is programmed to perform remote setting of electrical down tilting angle of VET antennas and monitoring of AISG antenna line devices alarms. It consists of a server and client architecture running on an IP backbone, as show below.

COMETS system architecture

COMETS Main user interface