PCTEL Inc., provider of antennas and test and measurement solutions for the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), announced Tuesday a new LTE multiband antenna that helps boost data rates and reliability for utility networks.
PCTEL’s 5-port base station omnidirectional antenna (BOA) is designed for fixed public and private LTE and industrial IoT network deployments. It supports multi-carrier connectivity and is ideal for network failover to mitigate downtime in smart grids and other mission critical applications.
This is the latest in PCTEL’s field-proven BOA antenna series, deployed in a variety of fixed IIoT applications around the world. The new antenna features multiple network compatibility; four (4) broadband ports supporting LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-M, NB-IoT, 2G/3G cellular, Wi-Fi, and private wireless technologies; and one GPS/GLONASS port with PCTEL’s high rejection GNSS technology for network timing and tracking.
“PCTEL’s latest antenna will enable the future of the IIoT for our Utilities customers. For example, advanced smart grids utilizing our antenna could reduce outages and efficiently manage alternative energy sources,” said Rishi Bharadwaj, PCTEL’s Chief Operating Officer. “The antenna’s ultra-broadband technology also supports LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation and delivers superior 4×4 MIMO performance for asset management, video communications, and other applications that require high data capacity,” added Bharadwaj.
PCTEL will display its new LTE multiband antenna at UTC Telecom & Technology Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. It is available for order using part # BOA-LCMGPS-PTNF-4LTE.
Last week, PCTEL announced that it is adding public safety LTE grid testing and enhanced P25 signal quality measurements to its public safety network testing solution. The new testing capabilities support two growing trends in public safety communications across the United States: strict code-based grid testing requirements to ensure in-building coverage for first responders, and the adoption of FirstNet and other LTE-based broadband networks for enhanced public safety communications.
PCTEL’s public safety testing solution streamlines the grid-based testing and reporting process, enabling building owners to comply with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), International Fire Code (IFC), and local standards.
New capabilities in this latest release include grid-based signal power and quality testing for LTE and UMTS/WCDMA public safety and cellular networks; P25 BER (Bit Error Rate) measurements for out-of-service testing; and P25 Network ID for easier channel setup. In addition to P25, LTE, and UMTS signal decoding, PCTEL’s public safety network testing solution supports grid-based coverage testing of channel power for all public safety radio technologies, such as TETRA, DMR and EDACS.
