Posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012
To answer your question about 4G/LTE… 4G (4th generation cell/mobile phones) or LTE (long term evolution) are the same thing, just two different acronyms. Basically this technology is the next generation communication protocol for cell phone/mobile devices. The idea is that it will be faster than the existing “3G” connections, and be able to handle robust data like video.
There are currently two frequency spectrums licensed / allocated for 4G/LTE. They are 700 mhz and 2700 mhz. All current systems that I am aware of are running on 700 mhz, as there are few (if any) 2700 mhz towers today.) 4G/LTE mainly applies to “smart phones” but is now starting to be used by companies making a host of mobile or remote devices that need a network connection, particularly devices that want to transmit large amounts of data and/or video. Best example would be remote cameras. So, if the state department of transportation wanted a traffic / public safety camera in a remote location, they could potentially use 4G/LTE to send a live video feed back to headquarters. Furthermore, if the state police wanted a “live” camera on a mobile police cruiser with real-time video feed (vs. just a DVR recording, they’d need 4G/LTE.
Also note that most people are looking for multi-band antennas for their applications that cover both 3G and 4G/LTE. This is because many areas do not yet have 4G/LTE coverage, so they want their devices to be backwards compatible to 3G for areas where they cannot get a 4G/LTE connection.
That all being said, here is what we have to offer for 4G/LTE in terms of antennas:
Indoor small units:
Pulse # SPDA24700/2700 (also known as W1906) Multi-band, 3G & 4G/LTE indoor, blade style antenna with SMA Male connector.
Laird # DBA69273: Multiband, 3G & 4G/LTE indoor blade style antenna with TNC Male connector.
Laird # IN7-3RD-RSMA or IN7-3RD-SMA: Single band (700 mhz only) indoor dipole antenna with SMA Male or RPSMA male connector.
Indoor celling mount units for indoor DAS (distributed antenna systems)
Laird # CMD6927330NF: Multiband, 2 port MiMO ceiling antenna with N-Female connectors.
Laird # CMS6927330NF: Multiband, single port, ceiling antenna with N-Female connectors.
Outdoor industrial/vehicular antennas:
Pulse # SLPT740NMO: black, “Shadow” low profile transit antenna, 740-866 mhz, NMO mount only.
Laird # ETRA6983 & ETRA6983P: white “Phantom Elite” 700 mhz omni, with NMO and N-Female mount.
Laird # ETRAB6983 & ETRAB6983P: black “Phantom Elite” 700 mhz omni, with NMO and N-Female mount.
This is going to be a key emerging market, and Arcadian is positioned nicely with our key suppliers to be the perfect place to turn for 4G/LTE antenna solutions in 2012.
Mike Crudele
ARCADIAN INC.
1-888-925-5967 x 90 (Inside USA)
1-973-890-2324 x 90 (Outside USA)
mikec@arcadianinc.com
www.arcadianinc.com
Bel Fuse / Stewart Connector
Laird Technologies IAS (antennas)
Pulse Electronics / Larsen Antenna
Posted on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
My name is Mike Crudele, owner and General Manager of Arcadian Inc. My company is a leading US based dealer / distributor of wireless networking gear, with a particular interest in In-Buildling Wireless (IBW) antennas used in the installation of indoor cellular distributed antenna systems (DAS) In this article, i will attempt to explain, in very basic terms, the problems i see emerging in terms of indoor cellular coverage with relation to the growing use of "smart" mobile devices vs. traditional mobile phones. Ultimately, i would like to suggest that system integrators involved in the growing indoor DAS market explore the use of our antennas, specifically the Laird Technologies CMS69273 omnidirectional DAS antenna for in-building cellular & LTE.
The demand for in-building cellular coverage is booming as the demand for digital bandwidth grows. I-Phones, I-Pads, Blackberries, Tablets, and of-course, the traditional cell phone are eating up bandwidth at a rate that no carrier could have foreseen 10 years ago. That demand is driving the need for anytime / anywhere cellular coverage.
We all know that the large carriers: AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint/Nextel have spend huge money on buidling outdoor cell towers, and for many years that coverage worked well. But now that most of us use our cell phones more than our land-line phones, and with the explosive growth of text, mobile email, and most importantly mobile web browsing, these outdoor towers simply cannot provide enough wireless coverage IN-BUILDING.
You need to understand the physics of this situation. Simply stated, most of the digital content that we are communicating via our smart phones, tablets, and laptops with "air cards" is being transmitted at higher frequencies. These higher frequncies have trouble penetrating through buidling materials. Relatively small, wood frame structures (ie: your home) have minimal isses IF they are close to a cell tower. However, cement, stone and steel pose MAJOR issues when it comes to cellular coverage. Unfortunately, just about every place outside of your home is constructed of steel and cement. Shopping malls, schools, supermarkets, office buildings, sports venues are all very difficult places to get a good cellular signal.
For many years, the major carriers have know how to combat this situation...you can either put up more outdoor towers and hope you can penetrate the local buildings, or you can install IN BUILDING distributed antenna systems (DAS.) The prospect of putting up more outdoor towers is negative for the carriers becuase it is SO costly and communities simply do not want the towers being erected in their midst...they are understandably seen as an eyesore. So, the alternative is to install indoor DAS systems...essentially a repeater system for celluar coverage. Typically, this involves wiring a buidling with a series of antnennas that are all interconnected, wired to the roof where a hi-power antenna makes a wireless link directly to the closest cell tower.
In the past, the only carrier that took the indoor DAS approach to any significant degree was Sprint. However, moving forward, i belive that all carriers will have to investigate this approach for the foreseeable future. The problem is that most carriers don't want to get into the business of building out indoor infrastructure. The task of wiring up hundreds of thousands of buildings is just too daunting. For large installations, we have seen the large, traditional 3rd parties like Crown Castle and American Tower getting into the business of indoor DAS installation, maintenance and management. They are install the system, they own it, and lease it out on a "carrier neutral" basis to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc.
Lately, i see a very interesting trend emerging. Smaller, more entrepreneurial companies are entering the in-buidling wireless arena. They are ready, willing and able to install smaller scale indoor DAS deployments quickly and economically. We are working with companies like Tri Power, Connectivity Wireless and Computer Services Corp who are all succeeding in this space. We are working with these very agile companies to support them with wireless gear for their DAS installations, and i'd like to encourage you to do the same.
In conclusion, i'd again like to reiterate that indoor DAS looks to be on a path to highly accelerated growth...parallel to the growth curve of wireless badwith usage. If you are in need of a system such as this, i'd recommend the system integrators above who are highly competent at mapping out a DAS system that will work for you.
For my company, Arcadian Inc. I'd like any system integrator out there that happens to be involved in the indoor DAS market to call me, Mike Crudele, to discuss what Arcadian Inc can do for you, and specifically how the newest Laird Technologies antenna, CMS69273, can help in these installations. This antenna has wide band coverage or 698 mhz (public safety) up through 2700 mhz (LTE)
The Laird CMS69273 is a great alternative to the Andrew / Commscope CELLMAX-O-CPUSE. Why? Becuaswe the construction is much better, thus providing higher performance with less antennas, ultimately resulting in lower overall installation cost with better coverage for your users.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Mike Crudele, GM at Arcadian Inc.
1-888-925-5967, mikec@arcadianinc.com
Posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
Today, we announced the release of our new 2011 RFID "master" catalog. You can download the catalog in pdf format at this link (Arcadian Inc 2011 RFID Catalog) or you can email me at mikec@arcadianinc.com and i'll mail you a hard copy catalog.
In the new RFID catalog, you will see we feature all of the most popular UHF RFID panel antennas from Laird Technologies - formerly Cushcraft. The main antennas we are showing are the 10 x 10 inch circularly polarized panels and the 5 x 5 inch circularly polarized "min" RFID antenans. These models are compatible with readers from all of the most popular companies, including Motorola, Symbol, Impinj, Alien Technolgy, ThingMagic and Intermec.
In addition, this years catalog includes many different mounting options and mounting brackets for RFID antennas. These include the fully articulating RAM mount, as well as Laird's ALLPMTE and HDMNT. We also have several low profile flush mounts for both the large and small 902-928 / 865-868 mhz UHF RFID antenans.
2011 will be the first year that Arcadian is selling extra large polycarbonate enclosures from FiBox. These enclosures feature solid or transparent covers and locking latches. Or, you may opt for one of Laird Technologies die cast enclosures ( DCE ) many of which have optional antenna covers.
Of course the catalog would be complete without specifying our entire portfolio of RF coaxial cable for use with RFID antennas. We have standard LMR195 RF cable assemblies in 2, 4, 5 and 8 meter lengths. If these do not fit your requirements, we can make cable assemblies to your specifications in our on-site modification center.
Please contact us today for more information about how Arcadian Inc can support your RFID accessory requirements.
Call us at 1-888-925-5967 (USA) or 1-973-890-2324 (outside USA) or email me at mikec@arcadianinc.com
Regards, Mike Crudele - sales manager, x90
Posted on Friday, April 15th, 2011
This years RFID Journal Live trade show brought out more exhibitors, more vendors and more potential clients than ever before. As always, the traffic at the show was "heavy" and more importantly, everyone i met was passionate about RFID, and excited about the industries growth.
The RFID Journal Live show is the best event we attend all year because the participants are so specific to the RFID technology. Make no mistake, this is no "general interest" show...these folks are all about RFID.
As for Laird Technologies and Arcadian Inc. we had major traffic at our show booth - all people who were interested in our portfolio of panel antennas for UHF RFID readers. We got lots of questions about active vs. passive RFID tags, and Gen 1 vs Gen 2 readers, and we explained over and over that the RFID antenna is a "passive" device. The only thing that the antenna cares about is the radio frequency (RF) that is being put out by the RFID reader. If that frequency is 902-928 mhz (US RFID) or 865-868 mhz (EU RFID) then we have an antenna that will work for you.
The most popular UHF RFID antenna models viewed at the show were:
#: The Laird Technologies (formerly Cushcraft) series of 10x10 inch panel antennas for 902 to 928 mhz RFID. These antennas are equivalent to the panel antennas sold by Impinj, Motorola, Alien Tech, Thing Magic and Intermec. Specifically, model #'s: S9028PCL / S9028PCR (4 mouting studs) and S9028PCLJ / S9028PCRJ (2 mounting studs)
Posted on Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Arcadian Inc. General Manager Mike Crudele, will be hosting a cocktail party at the Clarion Inn & Suites at International Drive for Arcadian customers, as well as dealers, VAR's, system integrators and OEM's that are interested in learning more about passive UHF antennas from Laird Technologies. Laird's RFID product manager Mark Miller will be in attendance to answer questions about Laird's newest product releases, including the UHF nearfield antenna, and small form factory RFID antenna OEM module.
In addition, Arcadian will be showing the latest antenna mounting hardware for both the 5x5 inch and 10x10 inch Laird antennas, as well as discussing your enclosure and RF cable requirements.
If you are interested in attending, please email Mike Crudele at mikec@arcadianinc.com or stop by booth 742 at the show.
