Qualcomm Inc. and Ortel Corp. said they demonstrated measurable performance improvements in receive diversity in Code Division Multiple Access personal communications services repeaters.
Ortel, a repeater manufacturer, and Qualcomm have been testing the process for providing receive diversity and are working together to develop and optimize the technology, said the companies.
Ortel said its repeaters already offer several base station-like functions, including monitoring and control features. The next step, said the company, was to increase performance through receive diversity technology.
Receive diversity is a process that until now has been available on base stations but not on repeaters, said Hal Zarem, director of marketing, wireless communications at Ortel. The process allows the better of two signals received at separate antennas at the repeater to be processed.
Receive diversity, said Zarem, improves network footprints and battery life by reducing the transmit power of the mobile. Repeaters equipped with the receive diversity technology also can be implemented into a system without a noticeable impact.
“CDMA operators have experienced the benefits of using repeaters as strategic network elements to serve difficult coverage areas and expand rollout,” said Zarem, who noted that Ortel’s repeaters have been used to fill holes in networks and provide in-building coverage. “Operators who are now at the next stage of optimizing their networks are eager to improve performance and keep pace with their increasing coverage and capacity needs.”
Receive diversity is applicable to all types of technologies but is especially pertinent in CDMA networks where increased noise hinders capacity. By reducing the transmit power of mobile phones, receive diversity can reduce noise and increase capacity, said the company.
Qualcomm Inc. last year licensed Ortel to manufacture and sell wireless repeater products based on CDMA technology.
Zarem said Ortel plans to incorporate receive diversity into its new product offerings and is investigating whether it will add the functionality to existing products.
Ortel also introduced an enhancement to its MirrorCell family of wireless repeaters. The MirrorCell AutoLevel is a software enhancement features a default set of parameters, improved diagnostics and the ability to set up on loaded or unloaded cells.
Ortel’s MirrorCell family of wireless repeaters also works with Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Global System for Mobile communications and Digital Communications System 1800 networks.
