Svensk firma åbner state-of-the-art antennelaboratorium

Det svenske firma CellMax Technologies har med deltagelse af bl.a. den svenske konge officielt åbnet en af verdens mest moderne antenneforsknings-laboratorier (in english).

CellMax new antenna laboratory, research center and antenna measuring range represents an investment of well over 20 million Skr (¤2.2m ; $2.8m) and is considered one of the most modern and most advanced of its kind in Europe and the rest of the world. It will be used to research and test ‘next generation’ base station antennas as a key ingredient in mobile network performance.

- We will now have a world class research facility for our world class research team”, says Einar Ahlström, CEO, CellMax Technologies.
- This will boost the research capacity of CellMax enormously, to the ultimate benefit of our customers. Of course, we are most happy that Swedish royalty and global industry leaders alike chose to visit us for this memorable occasion.

Known as a near-field antenna measuring range, the new 1,200 square meter facility includes a 550 cubic meter shielded anechoic near-field antenna measuring chamber along with a fully equipped state-of-the-art antenna design laboratory. The low reflectivity and high isolation anechoic chamber is equipped with a fully automated spherical near field BTS antenna measurement system which supports multiple testing configurations for maximum flexibility and throughput.

The research center offers very high accuracy and repeatability of antenna parameter measurement throughout its 690MHz to 2,8 GHZ operating range. It supports characterization and testing of all types of cellular base station antennas. It is further enabled by sophisticated software which allows for very accurate analysis of the measured results.

The new facilities will also host CellMax new global headquarters. The building is located in Kista, a world-leading cluster in mobile communications just north of Stockholm, Sweden and home to many ICT related companies (including the global headquarters of Ericsson, the world's largest mobile telecommunications equipment vendor).
Higher signal strength and improved data throughput

CellMax’s revolutionary antenna technology virtually eliminates power losses within the antenna, leading to a dramatic improvement in the base stations’ transmission capacity. With higher signal strength, mobile operators can achieve a significant increase in geographical area coverage, improved indoor penetration, increased traffic, improved data throughput and reduced production costs per call – all without any increase in power consumption.

Increased transmission capacity is crucial for mobile operators to cope with a 150 per cent annual increase in mobile data traffic in the world’s mobile networks. This increase in data traffic is driven by the emergence and use of smartphones, apps and videos. Mobile data traffic is expected to increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015. Operators’ network equipment needs to be optimized and upgraded to handle this rapid and significant increase in traffic.

This development has put new industry focus on base station antennas, previously regarded a network commodity. New ultra-high efficiency antennas are very inexpensive in the context of network infrastructure, and easy to deploy or swap. The positive effects on transmission and improved customer experience are immediate and the payback period can often be counted in mere days.