CommunicationBATS: Extending broadband communication, I

Stable broadband access is essential // Source: ning.com

Locating, locking on, and maintaining a high-speed wireless broadband connection when one or both radios are moving is a challenge for enterprises and network operators. For many, expensive satellite communications has been the sole solution.

Now there is a more effective — and cost-effective — solution.

Broadband Antenna Tracking Systems (BATS) has developed a technology that can automatically locate, maintain, continuously optimize, and track the connection between two fixed or mobile wireless broadband access points in a matter of seconds.

The company’s technology integrates a directional antenna system which is mounted on a pan-tilt aiming chassis with a wireless broadband radio.

The company says that its technology can automatically reposition the directional broadband antenna mounted on a vessel, terrestrial vehicle/structure, or aircraft to maintain a wireless broadband network session. This tracking capability allows moving vehicles to obtain real-time access to resources inherent to broadband communications, including data, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and streaming video.

What is more, BATS is technology agnostic, allowing it to support any wireless broadband network and directional antenna combination. The BATS product allows for rapid deployment of wireless networks, as well as the geographical extension of a current network for customers who have limited broadband access radius.

The system’s tight integration with the radios, along with the performance characteristics of the directional antenna, are used by BATS’ innovative software to create search patterns and predictive algorithms that automatically locate a desired connection point, establish communications, and track whether one or both of the wireless broadband radios are moving.

“We have designed a very cost-effective system that can greatly benefit service providers or enterprises that have limited resources in deploying wireless broadband systems,” Bob Peterson, chief executive officer of BATS, told Antenna System & Technology. “Our system has been deployed in situations where it is difficult to manually align antennas for acquisition and optimal signal strength; in situations that require frequent antenna realignment due to natural causes or equipment movement and in situations where the automatic repositioning of directional antennas to secondary communications points is required if a communications point is moved and/or no longer available.”

Antenna System & Technology notes that the BATS system is well suited for mobile WiMAX or any wireless broadband allowing for moving vehicles on land, water, and air, to access critical broadband communications resources.

The technology

BATS was founded by three information technology professors and researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The company’s technology is based on a directional antenna. A directional antenna, or beam antenna, is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions, allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas like yagi antennas provide increased performance over dipole antennas when a greater concentration of radiation in a certain direction is desired.

Now, all practical antennas are at least somewhat directional, although usually only the direction in the plane parallel to the earth is considered, and practical antennas can easily be omnidirectional in one plane.

BATS’ directional antenna technology aims, locates, and locks in on an access point (AP) in seconds. Once the AP is located, predictive tracking is used to maximize bandwidth and minimize movement of the antennas.

The company says that the BATS system supports and enhances any wireless communications system or vendor equipment. To date, BATS has integrated its system with radios from Redline Communications, Motorola, Alvarion, Airspan Networks, and Proxim Wireless.

“From a technology perspective, the BATS solution will eliminate the man hours spent climbing towers,” Norm Dumbroff, WAV chief executive officer, told Antenna System & Technology. “The BATS system is an invaluable time-saver and well suited for markets such as critical response, oil and gas, border security, maritime and those environments that simply require a lot of man-hours realigning radios.”

In the second installment, will offer more details about the technology and discuss a few implementation case studies.