Considerations for an In-building Distributed Antenna System

This report, written by American Tower’s John Whatley discusses items to consider when deploying a DAS.

Businesses are finding a growing demand to provide a wide variety of wireless technologies in the indoor space today. Wireless cellular customers depend on the mobility of their devices wherever they go. There is a need to implement a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) with the breadth of design requirements that allow it to carry a wide range of technologies and to do it well. Venue owners and wireless carriers wish to provide their customers and occupants with a satisfying wireless user experience. The DAS may have to provide services for a range of cellular frequencies and technologies. In addition, regulatory movement dictates that public-safety communication service is a gating item to building occupancy covering the indoor area, including both public and back-of-house areas. The DAS can provide a broadcast mechanism for reaching public-safety personnel throughout a building, and can be done with an economy of scale when combined with commercial cellular services. Public safety can be broadcast across a range of frequencies that the DAS may provide. Building owners often demand Wi-Fi service as well, from small offices to large venues such as airports and convention centers. This paper discusses the pros and cons of levels of integration that can be accomplished with Wi-Fi and a DAS.

You can read the report below.