Remote Control Unit

Huawei provides one LTE-capable antennas to support TDD/FDD convergence. Among them, the 22-port TDD/FDD converged antenna achieves Band 3, Band 8, and Band 34/39/41 co-antenna deployment, accommodating the increase of bands without increasing the size. The TDD bands support 8T8R and soft splitting with each band simultaneously supporting remote independent adjustment of the electrical tilt and EasyBeam, to achieve precise network coverage and highly efficient O&M. RCU is the remote control unit where tilt and control of such antenna is made possible.

TDD and FDD have different strengths and weaknesses in terms of technology and cost. Thus, TDD/FDD convergence possesses obvious advantages in terms of rate improvement, network capacity expansion, OPEX reduction, and future evolution.

 

After an antenna is installed, the tilt of the antenna needs to be adjusted for the purpose of network optimization. With the RET feature, the phases of signals that reach the elements of the array antenna can be adjusted through electrical control, so as to change the vertical pattern of the antenna.

 

The tilt of the RET antenna can be adjusted after the system is powered on and be monitored in real time. In this way, precise adjustment of the antenna tilt can be achieved.

The Remote Control Unit (RCU) is the motor drive of the phase shifter inside the electrical antenna. It receives and runs the control commands from the base station and drives the stepper motor. The stepper motor drives the phase shifter inside the antenna device, and the phase shifter adjusts the antenna tilt. Interface RS485 functions as the control interface of the RCU

The software has an embedded development architecture for an Antenna remote control unit.

Wireless, 5G

  • The RET antennas at more than one site can be remotely adjusted at the same time. Therefore, the efficiency of adjusting the antenna tilt is improved and the cost of network optimization is reduced.
  • The adjustment of RET antennas can be performed irrespective of weather conditions.
  • It is easy to adjust the RET antennas at the sites that are difficult to reach.