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Antenna Technology

The antenna technology being tested in the College of Engineering (CoE) pilot, is a 3rd generation Distributed Antenna System (DAS). As defined by PCIA—the Wireless Infrastructure Association, and its DAS Forum, DAS is a network of spatially separated antenna nodes connected to a common source via a transport medium that provides wireless service within a geographic area or structure. The 3rd generation DAS technology is significantly less expensive to install.

Both the 1st (Leaky Coax) and 2nd (traditional DAS) generations require significant infrastructure, raceway and cables, be installed throughout the building. The 3rd generation technology uses the building's existing heating or cooling ductwork. A single antenna can cover 20,000 to 30,000 square feet. Additional antennas are connected with in-building fiber riser cable.

For more technical information about the HVAC duct antennas see:

Experimental Mode Content Analysis Technique for Complex Overmoded Waveguide Systems
Ahmet G. Cepni, Daniel D. Stancil, and Dagfin Brodtkorb
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (102KB PDF)