MWC 2014: Huawei to supply Active Antenna Unit (AAU) solution to Mobily

Huawei today said it will supply Active Antenna Unit (AAU) solution to Mobily, a telecom operator in Saudi Arabia.

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014, Barcelona, Huawei will also showcase the AAU solution that integrates multiple radio frequency (RF) unit and antenna unit into a single unit while offering better performance and features. The benefit to operators is simplified site design and deployment along with savings in network operations and future equipment evolution.

Huawei Active Antenna Unit

Huawei’s AAU solution for high-integration, high-capacity network site design provides operators with a multi-mode base station platform that can reduce site space by up to 75 percent. With only one set of equipment, operators can simplify their site deployment process while enhancing overall network capacity.

Huawei Ultra wideband AAU employs SDBTM (Software-Defined Band) technology to realize band-programmability for flexible adoption of new spectrum frequencies. The AAU draws on advances in algorithms, high-performance radio frequency (RF) chipsets, and significantly enhanced RF module integration to help operator build more valuable mobile broadband network.

Multi-band and multi-mode deployment increases the site complexity which will lead limited site space. Therefore, AAU will be the trend of future network deployment. Compared with industry similar AAU products, the product has higher integration level and supports software define band which further reducing module quantity on sites. It features smaller in size, lighter in weight and easy installation thus reduces over 60 percent installation time which facilitated fast deployment of network.

Based on leading hardware platforms, Huawei Ultra wideband AAU supports 4 * 4 MIMO and carrier aggregation LTE-Advanced technologies, which can improve up to 90 percent network capacity. It also supports smooth evolution to future network, which will effectively protect operators’ investments.

Mobily to get AAU from Huawei

Mobliy on AAU solution

The Saudi Arabia government will invest more than $26.6 billion in broadband and ICT solutions for modernizing governmental services and other public sectors like transportation, energy, healthcare, education, and public safety.

The Smart City project aims to improve the lives of individual people and create more opportunities for enterprises of all sizes. As part of the project, Mobily has sought to provide ultra-high quality Mobile broadband to all of its subscribers.

Alaa Malki, CTO of Mobliy, said: “The AAU solution really meets our demands. It is very efficient and has ensured we will conserve site space resources. I predict it will be a main mobile broadband industry trend in the near future.”

To help achieve this goal, Huawei is supplying AAU as well as its SingleRAN wireless networking solution for simultaneously utilizing four spectrum bands running on four different technologies: GSM, UMTS, LTE FDD and LTE TDD.

After deployment of AAU and SingleRAN, Mobily’s subscribers will be able to enjoy enhanced mobile data and voice service experience.

More than 30 operators in China, Canada, Russia, as well many countries in Europe and South America have trialed or commercially deployed Huawei’s AAU solution.

[email protected]