The case for reliable in-building wireless coverage

Demand The more the world has come to rely on wireless connectivity, the more problems crop up: dead zones in buildings, too few bars for dependable, uninterrupted communications, data transfer overwhelmed by volume and slowed to a crawl. These are becoming pressing issues for building owners, whose tenants may be complaining about poor cell phone service, or whose facilities staff report dead spots where they can't communicate with one another. If your building hosts large gatherings, does the cell phone use by the attendees overwhelm reception? More seriously, are you confident that first responders will be able to communicate in an emergency? In response to the growing dependence on wireless communications, some local jurisdictions are beginning to require minimum levels of in-building radio coverage for police, fire, and EMS responders. The International Code Council (ICC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), too, are currently pursuing the adoption of national-level model codes and standards to ensure that improved in-building coverage is addressed on a nationwide basis. The pressure is coming from tenants and users as well: occupants of office buildings, medical facilities, hospitality venues, transportation terminals, industrial plants, and sports venues are demanding continuous and reliable indoor voice and data coverage. Supply But there's a hitch: many factors can limit indoor coverage. Studies by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found that signals penetrating a building from outdoor networks can be quite spotty and irregular and can vary widely depending on the building layout and materials, as well as nearby obstructions outside the building. Even a user's location within a structure has a major influence on coverage. Ironically, users in tall buildings have found that there is often no coverage at all on upper floors, a function of the decision by wireless carriers to concentrate their coverage at street level so as to increase capacity. Even if strong wireless coverage exists at the site, places of public assembly like sports stadiums and convention centers often suffer from insufficient wireless capacity when large crowds are present. Solution One of the best currently available means of providing reliable, high-capacity, and ubiquitous wireless service is with a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), which comes in a variety of forms: indoor, outdoor, fiber or RF-based, dedicated, or multi-service. Its scope can range from a single building to a campus or entire community, and its design can accommodate any or all demands: * Public safety (police, fire, and EMS) * Cellular/PCS wireless reinforcement, including 3G/4G/LTE * Carrier-specific/host-neutral systems * In-house operation, maintenance, and security networks * Administration and WLAN * Indoor/outdoor (nano, micro, and macro-scale systems) There is, of course, a caveat: inappropriate DAS design may not only fail to meet its intended objectives, it can create interference with outdoor networks, even invoke serious and costly FCC sanctions. Intelligently designed, properly installed, and carefully tested, DAS can add value for building owners and operators. DAS-enabled buildings can be marketed as the ultimate in smart-buildings, an increasingly sought-after feature. The infrastructure can be modular, capable of expanding incrementally with demand. Existing buildings can be readily retrofitted to accommodate the system. There may even be opportunities to produce direct income through owner/operator ownership of the DAS or a partnership with third-party, host-neutral DAS providers. Wireless services have become indispensable in this age of mobility and increasing expectations of uninterrupted, anywhere, anytime connectivity. Meeting the need for reliable indoor wireless coverage can no longer be left to chance. Gregory Roberts, RCDD, is the partner in charge of the technology systems group and Brian Nguyen is an engineer in the IT/AV/security group at AKF Group, New York, N.Y.Gregory RobertsGregory Roberts, AKF GroupBrian NguyenBrian Nguyen, AKF Group