by Brianna Crandall — February 28, 2018 — Zinwave, a global provider of Distributed Antenna System (DAS) solutions for in-building wireless communications coverage, rolled out its next-generation DAS solution this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The newly launched UNItivity 5000 DAS platform has evolved Zinwave’s patented DAS technology with several key improvements. The company also announced its new UNItivity Network Management System (NMS).
As shown in a recent workplace connectivity survey, cellular voice and data connectivity is an increasingly favored method of communication among business users. Loss or lack of cellular connectivity has a negative impact on efficiency, and in some cases can cause business to come to a grinding halt, notes Zinwave. The company provides in-building wireless solutions for cellular and public safety connectivity that are said to offer the lowest total cost of ownership, and its Cellular as a Service option enables connectivity by converting it into an operating expense.
UNItivity 5000 DAS platform
UNItivity 5000 consists of just four components: a hub, a service module, an optical module, and a remote unit. Image courtesy Zinwave
Scott Willis, CEO of Zinwave, explains:
From “unified” and “connectivity,” we get “UNItivity.” UNItivity enables enterprise connectivity by unifying all frequencies, including 3-6GHz, and galvanizes enterprise networks for the future of wireless service, like 5G, LTE-U, LAA, private and public CBRS.
Through careful revision of the UNItivity solution, Zinwave has enhanced the energy efficiency of the hardware. Depending on the scope and complexity of the DAS configuration, Zinwave enterprise customers can expect to see up to 17 percent energy savings using the new UNItivity 5000 solution, says the company.
A prominent update to UNItivity 5000 is the slim design of the secondary hub. Considering several factors of installation, the space savings in the information technology (IT) closet adds up to an 80 percent space savings. The streamlined design also integrates the power supply unit into the hub itself, which saves IT staff the hassle of procuring an external power supply while providing additional space savings.
The space savings translates to easier and less expensive installation. Combined with the enhanced energy efficiency, Zinwave UNItivity 5000 DAS further reduces the total cost of ownership for the enterprise.
According to Slavko Djukic, Zinwave chief technology officer:
UNItivity 5000 is the most cost-effective, highest-quality solution in the market today. We’ve taken everything that made our previous platform the best DAS available, incorporated customer feedback, evaluated market directions, and made it even better using the latest technology based on our patented ultra wideband and linear RF over fiber.
UNItivity 5000 reportedly has the fewest components of any DAS solution in the market, consisting of a single hardware layer made up of just four components: a hub, a service module, an optical module, and a remote unit. This simplicity makes the design and installation both easy and flexible, as well as familiar — it resembles how WiFi is installed, notes the company.
The next-gen DAS solution continues to support Zinwave’s patented 3F advantage:
- Fiber based — Fiber cabling is used throughout the installation, with no coaxial cable. This takes advantage of economical, yet superior, fiber cabling while simplifying installation and minimizing installation interruptions.
- Full spectrum — All cellular and public safety frequencies are supported on a single hardware layer from day one — including 5G frequencies. This reduces the amount of hardware that needs to be purchased and installed.
- Future ready — Supporting all frequencies, from 150MHz to 2700MHz and 3GHz to 6GHz without any additional hardware means that adding or modifying the system can be easily done through software updates.
UNItivity 5000 is available immediately. For more information visit the Zinwave Web site.
UNItivity Network Management System (NMS)
Zinwave also announced its new UNItivity Network Management System (NMS), a streamlined utility that monitors, alarms, diagnoses and maintains a building’s Zinwave DAS network to ensure reliability of this critical business resource. The service also includes a Network Operations Center (NOC) at Zinwave headquarters in Dallas, TX, that can provide assistance and remotely configure the DAS at the customer’s request.
By providing real-time network management services, Zinwave can help customers ensure their investment in DAS delivers seamless indoor cellular connectivity, even when issues arise. With UNItivity NMS, Zinwave says customers can monitor their system for 99.999 percent cellular and public safety wireless service uptime.
UNItivity NMS is a Web-based application that can live in a secure cloud environment, or if the customer prefers to host it on-premise, it can work from behind the firewall. It also leverages other benefits of Zinwave’s UNItivity solution, including the ability to remotely reconfigure the network for additional frequencies without a technician on site, including the ability to do remote software upgrades to a customer’s network.
UNItivity NMS is available immediately, and is successfully running on existing Zinwave deployments in the market today. To learn more, visit the Zinwave Web site.
