TIA Blog

Nov 14

Introducing the Wireless & Cellular Network Workshops

TIA Staff

Dr. Rikin Thakker, RF Academics

For wireless communication in any form, Radio Frequency (RF) is the invisible medium. Fundamentals of RF remain the same whether you are dealing with cellular, satellite or microwave communication. One needs to understand the characteristics of RF and how our surroundings affect its behavior.

For modern cellular systems, we need to understand the ecosystem which has evolved. When we talk about cellular technologies, we should not limit our focus to 3G or 4G. We need to understand the other elements which affect how the industry deploys cellular systems nowadays. For example, Wi-Fi Offloading is an integral part of the cellular ecosystem. If you are in the cellular industry, it is essential for you to understand the basics of Wi-Fi. Similarly, if you are in the Wi-Fi industry, you need to know how cellular systems work.

RF Academics is very excited to team up with TIA to offer the Wireless and Cellular Network Workshop Series. We have designed this series to focus on most of the elements of the cellular ecosystem and not just one particular element of any technology. The goal behind this workshop series is to bring university-level engineering knowledge to corporations in easy-to-understand language.

For Workshop 1 – Understanding RF and Cellular, we will understand the key technical features of all generations of cellular technologies at a higher level after learning basic cellular principles. We will also discuss current initiatives by academia and industries on 5G. There is no clear definition of 5G yet. However, we will review the expectations on capacity, coverage and connectivity that are being discussed.

For this workshop, we plan to discuss current practices in the industry around macro cell sites. Towards the end, we will study a) how cell sites are designed nowadays b) what hardware components you see at a typical cell site, and c) what kind of RF measurements are carried out to maintain the integrity of a cellular network.

The following RF Academics workshops have been planned for 2015 at TIA Headquarters. More details for each of them will be provided in future posts.

  • Workshop 2: Understanding Wi-Fi and Data Offloading
  • Workshop 3: Understanding Small Cell and DAS
  • Workshop 4: Microwave Backhaul and Design
  • Workshop 5: Understanding LTE and LTE-Advanced
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