In an effort to provide carriers with the benefits of 1Gbit/s unlicensed band links, without sacrificing the quality and robustness of Sub 5 GHz NLOS licensed backhaul use, Airspan Networks, Inc. has added IEEE (News - Alert) 802.11ac 5GHz unlicensed LOS capability to its existing NLOS licensed band support.

As a source of 4G LTE broadband wireless access networks, Airspan Networks’ (News - Alert) solutions address the requirements of carriers, operators and industrial applications across the globe. 

Key products offered by Airspan include indoor and outdoor Pico cells, compact outdoor Micro and Macro base stations, a wide variety of user devices, and advanced core network products offering 4G LTE (News - Alert) connectivity solutions operating in bands from 400 MHz up to 6.4 GHz.

With the specialization in 4G and broadband wireless technologies, Airspan supported the addition of 5 GHz unlicensed bands with the launch of the "Fat Pipe Strong Pipe" (FPSP) engine.

The FPSP engine provides the dynamic augmentation of robust licensed band links with large 80 and 160 MHz IEEE 802.11ac pipes. This innovative "Packet by Packet" Ethernet packet classification and selection transport hub ensures the highest performance while maintaining full end-to-end QoS for different traffic types.

As quoted by Airspan in a statement, the FPSP engine can provide high performance while maintaining full end-to-end QoS for different traffic types by dynamically selecting licensed or unlicensed radio paths in real time.

In addition, this technology operates in Point to Multipoint and Relay modes.

Paul Senior (News - Alert), CTO at Airspan Networks, said in a statement, "Small cell rollout requires a backhaul toolset. Licensed and unlicensed backhaul technologies each have their own strengths and weaknesses. We have combined these into a single package, with a single management framework that allows carriers to benefit from the use of 1Gbit/s unlicensed band links where available, without sacrificing the quality and robustness of using Sub 5 GHz NLOS licensed backhaul."

Currently, Airspan's iBridge backhaul solution building blocks include: iBridge Feeder Base utilizing an AirSynergy 2000 node; iBridge Feeder Terminal utilizing an AirSynergy 2000 node; iBridge Feeder Relay utilizing an AirSynergy 2000 node; iBridge CPE utilizing a Switched Beam or High Gain Directional antenna; and iBridge module for integration into third-party small cells.

According to Airspan, all iBridge nodes are designed to support either single or dual FPSP radio configurations. Some of licensed band support includes 400-700 MHz, 700-800 MHz, 1.4 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.3-2.4 GHz, 2.5-2.7 GHz, 3.3-3.8 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 5.1 GHz, and 5.9-6.4 GHz.

The unlicensed bands support features 5.1-5.9 GHz.

In related news, Airspan, along with Radisys Corp., which is focused on enabling wireless infrastructure solutions, have announced the development of a commercial LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) small cell solution.