Swisscom demos GreenTouch Consortium's energy-saving large scale antenna array

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS: GreenTouch, a global industry initiative dedicated to dramatically improving the energy efficiency of information and communications technology (ICT) networks by a factor of 1,000, announced that its Large Scale Antenna System demonstration has traveled to Switzerland for a pair of demonstrations in Bern this month, under the aegis of Swisscom, Switzerland's leading telecommunications provider.

The GreenTouch Large Scale Antenna System (LSAS) was built by the GreenTouch Mobile Communications Working Group to show how many antennas -- hundreds or thousands -- could be used together to improve the energy efficiency of wireless communications. It demonstrates that transmitted radio power can be significantly reduced as the number of antenna elements is increased. For example, an antenna array made up from 100 elements could transmit only one percent of the energy transmitted by a single antenna, while giving the same quality of service.

Swisscom, a GreenTouch founding member, brought the LSAS demonstration to Bern in early November to present to the Swiss authorities responsible for compliance with non-ionizing radiation safety standards (radio waves used in wireless communication as well as visible and infrared light are all forms of non-ionizing radiation). The second event, on November 22, was the company's annual technology showcase. The innovative Large Scale Antenna System was shown to Swisscom's technical and managerial community on that occasion as an example of the collaborative research done by GreenTouch. Moreover, it heightened awareness about future challenges to reduce energy consumption in the whole telecommunications network.

"Switzerland has some of the strictest limits on non-ionizing radiation in the world," said Claude Monney, senior consultant at the innovation department of Swisscom and member of the GreenTouch Executive Board. "The LSAS will bring a new paradigm on how the exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic fields should be evaluated in the future. Due to its inherent, always changing, radiation pattern, some new thoughts might be needed and implemented in the Swiss legal framework. "

"We are excited that Swisscom is able to demonstrate LSAS technology at this important event," said Gee Rittenhouse, GreenTouch chairman. "These technology demonstrations provide excitement in the ICT community and show the real impact of teams from around the globe working together to achieve significant change. With GreenTouch entering its second year, we expect to see an acceleration of technology demonstrators and their appearance worldwide."

What distinguishes the GreenTouch Large Scale Antenna System from other antenna systems and enables it to achieve such a significant reduction in power is the way in which it transmits signals. Instead of broadcasting signals throughout the entire coverage area as other antenna systems typically do, the LSAS utilizes knowledge of the propagation channels to transmit concentrated beams of information selectively to many users at once. The greater the number of antenna elements deployed, the higher the concentration of the beams and, therefore, the lower the power that any antenna needs to send a given amount of information.

Importantly, along with the large reduction in radiated power, signal strength and quality of service are maintained. In practical application together with advances in other wireless technologies, the potential benefits that this technology could yield are immense.