Alcatel- Lucent, a French telecommunications equipment company, has unveiled a new device that could drastically simplify the infrastructure of mobile networks. The lightRadio system incorporates cell base and cell tower technologies into a device so small that it could fit on the side of mailbox, while reducing cost and energy consumption.
Developed by Bell Laboratories, the research sect of Alcatel- Lucent, lightRadio is comprised of a diplexer type, radio, amplifier and a passive cooling system. Additionally, they have created a Wideband Active Array Antenna that can service 2G, 3G, and LTE systems, eliminating the need for separate antennas for each network. lightRadio is set to replace the power-hungry cell towers that are deployed every time a wireless operator needs more capacity or coverage. Bell Laboratories reported that energy consumption and total cost of ownership for mobile networks will decrease by 50% with the implementation. This will cut the roughly 18,000,000 metric tons of CO2 emitted each year by basestations in half.
Alcatel-Lucent is in advanced planning with Verizon Wireless, China Mobile, and other wireless carriers to begin customer testing in the second half 2011. According to the CEO, this technology will eventually enable the easy creation of broadband coverage virtually anywhere there is power. In today’s world where the use of iPhone, Droids, and PC tablets are growing ever more rapidly, the lightRadio breakthrough in technology could not have come a better time.
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