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Simplifying Point-To-Point Wireless Planning
New web-based tools are providing quick answers when planning wireless links, such as - What is the optimal tower height? What equipment and spectrum would work best? etc.
Try to get this simple question answered: can I connect these two locations with
a wireless point-to-point link? Sounds simple, right? But in most
cases you would have to be an engineer in order to answer such a question.
And how about being able to choose which technology and vendor to work with
without the long screening process and multiple discussions with several people
in each of the companies (not to mention buying and installing)?
If you want to find out how things should really work, try a new FREE tool from
AlphiMAX at www.alphimax.com/ptp.
I only had to provide the coordinates for the two locations I wanted to connect
(there are several formats for doing that) and the planned heights of my towers.
Then I hit "estimate" - and voila:
Within no more than 30 seconds I knew (without being an engineer or leaving my
seat) that my link would not work: there was something in my path. I used
my mouse and changed the planned height of my tower by 20 feet by grabbing the
antenna on the drawn pole, hit "estimate" again and had the answer: my link
would now work. Now I could choose from a long list of possible products
that had suitable capabilities for my planned link.
I was also able to filter the results by manufacturer, antenna type, bandwidth,
or product family; compare vendor-capabilities; and select my specific domain in
the world (they actually use the product-parameters per region, taking relevant
regulations into account). How cool is that?! Even though this tool may
not be fully accurate, I got a good idea of what my options were. I could
even see how to point the antennas in azimuth and elevation, "hey Mike, did you
make sure to point the antenna on site A to 288.7 deg? And don't get confused
with Magnetic, use True numbers, and don't forget to up tilt it 0.9 degrees".
I feel like a pro!
Now, what else would you need? Oh, let's see if there are any details about the
link itself. I click on one of the products and in the selected tab I see
all the information: link budget, part number, fade-margin, and more and more.
So far it seems that AlphiMAX has covered products in the unlicensed bands: 2.4,
4.5, 4.8, 4.9, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and 5.8GHz, depending on the domain.
Alphimax were able to do so since they chose to jump-start their tool with two
of the main wireless vendors: Motorola and Alvarion, both of which have a
variety of products in these bands.
And now for the fun part..I clicked the "Map View" button and my computer
downloaded and opened Google Earth. The globe turned towards the location
I chose, my planned link was neatly placed on the map, and the two antennas were
showing on each of the planned sides. By clicking on the various parts of
the map I could see my path (and in particular trees, buildings or lakes on the
way using the satellite view from Google), the link from each of the two sites,
and the antenna heights that I plugged into the tool earlier.
The tool is provided at no charge when you register at the
AlphiMAX site. For now, the tool
only includes Motorola and Alvarion products, but the company plans to add other
products in the near future. With its easy to use interface and cool
graphics, I could see this being the go-to place for quick estimates on wireless
point-to-point links.
