Fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA) is a wireless site architecture in which optical fiber is laid all the way to the transmission tower. In the past, most of the laying was heavier coaxial cable. Important components such as the remote radio unit (RRU) are also located on the top of the tower instead of on the base.

In the FTTA configuration, the base band unit (BBU) located at the bottom of the tower is connected via an optical fiber feeder and extends to the remote radio head (RRH) near the antenna on the top of the tower. RRH converts digital signals into analog signals, and a small distance between RRH and the antenna is still laying traditional coaxial cables.

Hanlan-Tech provides excellent FTTA solutions to reduce installation time and save the cost of installation and maintenance. We provide the whole set of equipment and technology supporting, include outdoor optic fibers, PDLC outdoor waterproof patch cords, terminal boxes, etc.

The need for fiber to antenna (FTTA)

The rapid growth in the use of smartphones and tablets requires more and more cellular bandwidth, and the growing cellular infrastructure requirements are often under-recognized.

The future of fiber to antenna (FTTA)

Consumer demand and technological progress will continue to challenge the broadband infrastructure, and more innovations must be made. While incremental improvements (such as active antennas integrated with RRH) eliminate the need for full coaxial cables, small base station technology and tower construction technology are also evolving. We can boldly speculate that the future of fiber-to-the-antenna Will bring us more surprises.

With the emergence of 5G wireless technology, which has a connection speed 100 times faster than 4G, more small base stations/DAS will be needed and improvements in the bandwidth of traditional antenna towers will be required. Optical fiber will continue to provide a source of power for this evolving network, because only optical fiber can support the backhaul of these small base stations due to the surge in traffic.

Fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA) has made valuable advancements in broadband architecture, allowing coverage to keep up with the continuous demand. By consistently following FTTA installation and fiber testing best practices, we will continue to meet the growing demands of our "cellular" society.