Cambium also claims that cnMedusa is the first commercially available Massive Multi-user, multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MiMo) platform for fixed wireless broadband. The 14x14 integrated antenna array exceeds the planned implementation of 8x8 MiMo for both 802.11AC Wave 2 and LTE-A and yields the ability to support up to seven simultaneous carrier chains. The spectral efficiency of the cnMedusa-enabled PMP 450m allows wireless service providers to offer triple play services to existing subscribers and add new customers without requiring additional scarce and expensive spectrum.
Developed over the course of three years at Cambium Labs, cnMedusa’s Massive MU-MIMO technology offers a three-to-four fold increase in network capacity.
Cambium argues that consumer demand for streaming media like Netflix, coupled with the need to support the symmetric traffic required by Cloud based services and to provide higher capacity service level agreements are driving the need for this innovation.
“cnMedusa will allow us to bring Ultra Broadband services at competitive prices to outdoor deployments we never could have reached previously,” said Luca Spada, president and CEO of Eolo SpA, an Italian internet service provider. “The Massive MIMO technology in the PMP 450m allows us to build on our current deployments, using the same spectrum and subscriber equipment as before, while increasing throughput to existing customers with bandwidth to support network expansion.”
The PMP 450m’s key features include:
- cnMedusa Massive MU-MiMo: combining beam forming and multiple RF chains results in more than a three-fold improvement in throughput, simply by changing the access point hardware
- Integrated 90° sector antenna array: provides smart beamforming with no RF cables to connect or weatherproof;
- Multiple RF chains: 14 X 14 MiMo allows up to seven subscriber modules to be connected
- Spectral efficiency: More than 400 Mbps in a 20 MHz channel (20+ bits per second per Hz, rising to more than 40 bps/Hz when deployed in frequency re-use configurations
- Multiple I/O options: AUX port (second Ethernet port) with multiple functions allow for greater flexibility of deployment. A SFP port is also available for optical connection
- Wideband Radio: One SKU to allow operation in all 5 GHz unlicensed bands.
“The introduction of cnMedusa marks a shift in the way people access the Internet: wireless networks are becoming faster than wired ones,” said Atul Bhatnagar, president and CEO of Cambium Networks. “Massive Multi-User MIMO allows fixed wireless network operators to offer industry-leading cost, scalability and reach advantages – particularly in traditionally underserved areas – with speeds and reliability exceeding wired networks. This capability allows people in nearly any location to experience the media-rich content they expect, even in sparsely populated and difficult to reach areas of the world.”
