CommScope has announced an “all-in-one,” intelligent point of interface to bridge the connection between base transceiver stations (BTS) and the distributed antenna systems (DAS) that enable wireless connectivity in buildings and large venues.

According to some industry estimates, over 75 percent of today’s mobile calls originate or terminate indoors. Carriers are ramping up DAS deployment to match this growth. With an active option like CommScope’s i-POITM, they have another tool for helping manage an aspect of the network that’s been a blind spot and potential source of expense, especially when issues go unnoticed only to become major problems over time.

Visionary by design, CommScope’s new i-POI lends insight into BTS conditioning, helps gain control over passive intermodulation (PIM), provides power control for multi-operator deployment and blends all of these capabilities into a single, compact module.

“Wireless operators, systems integrators and facility owners commonly face issues when planning a DAS deployment or upgrading an existing system. Their most pressing concerns surround the lack of visibility into the BTS conditioning process, drops in data throughput due to PIM and space constraints. i-POI meets these challenges head on—whether in current CommScope Intelligent Optical Network (ION) environments or a third-party DAS infrastructure,” said Matt Melester, senior vice president and general manager, Distributed Coverage and Capacity Solutions, CommScope.

i-POI’s smart approach to reducing the components required for BTS conditioning also enables increased visibility into the process of preparing signals for broad distribution. In conventional configurations, BTS conditioning is implemented by piecing together several different discrete components, often from multiple manufacturers. That requires more space and equipment. Design and installation costs also go up and there’s greater potential for introducing PIM into the network.

Multiply that by several carriers with varied frequency bands and things fast become difficult to manage. i-POI makes a complex problem simple and delivers further local and remote monitoring capabilities for setting, controlling, and alarming input and output power levels. Also compared to conventional footprints, i-POI’s sleek, smaller form reduces space requirements by up to 75 percent. i-POI is available now in North America and launches in other regions in the coming months.

CommScope has over 20,000 ION deployments in the United States alone. ION is an easy-to-scale, fiber-based coverage and capacity solution for indoor and outdoor applications, available in multiple power levels with a unique multi-band, multi-operator platform. CommScope’s off-air repeaters include a full line of pico and micro class RF enhancers and macro class digital nodes. The repeaters provide RF signals for wide area coverage through antennas and are self-diagnosing, self-adaptive and available in multiple power classes.

CommScope provides coverage and capacity system solutions, including ION distributed antennas systems, Node series repeaters, HELIAX hybrid fiber and coaxial cable, RADIAX leaky cables, CellMax indoor antennas and other passive components. CommScope, through its Andrew Solutions portfolio, has nearly 30 years of experience in providing, installing and managing complex radio signal distribution systems for railway tracks, large-scale buildings, radio operators and telephone operators around the world.