Whitepaper: Pushing the limits of wind loading on macro sites
Research from Global Industry Analysts Inc (GIA) predicts the mobile data traffic market will reach 220.8 million terabytes per month globally by the end of 2026. This is an annual growth rate of 28% over the period and demonstrates the ever-expanding data appetite of mobile users. To keep pace with this and deliver the services that customers are demanding, wireless providers face significant challenges.
Firstly, they must deliver connectivity that keeps up with demand and the anticipated market growth shows the scale of the expansion needed. Secondly, and is the more difficult element, is to do so while navigating cell site constraints. There is a need for more base station antennas however we are already seeing existing cell sites pushed to their loadbearing limit. The alternative of acquiring new sites is often not a practical option due to the cost and logistical challenges, meaning equipment designers need to push to extend wind loading limits to ease the problem.
This paper looks in detail at how, in addition to pushing advancements from a design perspective, it is critical to fine-tune the testing and measurement of wind loading capabilities.
It explores how equipment designers can build on current standards to minimize incidental redundancy and move as close as is safely possible to physical wind loading limits. It then moves on to look at honing testing methods to give wireless providers the confidence and assurance that allows every ounce of capacity to be squeezed out of their tower sites to serve rapidly growing demand.
