By Donny Jackson, Editor
G-Wave this week will showcase its new 1-Box bi-directional-amplifiers (BDA) and fiber-remote portfolio that is designed to enhance in-building coverage for public safety by providing Emergency Responder Communications Enhancement Systems (ERCES) components in a relatively small form factor.
Vice president of the distributed-antenna-system (DAS) division for G-Wave (a subsidiary of G-Way Solutions), Dennis Burns said the 1-Box offerings—currently supporting either 700/800 MHz or UHF communications—leverage the company’s patent-pending technology to create a package that delivers enhanced signals to support first-responder communications indoors.
“When you look at ERCES, it really comes down to three components,” Burns said during an interview with Urgent Communications. “You need the BDA, you need the battery backup, and you need annunciation, because the fire code states that must have an audible and visual alarm—and that alarm is part of the annunciator.
“It’s basically ERCES in a box.”
And that box is much smaller—by more than 50 per cent, in some cases—than solutions available from a key market competitor, Burns said. For example, the 700/800 MHz version is 24 inches by 24 inches, while weighing 74.8 pounds with batteries installed, he said.
“The whole concept around the product is: How do we do it better, faster, cheaper, safer and easier?” Burns said. “When we developed the product, we went out and talked to a number of SIs (system integrators), and we talked to some life-safety installers to get their input about what they would like to see to try to make this an easier process when you get to the site.”
This is particularly important in sectors where space is limited, according to Burns.
“We see schools as an absolutely perfect market for this product, because they don’t have a lot of room, because [sometimes] your communications closet is also your janitor’s closet or your supply closet,” he said. “We see 1-Box being a great fit for those types of environments, where you simply don’t have a lot of real estate to put a solution.”
Burns noted that there are other practical benefits associated with the smaller form factor for the 1-Box offerings.
“With 1-Box, one person can install it, instead of two people,” Burns said. “Without the batteries, the box [for the 700/800 MHz version) is only 60 pounds. It’s real easy to connect the batteries—it’s two wires.
“When you look at the reduction in the cost of ownership—to install one box versus two or three boxes—it’s pretty significant.”
G-Wave datasheets about the 1-Box offerings—both BDAs and the fiber-remote product—note that they have been certified by the FCC and are compliant with the latest NFPA and IFC code regulations. All of the 1-Box solutions are housed in a NEMA 4X enclosure, according to the datasheets.
Burns said G-Wave plans to add to the 1-Box portfolio this summer with a product that will support a broader spectral range while also reducing both the footprint and weight of the existing 1-Box offerings.
“We’re also developing a new digital product line that is going to be a next-generation version of our BDAs,” Burns said. “1-Box right now is 24×24 and weighs 75 pounds. When we come out with the digital version, which we expect to launch this summer, we see the box getting about one-third smaller.
“The new digital version will support VHF to 6 GHz. We’re expecting to have multiband units inside a single enclosure. Digital is definitely going to make this smaller, as well as increase the capabilities of the product line.”
