Overview

The communication site, usually referred to as the base station, is a critical component in any wireless system. A communication site is a physical location where there is radio equipment that is intended for either receiving, transmitting, or both. With the advent of multiple technology platforms and the need to collocate wireless services on a single structure, there is normally more than one technology and service operator located at any one location. For the design engineer involved with either designing a greenfield or collocation, there is almost an infinite amount of different types of communication site configurations and perturbations that can be considered.

This chapter will cover some of the more salient issues associated with a wireless communication site and the implications that should be considered for installing 2.5G and 3G equipment. Therefore the focus of attention will be directed toward the radio frequency (RF) engineer and the issues associated with the design phase. The particulars associated with the operation and construction concerns that are an integral part of the communication sites design criteria will not be covered here because it is outside the scope of this book.

14.1 Communication-Site Types

There are numerous types of communication sites that comprise the 1G, 2G, 2.5G, and future 3G configurations associated with wireless mobility systems. There are also a plethora of other communication sites that the design engineer also may encounter in the design process such as, existing mobility systems, LMDS, PMP, MMDS, SMR, ESMR, paging, broadcast, FM, AM, and...