In an attempt to solve the question of how best to carry broadband services with consistently good quality from the network to the user at less cost, Claudio Santacesaria, one of 12 Inventors of the Year 2002 at Siemens, has come up with a wireless technology that approaches the 'last mile' problem from an entirely new angle.
Using only one radio signal in the millimetre wave range, a master antenna provides signals from the backbone network to several terminal antennas in apartment blocks. Known as point-to-multipoint, the new technology could be installed fairly quickly in densely populated urban areas, where it would allow new providers to gain a competitive advantage by making broadband services available at up to 30Mbps without resorting to leased-lines.
When applied to base stations in wireless communication networks, this technology can slash the number of required receiving antennas, since a single master receiving antenna is sufficient to act as a collector for up to 128 terminal stations.
Born in 1969, Santacesaria, who is based at Siemens Mobile Communications in Milan, Italy, has had a significant impact on the wider application of this promising technology. He played a key role in developing Skyweb, a highly successful Siemens product that ensures consistently high service quality by evenly spreading a bandwidth among several terminal stations.
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