Traditional in-building DAS systems can be either a combination of passive coaxial cable and/or a hybrid of single mode fiber and/or passive coaxial. Using ethernet to distribute broadband signals also has limitations.  Oh yes, the decision on why a passive design to a fiber/based coaxial design has all to do with meeting the link budget requirements.  Just like installing legacy WMTS coaxial antenna systems, it seems that using coaxial as a medium of choice for broadband signals (cellular and PCS), is very costly and most hospitals do not like to run multiples coaxial cable implementations into the ceiling.  Advance in multi-mode and single mode fiber (better bending radius) and pre-determined lengths probably make this a better choice direct to the antenna element.  These leads to the move to digital radio systems that are software controlled versus analog designs. Look to great advances in 2011 in this area and more to come on this blog.

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