A low-cost and very compact wireless terminal integrated on the back of a waveguide planar array for 26 GHz band fixed wireless access (FWA) systems

A compact wireless terminal (WT) with a high-gain planar array has been developed for the Wireless IP Access System (WIPAS), which is a point-to-multipoint Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) system in the 26 GHz band. For the point-to-multipoint FWA services in rural areas, the drastic cost and size reduction of WT with the high-gain antennas and RF module is indispensable. In this paper, remarkable cost reduction of 1/10 and downsizing of 1/5 are realized by using an alternating phase fed single layer waveguide array antenna and Microwave Monolithic IC (MMIC) technologies. This terminal is 190/spl times/190/spl times/55 mm/sup 3/ in volume and less than 2.0 kg in weight which accommodates over 31 dBi very high efficiency antenna with a radome, RF module, IF modules, application specific IC (ASIC) for modem, time division multiple access (TDMA) equipment control, and medium access control (MAC). Only an Ethernet cable with 24 V dc power supply is attached on the terminal.