Andrew licenses antenna patents, acquires more

Wireless antenna firm Andrew Corp. has licensed its remote electrical tilt (RET) technology to three separate companies, while also acquiring patents related to RF power amplification from another company.

Andrew forged separate agreements with U.K.-based CSA Wireless Group; U.K.-based Jaybeam Limited and a subsidiary; and Sigma Wireless Technologies, Ltd. of Dublin, Ireland over the licensing of the RET technology, which is used in base station antennas. Financial details of the agreements are not being disclosed.

In addition, Andrew has added to its patent portfolio through the acquisition of RF power amplifier patents from BTG, a company based in London and Philadelphia. The patents focus on amplifier linearization methods and system architectures used in power amplifiers and transceivers for W-CDMA and CDMA applications.

Andrew has about 1470 patents (750 active and 720 pending) worldwide, and also invested $110 million last year, or about six percent of revenues, in research and development across all products.

The agreements with CSA Wireless, Jaybeam, and Sigma follow previous licensing agreements with Kathrein-Werke KG of Germany and Argus of Australia for Andrew’s RET antenna technology.

RET (marketed by Andrew as the Teletilt antenna control system) enables network operators to remotely adjust the beam elevation of an antenna system and control its signal coverage footprint. The system optimizes system coverage by enabling antennas to be adjusted remotely without needing to put the entire cell-site out of service or sending a crew to adjust the antennas.