TEKTELIC’s KONA Mega IoT Gateway is a Carrier Grade, High Availability and Dependability, Feature-Rich and Scalable LoRaWAN® Gateway for operators and enterprises that require a fully-featured outdoor Gateway with built-in RF Cavity Duplexers and Filters. It supports dual LoRaWAN antennas, maximum possible Rx and Tx Channels, high performance external 3G/4G and GPS antennas and a number of other advanced features. In addition, it generates negligible RF impairments compared to any other LoRaWAN® Gateway and supports accurate TDoA Geolocation. The KONA Mega IoT Gateway supports all Global ISM bands.
features
Carrier Grade, High Availability and Dependability, Feature Rich and Scalable
TECHNICAL AND FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
What is a Cavity RF filter?
Cavity RF filter is a larger aluminum block with few RF connectors (2 if it is a Filter and 3 if it is a Duplexer that filters Tx and Rx signals and combines them into a single Antenna port). These filters have many screws on one or more sides of its body as per below picture – some screws are used to secure the top plate to the chassis and others are tuning screws.
The aluminum body is always plated (silver, copper or even gold but only for space applications) to reduce the RF losses and achieve high Q or filter selectivity that needed to obtain low losses over the filter passband and steep rejection outside of the filter passband.
The RF Cavity Filters were and still are the wireless industry workhorse and used in all wireless systems from 1G to 5 G as well as private and military communication systems. They cover very broad spectrum from 50 MHz all the way up to 20+ GHz. As the frequency increases their size is reduced because of shorter wavelengths (speed of light is constant and defined as product of RF signal frequency times its wavelengths).
What are RF Cavity Filter’s main benefits?
The RF Cavity Filters compared to other type filters have such key benefits:
very low insertion loss, typically 1 dB or much less
very high selectivity typically 50 dB to 100 dB (steep and large rejection outside the filter passband)
ability to handle very high Tx power signals of its system and other wireless systems signals appearing at its Antenna or Rx input. There are many type filters that provide high selectivity, but they have very high insertion loss and can’t handle high Tx power.
What is an Ingress Protection rating (IP rating)?
An Ingress Protection Rating, or IP rating, is a standardized test for equipment against ingress of objects, dust, and water. Although it is necessary to limit entry of dust and water into equipment in an outdoor environment, this is far from sufficient.
IEC 60950-22 details the product design, evaluation, and test requirements necessary to ensure safe and reliable equipment when deployed outdoors and it is mandatory for equipment marketed for deployment outdoors.
What is the minimal Ingress Protection rating (IP rating) for outdoor Gateway deployment?
The minimum required IP rating for outdoor Gateway design is for an enclosure which is protected against dust and splashing water (IP54), it is common for outdoor enclosures housing sensitive electrical components to be designed as dust tight and protected against normal pressure water jets, high pressure water jects, or temporary immersion, meaning an IP code of IP65, IP66, or IP67 respectively.
Enclosure ingress testing is generally performed in accordance with IEC 60529, however certification under UL 50E for NEMA types 3, 4, or 6 (roughly equivalent to IP codes IP54, IP56 and IP67 respectively) are also accepted.
