Ubiquiti airFiber Sets New World Record for Long Range Wireless Broadband

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 29, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The International Centre for Theoretical Physics (“ICTP”),  ‪Centro Italiano Sperimentazione ed Attività Radiantistiche (“CISAR”) and Ubiquiti Networks announced that they have established a 304 km (189 mi) high-speed data link from Sardinia to Tuscany, achieving data rates of up to 356.33 Mbps using airFiber^® equipment.   Amateur radio operators from CISAR and a team of Italian researchers from ICTP established the radio link in the 5 GHz frequency band using Ubiquiti Networks’ airFiber^® AF-5X radios.

“What makes this accomplishment significant is the extremely high data rate and spectral efficiency,” stated ICTP spokesperson Ermanno Pietrosemoli.  “This link attains broadband data rates of over 350 Mbps while using only 50 MHz of spectrum,” he continued.   Pietrosemoli also noted that while this is not an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) system, the link has latencies of less than 3.5 ms, an important measure of networking performance.   The link’s high speed and low-latency were ascribed to the Ubiquiti gear’s proprietary Hybrid Division Duplexing technology.

Despite the long distances involved, the link was relatively simple to set up.   “Once the antennas were mounted on the towers, the radios were aligned in a matter of minutes using the airFiber^® radio’s built-in aiming tool,” stated Giuseppe Misuri, President of CISAR.  CISAR operates CisarNet, a nationwide amateur radio communications system which serves as part of Italy’s emergency communications infrastructure.  “With Ubiquiti’s airFiber^® equipment, we will be able to increase our network capacity considerably without requiring a major capital investment,” Misuri continued.  “This upgrade will provide an excellent tool for our ongoing studies of broadband propagation,” he concluded.

“With its spectral efficiency, consistently high throughput over long distances, and low latency, this 304km link showcases the capabilities of the airFiber^® product line, achieving a figure of merit of over 108.3 Gbps-km, with a spectral efficiency of 2166 bps-km/Hz,” stated Gary Schulz, Vice President of Engineering at Ubiquiti Networks.  “The advanced technology in airFiber^® enables the economic delivery of a high performance broadband experience anywhere in the world.”

The International Centre for Theoretical Physics is a research institute for physical and mathematical sciences that operates under a tripartite agreement between the Italian Government, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”), and International Atomic Energy Agency (“IAEA”). Founded in 1964 by the late Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, ICTP has been a driving force behind global efforts to advance scientific expertise in the developing world for over 50 years.

The ‪Centro Italiano Sperimentazione ed Attività Radiantistiche is a non-profit association founded by a group of Italian radio amateur operators in 1981. Its main activities are in VHF and upper band experimentation, interconnecting FM and digital repeaters, providing support for the radio communication community.

Ubiquiti Networks (Nasdaq:UBNT) is closing the digital divide by building network communication platforms for everyone and everywhere. With over 38 million devices sold worldwide, Ubiquiti is transforming under-networked enterprises and communities. Our leading edge platforms, airMAX^®, UniFi^®, airFiber^®, UniFi^® Video, mFi^® and EdgeMAX^®, combine innovative technology, disruptive price-to-performance and the support of a global user community to eliminate barriers to connectivity. For more information, join our community at https://www.ubnt.com.

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Media Contact
Benjamin Moore
Ubiquiti Networks, Vice President of Business Development
press@ubnt.com