Cellular Enterprise Architecture Solutions
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The document discusses the increasing demand for in-building wireless solutions, highlighting the challenges faced due to growing smartphone use and higher data requirements. It compares different technologies such as small cells, distributed radio systems (DRS), and distributed antenna systems (DAS), outlining their pros and cons, including scalability, capacity, and cost implications. Ultimately, the choice of technology depends on specific use cases and the need for multi-operator systems.
Cellular Enterprise Architecture Solutions
- 1. Editorial Webinar Cellular Enterprise Solu<ons In-‐Building Wireless Architectures from Small Cells to DAS © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Sponsored By
- 2. Agenda © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Defining the problem • In-‐Building Wireless Architectures • Related issues and trade-‐offs • Summary
- 3. Why is it geKng worse? Increasing Demand Growing technical barriers Greater usage of smartphones Increasing data requirements for Apps Growing uptake of mobile video Building construc<on materials Use of higher RF frequencies for capacity 3G cell breathing Increasing Demand © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Customer dissa7sfac7on Developing Business Case
- 4. Perhaps its no surprise? © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 5. © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 6. Moving the signal indoors © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Adding extra antenna indoors – Lower RF power = longer baXery life • Crea<ng new cells/sectors indoors – Higher quality RF channel to devices = speed/quality – High frequency reuse = greater capacity – Less interference with outdoor network • Devices typically moving slowly – Require fewer resources than for fast mobility – Signalling demand peaks at <mes (start, lunch, end)
- 7. Wide variety of Use Cases Exhibi<on © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Coverage Capacity Stadium Warehouse Shopping Mall Conference Larger Office Hotel Hospital Small Office Examples for illustra<on only and will vary widely on individual basis Impact of Wi-‐Fi service also has a strong bearing on traffic demand
- 8. Confusing range of choices © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 9. Repeaters – a popular/quick fix? © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Network Independent (Out of spec) Lower quality Low cost Impact network quality, service for others Network Independent (Spec compliant) Higher quality Medium cost Lower impact but may affect network quality, service for others Network Specific (Remotely managed) Higher quality Medium cost Low impact on other users. Best for remote loca<ons with no wireline ILLEGAL broadband Enforcement ac<on applies LEGAL IN SOME COUNTRIES LEGAL IN MOST COUNTRIES Repeaters don’t add capacity. Useful in remote/rural areas but counter produc<ve in congested high-‐traffic zones. Most operators replacing own repeaters with small cells.
- 10. Basic Building Blocks © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 11. Three broad categories Small Cells Distributed Radio Systems (DRS)/Cloud RAN Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 12. Centralised vs Distributed Antennas at edge Antennas centralised © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Baseband Centralised Standalone Small Cells Baseband at Edge Small Cells local controller Distributed Antenna Systems Distributed Radio Systems/ Cloud RAN Macrocells Remote Radio Heads
- 13. Where is the processing located? Local Controller © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Base Sta<on Ante nna RF baseband processing High speed backhaul 1Gbps-‐10Gbps Small Cell Group Controller RF Head Base Sta<on RF Head Remote Head Small Cell Low speed backhaul (10-‐100Mbps) TO CORE NETWORK
- 14. Enterprise Small Cells Radio Head located within the Small Cell © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Standalone – Complete cellular basesta<on func<onality • Peer-‐to-‐Peer – Direct nego<a<on between nearby cells • Local controller for 10 to 100 small cells – Co-‐ordinates between mul<ple small cells – Virtual cell: Smartphones don’t need handovers in-‐building Baseband located within the Small Cell All func<ons embedded within Small Cell
- 15. Typical Enterprise Small Cells © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Similar to residen<al femtocells, except – Higher RF power, providing wider area coverage – Higher traffic capacity, typically 16-‐64 user – Powered via Ethernet (PoE) – Wall mounted, usually neutral and unobtrusive 15
- 16. Cisco’s Snap-‐On Upgrade Cisco’s USC 5310 “snap-‐on” for Aeronet 3600 series © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Upgrades exis<ng Wi-‐Fi access point to 3G – Full 3G small cell, 16 user, 14 Mbps – Single Ethernet cable powers en<re unit – Minimal impact, straighkorward upgrade – Typically only needed for a subset of Wi-‐Fi hotspots
- 17. ALU 9962 Mul<-‐Standard Enterprise Cell © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Mul<-‐Standard : W-‐CDMA, LTE and Wi-‐Fi in a single box – Single, shared site, backhaul, power and OA&M • Somware Defined 3G/4G Technology and RF Band – Migra<on Flexibility from 3G to 4G – Remote RF Configura<on • Key Features – VoLTE with CSFB and SR-‐VCC, CMAS, MFBI, Priori<zed E911 – CA and eMBMS HW Ready – 3G Somware feature parity with LR 14.2 – SON, Secure Plug n Play, TR 069 management. – Common Small Cell and Security Gateway Leverage 3G OA&M Systems Preliminary casing
- 18. Picocells © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Designed as scaled down macrocells • Previously used more for outdoor than indoor • Use Iu-‐b/RNC rather than Iu-‐h/Small Cell Gateway • Higher capacity (100 – 400 ac<ve users) • Marketed with seamless co-‐ordina<on with external macrocells (of same vendor) • Price?? • Examples: Ericsson 6402, Huawei, NSN, ZTE
- 19. Extending coverage Extended coverage can be achieved through addi<onal small cells. Use cases include a large warehouse, rela<vely low usage but coverage essen<al © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Small Cell Small Cell Small Cell Small Cell
- 20. Daisy Chaining/External Antenna Extender Alterna<vely, Comba offer a daisy chain repeater unit connected by Ethernet cable © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Small Cell External antenna can also be used -‐ Reduce visible footprint on wall/ceiling -‐ Achieve higher range/performance Galtronics 700-‐2700MHz Dual Polarised MIMO antenna Extender Extender
- 21. Small Cells with Local controller • Standard © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Ethernet within building • Local controller/Services Node in basement
- 22. Distributed Radio System © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Evolved from exis<ng basesta<on – Huawei Lampsite – Ericsson Radio DOT • Specifically designed – Airvana OneCell Baseband located within Host Controller Radio Head located near the antenna
- 23. Huawei Lampsite © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 24. Ericsson Radio DOT © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 25. Airvana OneCell Cloud RAN Architecture Radio Points © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Cloud RAN over Ethernet Standard switched Gigabit Ethernet front-‐haul All-‐IP (No CPRI, no analog) Power and <ming synchroniza<on over Ethernet Baseband Controller Ethernet Switch Device Management System Operator Network
- 26. Airvana OneCell Mul<-‐Operator Shared Ethernet Infrastructure Baseband Controllers: 4 operators in 2U rack space © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Radio Points Mul< Radio Point Enclosure (MRPE) “Toaster Rack” hosts mul<ple radios connected to single antenna
- 27. Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) Major advantages – Mul<-‐vendor – Mul<-‐operator – Mul<-‐band – Mul<-‐technology Baseband located within external Basesta<ons Radio Head located next external Basesta<ons (2G/3G/4G) © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. But – Doesn’t add capacity itself; can be very high traffic – Typically independent of Wi-‐Fi – Can be costly… $100Ks to >$1M not unusual
- 28. Passive vs Ac<ve DAS architecture © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Source: RadioAccess BV hXp://www.radioaccess.eu
- 29. Not all DAS is the same © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Different DAS products for different purposes: – Highest capacity (e.g. Stadium) – Coverage and average capacity (e.g. Office) • Digital or analogue: Mul<ple op<ons – Older passive coax systems rarely installed today – Dark fibre RF analogue signal to antenna – Digitally encoded to closet – Digital end-‐to-‐end to radio head • RF Power: Can be up to 5W
- 30. Recent DAS improvements © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Wide range of frequency bands – 300MHz of spectrum from ~700MHz to 2700MHz • CAT6 cabling within same floor – Fibre to the closet, dedicated CAT6 to antenna • Simpler Installa<on – Guided cable connec<ons, planning tools… • Bypass inefficient RF stage – Connect directly via CPRI • Configurable sectors – Rou<ng RF to different zones per <me of day
- 31. Direct digital connec<on into DAS Direct CPRI interface bypasses the need for basesta<on RF stage, downconverter and RF to digital encoding. Saves CAPEX plus less HVAC © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 32. Configurable Sectors © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Mapping RF heads to basesta<on sectors – Manually, by (un)plugging cables at patch panel – Somware controlled, through “electronic switch” – “RF rou<ng” (e.g. Dali Wireless RF Router) • Can be used to reconfigure – Stadium for sport one day, concert the next • Unlikely to be frequent changes – Not at level of SON remote control yet – Who pays for engineering <me to manage it?
- 33. CONSIDERATIONS © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 34. Cabling Requirements Baseband Radio Head Antenna In-‐Building Cabling © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Small Cell Fully integrated in single remote unit (Op<onally, can use external adjacent antenna) 10-‐100Mbps Ethernet DRS/ Cloud RAN Centralised Distributed Fibre to closet ~2Gbps CAT6 to antenna DAS Centralised Centralised Distributed Analogue or Digital RF 2-‐10Gbps • DAS and DRS require dedicated fibre, some<mes composite fibre/copper for power • Small Cells only need Ethernet, can share VPN within exis<ng IT infrastructure
- 35. 3G vs 4G and Band-‐Plans Architecture Capability Small Cells Most products custom designed for 3G or 4G or both Some capable of remote config to 3G/4G and bandplan DRS/Cloud RAN RF units (and antennas) usually designed for 3G or 4G Some capable of remote config to 3G/4G and bandplan DAS Can support any technology na<vely, FDD or TDD Older systems designed for specific frequency bands © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Demand today is 3G voice indoors • Future expecta<on 4G VoLTE • Many 3G products available Latest products are 3G/4G mul<mode, some 4G only • S<ll large market for 3G which will evolve to 4G
- 36. Applica<ons and Data caching © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Some small cells offer local data caching – Significantly speeds up end-‐user performance when accessing common data – Reduces backhaul boXlenecks • Local in-‐building controller – Hosts Enterprise specific applica<ons
- 37. Co-‐existence with Wi-‐Fi © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Combined Wi-‐Fi/Small Cell units common – Don’t interfere with each other – Dual band 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-‐Fi 802.11n or ac – 1Gbps Ethernet backhaul – Some are more integrated than others • DAS systems typically do not integrate Wi-‐Fi – provide IP connec<on for Wi-‐Fi access points – Wi-‐Fi Access Points and DAS radio heads separate
- 38. Neutral Host vs Single Operator • Building owners may prefer mul<-‐operator © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. – Venues serving guests, visitors – Businesses encouraging BYOD • Operators may prefer single operator – Differen<ate higher quality service – Lock-‐in enterprise contracts • Trade-‐offs – Small cells and DRS typically single operator – DAS inherently mul<-‐operator – Wi-‐Fi technically neutral, but may be commercially locked-‐in
- 39. Operator’s Risk Percep<on © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Same supplier for indoor/outdoor – Fewer compa<bility issues – Handover – Planning tools – Opera<onal processes, staff training… • Different suppliers indoor/outdoor – More innova<on – Greater compe<<on = lower prices – Greater scalability = faster growth
- 40. SUMMARY © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.
- 41. Pros and Cons Advantages Disadvantages Small Cells Highly scalable Simple backhaul Very cost effec<ve © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Extra nodes for mul<-‐operator Perceived new technology risks DRS/Cloud RAN Very high capacity Not mul<-‐operator Dedicated fibre/cabling DAS Mul<-‐Operator Mul<-‐Vendor Macro network compa<bility Dedicated fibre and/or cabling High cost (CAPEX/OPEX)
- 42. Building size vs Architecture 225500++ eemmppllooyyeeeess 250+ employees 50-‐249 employees 50-‐249 employees <9 employees © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. Distributed Antenna System Group of small cells with local controller Mul<ple 16 User small cells 16 User Standalone Small cell 8 User Standalone Femtocell 10-‐49 employees 42
- 43. Conclusion © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • The need for more radio units to increase coverage and capacity generally agreed – Small Cell approach introduces new vendors, technology, processes and low cost – DRS/Cloud RAN promises highest capacity, for single operator, requires fibre and power to every site – DAS retains exis<ng vendors, shared infrastructure, sharing higher costs • Choice will depend on use case (esp building size) and importance of mul<-‐operator, Wi-‐Fi integra<on etc. vs budget
- 44. More informa<on © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd. • Comparison of DAS and Small Cell technology – ALU white paper on Enterprise In-‐Building Wireless • Vendor websites • ThinkSmallCell.com
- 45. Thanks to our sponsor Alcatel-‐Lucent for making this Editorial Webinar possible THIS CONTENT AVAILABLE TO ALL Slides and a link to the recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants within 24 hours YOUR COMPANY NAME HERE? Ask us for details of how you can sponsor one of our industry leading webinars, either presen<ng yourself or suppor<ng our in-‐house educa<onal content © 2014 ThinkSmallCell Ltd.