Digital Mobile Network Evolution - from GSM to 5G
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The document discusses the evolution of mobile networks in the UK from the introduction of GSM to the development of 5G technology. It outlines key milestones in mobile network history, including the launch of various generations such as 2G, 3G, 4G, and the ongoing rollout of 5G, along with the associated technological advancements and changes in architecture. The document emphasizes the increasing complexity of mobile networks and the shift towards connectivity for a vast array of devices beyond just mobile phones.
Digital Mobile Network Evolution - from GSM to 5G
- 1. Digital Mobile Network Evolution – from GSM to 5G… 24th October 2019 Professor Andy Sutton @960sutton www.engagingwithcommunications.com
- 2. Contents •Introduction •UK mobile timeline •Going Digital - GSM •Adding packet data - GPRS •3G, an expensive auction •Rolling out UMTS •Network sharing •4G and LTE •LTE deployments •5G •Progress with 5G •Summary
- 3. Introduction 3 •There are more mobile phones in the UK than people •Mobile subscriptions continue to grow as ever more things are connected to the Internet, via mobile networks (IoT) •Today’s mobile phone networks are a complex mix of multiple different radio access technologies, backhaul solutions and frequency bands •GSM/GPRS/EDGE •UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA/HSPA+ •LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A-Pro/eLTE •5G…
- 4. UK mobile timeline 4 •1980s - Government policy of privatisation and introduction of competition to the UK telecoms market •1985 - Vodafone launched the UKs first mobile network, followed by Cellnet •1993 - Mercury one2one launched the world’s first DCS1800 (later known as GSM1800) network, in the UK •1994 - Orange launched the UKs 4th mobile network •2000 - BT Cellnet launched the world’s first GPRS network •2000 - BT Cellnet switched off its analogue (TACS/E-TACS) network •2001 - Vodafone switched off its analogue (TACS/E-TACS) network •2003 - H3G (3) launched the UKs first UMTS (3G) network •2006 - Orange launched the UKs first EDGE network •2007 - Vodafone launched the UKs first HSDPA network •2012 - EE launched the UKs first LTE network •2014 - EE launched the UKs first LTE-Advanced network •2019 - BT/EE launched the UKs first 5G network
- 5. GSM (2G) NETWORK ROLLOUT 5
- 6. •Cellular radio network coverage initially focused on major population centres and communications links (roads and railways) 6 Measurement criteria was somewhat different in 1994! External coverage and car kits…. Orange launch: 28th April 1994 400 sites = 50% population coverage Network coverage
- 7. 7 End of 1996 2500 sites = 92% population coverage End of 1994 900 sites = 70% population coverage Network coverage
- 8. 8 Summer of 1999 6000 sites = 99% population coverage End of 1997 3500 sites = 97% population coverage Network coverage
- 9. 9 End of 2001 10,000 sites = >99% population coverage Network coverage
- 11. GSM 11 •Orange Class 2.0 BTS site •Built prior to commercial launch •Launch date: 28 April 1994 •1 x GSM TRX split between 3 cell sectors •7 voice channels •Marconi antennas 1800MHz 900MHz
- 12. Nortel & Nokia GSM 1800 BTS equipment 12
- 13. Antenna systems 13 • Space diversity receive systems and tower mounted low noise amplifiers improve the uplink • Prior to the Bias-T implementation, a separate DC power cable would be installed between a power distribution unit in the cabin and each amplifier •Single tx antenna or dual duplex configuration Duplex Filter RF Combiner Rx Multi-Coupler Transmitter(s) Receiver(s) - Primary Bias T MHA - LNA Duplex Filter Duplex Filter Amp
- 14. GSM cell sites & line of sight microwave radio hubs 14
- 15. External GSM BTS cabinets 15 •And more Ericsson 2000 series RBS Nokia DF-34 (Talk Family) BTS
- 17. GSM BTS evolving to high-cap 17 •Nokia Ultrasite GSM BTS •Up to 12 x GSM TRX in a single rack •Can be extended to multiple rack •Maximum of 6 x GSM TRX per cell sector •Typically 3 cell sectors per site however 4, 5 and 6 cell sectors are deployed as required •Single 2.048Mbps (E1) Abis interface per rack •Abis interface supports TRX signalling, traffic and Operations & Maintenance channels •Abis interface connects BTS to BSC
- 18. 4 x GSM transceivers in one cell sector 18 •TRX •Rx multi-coupler •Tx combiner •Duplex filter
- 20. 4 cell sector GSM BTS and BSC 20
- 21. From space diversity to polarisation diversity 21 10λ
- 22. Space diversity and polarisation diversity antennas 22
- 23. Structures and antenna systems 23 Dual band single polarisation (space diversity) Dual band cross polarisation (polarisation diversity) Dual band cross polarisation (polarisation diversity) Single band cross polarisation (polarisation diversity)
- 25. UMTS (3G) - An expensive auction… 25 •Now let’ start again with 3G @ 2100MHz… •Licence A: TIW at a cost of £4,384,700,000 •Licence B: Vodafone at a cost of £5,964,000,000 •Licence C: BT at a cost of £4,030,100,000 •Licence D: One2One at a cost of £4,003,600,000 •Licence E: Orange at a cost of £4,095,000,000
- 27. UMTS NodeB 27 •Nokia Ultrasite UMTS NodeB •WCDMA BTS •Configured with 2 x 5MHz FDD carriers per cell sector •Up to 8 x 2.048Mbps (E1) interfaces for IMA per NodeB •Large class A power amplifiers
- 28. 3G infill sites – O2 & Vodafone adding 2100MHz to an established 900MHz site grid 28 Ericsson RBS 3107 cabinet
- 29. Nokia Flexi 2.0 WCDMA BTS (UMTS NodeB) 29
- 30. •Dual band cross polarisation antennas •1800MHz •2100MHz •Single port LNAs for UMTS 2100 •Dual port LNAs for GSM 1800 •4 Coaxial feeder cables per cell sector •Microwave radio for backhaul connection Antenna system 30
- 31. Example site configurations for shared 2G/3G site 31 #1 – MNO with 2G & 3G #2 – MNO with 3G only Combiner 3G #2 3G #1 2G #1 Single LNA Dual LNA 1800MHz 2100MHz 1800MHz Cross polarisation antenna 2100MHz Cross polarisation antenna Combiner 3G #2 3G #1 2G #1 Dual port dual band LNA 1800MHz 2100MHz Wide-band Cross polarisation antenna
- 34. 4G and spectrum re-farming 34 Source: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2012/ofcom- allows-everything-everywhere-to-use-existing-spectrum-for-4g 30th October 2012
- 35. Another spectrum auction 35 Company Spectrum Price Everything Everywhere (EE) 2x5MHz in the 800MHz band plus 2x35MHz in the 2600MHz band £588,876,000 Hutchison 3G Limited (3) 2x5MHz in the 800MHz band £225,000,000 Niche Spectrum Ventures Limited (BT): 2x15MHz and 1x25MHz in the 2600MHz band £201,537,179 Telefonica UK Limited (O2): 2x10MHz in the 800MHz band £550,000,000 Vodafone Limited 2x10MHz in the 800MHz band plus 2x20MHz and 1x25MHz in the 2600MHz band £802,860,143 The 2x and 1x refers to FDD and TDD operation
- 36. 4G network rollout eNBs, RRUs and new antennas 36
- 37. New frequency bands and a new radio access technology 37 •4G is based on LTE •The radio interface is OFDMA in the downlink and SC-FDMA in the uplink •MIMO (multiple input / multiple output) antennas system is introduced •All mobile bands are now technology neutral and as such can be used for 4G •Extremes of cellular frequency usage extended from: •900MHz - 2100MHz to •800MHz - 2600MHz •(even higher bands to come)
- 38. New site design options - Remote radio Units (RRU) 38 •Traditional cellular base stations have accommodated all radio equipment (with the exception of TMAs) in a cabinet at ground (or roof top) level •New radio base stations support RRUs for many bands, particularly the higher frequency bands - given increased loss through coaxial feeder cables •RRUs improve the downlink and uplink link budget •However, they’re not practical on all structures and present certain operational challenges •In many cases, low bands are still cabin based while higher bands may make use of RRUs.
- 39. An example of an 8 port antenna supporting multi- operator, multi-band radio systems 39 LNA Combiner 3G #2 3G #1 4G #2 1800MHz 2100MHz 4G #1 LNA 4G #1 2600MHz800MHz RRH 4G #2 Combiner 2G/4G #1 LNA Dip. 1800MHz Optical fibre cables and DC power Note: There are many possible solutions to this radio configuration, including separate antennas Could be 2T2R, 2T4R as implied in this diagram, or 4T4R
- 40. LTE eNB 40 •Huawei 3900A multi-RAT, multi- band base station •Configuration shown supports GSM and LTE in the 1800MHz band •Available as indoor and outdoor variants •Outdoor variant may be stacked or side by side •Different variants in use by different operators
- 41. 4G Mobile backhaul 41 •IP based transport network •Carrier Ethernet based transmission •Introduction of Gigabit Ethernet interfaces •New synchronisation technologies •Introduction of IP Security gateways •Scaling to 10Gigabit Ethernet…
- 42. 5G - NEW USE CASES… 42
- 43. ITU-R IMT-2020 (5G) 43 Source: https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/m/R-REC-M.2083-0-201509-I!!PDF-E.pdf
- 44. Another spectrum auction… TDD (Time Division Duplex) spectrum 44
- 45. 45 5G EN-DC (eUTRA & New Radio Dual Connectivity)
- 46. 5G antenna systems trial in central London 46
- 47. 5G demo at Canary Wharf 47 Highlights • 1.3Gbps to test equipment (30 MHz LTE + 40 MHz NR) • 600Mbps to Huawei 5G CPE (5 MHz LTE + 40 MHz NR) • 4T4R LTE (15 MHz 2100 + 15 MHz 2600) with 64T64R NR
- 48. 30th May 2019 EE launches 5G… 48Source: @benwood on Twitter
- 49. 49 3GPP 5G Service Based Architecture
- 50. Summary 50 •Digital cellular communications has evolved at a rapid pace since the early 1990s •2G GSM is mainly about voice •3G UMTS is mainly about data •4G LTE is mainly about video •5G is mainly about things… •2G and 3G will be phased out over the coming years, leaving 4G and 5G technologies to merge into the next generation of mobile communications •5G will address new use cases, beyond smartphones and mobile broadband…
- 51. 30 years of mobile phones in the UK 51 •Published in 2015 •Amberley Publishing •15,000 words (96 pages) •111 photographs •Tells the story of 30 years of mobile phones in the UK through the evolution of handsets
- 53. TYPOLOGY OF CELLULAR RADIO SITES 53
- 55. Rooftops 55
- 56. Macro columns 56
- 57. Streetworks 57
- 58. Something a little different… 58
- 59. and more… 59
- 60. and yet more… 60
- 61. Micro-cells 61