Huawei's RuralLink Solution Proposes to 'Connect the Unconnected'

It's been five years since we first wrote about Huawei's rural network solution. RuralStar was all rage back in 2018 and then the updated RuralStar 3.0 in 2020. Since then, Huawei has been working on updated architecture of RuralLink.

At MWC 2023, RuralLink won GSMA's 'Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets' GLOMO Award. The press release at the RuralLink launch at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2022 (MBBF2022) provided some insights into the solution. The following is from the press release: 

Huawei's RuralLink solution uses unique innovative technologies to solve the difficulties associated with communications. In the areas where fiber is difficult and costly to deploy, thanks to unique microwave fronthaul capabilities, RuralLink uses microwave to replace optical fibers to extend RRUs far away, which reduces network construction costs. By co-using BBU with existing macro site, RuralLink does not require a BBU to be deployed, which helps reduce site power consumption. By allowing a site to operate with just four to five solar panels, RuralLink is also easily adaptable to the areas that lack stable mains supplies. The solution features a simplified design that enables all devices to be mounted on to a pole, and its site deployment does not require fencing or concrete construction. As such, site construction is so easy in fact that it be completed in just three days. RuralLink supports 2G to 5G services, laying the foundation for network experience upgrade.

RuralLink has already been deployed by China Unicom Inner Mongolia in rural areas. This operator has seen significant improvement in the proportion of areas with good coverage and notable increase in area traffic and average user-perceived speeds. While fulfilling the communication needs of the local people, the RuralLink site deployment also lays a solid foundation for the development of local e-commerce, tourism, and smart agriculture.

Huawei's #RuralLink are simplified sites powered by only a few #solarpanels to bring connectivity for 60M people in remote areas of 70+ countries 😲 pic.twitter.com/NBrIuYKufo

— HuaweiUK (@HuaweiUK) April 4, 2022

A recent press release highlighted that RuralLink is being used to boost rural network coverage and promote digital inclusion in Brazil.

Huawei supported Brazil’s leading telecommunications operator, to successfully complete the commercial use of the RuralLink solution. This solution utilizes a “1 RRU + 1 antenna” to form three LTE sectors, simplifying site deployment with the aim of improving wireless network coverage in rural areas and providing broader internet access.

RuralLink utilizes innovative three-sector shaping technology, requiring only one antenna and one RRU to form three sectors. Compared to traditional three-sector macro site solutions, this solution reduces 60% of devices on the tower, 50% of power consumption, and 50% of supporting devices, resulting in a 60% cost saving from end to end. Additionally, the simplified architecture enables faster TTM (time to market) and allows one person to complete site deployment and activation in one day, achieving good signal coverage within a range of 3.5 km.

The following video explains the RuralLink solution and deployment scenario:

I am looking forward to seeing an updated solution at MWC 2024.

Related Posts: 

• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Huawei RuralStar 3.0, successor of RuralStar 2.0 Lite, coming in 2020
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog - Huawei's RuralStar: Taking the fight to low cost small cell vendors
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Huawei Explains Antennas and Radomes
• The 3G4G Blog: Huawei's Power Digitalization 2025 Summit
• Free 6G Training: Huawei's Keynote at EuCNC & 6G Summit 2023 on 'On the Convergence Route for 6G'
• Free 6G Training: 6G - The Next Horizon, a White Paper by Huawei
• Free 6G Training: Huawei explains Perspectives and Challenges of 6G-NTN
• Free 6G Training: Huawei talks about Beyond 5G, 5.5G and 6G 

Telefonica on the Impact of 5G so far

Enrique Blanco, Global CTIO, Telefónica presented a Keynote at Telecoms Europe 5G 2021 virtual event on 9 Nov 2021. The title of his presentation was What’s the impact of 5G so far? and it discussed how the unprecedented speed is just the start of how 5G is changing the face of connectivity. What has been the impact so far on how people live, work, and play, all over the world? 

Telefonica sees 5G and Edge as enablers for new services requiring low latency and locality - https://t.co/ltauFpxABE #Free5Gtraining #3G4G5G #OperatorWatch #Telefónica #Telefonica #4G #5G #MEC #PrivateNetworks #5GStandalone #5GSA #Fiber #WiFi6 #OpenRAN #Automation #AIML pic.twitter.com/JDxew8RY1v

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) October 13, 2021

The video of his talk is embedded below.

Related Posts:

• Operator Watch Blog: Telefonica Plans to achieve Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC)
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Open RAN (O-RAN) RRU (O-RU) and DU (O-DU) Design
• Operator Watch Blog: Telefonica Presents Strategy for Systems and Network Evolution
• Operator Watch Blog: Is Telefónica the Greenest Network Operator ?
• Operator Watch Blog - Telefonica: Smart Energy Solution
• Operator Watch Blog: Telefónica's AI based assistant, Aura, is serving more than 1.5 million customers per month in Brazil
• Operator Watch Blog: Big Data & Artificial Intelligence at Telefónica Deutschland
• The 3G4G Blog: Telefonica and open source
• The 3G4G Blog - Telefonica: Big Data, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Connect the Unconnected
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Telefónica's LTE Nano Takes to the Skies
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog - Internet para todos: Telefonica and Parallel Wireless on a mission to connect 100 Million Unconnected 

TIP Announces Total Site Solution (TSS) for Ultra-Rural Network Deployments

Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and its members have developed a Total Site Solution (TSS), an optimized, lean site configuration specifically adapted to ultra-rural environments. TIP announced the solution back in December. A clear idea can be obtained from the excellent video accompanying the announcement as follows:

The press release says:

Deploying reliable and high-speed networks to ultra-rural communities has long been one of the greatest challenges for the telecoms industry. The combination of lower population densities, lack of existing infrastructure, and availability of local expertise means that expanding networks into these areas has traditionally not been economically viable, leaving significant areas of the world unconnected. To help catalyze the industry to find a solution to this challenge, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and its members have developed the Total Site Solution (TSS), an optimized, lean site configuration specifically adapted to ultra-rural environments.

The solution which incorporates a range of essential elements, including low-power RAN equipment, off-grid energy solutions and satellite backhaul links, has been created by a diverse group of technology partners, including vendors and local system integrators, who have built, tested, and validated each of the necessary elements and their interoperability, as well as their ability to work with TIM Brasil’s core network.

The first TSS use case targets greenfield deployments to off-grid populations of less than 5,000 people, looking to address mid to low amounts of data consumption, through a “Town Center Model” for 4G coverage and supporting VoLTE for voice service.

For the use case, TIM Brasil created the technical and business use case requirements in a Pilot Program. Initial lab trials were then conducted at TIP’s Community Lab in North Los Angeles, California, in collaboration with vendors BaiCells (RAN); Morningstar (power systems); and Gilat (satellite backhaul links) to evaluate the interoperability of the elements. After the validation in the labs, local system integrator partners WLLCTEL and Zurich/Amerinode created cost-optimized site designs tailored for ultra-rural environments. Two test sites were subsequently built to prove the design and to simplify the construction process of the sites, after which TIM Brasil conducted a field trial to test the effectiveness of the solution in preparation for market trials and commercial deployments.

TSS has now gone through TIP’s Rural Site Configuration PlugFest which has expanded the initial configuration to include additional RAN (Airspan, Parallel Wireless, VNL) and VSAT backhaul equipment vendors (including ST Engineering iDirect), and validated them against a comprehensive test plan. These proven configurations are now listed on TIP Exchange and PlugFest, making them available to all members for further trials of TSS in other areas of the world.

Next steps for the TSS project include:

1. Sharing ultra-rural TSS test plans, site installation runbook, and RSC PlugFest summary with TIP community (linked on TSS website)
2. Working with additional partners globally to launch the proven ultra-rural TSS configuration into networks, bringing more unconnected people online
3. Working with ecosystem partners across the NaaS Solution Group to apply the proven TSS incubator model to develop additional NaaS use-cases
4. Market trial with TIM Brasil in the first half of 2021

The TSS sub-site has documents and additional details here.

Related Posts:

• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: OpenSoftHaul - Disaggregated White Box Solution from TIP
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Leveraging Streetlights for the Digital Future
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: TIP Webinar on Open Optical & Packet Transport (OOPT) 

HetNet Strategies with Oi Brazil

Brazil has been in limelight since the beginning of the year. Initially, the focus was on how the FIFA World Cup may fail but later on for the way everything came together at the last minute and everything worked. From a technology point of view, WiFi was a big saviour in the stadiums, allowing good connectivity for everyone wishing to add the things they liked on social networks as soon as they can.

An example was this chart tweeted by Ruckus Wireless to proudly show what their achievement was with stadium WiFi.

Recently, Maravedis-rethink conducted a webinar with the Brazilian operator Oi, regarding their HetNet strategies. The video for the relevant part is embedded in the end. Two slides caught my attention. The first was about the different technologies and their concerns (above). For example for a HetNet to be successful, all components should synchronised and have a strict time accuracy requirements. The Backhaul & Fronthaul requirements are equally interesting for different cases.

The second interesting slide is the final one where they have their wish list to what they would like to do in near-term and long-term. WiFi features in all the scenarios except for the rural case (as expected). Anyway, here is the video:



You can download the slides from Slideshare here.

10 Metrocell (3G and LTE) trials in the CALA region

Alcatel-Lucent has long claimed that femtocells and metrocells can boost wireless networks, but this time, it seems that carriers are also betting on the technology. According to Osvaldo di Campli, Alcatel-Lucent’s president of the Caribbean and Latin American (CALA) region, three femtocell contracts have been signed in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. Di Campli said that there are ten metrocell trials across CALA, using both metrocell equipment for 3G and LTE, in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Uruguay.
...

However, in Brazil both femtocell and metrocell adoption face challenges. Although the government is studying regulation changes, currently carriers have to pay equal taxes when deploying macrocells, metrocells or femtocells, which can hinder investment.

Complete article here.