Infonetics: In-building, outdoor small cells to handle quarter of mobile traffic by 2016 - FierceMobileIT

By 2016, telecom operators expect in-building and outdoor small cells, such as microcells, picocells, and public access femtocells, to handle around one-quarter of mobile traffic, according to the latest research from Infonetics Research. 

A full 86 percent of the operators surveyed by Infonetics plan to backhaul small cell traffic to nearby macrocell sites using a variety of locations, including buildings, streetlights, and traffic and utility poles 

Operators will deploy various forms of microwave technology, such as non-line-of-sight, standard microwave and millimeter wave, although fiber is their preferred backhaul technology.

More info here: Infonetics: In-building, outdoor small cells to handle quarter of mobile traffic by 2016 - FierceMobileIT:

Small Cell Backhaul options: Wired and Wireless

Another couple of slides from Andy Sutton's presentation. This time focussing on the backhaul

Related posts on the same topic:

• Small Cell Business Cases: What does the industry need from Metrocell Backhaul solutions? - Think Small Cell
• Nice Picture summarising 'Wireless Backhaul' Options - 3G4G Blog
• Small Cell Backhaul Solution Types - 3G4G Blog

Where to Deploy Metrocells - Infographic by Alcatel Lucent

Where to Deploy Metrocells - Infographic by Alcatel Lucent from Zahid Ghadialy

Small Cells on the Lamp posts and other street furniture

A lot of discussions, especially in the UK are focussed on lamp posts and other street furniture that will be used to host the outdoor Small cells or Metrocells. Some new players / operators are using the opportunity for land grab as its being called.

In a recent discussion Andy Sutton, Principal Network Architect, Network Strategy, Architecture & Design, EE discussed some of the problems that are faced with the so called lamp posts deployment. An example given was that of Birmingham in UK. See below:

As can be seen, only in this one city there are 7 different types of lamp posts. Each of them requires a different type of Small cell, different planning permission, different risk assessments, etc. For each type there is a need to check how sturdy the pole is, how will the backhaul be provided, are there enough power points that can cater for the small cell and other electrical furniture (eg microwave backhaul, or electronic sign, Christmas lights, etc.). There is also a need for metering so that the electricity can be charged separately.

Edinburgh, Scotland for example does not have enough lamp-posts for Small cell deployments, so there is a need for alternative strategy. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, the lamp posts are controlled by one central switch. When they are switched off there is no power to the pole.

I am not even going to discuss about the planning issues as there are too many and needs its own dedicated post. My post from the Small Cells Global congress last year list some more issues. My favourite being that in the US, Small Cells should be in bullet proof casing due to too many guns being around.

Metrocell Q&A: Dedicated or Shared carrier?

From Alcatel-Lucent techzine:

SHOULD I USE DEDICATED OR SHARED CARRIER?

While both dedicated and shared carrier solutions can be built, a selective dedicated carrier is always preferred over shared carrier for metro cell deployments, especially in outdoor environments where macro cell signal levels will be higher (Figure 6):

• With dedicated carrier, the MNO reserves a carrier for the exclusive use of metro cells in geographies that have been specifically targeted as needing extra capacity. In all other areas this same carrier may be used by macro cells. The use of a dedicated carrier avoids interference with the macro cell, which enables metro cells to cover wider areas and to absorb a larger amount of traffic off the macro network – greatly improving the TCO.
• With shared carrier deployments, metro cells use one of the same carriers assigned to the macro layer, which would normally have one or more additional dedicated carriers. The coverage range and offload effectiveness of metro cells deployed with shared carrier are lower than those using dedicated carriers. Additionally, metro cells cannot be placed too close to high-power macro cells with this type of deployment, as represented by the red exclusion zone in Figure 6.

Figure 6. A dedicated carrier is preferred over a shared carrier

TURNING ANSWERS INTO STRATEGY

Each MNO’s metro cell deployment strategy should be based on their W-CDMA spectrum holdings and LTE launch timing (Table 2).

Table 2. Metro cells deployment strategies depend on W-CDMA spectrum and LTE plans

Spectrum-rich W-CDMA MNO launching LTE early (2011 – 2013)

MNOs with rich W-CDMA spectrum holdings and launching LTE early should deploy W-CDMA metro cells to both indoor locations and traffic hotspots using a dedicated carrier, while also deploying LTE metro cells to traffic hotspots. To help offload the macro network in hotspots, the MNO may also consider deploying Wi-Fi-integrated metro cells.

Spectrum-rich W-CDMA MNO launching LTE late (2013 – 2015)

Operators with rich W-CDMA spectrum holdings, but launching LTE late, should also deploy W-CDMA metro cells to both indoor locations and traffic hotspots, using shared carrier. To help manage interference and avoid handoffs, traffic should also be segmented, so only HSPA data traffic is offloaded to the metro cells in hotspots. These MNOs will also benefit from deploying Wi-Fi access points that are integrated with the metro cells to help further offload the macro network.

Spectrum-poor W-CDMA MNO launching LTE early (2011 – 2013)

MNOs with poor W-CDMA spectrum holdings and launching LTE early should deploy W-CDMA metro cells in shared carrier to indoor locations only, while also deploying LTE metro cells to traffic hotspots for extra capacity. If the MNO has a Wi-Fi access network, these sites can easily be used for the deployment of metro cells by simply swapping out the legacy Wi-Fi access points for Wi-Fi-integrated metro cells.

MSM: Multi Standard Metrocell

Interesting way of AT&T keeping the small cells differentiation simple. We generally classify them in some more types as can be seen from the Metrocells taster presentation below:

I encourage everyone working in this field to attend our workshop if possible to discuss these and much more. Link http://bit.ly/Metrocell

Non-Line-of-Sight Wireless Backhaul for LTE Picocell/Metrocell Deployments

Let’s Get Real! Non-Line-of-Sight Wireless Backhaul for LTE Picocell Deployments from Zahid Ghadialy

Small Cells, Big Impact - From AT&T Blog

We plan to roll out more than 40,000 small cells by the end of 2015. To do this, we’ve already begun testing the technology in the field with our first trial deployments in the areas of Crystal Lake Park, Mo. and Waukesha, Wis.

In Crystal Lake Park, a suburb of St. Louis, we deployed metrocells in an outdoor residential area with poor coverage due to geographical challenges. The small cells have shown to be an effective solution, allowing for a 17 percent increase in mobile traffic on our network where the solution was deployed and boosting the outdoor area to nearly 100 percent usable coverage.

We also trialed the small cells in one of our previously problematic buildings in Waukesha, Wis., and generated equally impressive results. The trial decreased the dropped call rate in the building, allowed for a 15 percent increase in mobile traffic on our network where the solution was deployed and also resulted in nearly 100 percent usable coverage.

Additionally, at AT&T Labs we are exploring the science behind the service, with research that enables us to advance our capabilities for managing small cell coverage and how they will interwork with our existing cell sites.

With two trial deployments in the books and our work at AT&T Labs, we are expecting great things as we build toward a broader small cell rollout later in 2013. For now, one thing is clear – although the cells are small, their advantages are anything but.

Complete article here: Small Cells, Big Impact:

'via Blog this'

Indoor v/s Outdoor Small Cells - Infographic by Ubiquisys

click on the pic for bigger version

For more information read the article here.

LTE Metrocell Overview Presentation

The embedded presentation below was given at yesterday's Telco Evangelist event in London, attended by around 40-50 people. This was a taster session for our full day Metrocell Masterclass, being held next in London on 21 Feb, but with more emphasis on LTE metrocells.

The audience was quite interested - for some, the idea of millions of small cells (including LTE metrocells) will be needed was new to them, and the consequences became more apparent. Good round of questions from the audience, with a lot of interest in the new commercial models of who (and how) may deploy metrocells - will site sharing, national roaming etc. be required in the future.

For more details of the Masterclass and wider range of information about small cells, see the ThinkSmallCell.com website

Telco evangelist 23 jan 2013 from David Chambers