IHS Nigeria Infrastructure Company to build more than 1000 phone towers in Africa – 2 May 2012
IHS Nigeria Infrastructure Company to build more than 1000 phone towers in Africa – 2 May 2012 IHS Nigeria Infrastructure Company to build more than 1000 phone towers in Africa – 2 May 2012
Why IP based Pico-Cell & Nano-Cell Solution?
Why IP based Pico-Cell Solution?
Why IP based Pico-Cell Solution?
The concept of “Pico-cell” solution is well defined in the 3GPP association and well known in the mobile industry. The “Pico-Cell” provides GSM operators a simple solution for enhancing capacity and coverage levels in hotspot “indoor” areas with minimal interference on the micro/macro “outdoor” coverage.
On the other hand, mobile vendors didn’t give the Pico-Cell enough focus due to commercial reasons and instead preferred to offer their high capacity products in the micro layer along with a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to provide the necessary coverage levels within a building and a high capacity backhaul solution (fiber, copper or microwave) to carry the generated traffic. Such solutions in addition to being costly are very involved and require highly skilled resources, a lot of permissions and as a consequence a lot of time.
There are some deployment scenarios that don’t justify the investment in a complete DAS or in high-capacity backhaul solution.
In some other cases, the urgency of the project doesn’t leave enough time to even deploy a DAS.
By providing a pico-cell with IP connectivity mobile operators can immediately provide hotspot coverage and capacity where required with minimum cost and time. The direct cost savings come from backhaul savings since a pico-cell based on IP backhaul can utilize spare capacity in existing broadband connections. In addition, the size of such a solution prevents the deployment team from going through the time consuming process of permitting and installation thus enabling mobile operators to provide coverage on time.
This solution is expected to make an appeal for mobile operators (especially startups) in countries where broadband penetration is moderate.
ip.access has a strong reference which includes operators like: T-Mobile USA, Smart in the Philippines, Telfort (now KPN) in the Netherlands and Eurotel in the Czech Republic.
Why IP.Access NanoGSM Solution?
Ip.Access provides a unique solution for the IP based Pico-BTS system called nanoGSM. In the following section more details will be given about the nanoGSM solution but we can highlight the key features and advantages for this system that differentiates it from other solutions.
Key features
■ Rapid installation using existing IP infrastructure
■ Standard radio interface compatible with all GSM handsets
■ Multi-TRX capability to support large numbers of users
■ Typical indoor coverage up to 125,000m2
■ Excellent data rates with GPRS support
■ Single10/100 Ethernet connection incorporating power, traffic and signaling
■ Smallest footprint in the industry
Applications
■ Dedicated coverage for SME premises with DSL based link
■ In-building capacity and coverage for large corporate offices
■ Stand-alone in-fill for shopping malls, airports or undergrounds
■ Delivering GSM access on ships, airplanes and rural areas
NanoGSM System Overview
The nanoBTS is a single-TRX indoor pico-class BTS offering a standard Um radio interface to GSM mobiles. Whereas the conventional connection between BTS and BSC is circuit-based, the A-bis connection between the nanoBTS and the BSC is carried over an IP network using proprietary A-bis over IP technique. Standard (E)GPRS service is also offered on the radio interface and is similarly transported over IP.
The Circuit BSC performs the normal functions of a GSM BSC. It presents a standard E1/T1-based A-interface to the MSC and a standard Frame-Relay-based Gb interface to the SGSN, allowing connection to conventional GSM/GPRS networks.
The IP network between BTS and BSC can be implemented using a variety of physical links and network topologies. The OMC-R is ip.access’ management system for the nanoGSM system. All components and interfaces are described in more detail in the following sections.
A variety of other operational scenarios are possible, for example an operator that only provides indoor coverage may negotiate national roaming agreements to provide its customers with service beyond the range of the indoor network. Another example is to use the nanoBTSs to provide localized coverage in isolated areas with no GSM coverage.
Often the nanoGSM BSC will be located at the same site as the MSC. This allows the A-interface connections to be short-range, with the A-bis links carried over some form of IP access network. Conversely it is possible to locate the BSC remotely from the MSC, perhaps co-locating the BSC with a cluster of nanoBTSs.
In all cases it is important to note that the interface presented to the GSM handset is entirely standard – no special features are assumed.
nanoGSM™ BSC
The ip.access nanoGSM™ BSC (basestation controller) is a key component in handling and routing traffic between picocellular basestations (nanoBTS™) and an existing Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) as part of an overall GSM network.
The BSC is a modular unit that uses IP connectivity between the nanoBTSs and the BSC and a standard circuit-based A-interface to the MSC. There is also an option to connect into architectures with softswitch MSCs.
The BSC provides channel allocation functions, GPRS support and also controls the power level algorithms and handover procedures for the nanoBTSs. The unit is engineered to have a high level of availability by combining selective redundancy with fast restart capabilities.
The nanoGSM BSC is extremely versatile and allows a wide range of different architectural configurations dependent on traffic densities and the ease of deployment. The nanoGSM BSC is usually co-located with the MSC at the central office. However in cases with heavy traffic usage and multiple basestations in one building, there is the option of placing the nanoGSM BSC at the customer site.
The nanoGSM BSC connects to the nanoBTS over IP using a version of the Abis interface. This gives a wide range of possible IP network configurations for the deployment of the base-stations. For integration into existing mobile network infrastructure the nanoGSM BSC connects to MSC and SGSNs over standard circuit switched E1 or T1 links.
For an all IP based network, the nanoGSM BSC can be integrated with a soft-switch. This gives the opportunity to reduce backhaul costs by routing traffic locally at the BTS, and also reduces the costs associated with the circuit interfaces.
nanoBTS platform
The nanoBTS is an ETSI-compliant GSM pico-class BTS [05.05] available in 900MHz, 1800MHz and 1900MHz band versions (EDGE not available in 900MHz). The full range of 900/1800/1900MHz GSM channels is supported, using the normal 200kHz channel spacing.
The nanoBTS is a single-TRX BTS designed for indoor use (–5C to +45°C). It can be wall or ceiling mounted, having a footprint less than A4 (max dimension 210mm x 280mm x 77mm) and a weight of 2.7kg (139/140 nanoBTS) or 2.0kg (165 EDGE nanoBTS). Maximum transmit power is +23dBm for the 1800/1900 MHz products in GSM mode and +13dBm for the 165 EDGE product operating in 8PSK mode, in line with the pico-class specification. The maximum transmit power of the 900MHz BTS is +20dBm.
The nanoBTS has integrated omni-directional antennas with an option for external antenna connection. The primary physical connection to the nanoBTS is a single Ethernet connector supporting:
■ The A-bis over IP interface
■ Power feed
An additional pair of connectors (the Timing Interface Bus, TIB) allows up to four collocated nanoBTS units to operate as a single 4-TRX BTS. Each nanoBTS retains its own Ethernet connection for signaling and traffic, with the TIB providing synchronization of frequency and frame number.
The nanoBTS typically uses a Combined BCCH with optional CBCH, but a separate SDCCH/8 channel can also be configured. Other timeslots may be used for TCH or PDCH. Unlike a conventional BTS, the nanoBTS incorporates a highly stable frequency reference so that it does not need to recover a timing reference from the A-bis connection. This greatly increases the flexibility of backhaul connection.
OMC-R
The OMC-R (Operation and Management Centre (Radio)) is ip.access’ network management solution. The product is composed of two components: a server that connects to each BSC in the network and multiple clients that connect to the server in order to work with management information. The Client has 2 main functional areas: Alarm Management and Configuration Management. The Configuration Management functions provide access to all BSS objects and attributes in a MIB-structured presentation.
Picocell – Improves Capacity and Coverage for Mobile Communication
Picocell is a wireless base station with extremely low output power designed to cover an extremely small area, such as one floor of an office building. In cellular networks, picocells are typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as train stations, airports or shopping malls.
What are the applications of Picocell?
Network planners all over the world are discovering the power of picocells for delivering cost-effective coverage and capacity to hard-to-reach places. Its applications include:
1. Improved in-building Coverage
Due to use of special materials and a range of innovative construction techniques, public buildings, such as museums, visitor centers, airports and train stations are often susceptible to coverage problems. Picocells work well in these environments by providing coverage as well as increasing the network capacity.
2. Filling the network black spots:
Every network has black spots where coverage is minimal or non-existent. In areas with marginal coverage, service quality inside buildings can drop off sharply, resulting in call drop, ‘network busy’ signals, slow data rates and poor voice quality.
The traditional solution to in-building coverage problems has been the repeater. But today, planners aren’t so quick to turn to repeaters to fill black spots or penetrate buildings.
Operators originally deployed picocells as a “band aid” for coverage in these black spots.
3. Extending the Macro cell capability
Making capacity available to customers in densely populated area, during peak business hours with limited spectrum is one of the biggest challenges to all the operators across the world. . Subscribers are spending more time on the network doing new, more bandwidth-intensive activities
Simply adding new macro cells is an expensive affair. Picocells help maximize spectrum re-use, provide sufficient extra capacity to ensure that subscribers of premium rate data services get the better radio quality they need.
4. Satellite Based applications:
Picocell can provide wireless connectivity to isolated areas like rural places, marine, oil and gas company, etc. where there is no broadband connectivity for backhaul. In these circumstances;
Picocell is a viable solution having the satellite communications for backhaul.
What are the advantages of Picocell?
1. Picocell gives you fast and economical coverage solution to in building weak coverage problem.
2. They’re a great way to offer enterprise customers guaranteed capacity and service quality in their offices.
3. They provide cost-effective coverage solutions for deployments ranging from 10–1000 people and beyond.
4. They actually add capacity to your network instead of draining it away.
5. Reduce operating costs by using existing IP for backhaul.
6. They support fast data rates and high voice capacity.
7. They’re easy to integrate into any GSM network.
8. They’re quick and easy to install.
What are the disadvantages of PicoCell?
1. Picocells are a new element to introduce into your network. You may prefer not to have a new technology in there.
2. In some places, there may be no IP available for backhaul. But you can use satellite backhaul, too.
Who are the Picocell players?
ip.access is the leading vendor in the market in terms of market share of 2G picocells. ip.access as a dominating force in the 2G picocell market, where it is expected to remain relatively strong, especially in emerging markets. 2G picocells still make up the bulk of the picocells shipments in the world, although 3G picocells are expected to catch up soon. This will strengthen the company’s position in the picocell market, although it is seeing increasing competition from the likes of Huawei and ZTE.
Cell Phone Coverage – Black Spots!
All cellular networks have problems
Here’s a few things you probably don’t know. In general networks in most countries consider their coverage to be acceptable. New sites are being installed, and existing sites upgraded – not for coverage reasons, but for capacity reasons – if a radio base station is overloaded the cellular network operators are losing revenue, if you have poor coverage you’ll just try again. A lot more site sharing is happening than ever did in the past. This means a bad signal is as likely to be due to a poorly optimized network than it is to poor coverage – just watch how quickly the signal on your cell phone comes back!