There has been a lot of talk about small cell deployments in the past years. These low-powered, wireless radio access nodes are designed to be installed locally in cities’ dense, high-traffic environment to augment macro cells. They promise greater capacity, better signal quality – lower to the ground – enhanced quality of experience and less interference, precisely where subscribers access their voice and data.
While small cells do present an interesting proposition, the system has left operators with a feeling of “not there yet.” The reason? Implementation. Small cell backhaul architecture differs substantially from the conventional network configuration, requiring integration into an existing environment – especially complicated when considering wireless backhaul. Among the challenges:
Street deployment – In a crowded city location, there is a need to be in and out of the location quickly. That means simpler installations. Obstructions, such as buildings, which limit visibility between near ground-level sites and microcell sites, also need to be accounted for. In this situation, non-line-of-sight backhaul capabilities need to be implemented. And finally, the bureaucratic hassles of time-limited parking permits, as well as other authorizations, need to be dealt with.
Multiple scenarios – In a dense urban environment, deployments aren’t “one size fits all.” They differ according to needs. Lower-capacity links require point-to-multipoint, street-level to rooftop sites. Short-distance links require deploying a chain of street-level sites. Longer links with less capacity suit remote, isolated sites. Other deployments may require high-capacity aggregation links.
No matter which scenario works, many variables need to be considered: installation location, capacity requirements, links distance, interference levels and latency.
Large-scale network planning and implementation – These types of environments complicate efforts at effective planning for high-capacity networks, and take up a lot of time and money. They also require adopting different, perhaps less familiar, deployment methodology, switching from link-by-link commissioning to multiple site installation, each requiring backhauling to one, central location.
For every challenge, a solution can be found. In this case, a unified small cell backhaul solution simplifies planning and deployment. Faster deployment means faster time to revenue – by as much as 30%. It’s the solution that can save 35% of deployment operating expense, because of quick, easy installation – within half an hour – and a lower footprint. It lets you be prepared for any small cell scenario:
• Common, street-level implementations, featuring point-to-multipoint and point-to-point capabilities that enable zero-touch provisioning to limit installation time at city locations;
• Short, very-high-capacity links that can scale to 2.5 gigabits per second;
• License-exempt, short very-high-capacity links that can scale to 2.5 Gbps; and
• Longer links for small cell aggregation or remote, small cell backhauling.
Dudy Cohen is the director of strategic product marketing at wireless backhaul specialist Ceragon.
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