Indoor Fiberisation & Small Cells
Mobile back haul technology Trade-Offs and Cablesmith Approach
Thanks to the information superhighway, mobile revolution and smarter
technologies, we are living in a digital world where everything is connected
and hence can be digitally activated world, is literally at our fingertips. The
data boom that ensued has resulted in the transformation of certain
technologies. One such example is the shift of interest from macro cell towers
to small cells with a focus on indoor coverage and capacity as 80% of data
traffic is generated indoors.
What are small cells?
Small cells, a growing technology, are low powered Radio Access Nodes
that has a network range of 10 meters to a few hundred meters depending on the
output power and frequency. The value of small cell market was $10.35 billion in 2016 and shot up to $12.5 billion in
2017. According to industry prediction, the small cell market will have a rapid
growth, projecting a market of $58.7 billion by 2024.
Why are the advantages of Small Cell
technology?
There is an immediate need to fulfil the increasing expectations of the
consumers in terms of digital penetration. One obvious method is to increase the number of macro cell towers. But it
is a tedious process which on one hand must clear regulatory hurdles and on the
other is a costly affair. This is where small cells come in with several
advantages starting from an improved network coverage to an increased capacity,
in densely populated urban areas, helping a consumer to extend the battery life
of handsets. They’re unobtrusive and consumes less power. Small cells overcome
most of the limitations of the macro cell towers and clearly presents a
solution for a demanding future.
Here are some factors that favours
the growth of small cells technology:
1.Growing demand of high data speed along with the growth
in smart phone demand.
2.Need of ubiquitous indoor coverage.
3.Evolution towards 5G.
4.Allocation of higher frequency spectrum
What are the challenges?
One of the major challenges that the mobile operators are
facing is the lack of available backhaul, especially indoors. This has a severe
impact on network densification as well. The table summarizes how mobile operators rely on a variety of
backhaul approaches to transmit their traffic to and from macro and small cell
base stations.
Table
1: Mobile back haul technology Trade-Offs
Source: GSMA
As the data suggests, with a significant inherent bandwidth carrying
capability, Fiber Optic backhauling is the best future-proof option
available for the operators. However, the lack of indoor fiberisation can be a
hurdle here.
With network densification in the 5G era, and allied
emergence of smart homes, connected cars, telemedicine, smart city-- automation
will be a precondition along with the health monitoring of the cabling
infrastructure. The traditional microwave cannot meet the backhaul requirements
of 5G technology, leading to its dependency on fiberisation. The solution o this
hurdle is hence a value added fiber optic
structured cabling which is capable to serve all the back haul/front haul
requirement of multi operators and multi technologies inside the building
How effective Cablesmith Platform in optimizing Mobile
back haul technology Trade-Offs
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