It’s critical for the IT department to make sure that employees have the necessary coverage and service levels on their mobile devices so they can be as productive as possible to help the company succeed. That means eliminating soft spots in coverage and overcoming any congestion due to large numbers of users. It is essentially a reliability of service issue.

What about WiFi?

One of the questions that arises when we talk to IT professionals is “why not just do this with WiFi?”  The answer is that sometimes WiFi is appropriate, and these small cells can work right alongside WiFi as needed to support data. But a voice call needs to go over the cellular network, and that is where small cells become the best solution in a problematic coverage area. In addition, security and reliability are a high priority at enterprises, and small cells operate on licensed frequencies so they are a great deal more secure and reliable compared to a WiFi solution.

Repeaters and DAS?

Repeaters and distributed antenna systems can be complementary systems to small cells as well, although some people regard them as either-or choices. Both of these options have their strengths in terms of solving the coverage problem, but one area where small cells excel is the ability to provide actual additional cellular capacity. Neither repeaters nor DAS can deliver the dedicated call processing capacity of the small cells. And capacity is an issue, especially if the company’s users are relying on data-hungry tablets.

We have even seen cases where there is already a DAS in place, but the company turned to a small cell to drive the DAS and add capacity. That solved the problem of slow response on tablets and dropped voice calls that were occurring because the DAS was merely channeling the capacity of the carrier’s cellular tower.

More About Small Cells

These enterprise-level small cells can be used in any type of building where coverage problems arise, anything from a single-story industrial complex to a multi-story building to a warehouse complex covering tens of acres. The generally accepted coverage area for Sprint’s AIRAVE Pro Connect small cell is 85,000 square feet but multiple cells can be clustered to provide flawless coverage for huge areas or multiple floors.

When clustered, these small cells operate together as a single unit, talking to each other via the corporate network to guarantee, smooth handoffs as a user moves throughout the office or warehouse space. When a company deploys small cells, Sprint can perform a quick site analysis to determine the coverage challenges and optimal locations for the cells.
The AIRAVE Pro Connect handles up to 32 data and 29 voice users simultaneously, making it suitable for a broad range of sites and building configurations. The AIRAVE Pro Connect offers feature transparency with the Sprint network and supports 911 emergency calls.

Also posted on the Sprint Seamless Enterprise Blog

Small Cells Provide Exceptional In-Building Wireless Service

Small cells, such as enterprise femtocells, are an ideal means to provide truly ubiquitous cellular coverage for employees throughout an office or campus. They are compact cellular towers that are installed inside buildings, and they bring the network directly to where users are requiring cellular service. So logically, the cellular signal is strengthened in areas where there is an abundance of data traffic.

Employees have a low tolerance for dropped calls within an office building, especially if these calls are with customers or company executives. The majority of business calls are now being made on mobile devices, so this growth of indoor mobile usage is essential for the corporate IT team to address.

As comprehensive as Sprint’s cellular network may be, there are environmental considerations in any building or on any campus that can create dead spots, or areas with poor coverage. Sprint is now selling the AIRAVE Pro Connect enterprise femtocell, which it announced recently. This small device accommodates the growth of in-building data traffic and provides exceptional seamless in-building cellular service.

Performance is improved for everyone with an enterprise femtocell solution. Business users benefit from high-quality indoor coverage. Sprint, on the other hand, is able to offload traffic from its macro cellular network. The growing reliance on mobile devices and the corporate cloud for data-centric applications has stressed mobile network’s infrastructure. Small cells will offload the data service to the specific location where the users are accessing the network, while providing the most comprehensive coverage available.

The bottom line for small cells comes down to ubiquity and availability of service. Business users demand connectivity at all times in order to improve their efficiency. Corporations demand secure and dependable wireless service to improve productivity. Small cells are an attractive solution for everyone.

The AIRAVE Pro Connect

The AIRAVE Pro Connect handles up to 32 data and 29 voice users simultaneously. It is ideal for sites such as office bullpens, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, shopping centers, universities, government buildings, hotels, airports, or smaller retail locations such as coffee shops. A single unit can cover up to 85,000 square feet of indoor space, and can be deployed in clusters as needed to support larger coverage areas. The AIRAVE Pro Connect offers feature transparency with the Sprint network and supports 911 emergency calls.

Sprint’s AIRAVE Pro Connect devices are easily installed on office walls. They are self-organizing, which means they automatically adjust to the office environment for the purpose of increasing coverage and capacity on the local user’s device. These small cells actually connect to the enterprise’s own IP network and automatically connect to the Sprint cell tower. All this is done seamlessly without the user experiencing service interference.

Also posted on the Sprint Seamless Enterprise Blog

by Sprint Blog Editor

An Eco-Friendly Solution

The wireless community is consistently improving ways to be socially and environmentally responsible. As the demand for the latest wireless technology continues to soar, new technologies are introduced that meet coverage and capacity demands as well as the social responsibilities of the industry. Small cells deployed as an element within an operator’s wireless network are an eco-friendly solution.

1. Significantly Less Electrical Power Consumption Per User

Small cell and macrocell energy efficiency varies depending upon the population density and the number of subscribers. In most cases, small cells require significantly less power than macro cells on a kwh/ Minute of Use (MOU) comparison.

As a rule of thumb, the smaller the cell the more power efficient it is on a per user basis. The average macrocell will utilize around 1000W of energy to serve a maximum of around 120 simultaneous users and is more power efficient in heavily populated areas compared to sparsely populated rural areas. In comparison, a home femtocell typically and more efficiently requires 20mW of power and accommodates between 4-8 users, and an enterprise femtocell will require 200mW of power for 60 simultaneous users.

2. Improved Device Battery Life

The need for extended mobile battery life is an essential part of an environmentally responsible solution, especially as mobile device usage escalates and batteries are being pushed to their limits. The mobile Wi-Fi option will quickly deplete the battery life on the mobile device, while a 3G or 4G connection will use comparatively less power for uploading and downloading data, resulting in improved mobile battery life. The battery draining Wi-Fi option on mobile handsets is not necessary at all times and can be temporarily disconnected or put in sleep mode unless higher data rates are required for applications such as video streaming.

3. Existing Backhaul is Already in Place

Since small cells are an IP-based technology and operate on existing Ethernet and broadband connections, no additional backhaul fiber or cabling is required to support the device.  Urban deployed picocells, often referred to as metrocells, are taking full advantage of this existing backhaul by implementing mobile base stations strategically on cable TV lines or twisted pair phone lines where the IP backhaul is already in place, eliminating the need for laying additional cables. In contrast, when installing macrocell solutions there is a need for additional cabling connecting the radio access network and often the addition of a visually unappealing tower.

4. More Efficient RF Power Requirements

Indoor small cells are able to run on a lower transmit power compared to macrocells because the radio signal originates within a matter of feet from the mobile device. In addition, the user and the device are both indoors, so the RF signal does not need to use excess energy to penetrate through the outer wall and saves additional RF power consumption.  Small cells use less RF power per user than macrocells

in an mW of RF power per user comparison.

5. Customers have Capability to Shut Off Coverage when Users are Not Present

Homes, offices, or public venues provide the electricity for the small cells, and this provides the end users incentive to shut down the device during off-peak times, weekends, vacations or whenever the cellular service is not required. A public venue could power down a picocell when events are not taking place and use only a fraction of the power. Similarly, an enterprise could simply shut off enterprise femtocell service in the evenings and weekends and save over half the energy consumption of the device.  Over time and with many establishments practicing power-down procedures such as this, the savings to the environment could be significant.

In the future, small cells will incorporate technology advancements such as renewable energy, sleep mode and recycled materials to progress the eco-friendly nature of the product.

The wideband nature of the LTE air interface has a more pronounced effect on performance characteristics compared to transitional narrow band cellular systems. It is important to get a feel for the key characteristics which could have a significant influence on the deployment planning of a wideband LTE system.

Carrier bandwidth has a significant impact on the effective RF range due to the distribution of energy from a limited source over multiple frequencies. Wider channels result in less range for a given capacity, or in lower capacity for a given range.

Four Basic Guidelines

1. Maximum data rates varies inversely with range
2. Maximum data rates is proportionally constant with RF configuration
3. Range varies inversely with carrier bandwidth
4. Range is proportionally constant with RF configuration

In the first case, limiting the range to get maximum capacity will result in a larger number of small cells. This tends to favour the use of a larger number of small cells to maximize capacity over a larger service area. Small cells can, however, provide deployment advantages since large towers and high power radios can be replaced by small self contained boxes mounted at convenient locations closer to the users, for example poles and buildings. Most LTE systems are expected to consist of large numbers of LTE small cells as deployments proceed.

In the second case, greater range comes at the expense of reduced capacity. The reduced capacity tends to reduce the value of such an LTE deployment when compared to many 3G implementations. Large LTE cells are better suited for rural and thin route areas that high capacity/density areas.

In addition to carrier bandwidth flexibility, the LTE air interface supports multiple diversity configurations, known as MIMO (multiple input multiple output). Configurations up to 4×8 (4 transmit paths, 8 receive paths) are supported. Path diversity becomes an important factor in wideband system performance since the frequency difference between the extreme ends of a wideband channel will result in different propagation and fading characteristics. An ideal RF path at one end of the carrier could become a complete null at the other end of the carrier. Providing alternate paths (diversity or MIMO) allows overall throughput to be maintained since the probability of finding a good path from a larger number of choices is higher.

Unfortunately the implementation of a higher MIMO configuration results in higher overall equipment costs since each path requires an independent antenna and transceiver system. For example, a 4×8 system requires 4 transmitters, 8 receivers and 8

independent antennas, each with accompanying transmission lines and related components.

However, by using larger numbers of small cells, system throughput/capacity can be maintained over a shorter range with simpler equipment configurations. As in the bandwidth case, the use of smaller, simpler (for example, 2×2)  and lower cost base stations located closer to the users allows operators to support maximum throughput/capacity over the required coverage area.

Given the relationship between these key performance influencing factors, it becomes clear that small cells will be a critical in providing the performance and value combination that will be essential for LTE deployments.

The small cell market segment is just coming of age and is very dynamic. As a result, femtocell and picocell family product naming conventions emerge with inconsistencies between companies because of the sudden segment boom. However, industry-wide there are some common aspects that classify whether a product is a femtocell, enterprise femtocell, picocell or even a metrocell.

Capacity: The number of users that can connect to a device is often the most obvious differentiator when determining which name to give a small cell. Femtocells support somewhere between 4 to 8 users, just enough to cover a household. Enterprise femtocells cover 16 to 32 users (simultaneous 1xRTT and EV-DO) depending upon the size of the building. Picocells and metrocells are often deployed in public areas so they would generally support between 32 to 64 users or even more.

Automatic Configuration Capabilities: Femtocells and enterprise femtocells are equipped with self-optimizing or self-organizing capabilities and are typically installed by a consumer or business unit. Picocells or metrocells are installed by the operator’s deployment team and could include automatic self-configuration, manual configuration, or a combination of both depending upon the deployment circumstance and what method is ideal for the operator.

Power Output: Femtocells typically have power output in the range of 20mW for a consumer femtocell and up to 200mW for an enterprise femtocell. Picocells will typically have power output at 200mW or more.

Hand-off Capabilities: Picocells must have full soft and hard hand-off capabilities to meet the same standards of the macro network. Enterprise femtocells are expected to be able to provide soft hand-off between each device, within a building or campus as well as full hand-off capabilities with the macro network. Consumer femtocells typically have hand-out capabilities to the macro network, but they do not accommodate hand-in or soft hand-off between femtocells.

Location: Femtocells and enterprise femtocells will nearly always be installed indoors in a private home or office. A picocell could be installed either inside in a large public area or outside with a protective cabinet. A metrocell is unique because it is typically installed as a strand mount unit in a metropolitan area.

Learn More: View AirWalk’s Small Cell Product Portfolio

The persistent growth in smart phones, wireless applications and mobile videos has lead to an ever increasing volume of data traffic on wireless networks. The resulting network congestion has placed operators under increasing pressure to expand coverage and capacity in order to maintain subscriber service quality levels. These problems are compounded by the unbalanced distribution of data traffic and greater use of mobile devices inside buildings and enterprises.

Small cells are now being recognized as a valuable network tool for resolving localized coverage problems and increasing system capacity though macro system offloading. The value of picocells and femtocells in LTE deployments is even greater since macrocell capacity declines rapidly when approaching the edge of the cell due to the wideband nature of the air interface.

Watch our Introductory Video about the Demand for Small Cells