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Would you Deploy Small Cells or CRAN?

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This is an ongoing question that many people have been asking, with the shape of the industry rounding out to be 5G and massive MIMO, we will see where each application works and why. If you were to make an investment with your limited budget, what would it be, small cells or CRAN? Of course, it’s not black and white; you have an application for each one. That’s what I will discuss below.

What is a small cell?

A small cell is a stand-alone small cell site, usually very low power. It will have an integrated BBU and backhaul. It may have a router inside but, in most cases, it will connect to an external router, switch, or hub. It is a standalone unit that needs backhaul and a way to connect to the core or a controller at the core. Generally, this unit could be put anywhere and is built for indoor or outdoor use.

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What is CRAN?

Here we get into a bit of discussion. You see, CRAN is generally Concentrated Radio Access Network. However, now we are looking at Cloud RAN, which could be C-RAN or cRAN. All the same. We don’t have enough letters to break them apart. So many people look at CRAN as a remote RAN, could be a remote radio head or a remote tower site.

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CRAN is where the radio head and antenna are remotely placed away from the BBUs. When I say remote, it means that they could be hundreds of kilometers apart, not at the base of a tower. The CRAN system is connected by fiber, muxes, and routers. Generally, dark fiber is to be lit. The BBU is controlling the radio heads altogether, and the link is its lifeline.

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cRAN or C-RAN, (cloud RAN), is the same as above but the cloud will be running part of the BBU functions. This means that the cloud could be running some BBU functions to control the radio head and the BBU could offload some processing power.

Why the distinction? Because the cloud RAN is not working quite the way the OEMs had hoped. The BBU is being asked to do more and more specific functions that connect people’s data and calls to a specific area. This is no easy task.

CRAN and cRAN/C-RAN are similar in the fact that the radio head(s) stand alone.

Learn CRAN at:

What is the difference?

I thought you would never ask! The difference is not only is the small cell a stand-alone unit that just needs backhaul to a controller or core, but it generally is lower power. It is also limited in the throughput it can handle.Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!

CRAN is usually a larger radio head with full macro functionality and loading because it is connected to a macro BBU.

To sum it up, the CRAN radio head has full macro functionality with a seriously dedicated fiber backhaul whilst a small cell is lower power and lower loading stand-alone unit.

  • Small cell, lower power, all-inclusive unit, less loading, and processing power than a macro. Backhaul just needs to connect to the core; timing is not so critical.
  • CRAN – controlled by a macro BBU with full loading and higher power units, full macro capability. Backhaul is critical, needs to have low latency and connected to the BBU, then the BBU will connect to the core.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of small cells?

The small cell can be used for 2 reasons; they can be put in for coverage or for offloading a macro site. Keep both in mind when reading the next part.

  • Advantages are:
    • The device is smaller, cheaper, versatile.
    • Can offload traffic from the macro?
    • Cheaper to install, deploy, maintain.
    • Backhaul is critical but more versatile. Can be put many miles from the core.
  • Disadvantages are:
    • Payback is low.
    • Limited loading capability.
    • Generally low power, (could be advantage or disadvantage).
    • Limited coverage.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of CRAN?

The CRAN is generally a full function macro sector, (or sectors) in the system. Remember that this is a macro system that has been split to serve multiple areas at the same time.

  • Advantages are:
    • Full macro capability.
    • Loading is that of a macro.
    • Full power is possible at a site.
    • Complete macro functionality at the radio head
  • Disadvantages are:
    • The limited distance between the radio head and the BBU, several kilometers depending on the OEM.
    • Fronthaul to the BBU is critical, low latency, dark fiber.
    • Very expensive to deploy a new system.
    • Planning matters, need to plan out the system.

How do I choose which to deploy?

This is the big question. All the stuff above will help you weigh in on this decision, but here is the real head-scratcher. When do I deploy a CRAN system and when do I deploy a small cell? Let’s look at the scenarios below and make some decisions.

Scenarios:

Looking at each scenario, let’s see how each one plays out.

  • Will loading be an issue? Is this a city with a lot of traffic that will have heavy data and voice traffic?
    • If yes, then CRAN is a better option since it can take loading of subscribers and data from a macro site.
    • If no or the answer is sometimes, then small cells may be a more affordable option with a better payback.
  • Is coverage the issue outdoors?
    • If yes and you need a higher power and have a higher site, (need to be sure the public is safe from an RF radiation), then a CRAN would be a great option.
    • If no and you are covering a very specific are like a town square or indoors, then a small cell makes a lot of sense.
  • Are you going to deploy across the entire city or are?
    • If yes and you need to deploy for loading and coverage, then the CRAN is the ideal option.
    • If no and you are only covering a specific area, then small cells would work.
  • What if I need indoor coverage?
    • If this is a convention center or a stadium, then CRAN makes a lot of sense because of the massive
    • If it’s a business or office building or train or bus station that is not always busy, then small cells make the most sense.

What about the cost and payback?

Here is what you need to understand, the cost differences between each system and the payback. This will help you understand why the scenario makes a difference.

CRAN systems and costs:

The CRAN system is more than just one macro system in an area. It consists of several BBUs and a large fiber network. The system must be thought out of an area or a stadium. It’s not something you just throw in with little thought. The system should be planned for the job it has to do.

  • The system will have
    • BBU site will be in one spot in a city or stadium – A set of BBUs, called a BBU pool or a BBU hotel all in one area. It’s more than the BBUs; it is a power plant, backup power which is generally a generator and batteries, a complete set of fiber muxes that go out to the radio heads as well as a larger, 10Gbps or higher, backhaul. All of this in one large closet that needs to have the temperature maintained. It will also have servers and other equipment in their to support the BBUs. You could have 1 BBU to 10s of BBUs all in one space connecting to many radio heads across a region or stadium.
    • Remote radio head – could have the radios heads at a tower with 3 sectors, this is not common yet, but the industry wants to get there to get equipment off the ground. The more common scenario is to have a single or double radio head on a pole in the city that gives it macro like coverage for loading and coverage. This goes beyond the densification to serve as a smaller macro site with full macro capability. You still need power, possibly batteries, and routers at the radio head site. You will have antennas to connect to the radio heads. Fiber to the router, then fiber to the radio head, then coax to the antenna, unless it is an active antenna like what massive MIMO will use.
    • Backhaul – this runs from the BBU site to the core and should be 10Gbps or more.
    • Fronthaul – this is generally run from the BBU site to each individual radio head site. It will take a series of muxes to send out the signals across fiber to remote radio heads. The latency between the BBU and remote radio head is critical; there is a distance limitation due to the timing of the signals from the BBU to the radio head. While this is being improved by the OEMs, it is still a limiting factor.

As you can guess, this is very expensive to install. The payback could look like this; one CRAN system could replace tower sites across the city. It would also allow heavy loading at each location. This is an ideal setup for parts of major cities where there are no towers or accessible rooftop. It is also an ideal solution for areas that have heavy loading, like a large stadium with over 30,000 people. In a stadium, you may be able to connect the fiber directly from the BBU to the remote radio head but check with your OEM.

Small Cell systems and costs:

As you have probably guessed, small cells are much cheaper and easier to deploy. They generally are easier to plan to deploy.

  • The system will have:
    • A small cell – with an antenna, could be integrated or could be a separate antenna.
    • Backhaul – this could be dark fiber lit for this purpose, could be shared backhaul or could be a VPN back to the core or server, depending on the application.

That’s it, easy and cheap considering. I can’t do much about the site acquisition part, that always cost a lot of money. However, the small cells are generally very cost-effective. They cost less to install, and the engineering is generally very reasonable.

What’s the cost difference?

Here is how to look at this when concerning the cost difference. Therefore, the payback is critical. It’s the difference between putting in a macro and a small cell site. Keep in mind that these are all estimates, not hard costs. Prices differ depending on OEM, region, design, planning, loading, coverage, rent, and so on.

  • Small cells
    • Equipment, generally less than $15K per site
    • Physical installation, generally less than $5K per site
    • Backhaul, generally $5K to $15K to install and could be $300 to $3K per month.
    • Coverage, less than .1 miles or a room in a building.
    • Rent, generally $30 to $3K a month. It really does vary that much!
  • CRAN
    • BBU site equipment – $30 to $100K.
    • BBU Site Installation – $3K to $50K.
    • BBU site utility power – $3K to $13K.
    • BBU site routers, muxes, and backhaul/fronthaul equipment generally $3K to $50K, maybe more depending on load.
    • BBU site rent is generally $2K to $$10K each month.
    • Remote radio head equipment $10K to $30K with antenna and hardware
    • Remote Radio routers generally $1K to $5K
    • Remote radio head installation generally $1K to $5K unless it’s a tower
    • Remote Radio Head rent could be $500 to $3K each month unless it’s a remote tower, then it’s $1K to $3K each month.
    • Backhaul and fronthaul connection generally $1K to $50K each month depending on how many radio heads, substantial backhaul, and all the dark fiber needed to be lit.

There you go! It’s not as tight as you would like it, but you get the idea. CRAN is expensive, but the payback is there for the situation that you need it.

However, as attractive as the small cell looks, its payback is not there. The small cells serve a purpose as an adder, but not as the primary system.  That’s why the small cell is an excellent solution for its purpose which could be to offload the macro site or act as a fill site. It’s a great indoor solution.

If you don’t know it, the CRAN systems are a secret weapon of the carriers here in the USA. You see, the CRAN offers a lot more diversity and loading, all the features of a macro site and the payback is far higher. It is the system that allows the radio heads to handle thousands of users at a time versus a small cell which handles hundreds at a time.

It’s all about the Value!

The value comes from the solution, the solution is determined by the application. What do you need? Where do you need it? How many people will use it at any given time? You’ve got to add value! The value helps to determine the payback. Then you have a system that makes sense, that hopefully, you won’t have to replace in 2 years because it’s insufficient. Also, a system which you are paying an arm and a leg for because the loading is so small that the system won’t pay for itself.

Value is in the design, the use of the system. If you have the right system for the right application, then the payback makes sense. Let’s plan accordingly. There are always surprises and limitations that could hamper the desired outcome, but we do the best we can with the knowledge we have. It’s all we can ask for.

I hope this helps you bridge the gap between the spend versus payback!

Remember, if you need a technology analyst, send me an email at Wade@techfecta.com.

 

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

 

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The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need! 

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Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

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Tower Family Foundation supports the families of tower climbers at the time of crisis when a climber falls with financial assistance and more.

 

 

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Wireless Site Labor Issues and Advice

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As we approach 2019, I see some serious issues for the deployment labor force. There will be a shortage of tower workers and integration engineers. It will run through 2021. This bottleneck will put a deep strain on the workforce that has been maintaining for the past several years. This is a workforce that is limited. Site work is a limited skill set as well as a limited workforce. It also has been beaten down by the carriers to remove many of the highly qualified seasoned craftsmen that were once synonymous with this industry. Now it has a younger and inexperienced workforce. All of this and a mentality that they will be used while needed then immediately disposed of once the industry work tapers off. They could get laid off, fired, or abandoned. It all happens in the wireless site business. This is typical of the wireless carrier business. It is feast or famine, meaning that all the work hits at once, then most of it disappears. That is the issue here, the slow business has put a downturn on the field workers causing the industry to downsize. While this is like construction, the carriers determine the workload, not the end-user. Unlike construction, it is not as steady nor does it turn out that all workers can migrate to another part of the business. Each part of the business has specific skill sets.

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Trust me; I have been there. I talked to many of these people, and I see what goes on. While AT&T’s turf system initially was great for the investors, it really changed the face of the tower climbing workforce for the worse. To be honest, that is why I got out.  It was hard to climb towers for less money every year. Low bidder generally wins. That and the cost to do business was going up. Let’s explore.

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When the turf system came along, it gave hope to local climbers. Any national climbing company has a hard time ramping up and moving crews across the country while maintaining a stable workforce. Smaller crews are generally in the market or within 4 hours of a market. Remember when AT&T’s projection of tower work a few years ago was driving companies to ramp up only to have it all disappear? I do. When that didn’t pan new climbers got laid off, and the larger companies had to discontinue training and scale back. It was a disaster.

I want to give my condolences to the family of Melvin Ronnie Nelson, Jr., who died April 2nd, 2018, working on a tower for Verizon. He was 34 years old from Foley, Alabama. The tower was being erected in Utica, Mississippi. My prayers go out to him and his family. To learn more go to Wireless Estimator . To make a difference, make a contribution to the Hubble Foundation. We all feel terrible when a fellow wireless workers dies, especially on the job.

Now, we see the need for climbers again. The problem is the climbing end of it doesn’t seem so lucrative as it once did. Will the crews be able to get more money based on supply and demand? Will they be able to get a good year in with plenty of work? I hope so. The way it looks, 2019 and 2020 should be big years for field work. On the tower and on the ground. While the RF engineering work is done more and more by programs, we still need workers to go out and do the site work. It’s still a necessity.

Will there be enough workers? Of course not. There is no way they can do all the work that is coming, based on projections. All the major carriers in the US are looking to do changes at tower sites and roll out small cells. They all need to deploy more LTE, massive MIMO, and 5G. It’s fixed and mobile wireless. It’s a lot of work.

Don’t forget the fiber workers; they will need to make changes to keep up the expansion. The workforce extends beyond the field, it will be a drain on upgrading the backhaul as well as all utilities.

It’s going to be busy, but the tower industry is not ready. I am glad that they will get plenty of work, but they need to be safe. It is a dangerous job. The issue with the carrier work is that the safety requirements are high, the schedule is tight, the closeout is slow, and it takes a long time Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!to get paid in some cases. All reason NOT to work for many carriers or their turf vendors. It’s tough to float money, whether it’s to pay for your workers or to pay your contractors. The carriers will need to understand this. They need to do their part if they want quality work.

We need safety and proper training, that is number one! Let’s not cut back there. Although, it takes time to train people properly and to match the experience on a crew with the inexperienced. Planning, patience, and training. Be careful when doing this. Most experienced crews want to keep their crew. Most companies don’t want to pay 5 guys when 4 can do the job, even if the fifth guy is to be learning the job. They want all of them to be working and productive.

So, what can the industry do? Good question. They should get busy planning and roll out now, but we all know that the product may not be ready or that more planning is needed. Probably not going to happen that soon.

Try to reserve crews? I don’t think any crew would sit and wait or stay if there is more money to be made with another contractor. Why wait and hope to get paid? Why leave money on the table? Go do the work and get paid.

As always, payments will be an issue. That has been the biggest issue in the industry, yet it seems to be the dirty secret no one wants to talk about. Why? Because if you don’t’ get paid, it becomes an issue of pointing fingers. Let’s face it; if you don’t pay, then the contractor will say you didn’t do your job.

What to look out for? Here are some tricks that screwed climbing crews in the past.

  • The GC, general contractor, will not give the crew all the parts they need to finish the job, and they say they will only pay when the job is finished. Then, as the contractor leaves to wait for the missing parts, the GC gives the parts to another crew and has them finish the work in a day. Why? Because they only pay the second crew for a day’s work and they don’t pay the first crew anything because they didn’t finish the job.
  • When jobs are winding down, GCs have let crews on a job, and just no paid, leaving the crews to fend for themselves. I have heard horror stories about how the GC would not pay for the expenses that were incurred.
  • Some GCs will pay partial payments and tell the crews that they will pay if the crew does the next job, then another, until they have exhausted their expense money and then the GC won’t pay because they know the crew, generally a small company, will go out of business before they can sue the GC.

I know, these are terrible, yet very common in the industry. Don’t worry too much, many crews protect themselves and have systems in place to prevent this from happening. They often plan and have someone who is good with the paperwork. You must protect yourself.

It’s not all roses for the GCs; they have to deal with crew shortages and crews that don’t show. They must deal with crews leaving their jobs to go to a higher bidder. They will leave your job to make a few hundred more dollars with another GC. It’s going to get competitive out there.

Then there are crews with specific skill sets, like welding and structural modifications, they always cost more because they can do what other crews can’t.

What can you do to protect yourself? Let’s look at some ideas.

  • If you’re an individual, then make sure you have a contract stating your terms of It’s best to get it in writing. Many times, companies will not hire W2 employees but 1099 climbers. This is where problems can begin. They technically may be run like a W2 worker, which opens legal issues.
  • If the crew is under contract, they should have a clear scope of work for the specific job and how to get paid. Remember to get the change order process to get paid for the items out of scope.
  • If you have to provide hardware, make it clear what hardware you need to provide.
  • Remember that you’re getting paid for the solution, not the time on site in most cases. This means you don’t get paid until a closeout package is accepted. In this case, make sure you define what the closeout package will be and how long it takes from the time of the COP to be accepted until you get paid.
  • Make sure the contract is aligned to meet what you have in the scope. While these can be 2 documents, they generally both play a part in getting paid. Understand them both when you do the work. Make sure your crew understands the scope and how to finish the site.
  • Have a transparent process in place for change orders. Make it quick and simple, like an email from a smartphone. Don’t do the work until you have an email confirmation on your phone. Often verbal approvals get lost, overridden or ignored.

These are just some ideas to help you out. I know there are more and if you have more feel free to send them to me at wade4wireless@gmail.com because I am always looking for how contractors have been taken in the past and how they prevent it in the future.

Site work is not easy. The carriers have it all broken down into an hourly wage model. Many GCs look for any loophole they can to get around payments. If you have a good relationship with the GC and the carrier, life is good. It pays to work with people you like and respect.

One last thing, people die tower climbing. It happens, and there are several each year. OSHA and the FCC are here to help. Use the resources they provide. Get the training you need.

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Here is a checklist of some common sense rules that are easy to ignore:

  • Only do the work if you feel comfortable.
  • The more you do it, the better you get.
  • Dress for safety and for the weather.
  • Do what you can to be safe.
  • Be 100% tied off.
  • Don’t do stupid things.
  • Pay attention to what you’re doing and who it around you.
  • All this is good advice, and yet we all ignore it, don’t we?
  • It helps to know your limitations and be safe.

Resources:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

 

Tower Safety for all your safety training!

 

 

 

Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!


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Sign-up to get all your updates!

 

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Putting together your smart city tech solutions, planning, development, and more….TechFecta! Guiding you to a better plan through consulting!

The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need! 

official logo

Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

tower-family-foundation-e1447069656192

Tower Family Foundation supports the families of tower climbers at the time of crisis when a climber falls with financial assistance and more.

 

 

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Cell Backhaul and Midhaul and Fronthaul

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  • What is fronthaul?
  • What is midhaul?
  • How can they become cost-effective?
  • Is there more than fiber?

One of the significant barriers to rolling out wireless sites has been backhaul. You would think that fiber is everywhere, but when it comes to deploying fiber to a pole or remote location, it’s not cheap. If there is not existing fiber, it cost a lot of money. If the fiber at a

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location is maxed out, then it costs a lot of money. See the pattern?

Also, if you need a lot of bandwidth, fiber costs a lot of money each month.

Don’t get me wrong; fiber is incredible! We all love the fact it can handle so much bandwidth in a pair of fiber strands. Amazing! It put a dent in the wireless backhaul market because it is rolling out everywhere and quite flexible. We all love fiber. However, it’s not cheap to install or to pay the monthly reoccurring.

We loved wireless back in the day because we could pay $10K to get it running and it would be there for years. It took up tower space, but it was reliable and a “pay-once” type of deal. Well, it was hard to add bandwidth, if you could at all. Modern networks demanded more than the long-range wireless could supply. It’s too much for them to handle. So, now we get fiber, and we may use wireless as a backup, but the traditional 6GHz and 11GHz links just can provide the Gbps links we need today. The broadband requirements are growing, so the idea of putting in wireless links seems to limit growth.

What can we do? Well, the release of the fixed wireless spectrum may solve this problem. If this is something that can grow along with the needs of the end-user, then it is going to be the midhaul solution. This would be the link between a fixed radio head and the controller or core. See the illustration. We need to look at the fixed wireless as the midhaul and the fronthaul. We also need to look at fiber as more than the backhaul solution. It could be the link for the edge to get to the internet or the midhaul or the fronthaul.

All these connections need to be made. As we add hops, we also add latency. Think of how the small cell or remote radio head could connect to the core and to the internet simultaneously. There may be more than one link at a site.

If the small cell or remote radio head needs a direct connection to the internet, it may not need to be a fiber link. It could be just Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!something to offer low latency, so any type of internet connection may be just as good. The idea of that connection is to lower latency, so bandwidth may not be the issue. So, order accordingly, remember that we need to be cost conscious when planning.

Backhaul is the connection to the internet or the core. The core is the hub where all the mobile equipment lies.

Midhaul could be the link between the controller or the radio head that feeds the next link.

Fronthaul is generally the link between the controller and the radio head or small cell. It could be the link from the radio head to the UE device. Fronthaul should be the final link, but not the last 200 meters.

All the same, we look at the backhaul using all means necessary to make the connection to the final radio.  It could be a combination of several links that act as a chain to get the data from the end-user to the core and eventually it’s final destination. Each network will be responsible for moving data from point A to point B using any means necessary. It all works together to ensure that the end-user gets what they ask for.

Cost-effective solutions are what we want. It is not always fiber. It would be any combination of wireless and fiber. As long as it is reliable and allows for growth. Growth is critical in today’s world of expansion.5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixels

Being cost-effective means that we need a balance between the payback, (number of subscribers) and the spend, (installation and monthly costs). That is only part of it. We need to know, what is available? If the fiber is not available, you may need wireless to get the site on the air. If wireless is not available, you may need to move the site to another location where something is available. Most times moving across the street can make all the difference. Availability is vital because if you need to run fiber across a street, it may involve trenching and permitting, a hefty cost for installation.

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Reliability is a crucial factor here. In the past, wireless would show errors during a rainstorm. This was a problem because the link would have hi bit errors. The rain was a problem. Fiber could get knocked down if it’s overhead, another issue that has caused problems in the past. Make sure your solution is reliable.

So, let’s look at backhaul, midhaul, and fronthaul as one. After all, it’s all the means to an end. They are all needed to get the data where it has to go, both ways. No matter what the link, it is part of the solution. It takes planning. All I am asking is that you need to be open-minded. We often look at fiber as the only solution, but there are more than one means to this end. We have options, and they are growing every day. Let’s take advantage of what we have and think outside the box. Fiber or wireless, it really doesn’t matter if it fills the needs we ask for. As long as it meets the criteria to connect the end-user to the core.

Resources:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

 

Tower Safety for all your safety training!

 

 

 

Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!

 

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Sign-up to get all your updates!

 

SOW Training Cover

Do you know what to put in your SOW, the details needed to get paid for milestones or job completion? 

 

Putting together your smart city tech solutions, planning, development, and more….TechFecta! Guiding you to a better plan through consulting!

The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need! 

official logo

Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

tower-family-foundation-e1447069656192

Tower Family Foundation supports the families of tower climbers at the time of crisis when a climber falls with financial assistance and more.

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Increase Small Cell Value

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Increase Small Cell Value

  • Will Small Cells work with IOT and become the FOG edge?
  • Could a small server be put in small cells to control IOT and act as a FOG server?
  • Could IOT feed small cell growth?
  • Make small cells part of the 5G solution.

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Did you think that small cells should be more than radios? What if they could be the part of FOG computing? 5G asks that IOT has URLL, ultra reliable low latency. How would that work? It’s not that hard.  We need to put an edge server in the small cell. I think this is being researched now, but the reality is that small cells are in a prime position to serve IOT markets.

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Small cells are often looked at as 2 things. They can 1) fill the coverage gap or 2) offload the macro site. Now, small cells need to think beyond that, they need to offer more features, and they need to be more versatile.

If the small cell can serve as a FOG node, allowing the IOT devices to have extremely low latency by routing the traffic where it needs to go or responding immediately, then the small cell is more valuable in the system and satisfies a 5G requirement. This is where the small cell should be going. Small cells need to offer more than coverage. They need to be part of the actual 5G solution.

They also need to be creative. When I look at what Sprint and Airspan did with the “Magic Box” and using the LTE UE backhaul for the solution, that is amazing. They were able to make a cost-effective box that made the fronthaul accessible anywhere and used their LTE spectrum for backhaul, and it works.

Carriers were slower to deploy small cells for several reasons, but they all boil down to payback and value. They wanted a cost-effective solution for coverage, but after they got it, it wasn’t enough, and the barriers to deploy were still high, fiber installation and monthly charges did not come down as they had hoped. Site acquisition and rent never got to where they wanted. The OEMs did their part, they provided a cheap unit that works like a cell site, but the other costs were prohibitive. That’s one reason why some carriers would rather deploy CRAN because you have a sector that is control by a macro BBU or cloud controller in the size of a larger small cell. All the features for less money tied into a macro controller. It makes sense. While people see that as a small cell, it Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!really isn’t. CRAN could be a cloud or concentrated RAN. RAN is Radio Access Network. This is a standard solution that appears to be catching on with all carriers

Make the small cell more valuable. It has to add more than coverage. Don’t get me wrong, coverage still matters, but in today’s world that is not enough! Especially when looking at the payback. If a small cell, especially an outdoor small cell where there are so many barriers, could add more value than coverage then it would be perceived as a high value-add product.

What small cells should have is multiple features. MIMO is a great start. Then a service for FOG computing features to take the loading form the cloud and core and put it at the very edge of the network. Then it should offer multiple wireless backhaul options, like carrier LTE, LTE-U, CBRS, and so on. If Sprint and Airspan could make the 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixels“Magic Box” work, then the OEMs should be able to make a unit that has more features.

Then, look at what the indoor small cells could offer if they were to take this to the next level. I am not saying they need to put a server with each small cell, that is not practical indoors, but they should have the option to tie to a local server for the edge computing so that it is more than a “hot spot” I mean you might as well deploy Wi-Fi if you just want hotspots, here we will have the LTE coverage throughout the building with edge computing to serve customers, devices, and IOT.

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Let’s not forget network slicing. Here is where the definition of MEC, Multi-Access Edge Computing. I know, you all thought it was Mobile Edge computing, but now, just to make things more confusing, they added Multi-Access Edge Computing so that you can get more network efficiency. It will allow each service on the network to work in its own realm to make each connection as efficient as possible. If you’re in an office and an alarm goes off, you want to get that alarm right away, not after your coworker is finished watching 10 kitty videos on his new iPhone X, am I right?

My point here is that small cells need to keep moving forward and progressing. This is important to the carriers but also to the private LTE systems. At least if the FCC ever released any CBRS spectrum to us, ordinary folks. We want to build systems today. I mean at this point even T-Mobile has to be a little frustrated because it has to be delaying their densification plans.

Small cells could be a key component in IOT growth. The idea is that the small cell can use all of these features to make IOT simple to roll out and connect to any device. It’s about coverage and low latency. Here is an opportunity for the small cell to make a big difference in IOT deployment. Le’ts face it, LTE-M is a great solution for the IOT market. It is something that we could connect quickly and efficiently. Why not design the small cell to work efficiently with the IOT solution that will eventually merge into the 5G solution. Let’s plan for this today!

Notes:

This is great, but we still need fiber. I think if the small cell can connect to a macro site, then the fiber situation is resolved. The backhaul matters. An upcoming post will be about the backhaul, mid-haul, and fronthaul.I am a huge fan of a hybrid backhaul system which includes wireless and fiber because that is what will make the deployment of the 5G solution most efficient. New 5G spectrum will allow the fixed wireless solutions to be a game changer in this solution. More of that to come.

Resources:

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Are Carrier Macro Sites the new Edge Data Center?

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Macro sites, like data centers, need larger backhaul!

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When looking at macro sites, I think we can all agree that 1Gbps is no longer sufficient except many in a very small community where they are just happy to have coverage. The reality, everyone judges the coverage on download and upload speeds in today’s world. Latency is big, but people want to see their favorite cat videos in real time whenever possible.

What makes this possible? If you said fiber back, then you are

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correct! The backhaul serves everything that the macro site can talk to, so it is critical. I think that 100Gbps and up backhaul will be a requirement. Especially in today’s world where a macro site might be the backhaul for several small cell sites or even a several CRAN sites. If you think about it, 3 sectors all talking to many UE devices simultaneously will require them all to have a high QOS, (quality of service). We should make sure they can all get the coverage they need. With massive MIMO rolling out and 5G taking off, we need it now more than ever.

However, we can’t get fiber everywhere. I would like to think that 99% of all the macro sites have fiber by now. This is a key thing for rolling forward. We need to stop thinking of the macro site service on the UEs and start to think of them a major hub, maybe even a remote data center.

Why? The macro site will house edge/FOG servers to lower latency. They will be a key spot for fixed wireless. They are also a connector of CRAN and small cells across many cities. They are no longer just serving the end-user! They are servicing all users, fixed, mobile, and backhaul. We need to change the paradigm of the macro site from a standalone cell site to a remote data center, a “hub” if you will.

So, the backhaul connection to the macro sites in urban areas should be connected like a major data center, 100Gbps and up. They should also be redundant. When I say redundant I think of a wireless connection of over 1Gbps to another fiber connected macro site.

Think about it, the macro site must feed all the end users, small cells within range, CRAN radio heads within range, and potentially fixed wireless customers in range. If a customer of any kind is in range, the macro site could feed it.

If the macro site is feeding all those customer, then the backhaul feeding the macro site is critical and should be redundant. It must be huge, maybe even 100Gbps or higher. Let’s look at the backhaul suppliers as a key partner in any 5G rollout.

Low latency will make it so we should have a server nearby. If thGet the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!e macro site is near a building, then it could be fed by a remote BBU, like a Cloud RAN. This makes sense because we need to put these to work.

I think some carriers are looking at remotely feeding the macro sites because they see the risks at a tower. Lighting, other people at the site working, security risks. All that and the big determining factor, the tower companies will want way more money to add equipment to the ground of a tower site.

It looks like the macro site is going to be more than just a transmitter in the 5G world. I think that massive MIMO is going to push it to new limits. Then we have fixed wireless that would fit nicely into the macro site.

When working with the carriers, you need to help then realize that the backhaul will be critical. They need to plan accordingly. I am sure they are already doing this, but try to work with them so that it’s expandable in the future. They will want growth if the site has major traffic on it. If you can deliver extra fiber, then do it. They will need it in the future.5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixels

That’s where this is coming from, the massive MIMO requirements and then 5G all rolling out over the next 2 years. By the way, how long does it take to upgrade fiber at your sites? Sometimes over a year. So, plan accordingly. It’s not a quick thing especially if they must add a new fiber run.

Oh, the one thing I didn’t mention is that most carriers are going to offer IOT services in one way or another. With 5G coming this is going to require URLL, Ultra reliable low latency. To do this, they will need to have MEC, Mobile Edge Computing, or is it Multi-Access Edge Computing, or Multiservice Edge Computing? Anyway, MEC and network splicing, NS will be needed to make this happen. The idea is that you can run multiple applications and networks on the same backhaul and fronthaul. The user that needs high bandwidth is very different that the use that needs IOT services. That why they want to slice the networks in different parts for different services.

Now more than ever, we need to understand how important fiber is to backhaul. We also need to look at alternative methods to connect all those remote sites, like CRAN and small cells. They will be a key factor to obtaining coverage and densification. After all, massive MIMO can only do so much. We will need to connect all those devices and fiber everywhere may not be cost-effective and I know for a fact it’s not quick. Why do you think Crown and ExteNet made a point of getting it to the sites for the carrier? It’s because they know how hard it is to get fiber to a new site or do upgrades after the fact. Forward thinking helps deployments go quicker. It just does.

Like a data center, the macro site will be feeding other sites and may be called on to feed other macro sites. I would think that the carriers will connect many of them with some type of wireless backhaul that can handle over 1Gbps. If the fiber gets cut, they can run on lower bandwidth which is better than being down altogether. We want to maintain some degree of reliable coverage.

The face of the macro site will change, they will be called upon to be data centers in urban areas. They will feed more than mobile users. It is critical to remember that.

I hope you get what I am trying to say here, more data and computing will be pushed to the edge. The macro site will be called on to do more than it ever has before. It is no longer just the link to your smartphone. It is going to be called on to be your small cells backhaul AND your CRAN’s fronthaul AND your fixed wireless connection to your home or business. You see, the macro site is quickly becoming the new data center. Even if the computing may not be physically at the site, but rather at a nearby telco closet where it is better protected. This is going to make or break the carriers in their move to take over more and more markets. They want to compete in the fixed market which is still cable and FTTH, but soon to be FWTTH, Fixed Wireless To The Home.

The macro site is the new mini data center, on the edge!

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FYI – Stephen Hawking passed this week at the age of 74. Talk about a forward-thinking genius. I wish to honor him by saying thank you for never giving up. Thank you for showing us that a handicap does not slow brilliance down but instead pushes some brilliant but makes them rise to new levels. Thank you for the knowledge you shared and the courage you showed by never quitting. I appreciate all that you have done for us. Thank you, Stephen Hawking, for helping us see at a new level.

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Size matters with Massive MIMO

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Yes, you heard me, size matters! Why, because size and weight are what the tower companies will be looking at for the new massive MIMO antennas. Let’s call them active antennas to make things easy because massive MIMO will be a given for this article.

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Why would size matter?

Let’s look at it this way, bigger antennas cost more money all the way around. Size has a direct correlation to costs. Let me break down what costs more with a bigger antenna.

  • Larger antennas cost more to build. CapEx
  • More radio heads cost more, CapEx.
  • Larger antennas may need to have the tower structurally modified to hold the extra weight. CapEx on installation.
  • Larger antennas may raise the monthly rate on a tower. OpEx on rent.

The point here is that there have to be a balance. The carriers know that payback has to balance out with the costs. That’s where we find balance, between the costs, CapEx and OpEx, and the payback, number of subscribers and improved performance. There has to be a set point.

These active antennas may not make sense to put everywhere. Do we really need to put them near a farm where there could be a total of 20 users at any given time? Probably not unless one of those users is a CEO or a president. Power and position has privilege.

We’ll look at what effects the size.

  • Frequency matters. I’ll make this simple, the lower the frequency the larger the antenna. It’s that simple.
  • TDD or FDD matter because with FDD you will have 2 sets of radio heads and TDD only has one. FDD will be bigger because 2 sets are larger than one.
  • Size of massive MIMO, meaning the number of elements. If you have 32T by 32R, 32×32, you have 32 transmit and 32 receive elements. It doubles each time, 64×64 has 64 of each element and radio head, 128×128 has 128, and so on.

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How has this changed from the traditional models?

When we had CDMA, FDD was all the rage. To have the dedicated spectrum for uplink and downlink made all the sense in the world. Then, with LTE, we thought it was nice to have dedicated spectrum each way, but the reality was that it became less of an issue and now with carrier aggregation and dynamic uplink and downlink balancing. Hey, Wi-Fi had it right all along. LTE is catching up to Wi-Fi’s lessons learned. Just like the MIMO technology, Wi-Fi had it first. LTE is putting that technology on steroids. Then 5G NR will amp it up even more. How cool is this?

I digress, sorry.

TDD or FDD?

If you think it doesn’t make a difference, it does. You see the carriers loved FDD in the CDMA world because they had efficiencies when the uplink and downlink. FDD allowed them to have dedicated uplink spectrum and downlink spectrum. This was a crucial factor for efficiency. Even with LTE is seemed to be a good thing when they had the spectrum broken apart. That is, until today, when the Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!efficiency of uplink and downlink balancing was not possible when dedicated spectrum up or down may cause more problems than is solves. So now, Sprint’s 3.5GHz spectrum and the CBRS 3.5GHz spectrum looks quite sexy. It allows the carrier to control uplink and downlink dynamically free of any dedicated up/down spectrum barriers. Awesome!

For instance, LTE is more like Wi-Fi now. It can be more efficient when you can have the spectrum controlled by the carrier, not dedicated. I wondered if the carriers would think about trying to change their new spectrum. It seems like now, FDD having dedicate spectrum would create limitations. Wouldn’t it be nice to control what goes up and what comes down in LTE and especially in 5G. TDD allows that because it is transmitting, Tx, and receiving, Rx, on the same elements and in the same spectrum. How cool is that? Just like Wi-Fi, only it’s LTE, soon to be a 5G format. I would think 5G will be LTE on steroids.

Why does this matter in massive MIMO? Again, the FDD system will need dedicated antenna elements paired with radio heads for transmit and dedicated elements and radio heads for receive. Therefore, a 32×32 active antenna would have 32 transmit and 32 receive elements paired with a radio head port in the antenna which would effective look like, in my mind, 64 heads in one antenna.

A TDD system could have the receive and transmit together on one element. Therefore a 64×64 active antenna would have just 64 elements paired with radio heads.

At least this is what it’s looking like right now. So, half the number of 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelselements for twice the performance, in theory.

The antenna that has half the elements should be half the size, smaller antennas with less weight make for a happier installation, lower costs, and more effective rollout.

Beck to cost, elements and tiny radio heads all cost money. The payback and gain by adding more active elements has to have balance somewhere. If 64×64 costs 5 times as much as 32×32 it may not be worth putting it in. If 128×128 costs 10 times as much, then when is the payback? There has to be a balance between antenna cost and system gain.

What about frequency?

How does this effect the antenna? Well, the antenna size is determined by the band. The lower the frequency the larger the antenna, or at least the elements. That’s a normal antenna. Now that we have massive MIMO, it makes more of a difference because the radio heads are behind each element in the antenna. This can be a factor in antenna size.

The lower bands, say 1.3Ghz and lower, are going to have larger antennas that require more size just due to the lower spectrum. That is if they want 3dB of gain or more. There are many factors with antenna design which I am not going to get into, but the lower the spectrum, the larger the antenna. Remember that the carriers want plenty of gain and need to have the efficiency to put the least number of antennas on a tower, say 3, as possible. If it is a mini macro on a pole or a small cell, then you may rely more on one or two antennas to cover what you need. Lower spectrum makes that more of a challenge.

While you think it may not matter, you’re not seeing the bigger picture. Larger antennas cost money and many carriers have spectrum in many bands. In fact, why do you think that T-Mobile wants the CBRS 3.5GHz spectrum to badly? They see the value in the short-range coverage. It’s high spectrum, smaller radios and antennas, and covers the smaller areas efficiently. The deal with Sprint fell through, now they need a contingency plan and the CBRS looks inviting.

How much is too much?

Here we have the real conundrum of massive MIMO. How much is too much? Do we know the payback of massive MIMO? It looks like we need it for true 5G to roll out with all the promise we expect of 5G. I mean it’s more than just the new format of 5GNR, it’s all the features that give us Ultra Reliable Low Latency, URLL, and extreme broadband.

There has to be a balance of where we put it, how we deploy, and so on. It makes sense to put it in urban area where the payback is immediate. Lots of users can justify the cost. If we are covering cows on an IOT system, then it doesn’t make sense, does it?

If the cost of a 64×64 is 1/3 the price of a 128×128, then it may make sense to go with the 64×64 for the payback. The number of radio heads will change the price of the unit along with the size and weight. We have to be financially responsible, don’t we?

Larger antennas cost more.

Then, there is the mounting issues. They will leave it up to the construction crews to install the equipment, but they won’t like putting monstrous active antenna on the towers if the tower companies raise the rent 10 times. They also have to consider the tower modification implications. There has to be a balance.SOW Training Cover

Now, for someone with a TDD system if they find the right model. If the model makes sense, then they could lighten the load on the tower. This may or may not make the tower companies happy, they want more rent but they don’t want to modify the towers if they don’t have to. Actually, they pass that cost onto the carrier, so maybe they don’t care.

For the FDD systems, they will have to install larger active antennas because the Tx and the Rx will be split. You need 2 active element arrays. This add size, cost, and complexity to the system. However, it will enhance performance of the system. You no longer need radio heads and coax jumpers since it is an active antenna.

But wait, that’s not the big picture!

The reality is, for mobility, we have to look at what we’re replacing. If the carriers are going to upgrade to massive MIMO in their existing spectrum and replace their existing equipment, then they have an advantage.

For instance, they will install one unit. The active antenna will have fiber running right to it, direct. So there is not longer all the crap on the backend, like the radio head, the coax jumpers, and a separate antenna. All of that equipment adds problems. Let me break it down, the radio heads used to have 1 to 3 fiber pairs running to them, that will change, now there will be many more. There is more data, more overhead, and more bandwidth needed. That is why all the fiber will be connectorized.

I know I threw a lot at you, but let’s look at everything and what it means.

  • No more radio head, less room needed on the tower, the weight of the radio head is probably more than the radio heads in the active antenna. Less weight and one less point of failure.
  • No more coax means less weight, no PIM testing, one less point of failure, no reflected power, easier troubleshooting, less time of installation. For those of you that don’t know, coax jumpers take a lot of time to make, weatherproof, tighten properly, and secure properly.
  • Fiber connectors save a lot of time, in the old days tower crews had to put connectors on the fiber after they cleaned it and then test it thoroughly, all this takes a lot of time to install.

With everything in one unit, installation is quicker. Mounting should be easier. One unit to install, not many for each sector. However, now we have a huge point of failure, if the active antenna goes, we’re down hard for that sector.

One more thing, in theory, we should have electric downtilt with the massive MIMO antenna that will be controlled automatically by the system. So Azimuth is important but now we may not have to worry about the 3 degrees of downtilt like we used to.

Less time to install, easier to install, less equipment hanging on the tower. It’s a win-win all the way around. All this with increased performance. WOW!

Pros and Cons:

Pro:

  • Fiber to the antenna decreases installation complexity,
  • Active antennas are integrated,
  • Massive MIMO improves system performance for;
    • Coverage through beamforming,
    • Multi user, MU-MIMO, allows the beams to talk to multiple users simultaneously,
    • Increased throughput to each user,
    • Increased densification for power and throughput to multiple users,
  • No more coax jumpers, PIM testing, weather proofing, and so on,
  • Less weight overall due to less equipment on the tower,

Cons:

  • Increase system complexity,
  • Increased cost for antenna,
  • Could be a single point of failure, not sure about how the connection to the active antenna will work,
  • More fiber jumpers up the tower,
  • Probably increase power draw for the active antenna,

Things to think about?

  • Cost of the array, does 32×32 serve your needs or can you go 64×64 or 128×128? Which delivers the best cost for the best price?
  • If FDD, what size can you put ion the tower? Will it match the antenna size you have now?
  • Are you ready to run more fiber up the tower or across the rooftop?
  • Will the payback make sense?

How does the massive MIMO system payback the carrier?

  • Increase throughput
  • Much better densification, concentrating the power to each UE,
  • Better throughput to each UE through beamforming and multiple users talking t the same time, remember that there are multiple radio heads behind each element,
  • Less physical complexity on the tower,
  • New options to carriers for deployment,
  • In urban areas it could reduce the need for small cells in the macro’s coverage umbrella,
  • CRAN Massive MIMO greatly improves localized densification,
  • Spectral efficiency is greatly improved by the beamforming,

To learn more:

Let me know if this has helped you! Subscribe to this blog, at the top of the page or get me on Twitter @wade4wireless or wade4wireless@gmail.com or go to www.wade4wireless.com or www.techfecta.com to reach me. I do have a podcast, search Wade4Wireless wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe. Reach out on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/wadesarver/ or Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Wade4Wireless/ to stay in touch. I am very reachable!

I am building reports around these blogs for massive MIMO and 5G, soon to be released. They will be available in PDF and print, let me know if you’re interested in LinkedIn and send me a message so I can tell you where to get them. They should be released by April 1st.

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Finally, one more thing:

I am winding down Wade4wireless because I am building up TechFecta. I have plans and I can’t do all of this at the same time. I want to build up a full-time business around this information and more. I will focus on tech, health, and philosophy. Those are the things that really fulfill me.

As you know, it’s exhausting to work full-time and do this on the side. While I really enjoy this, I have more that I want to do.

I would like to thank all of you for the support. I really appreciate it.

I will continue this for another few months, but I don’t know if I can maintain every week, it’s really a lot of work. Let me know what you think!

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The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need! 

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Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

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How do we get more Backhaul Bandwidth?

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One thing that the tech industry needs is more backhaul. It’s more than just connecting homes. It’s making each location as efficient as

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possible. While business and enterprise need more backhaul, how do they get it? We all need fiber, is there going to be enough? Let’s face it, running fiber is not cheap.

The fiber providers out there have done a pretty good job of putting plenty of strands down. That is until 5G rolls out. Now we need more, more, and even more. How are we going to gain more bandwidth with the fiber we have? Chances are good that we can’t, we will need to lay more down and use all that we have.

FWA = Fixed Wireless Access

FTTH = Fiber to the Home

FTTP = Fiber to the Premise

Is fiber key?

Fiber is critical. It’s a critical necessity of moving ahead, especially with 5G. We need to have fiber deployed to as many places as possible. It needs to be accessible where broadband is needed. Even for IOT, if we want low latency, then we rely on fiber. It’s the foundation of any backhaul at some point.

Fiber is a crucial factor in any broadband access and to any 5G deployment. The question is, how do we extend it?

 

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First off, why do we need an alternative to fiber?

The problem is the time to lay fiber and the cost. Fiber is costly to deploy because of the process, permitting, zoning, and approvals.

The process is a straightforward one. It is where we must plan what we want, how much we want, and try to future proof what we can. Growth needs to be estimated. Anyone who deploys fiber will tell you they could roll out any time.

Lead time from the factory could be an issue. Depending on what you order and how much, it could be over 8 weeks.

That’s not the real delay in rolling out fiber, nor is it the real problem. Running fiber in a city could be an issue for several reasons. Do you need to dig up pavement, a road, or a sidewalk? This is one issue.

Who owns the rights to the pole? Who can get access? What is the rent? What restrictions do you have on the poles?

Then there is the permitting, which the city may or may not grant you, that is another delay.

Then there is the “dig once” policy. If you want to lay fiber, you may need to wait for 3 or 4 other companies that will lay fiber, so you can do it all at the same time. Also, if the city wants fiber, you may have to do them a favor and lay it with your fiber to help speed things up.

Do you get it? Delays and roadblocks, all part of the process. This is where the cable companies have an edge. They have pole rights. They have a run to every home regardless. They plan the new development with developers. They have the processes and plans laid out. They footed a lot of the expense so that they don’t have to do it again and again. They have agreements with the cities. While they did all this, they are in a good position. You would think they 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelswould run more fiber, but what I have seen is that they tend to stop others from running their fiber. So, this will make the cities look at the process and reevaluate what should be done.

How do we extend the fiber?

We are going to have to get creative. This is where Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have vision. They have the new spectrum, and it will be used for more than the internet to homes. It is going to have a viable business use and for the backhaul to their own small cells for densification. Probably CRAN as well.

However, there are options for the rest of us. The higher spectrums are not all licensed. While they are very short-range, they are good enough to connect buildings, small cells, and other solutions. There is spectrum anyone can use, the lightly licensed and the license-free in the higher spectrums like 60GHz, 70GHz and even 80GHz. Here you can install the gig links.

It’s not just the big carriers, I have installed gig links years back. It works, but it had limitations.
For instance, it is very line of sight, and rain can affect it. Also, it is Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!what it is, meaning that if you put in a gig link, then that’s all that is will ever be. Generally, these radios are installed at max capacity, and the only way to increase it is to add another radio. Please be aware, that all the carriers that used microwave in the past replaced as much as they could with fiber for a reason. Fewer alarms and growth.

In the case of a macro site, wireless can get you on the air quick, but it has the limitations I listed. So generally, people use wireless until they need more, then they add fiber. They may keep the wireless as a backup unless the rent is too high.

Now, the radios cost less, the deployments are getting easier, and radios can do more and more. Some are even allowing for more than 1Gbps, which is what we need. It’s changing the way we look at wireless access.

Who can do this?

Anyone can put in a wireless link. I’ve done it several times. Like many of you reading this have. The key is to make money. If you are in the market now, you know that the design and installation costs are near rock bottom. The carriers won’t pay much, and the OEMs won’t pay much, they look at it as a commodity. What does that mean? It means it’s time to move on and drop that business.

Fiber, on the other hand, is a necessity. So, we wait for fiber, and we pay for fiber. We also pay monthly for it. Fiber is deemed valuable. We need it.

What are the carriers doing to get around running fiber everywhere? Sprint has been using UE backhaul. (learn more at https://wade4wireless.com/2015/10/19/what-is-lte-ue-backhaul/ ) Sprint has been using their 2.5GHz spectrum and putting in very cost-effective links. It has limitations, but it’s easy to install and configure. It seems to work well. Just like their “Magic Box,” same concept and it works for small cells. This is what they intended to do for the small cells and mini-macros on poles they tried to roll out with Mobilitie.

While this is cutting edge, they need to plan out the network to make the backhaul available and reliable. If you feed the backhaul into a site with limited bandwidth, you’re asking for trouble.

Here is where the other carriers could utilize the mmwave. It is going to offer even more bandwidth than the 2.5GHz could because each link will be semi-dedicated for that backhaul. So, one fiber run could, in theory, provide 10 or more macro, mini, and small cell sites 1Gbps. Again, in theory, I didn’t test this or anything, but now we are making the most of fiber. We cut down the last 200 feet run costs. We got the remote cell, business, enterprise, IOT radio, whatever, connected and working on a broadband backhaul with low latency. That is going to free up more CapEx and OpEx money for other things.

After all, the wireless link is also becoming a commodity. It must be utilized the best it can, including every fiber drop. While this is a detail, it is a detail that could save money, real money, on backhaul.

What is the fixed spectrum the US carriers have?

The carriers here in the USA have been sucking mmwave spectrum, let’s break it down.

  • Verizon has over 100MHz of 28GHz and 39GHz spectrum.
  • AT&T has over 100MHz in 28GHz and 39GHz spectrum.
  • T-Mobile has 78MHz in the 28GHz
  • Sprint has 200MHz in 14.5 to 15.35GHz spectrum.
  • US Cellular has 10MHz in the 28GHz band.

What about WiGIG?

Here is the unlicensed spectrum, (ISM band), that the FCC released. I am not sure how this will be used, but it looks viable for an indoor solution. I really tried to figure out who is using this.

What is WiGIG? The FCC released unlicensed spectrum from 64GHz to 71GHz, extending the 60GHz band. It is 802.11ad broadband which we call WiGIG. Before we just had the 57GHz to 64GHz spectrum to play with. So, we went from 7GHz of spectrum to 14GHz.

If you’re interested, then go to IEEE’s tutorial at http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/wireless/wi-fi/ieee-802-11ad-microwave.php to learn more.

To be honest, this sounds cool, but I am trying to figure out how it will relate to the real world. Some OEM or vendor is going to have to get creative and build use cases around this. How will they use it, what are the physical limitations, like walls and weather? What is the distance it can work? Will it work outside reliably? We will have to wait and see.

Then, if the proof of concept works, what devices will adopt it? Wi-Fi is in everything from your smartphone to your laptop and maybe even in several devices around your home. Like your TV, speakers, iPods, and so on. Someday I hope LTE-U is in everything, but it’s going to take years, maybe decades, for that adoption to happen.

What about the CBRS?

OK, I usually brag about the CBRS at some point, but I really look at that as a last mile solution for the end-user. I don’t think there is enough spectrum, in the current plan, to do much for the fiber extension. However, it would work well for the IOT functions if the radio is low latency. I am just saying; this solution should be used where it is the most effective.

Why IOT? Because it does not require the bandwidth that many other users will need. Let’s separate the use cases. Broadband versus low latency. While the CBRS will be valuable in the LAA LTE solutions, it may not be that critical to fiber extensions.

Just like WiGIG, I am looking forward to seeing the CBRS be on every device, exciting!

How do we plan backhaul?

This is tricky. The carriers know that they must plan it carefully. Let’s look at what they will be looking when they plan. I made a list:

  • What will this site need off based on population and usage projections?
  • Will this site feed other sites?
  • Is fiber accessible to this site?
  • Is wireless an option? Wireless could be the backhaul or the fronthaul to another site.
  • If there are feeder sites, what is their usage projections?

OK, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Simple projections will suffice. Your team should know this is going in, but there are always surprises. So, let’s look at more questions to align with making it as future proof as we can.

  • What is the expected growth?
  • What is our budget for this site? Looking at OpEx and CapEx around the site needs.
  • How much fiber is available?
  • If wireless, do we have the height, mounting space, rental agreements? Also, what would the site acquisition fees be? Was this considered during installation?
  • Can the lease be modified to add more equipment if needed?
  • Can the fiber provider give you another strand or two if needed?

It takes some planning to get this right. I didn’t cover everything, obviously, but you get the idea. It’s enough to get you started and to allow you to talk like you know what you’re doing.

Planning is essential, but when doing a mass deployment, you may try to make everything as cookie cutter as possible. I get it, to take that much time for each site may be a problem. If this is the case, five your site acquisition team a heads up of what your intentions are. Look at the market or region you’re going in and decide of what it will take to add FWA or FTTP. Maybe you can come up with simple questions for this as well.

  • Can fiber be run overhead or is it underground only?
  • Can we get through the permitting process quickly?
  • Is there a dig once policy? If so, what is the lead time for the next dig?
  • Is there room at the site for another dish/antenna for wireless access?
  • If FWA, is there line of sight to the other location?
  • If FWA, is UE an option?

There you go, another high-level plan and checklist.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Who has enough spectrum for 5G!

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I have to tell you. I have been speaking to so many people about 5G. It seems that the front-runners are AT&T and……….. Sprint! That’s right. AT&T is no surprise because they are always on the front bleeding edge of technology along with Verizon. That’s why we are so enamored with #1 and #2. They are willing to try new things and make it work. Deep down we love that about Verizon. They will take the hit to make it happen. VoLTE, LTE, WCDMA, FIOS, U-Verse, and more. AT&T is

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usually quick to follow Verizon, but we all know they wait for Verizon to learn the expensive and painful mistakes! We all know that AT&T and Verizon have bought up a lot of cmwave and mmwave spectrum for fixed, but let’s talk about mobile spectrum here.

Yes, I said Sprint!

However, did I say Sprint? YES! By golly, Sprint has all that 2.5GHz spectrum that they have been rolling out at a snail’s pace. They could do so much with it. There’s just one obstacle, and that is Sprint’s management. Well, that and the BILLIONs of dollars of debt. We all thought Softbank would be the magical wizard to turn them around. Hey, that didn’t happen right away, but they did a great job, along with Marcello Claure, in getting the debt reduced, you know, down from over $30B to maybe $24B. Don’t you worry, Wells Fargo is right there to defend them, and offer them more financing? They love those interest payments. So, would I, I could live off that for the rest of my life. If only I had the Billions to give them in the first place.

(By the way, I challenge Claure to a one on one soccer match! If we don’t get physical, I think I could outrun him. If he hits me, that 6’ 6” frame of his would probably flatten my little 5’ 10” frame.)

Back to the point, 5G spectrum, which Sprint has plenty of and we want to see them deploy. I believe they have the chance to leapfrog everyone, including Verizon if they could roll it out. However, it’s like the kid with the new muscle car and no money for gas. Hard to show off when you’re pushing the car.

They have the spectrum, and I really think that massive MIMO LTE would take them into 5G quickly. We have all seen their past deployments. Network Vision, which wasn’t so bad, but they found a way to create too many options. They thought they knew best having over 30 options at every tower. Sounds great because there 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelsare so many choices, but the reality hit when they had confusion, miscommunication, and lack of coordination. Great plan, poor execution. Whereas Verizon’s deployments are rather simple, usually less than 10 configurations to keep things simple and streamlined. They have the one-off models, but for the most part, they keep it simple and streamlined, don’t they?

What about the spectrum that Sprint has? They have a great asset if only they didn’t have the substantial debt and a history of botched deployments. I know we all thought Clearwire had a great plan, but that isn’t around any longer either. In fact, I think the sites are finally all off air.

Will Sprint be able to deploy cost-effectively and leapfrog the other carriers? I hope so, but history is against them. They really should let the regional manager do their own deployments, that would make more sense.

Verizon has 5G spectrum, but fixed or mobile?

Verizon is not the heaviest in mobile spectrum. They haven’t invested like the others, but they are very strategic. They are getting the biggest bang per bit. They have been able to build enough sites, use CRAN, and break down the coverage in an absolutely brilliant way. They have less spectrum than AT&T, but they have done so much more. WOW! Now they have a ton of mmwave and cmwave to make the fixed deployment happen. They appear to be betting heavily on this play. My outlook is that they intend to let mobile go to 5G when it’s ready, which is in about a year. I think they could control the fixed wireless and then transition it to the mobile users as needed.

I would imagine it’s something that could control and play with because fixed is easy to build and change compared to the live wireless network. If you think about it, the fixed wireless is something that can be changed, updated, and tested endlessly without hurting an existing network. They would deploy pockets of small fixed networks today and get all the bugs worked out. They can also test devices that could be installed by the end-user. This is progress in an environment that they can control. Unlike the mobile network.

One more thing to consider, the mobile network will evolve as the Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!standards evolve. The fixed network can be shaped. The mobile network needs to be treated with TLC, (tender loving care) because the users on the network will get pissed if they can’t watch the latest cat YouTube video. I am just saying that quality matters to Verizon. The mobile network will get there when it’s good and ready. The fixed network can be tested today then evolve into extended support for the mobile network once the devices add the spectrum.

Can T-Mobile transition 600MHz to 5G?

Now we have T-Mobile. They are deploying that 600MHz that they got from the FCC. I know they can roll it out quickly, but I think they are finding it’s not the beachfront property that then-FCC commission Tom Wheeler said it was. However, it is an asset that T-Mobile has, and they are rolling out at breakneck speed. You have to love those guys. Some devices even have 600MHz in them.

T-Mobile gets me excited when they talk about deployment because they deploy, they build, roll out, and kick ass. It’s not a game they play, as some other carriers. They put their money where their mouth is. I hear people make fun of Legere for being a marketing guy, but if you ask me, it ain’t bragging when it’s true. The numbers and coverage prove it.

T-Mobile wants 5G, but can they achieve maximum performance on 5G in 600MHz? I would like to think so but the spectrum would make the equipment huge, so that may be a drawback. It is going to be a challenge, and it explains why T-Mo is trying so hard to get more of the 3.5GHz spectrum. They intend to use it for the concentrated coverage that 5G can offer. They want to densify where they can and to be honest, it’s going to be cost-effective at 3.5GHz. Especially if they want to take a shot at fixed wireless. They didn’t’ seem as interested in the cmwave and mmwave that Verizon and AT&T were sucking up. Luckily, carrier aggregation may be their saving grace. They may be able to use it to make all that spectrum look like a huge pipe. They may get massive MIMO working well and cost-effective in the lower bands. I hope so anyway. It may be a stretch to see if it’s cost-effective to deploy massive MIMO at 600MHz. Once more devices have band 71 in them, it will be a game changer. That 20MHz of spectrum will really help once it’s aggregate with, say 3.5GHz spectrum.

OK, 5G on 600MHz FDD has to consider some things. The antennas for 600MHz are larger than the higher frequencies. This means that the tower may have more weight and larger devices on it. When they go massive MIMO, it will be huge, why? Because the transmit will have 32 x 32 and the receive will have 32 x 32, (FDD needs to have separate antenna arrays in 2018). This adds expense but dramatically improves densification. So, T-Mo will have to weigh out the expense versus the payback. Does it make sense to deploy this in urban environments? YES! Does it make sense to deploy this in suburban and rural environments? Of course not, unless John Legere decides to build a home there. I am just saying that there must be a good reason.

Why do they need massive MIMO?

  • It’s going to improve throughput and densification because now they can pass high data rates to multiple users at the same time, (MU-MIMO).
  • It’s going to reduce the need for small cells around the macro site.
  • It’s going to improve CRAN densification scenarios.
  • It’s the stepping stone to 5G.
  • They could do it in any spectrum, but the 600MHz is new and covers a lot of real estate. It makes sense to put it in as massive MIMO from the start if it’s cost-effective.

AT&T talks 5G, but do they have a plan?

Then there is AT&T, they have a ton of spectrum, but they don’t seem interested in deploying all of it. They have almost as much spectrum as Sprint. they even have a lot of deployed. But they just sold off the 600MHz spectrum they won in the last auction. I guess they decided they didn’t need it. They are a large carrier, they have a lot of spectrum, yet they are starting to focus on fixed wireless, like Verizon. They have every intention of appealing to the consumer as an internet provider, maybe even an entertainment provider.

The one thing about AT&T, like Verizon, they have the resources to do it all at the same time. They are already testing fixed wireless. In fact, they have been looking for a reliable solution for years. Now, they can finally live that dream. They were testing in Texas with different technologies. Now they may be able to have a viable solution that could boost them into the WISP category along with Verizon. It’s really a great thing.

As for the mobile network, they seem to be following the same strategy as Verizon. Big companies think alike. Sure, they will claim to have 5G first, but the reality is they will do it with fixed wireless first then the mobile network will get there when the standards are set, and the OEMs have a viable product.

Let’s not forget that AT&T has the FirstNet system to cater to. Really, it’s just a bunch of site upgrades to add Band 14 to the sites. The real work will be connecting to the FirstNet core and then set up all the stores for the public safety market. While this sounds exciting, it’s really something that Verizon has been doing. As far as I can see, there is no solution for the push to talk and I have no idea what the price points are. Remember that public safety has budgets, at least outside of NYC they do. I am sure NYC has a budget, but they always find the money to do new and innovative things, if the mayor wants it. Again, sorry, I am off topic yet again.

While AT&T has promised mobile 5G in 2018, they need to move quickly to do anything. I am not sure if they really plan to do something, or just call what they have 5G. They really need to deploy massive MIMO first then jump to 5G.

AT&T is investing heavily in fixed wireless so that they can scale back FTTH. Look out cable companies; you have even more competition beyond what they did with U-verse and DISH.

What about DISH spectrum?

Let’s talk about everything DISH did with their spectrum. Hmmm, well, alrighty then. Not much to talk about, so let’s move on. (DISH, my perspective is that they are not an innovator!) I would love it if they would prove me wrong, and do something, anything, or sell the spectrum.

DISH talks it up like they will build IOT, but let’s look at history and see what they have done. Again, I see very little. Maybe someone could help me out here. Nothing to brag about.

And then there are the cable companies.

I think the cable companies might consider a merger with a carrier soon. The ideal merger would be T-Mobile. They look great, in fact, T-Mobile could do great things with a cable company or with the DISH spectrum. Just keep T-Mobile in control. Regardless what you think of John Legere, look at his track record in the wireless industry. He created growth in subscribers and coverage area. He remained on the edge of technology. He created marketing campaigns that had real results. He was willing to experiment and try things that others feared like no contracts. For the most part, it worked, and when it didn’t, he moved on. Much like Verizon has done when they saw a program flounder. That takes courage. Sorry, I digress.

The cable companies do own some spectrum. They have the backhaul to support it, and they could build a core very quickly. While they have all of this, even Comcast seems happy being an MVNO with Verizon. They did win 600MHz spectrum, but only in their primary markets. They seem content to provide Wi-Fi everywhere. That license free stuff is easy to roll out, and the equipment is reasonably cheap. Comcast seems happy with that model.

I have no idea what Charter’s plan is. I wonder if they know what their plan is?

Summary:

To make this easy I put short descriptions below:

  • Sprint – tons of spectrum, heavy debt, poor organizational skills.
  • Verizon – the Big boy, pushing fixed 5G, mobile will happen when it happens.
  • T-Mobile – very aggressive, needs to roll out 600MHz, counting on 3.5GHz to fill mobile 5G requirements.
  • AT&T – read Verizon, pretty much the same plan.
  • DISH – right, OK, little to say.
  • Cable companies – probably waiting to merge with someone.

There you go, I hope you enjoy! Resources and links below that not only back this up, but you may enjoy them as well.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Would 5G Help the Auto Industry?

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Yes, obviously and I will tell you why. However, many people say that the auto industry needs 5G. Here is something I read about all the

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time. The fact that everyone says we need, I mean absolutely need 5G for vehicles. I’ll let you in on a secret, you don’t. I am a big fan and advocate of 5G, but I want to set the expectation properly.

They are already connected!

Cars are already connected. They can be hacked, and they are already feeding data back to the manufacturer. This is all good because they want to know how to improve the vehicle. Don’t get me wrong, chances are good they could abuse their rights and invade your privacy. The manufacturers won’t because they have too much to lose. They don’t need 5G to do this. They just need a data connection.Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!

They will ask about autonomous cars, you know, self-driving cars. That is being done today as well, ever hear of Google, Lyft, or Uber? They have all tested this successfully. It works today without 5G.

So why would we need 5G? Well, first let’s look at why we don’t need it. Any car should have the smarts to handle the problems on its own. What I mean by that is that the electronics in the vehicle are there for a reason. They are going to provide the data, controls, autonomous driving without any outside help. The idea is that it can work with or without connectivity. Vehicles need to be smart, smarter than your smartphone. They can have the delays in it that your smartphone does. However, they should have a specific task for each thing they do, especially if they are driving for you. It must be alert and quick to respond whether it has a connection or not.

Can’t they just talk to each other?

Next, let’s look at car to car connectivity. I think this is very important because the vehicles can alert each other faster than going through any network. If a vehicle is 200 feet ahead of you has an accident, then it would be great if a mesh system could send a quick alert back from car to car to car until it reaches your vehicle, in minimal time. Again, without the delay of any network. They need to talk to each other to make this work, and it must be quick short data bursts. FYI – I see a hacker having a field day with this, but that is beside the point.

Again, why 5G for the vehicle?

So why the need for 5G? I don’t think we need 5G, just 2 types of remote connections. It would be great to be able to gather the data like we do today. It would be great to feed data to the vehicle, like updated maps, weather, traffic, and so on. This would be nice to do without the aid of a smartphone. However, if your smartphone does it, why pay for the car to be connected?

It would be nice to have your car be a Wi-Fi or LTE-U hotspot, again, your smartphone can do this, at least the Wi-Fi part today.

I think the IOT play is huge here for the gathering of data and the updating of vehicles. It would have to be very low latency to have the vehicle send back real-time data, in case of an accident. It could alert the authorities if there is an accident in real time and send back a real-time damage report. You know, if someone is hurt, where they 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelsare at, and any other alarms that are available. Other alarms like airbags deployed or something like that. Maybe even give a report of the impact details if that is available. Make sure this device has a backup battery so if the car battery is destroyed, then it can continue to work beyond the life of the car, like a black box for a plane.

So, we don’t really need 5G for any of this, but 5G paves the way for all of this in the requirements we know about.

Great power requires great responsibility!

However, like Uncle Ben said in Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.” This means that the governments everywhere will have the ability to see where you are at any time, maybe even activate a camera in your car to see you. They could control your car with you in it. Think about that. Again, a hacker’s dream but a government worker’s prime directive.

Would they do it? I don’t know. Would they monitor every phone call? Would they tap into every smartphone? Would they monitor all the cameras out there? Would they do this without a warrant? You tell me. They always do it on all the movies, that’s all I know. On TV shows they can crack into any camera anywhere. Meanwhile, I am trying to remember what the hell the password is to log into my bank account! I don’t remember changing that password. Is the caps lock on? Yet, on TV, they hack into a car doing 80 down the highway. Meanwhile, I am wondering why the stupid GPS is taking me through a cow pasture! Sorry, I digress, back to the vehicle story.

Seriously, do we need 5G for the vehicles?

Back to the question at hand, do we need 5G for vehicles, not? It would be nice, and it would be the next step in the evolution of self-driving cars, traffic control, and improving travel in most countries. I would like to think it would minimize accidents and traffic-related deaths. I see a lot of good. Again, there is good and bad because hackers could reach something that could kill you. The government could monitor your every move without you knowing it. They can do that now with your smartphone, so maybe that is a moot point.

The fact that 5G essentially will offer 2 advantages in one system, more or less, of ultra-low latency and extreme broadband makes the car connection perfect for the system. It will advance us quickly, even faster than we are moving today. Soon we will rely on the car to pick us up, and we may not have to drive in 30 years or so because the car will do it for us. Why not?

The 5G system will help us break more barriers, and autonomous cars are one of them. We could potentially get away from the gas vehicles and move to an electronic society. We have a long way to go, but the wireless connections that 5G offers would help us make significant improvements. We could learn how to improve battery life and all the other aspects of any vehicle. Tesla is doing much of this today to make it happen. They make changes that will improve the driver’s experience and the vehicle going forward. That is forward thinking in real time.

What about autonomous industrial vehicles using 5G?

Now, let’s look at the industrial use. That’s right! We always look at the masses for this type of technology, but industrial vehicles have a big part in making this happen. They have been doing autonomous vehicles for years, without 5G and sometimes without any connection. That’s what I think we need to understand. The vehicle must be smart. Having a wireless connection will make it smarter everywhere. It’s already out there with wireless connectivity, for more than just data, but it’s been a long time coming.

Big trucks are vital to this ecosystem because drivers get tired. They could make mistakes. They could rest more often but be there to make sure nothing goes wrong. Also, if there is a dangerous substance, like gas or something explosive, the vehicle could have more sensors and alert authorities when it goes into a specific jurisdiction, this would allow the local PSAP know what is on the roads at all times. They could track it real time, and they could also know before anyone calls if there is an accident. This would save crucial minutes if the vehicle has a spill and no one is around to report it.

Tractors are already being used without drivers. This didn’t need wireless connectivity, just a GPS connection and a kick-ass computer in the tractor. They can take care of the field work and self-correct their path when needed. They are good at doing all those functions. The wireless network makes it even better, so you can see what’s happening and collect all the real data time. John Deere is a pioneer in this technology because they are breaking into a new market of the next generation of tractors.

Dump trucks and dozers are already becoming more and more automated. Dump trucks primarily because they generally travel a specific route to get the dirt from point a to point b, so simple a machine can do it.

Autonomous bulldozers are in the mix. They can move the dirt in a specified area where there is a lot to be taken out. I am not sure how they know how much to remove, but I have articles below stating that they can do it. Again, they don’t need the connectivity. They need a GPS NAV system to make it happen. The wireless connectivity helps alert people when there is a problem or to remotely control it if necessary.

What about the money trucks? I mean armored vehicles. That could be automated as well. For all the armored vehicles out there, they could be controlled remotely so if something did happen the local guys could run, or if they can’t then the vehicle could return to its destination without anyone driving it or to the local police station. If they had connected cars, the driver and security guard could wear cameras at all times. This may help them in an emergency. It could be a game changer.

What about the military, they could track every vehicle in real time and understand what is going on. They are already doing this, but that’s all I can say about that.

Emergency vehicles could have the people work on the patient while the vehicle finds the fasted route to the nearest hospital. They could have body cameras on them that could connect to the vehicle always. The vehicle could be connected and alert the PSAP or hospital of what’s happening. Hospitals would have all of the data prior to the vehicle getting to the hospital. They could have the blood ready, the medicine, the ER workers all prepped for that specific emergency. It could all be automated and proactive.

Does this really need 5G?

So, we don’t need 5G, but it will make the vehicle experience 1,000 times better! Excellent I say, but again, we need to make sure we have our privacy and security. I hope we can have both, but I think we’ll start with security.

Remember that we already have autonomous cars without 5G. Remember that companies like John Deere and Komatsu are already using autonomous industrial vehicles. Remember that Uber and Lyft are already doing this. It’s amazing that these companies are so far ahead of the curve. They didn’t need 5G, but I would bet they are going to love having high-speed and low latency to connect to connect to the vehicle. I think they are all hoping this technology helps them improve data collection and upgrades. I would put money on the fact that they are counting on this being a game changer for their industry. But hey, that’s me and my vision of the future.

The fact that we will have vehicles out there doing the work for us will free us up to worry about other things, like how we plan to roll out 5G to the world. I would love it if I didn’t have to drive at all. That would be great. I think it’s cool that all those big utility vehicles could do the tedious work without having a human intervene or get hurt. Freedom never looked so good! Or cool for that matter.

What does this mean for the wireless systems?

So glad you asked! It means that we don’t need 5G or wireless to make the autonomous vehicles work. We do need wireless to collect the data, do updates, monitor what’s going on, get real-time analytics, get emergency alerts. This all adds up to a system that will make 5G more efficient. Why? Because some of that data can be an IOT function, which means low latency and short data bursts while all the data collection and upgrades could be on the broadband network. Both can be handled beautifully on the 5G system.

This is not going to be an easy road to follow. The automakers are nervous because the days of mass appeal are winding down. Many people would rather have an autonomous vehicle take them somewhere versus owning a car, in urban markets anyway. Some of us do not trust self-driving cars, but we didn’t trust cell phones at one time, nor computer, nor anything else that was so new it looked like magic, not science or technology.

Now we have the option to get into a smart vehicle and leave the driving up to a machine. How nice is that?

If you’re in the service business, don’t worry, we must drive to our sites and carry all the parts with us. We’re stuck driving at least part of the way.

The wireless carriers are counting on the systems connecting everything; this is a primary goal for them. They want the business, and it sounds sexy. They look at every vehicle as a potential customer. Look at OnStar, what a successful service. If AT&T and Verizon can tap into that business, they will. I am sure T-Mobile and Sprint would too. It’s low revenue per vehicle, but if you get over a million vehicles, it adds up to a great business.

The department of transportation is holding on the dream of using the DSRC which is dedicated short-range communications in the 5.9GHz band. Why? Because this band is open, and the vehicles could talk to each other. It makes more sense than going through the entire network and across any cloud to talk. You want the real-time communications for each vehicle. This is a particular application for the vehicles to talk in a mesh system. It would also have radios on poles that could relay the messages and collect data real time. The DSRC is a great idea; unfortunately for the DAT, it won’t happen unless they pay for it. Most smart city initiatives are strapped for cash and rely on the public-private partnerships, (PPP), to make things happen.

The cities I have worked with rely on grants or tax dollars for what they want, but they love getting private business in the act if they are willing to pay for something. Colleges are a great resource; they can often come up with funding if you can get through the bureaucracy to get the funding.

So, if your thinking other systems will support this, guess again, 5G will be the desired choice just because the carriers will work to make this happen. All the others appear to be one-offs. The DSRC will happen in the vehicles because the automakers are making it happen. The cities will have a minimal investment, and I would think that the larger cities will invest in this. Especially Detroit where they have so much to gain. Colleges would love to tap into this because they would learn a lot about human driving behavior. I would also think the insurance companies would see the value here merely for the data. But, time will tell.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

LAA, CBRS, LTE-U are 5G Building Blocks!

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Carrier Aggregation and Private LTE

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Hey, guess what? Remember when I talked about LAA, LTE-U, and CBRS, well, we’re almost there! That’s right, all those add-ons that we talked about over a year ago may finally be released. The new CBRS spectrum in the US creates new opportunities. It will be a game changer once the FCC decides what will happen with the spectrum. I just want to deploy, something they are delaying even longer, over a year, come on, release something! Sorry, it’s just that government holds back the economy by trying to improve it, this is a classic example. It happens in every administration.

Let’s look at 2 things, 1) a way to supplement what the carriers have, and, 2) a private LTE network. While you think this is just another Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook today!system, it’s on the road to 5G. That’s right, we need spectrum, and there is plenty of it. Where? I’ll tell you if you have the nerve to read on.

LAA – Licensed Assisted Access

First, it’s the ISM spectrum, you know it better as the Wi-Fi spectrum. It could be 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 5.8GHz or even 60GHz. All that spectrum that Wi-Fi could operate in, but they primarily use 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz. Now we can run LTE in that spectrum; it’s called LTE-U and Qualcomm created MuLTEfire to allow LTE to run without a core. You heard me, an independent LTE-U hotspot that the carriers and your device will like a lot.

LTE-U is in the spectrum of Wi-Fi but is true LTE. It’s in the unlicensed band. MuLTEfire is a stand-alone LTE unit. While that doesn’t mean much now it will when all the devices have it, like your smartphone. Learn more here, https://www.multefire.org/about/ if you’re interested in learning more. Maybe you want to read a book, available on Amazon with my affiliate link, found here, where you can learn more about LTE in unlicensed bands. It’s going to be great when we can use LTE for everything. I see this as a great thing. RCR wrote about it last year, https://www.rcrwireless.com/20170530/network-infrastructure/what-is-multefire-tag6-tag99. It’s really a great thing.

Why? I am glad you asked. You see the carriers can use LTE-U to gain bandwidth with their current LTE spectrum. They use something called LAA, which I wrote about in the past, but now it’s right around the corner. What’s that? You don’t remember anything about LAA, let’s have a flashback! LAA, which is soon to be used by the primary carriers to build up throughput, is Licensed Assist Access. That uses carrier aggregation to aggregate, (make all the RF carriers look like one big pipe), create separate streams that all combine in the end users’ device to make the throughput go through the roof. We are talking about throughput closer to 1Gbps to the device. Hell, I would settle for 100Mbps to happen.

There is also LWA, Licensed Wi-Fi Aggregation, same as the above but it uses Wi-Fi to aggregate. Now, you’re wondering why LWA isn’t the preferred choice, right? I would say because it’s so much work to get Wi-Fi to work with LTE. Seriously, those 2 formats are not playing well together. They have delay differences and to be honest the carriers are sick and tired of trying to make it work. I will give T-Mobile a lot of credit because they seemed to have a solid way to make it work. I am not sure why, but they don’t seem to push it anymore, not sure why.

So, what is the better choice? LAA using the licensed LTE with the unlicensed LTE-U. LTE is a great format baby! I love it, in fact, 5G will love it too, it will be the foundation for 5G, even with the NR coming out. That’s right! The carriers will be rolling out LAA very soon. They have faith in it. Carrier aggregation rocks! It will allow all of them to unify LTE is all bands, including CBRS.

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CBRS – Citizen’s Broadband Radio System

That’s right, CBRS rocks! It will allow you, the end-user, to build a lightly licensed spectrum, like 3.5GHz here in the USA, and build your own LTE network along with the LTE-U. CBRS is in the 3.5GHz spectrum, and it is lightly licensed thanks to an advances licensing system that uses ASA to assign spectrum. It works a lot like your DHCP server only for spectrum. How cool is that?

When I interviewed both Art King (of SpiderCloud) and Steve Martin (of Ruckus) they helped me understand how awesome the CBRS spectrum is going to be for the enterprise user as well as the wireless internet service provider, (WISP). It will open new doors and allow WISPs everywhere to align with the carriers if they want to aggregate the carrier.

But wait, there’s more! The carriers will be using this spectrum as well. In fact, T-Mobile is a major reason the delay is happening. They want to buy more of the spectrum and hold onto it much longer. I’m okay with that, but why don’t they ask the FCC to get off their ass and release something already? They don’t seem to be in a hurry. I guess because they are rolling out 600MHz now. That is a major effort on their part. I appreciate it because it brings a lot of work to the deployment industry, and GOD knows we need it. You heard me! It’s feast or famine in this industry. Now I am straying off topic, sorry.

CBRS is also LTE, and it’s something that the carrier separately 5g-deployment-plan-front-cover-3k-pixelswants to roll out as part of their small cell model. It’s perfect spectrum for small cells. Lower power, smaller coverage area, and new spectrum that can be rolled out anywhere. I love it and so will you when you get your own small cell in the CBRS spectrum.

Hey, guess who else will love it? Public safety, utilities, small business, enterprise, and anyone who wants to extend their coverage. I know, Wi-Fi is nice, but the LTE format will open new doors, and lightly licensed spectrum will help security. I can’t wait until every smart device has this spectrum in it.

Carrier Aggregation made this possible!

I would say thank you to the OEMs for coming out with carrier aggregation. It is the sole feature that made this possible. It is a remarkable technology that the carriers are currently using only in the licensed spectrum. They are currently using this technology only on their own licensed channels. Some of them on multiple bands across spectrum or maybe in the same spectrum. Here’s the deal, they can expand beyond their own spectrum, how cool is that. They may want players, so keep your ear open, and maybe they will want partners. It could happen.

What about the devices?

Nokia has already released their small cells. Ruckus has a CBRS unit. SpiderCloud has their unit. There you go, real units in the real world just waiting for you to deploy! Deploy, deploy, deploy! Do it ASAP. We’re still waiting on more UE devices to get the spectrum, but it’s coming, have faith, my friends.

How can this help you?

OK, it’s all about you! I can explain it to the industry you’re in. Let’s look below at the list to understand where you fit in.

  • Enterprise users – you will be able to build something much more secure than Wi-Fi. A network in the CBRS will be lightly licensed and something that most users will not have access to. You could dedicate it to your network and have specific devices with that spectrum to allow low latency and dedicated spectrum for whatever you want to use it for. Security and dedicated spectrum would allow you to do secure functions without running cables everywhere.
  • ISPs – If you’re an internet service provider you have an option to supplement your income by striking a deal with any carrier to use LAA on LTE-U or CBRS to aggregate the carriers licensed LTE with your spectrum. If you have already built it, then they may see value in what you have. Why not?
  • Installers – if you have the opportunity then you can install these devices indoors and out. On poles usually, they are low power and will reach the end-user much like Wi-Fi on these will be small cells. The CBRS will be rolling out everywhere. While the carriers want a higher power unit the reality is this will be an extension of the network and should work well within the realm of 5G.
  • Backhaul – Fiber providers, backhaul providers, and the router companies can make a play to gain market share in the smaller business groups.
  • Carriers – the carriers will look at this as the icing on the cake. They can extend coverage by partnering with smaller users for a flat fee or by reciprocating services. The chances are good that they will want to build their own smaller networks where they can, but that whole idea here is that they don’t want to increase CapEx. That’s why the partnership to extend coverage looks natural and attractive. FYI – this is cheaper than putting in licensed radio heads.
  • Building and venue owners – if you looked at DAS as the saving grace, look at this as an easier way to do upgrades. This is an easy way to expand coverage by running CAT 5 or CAT 6 to the new small cell areas. By putting in LTE-U or CBRS, you can quickly and easily extend coverage. It’s a natural alternative to putting in more licensed radio heads.
  • OEMs and distributors – you can move product. Nokia, SpiderCloud, and Ruckus have already jumped on the bandwagon with products for LTE-U and CBRS that are carrier grade. They all are targeting the user mentioned in this report. Do they know something you don’t? Not if you read the blogs at Wade4Wireless.com!
  • Public Safety – here is a market that could really benefit from I know they are all waiting for the AT&T deployment, sorry, I meant to say FirstNet roll out. The thing is, they will have a choice between AT&T, sorry, I mean FirstNet and Verizon’s system. It all depends where they are at because the coverage varies that much and while the budget matters, they really need to have coverage first. If the coverage is there, then they can look at cost. They may rely on their own networks like they do today. If that is the case, they may want to try to deploy their own broadband network and put it where they need it.
  • Utilities – I see the utility market needing this for their smart meters and remote connections. They can use something like this to reach all the area that the carriers can’t or at least as an alternative to paying carriers for their IOT systems. Then they may be able to expand the network to serve more than the meters by allowing end users to put their IOT devices on these networks. It is a viable alternative.
  • Cable companies – I see the cable companies rolling out LTE-U and CBRS because it’s so cost-effective and it fits into their current model. Granted, they love Wi-Fi, but they will see great value in rolling out LTE-U and CBRS if they can partner with the carriers. They could use it as a bargaining chip when they want to become an MVNO, like Comcast, with the large What leverage they will have when they can use their network to reach millions of their customers with an LTE network of their own. Awesome!
  • Autonomous vehicles – I don’t know who will use this, but it is a viable way to communicate with vehicles in the urban areas. It would have to be a dense network, but it could supplement the carrier’s network.
  • Google – yes, Google has a lot to gain with their Loon network and to replace the FTTH network which we all thought would be our savior from the choices we have now. One thing that Google learned is that it costs a lot of money to deploy fiber. It’s a lot more than what you see in the data center. If they use this technology like they say they will, then we will have our new ISP competitor that could make a difference overnight, well, in a few years maybe.
  • The workforce – I see the workforce benefiting from this because we are going to have to engineer and deploy the systems for all the potential service providers. Let’s build the best networks we can. Let’s build the ecosystem beyond the carriers to the smaller business owners. We can make a difference by helping cities become smart, utilities being connected, public safety has a broader reach and more partners, and the carriers are relying on individuals beyond their strong list of partners. We have the opportunity to go beyond the “norm” and into an open distribution system. We can do it, so let’s make the difference today!

Summary:

Do you believe that this could be a game changer? I do! I think that this is going to be the thing that pushed the outer users to 5G and includes them as part of the ecosystem. It’s more than being a customer. It’s becoming a player in your niche. Finally, in wireless, we can all be players in the infrastructure network. We have become an active user and builder of the wireless networks beyond Wi-Fi. It’s exhilarating to me, and I look forward to having all of you as partners in this venture!

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Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Deploy! Deploy! Deploy! 

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