Category Archives: Wade4Wireless BlogCast

LTE will be the Foundation for 5G

September 29, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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I have been reading a lot about 5G and it seems there is a misconception that 5G will replace LTE. That is far from the truth. If anything LTE will be the foundation of 5G. That is why the carriers went to LTE so it could expand to 5G and beyond. We should look at 5G as the Super HetNet!

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I remember that some of the carriers in the USA and abroad felt like it was just the OEMs pushing new hardware. Now they are not only on board but pushing the OEMs to provide OEM solutions. That is because they suddenly see that the OEMs knew what the customers wanted, whereas the carriers tried to drive the customers to keep what they have to avoid a larger investment. Also, they see the possibility to do more with LTE. That is why I wrote the post about the 5G business plan, to show you what is possible and how 5G money will be made.

The OEMs are coming out with all kinds of cool names, like 4.5G, 4.5G Pro and 4.9G, Pre5G, 5G Ready, and so on. It all sounds good but they need to prep for the things to come. There is also the article showing you what 5G networks may look like.

Let’s look at it this way, 5G will not only coexist with 4G in the beginning, but 4G will morph into 5G. I’m not talking transformers where it goes back and forth, but more like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly, (or a moth). So this thing we call LTE becomes the foundation of 5G and more “G”s to come, hence the name LTE, Long Term Evolution. Do you think Darwin would be impressed to see wireless evolve this way? Do you think Darwin would want to call each level of his evolution 1G, 2G, 3G and so on? Would the fish be 1G and the human be 5G? OK, off the point, sorry.

If you have been following 5G you think of amazing bandwidth, but it will be more than that because it is going to have the capability to provide virtual reality to the mobile user. Latency will be much lower. This is all for the mobile user, but what about the fixed wireless user. Can you imagine what they will be able to provide? But, what about the fixed wireless user? If they can have fixed wireless become reliable and high bandwidth then the cable companies will start to shake. We all know that AT&T and Verizon compete with cable, but now they will have a way to connect to the house without cable, wires, fiber, or any physical connection to the home. Wouldn’t it be nice to put a wireless router in your home, maybe by a window, then have Wi-Fi or LTE-U inside your home to connect to everything? WOW! I would love that.

But will 5G replace LTE? Of course not! That is because LTE will be the foundation of the mobile 5G systems. They are improving LTE bandwidth by creative means, like larger swaths of bandwidth. The engineers are getting creative though, they are using carrier aggregation to combine existing carrier’s spectrum. Antennas have amazing improvements using MIMO, massive MIMO. Loading is becoming less of a problem with the insertion of new sites and small cells. Offloading is helping because of Wi-Fi and LTE-U. While bandwidth is our friend as a user, it’s a real pain in the ass to achieve from a carriers perspective because it’s not just the wireless fronthaul, is it? They need to add backhaul, fiber, microwave, copper, whatever it takes to achieve the maximum bandwidth for customers. In voice you could have a smaller backhaul, multiplex the voice and get more and more through a smaller pipe, you could oversubscribe. Data is becoming less forgiving, and it’s a hassle to give people what they want. But it is being done. The channels, set by the FCC, are now able to be put together to look like one big pipe. We will improve LTE bandwidth throughput with all of these technologies. It will be amazing compared to what we see now. And you will be there to see it, how cool is that? I love technology!

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5G will be using more and more of the license-free spectrum in the millimeter wave. But 5G will be more than a wireless protocol. 5G is going to be the network. It is going to include more than a format. It will be upgrading the network backhaul, the devices, the last mile, and using the cloud more than ever. So the carriers originally thought they would save the money by not replacing the wireless RAN but just doing updates and upgrades with a few new sites. Now they have to overhaul the entire backhaul, add so many more sites, and improve their core to the point where it can become virtual and apps can run on the cloud very close if not in the cell site. This may be more of an overhaul than the RAN was from 3G to 4G, but prices have come down so the carriers will be fine.

Think about the HetNet that you use now, the network could include more and more technologies. You may be listening to your headset through Bluetooth, then your device is connected by either Wi-Fi or LTE where that could be connected by microwave or fiber all the way to a core or an Internet connection. While it is many connections, it mostly is an IP connection to the device.

I read an article about how 600MHz could be a 5G deployment. I would imagine by the time 600MHz deploys it will be 5G at the rate things are going. I believe that the reason the FCC is pushing 600MHz will be 5G is because of the timing, it seems to be taking a long time to come out, and the bandwidth. Also, the FCC is hoping to get top dollar for the spectrum. Remember that they look to the auction as an income source, but I see it as a way to push out the small business. If you’re a small business, an entrepreneur in the wireless industry, don’t focus on building a network unless you go lightly licensed or license-free unless you have billions to invest before you build any sites, (Lightsquared tried and is now taken over by Ligaldo Networks), but that is another article. I don’t fault the FCC, I know they are doing the best they can, I am just saying find a better way to give the little guy more than scraps.

When thinking of 5G, remember that it will be a collage of technologies all tied together. The technology will be varied but to the end user they will get the same result, data. They won’t know that they rely on LTE in one area and Wi-Fi in another (although every time you enter a new Wi-Fi area it asks you to join), or LTE-U or a new 5G format. Customers don’t care, all they want is the end result. All they care about is a great user experience, just like me. We all want the device to work and work reliably. That is what matters.

So to look at what the carriers are paying billions for, go to http://www.auction600mhz.com/?p=140 and you can see that they are bidding on 5×5 MHZ blocks of spectrum. For one, why so small? While 126MHz is a lot of spectrum, the 5MHz paired channels seems relatively small for the future growth. This is to be used for 5G so the carriers will want to offer new and amazing services. I have to thoughts on this. First, they will need larger swaths of bandwidth. However, second thought is that 600MHz carries really well so it may cause more self-interference. OK, I know that they contradict each other, but the one thing that I remember when Wi-Fi was growing is how it would cause problems with self-interference. So you had to limit the bandwidth to provide co-channel collaboration. Even though you had all of this spectrum, throughput would be limited because you had to plan out the channel allocation by site. LTE has solved many issues, but it will be up to the engineers to make sure that the antenna down tilt and BTS power is set properly to avoid problems from the neighboring sites.

If anyone can deploy 600MHz quickly, I say T-Mobile can. I am a big fan of all that they have done in their system upgrades over the past 2 years. The engineers over there have done a great job! If anyone can roll out the 600MHz band quickly, it will be T-Mobile. They will probably have the earliest 5G or pre-5G system out there before anyone else does on a wide scale. It’s really exciting! If they can keep up with this pace they should be the 5G deployment winner!

I believe that is why the higher spectrum, 28GHz and up, will be ideal for the true massive bandwidth functions like virtual reality. I would imagine that’s why Wheeler of the FCC published his blog post, found here, about using that spectrum. I believe it’s lightly licensed. That means for the microwave links its used for you can just apply for a license on the FCC’s website and it generally is approved quickly. Yes, that spectrum is already in use for PTP microwave hops and has been for several years. All they have to do to make it a 5G option is to make the equipment point to multipoint. I don’t mean to oversimplify it, but it’s already being used for high-speed data communications, it just needs to be refined. It will take a lot of work to get there and I imagine they will want to make it a form of LTE to maintain consistency and help with clean handoffs if it will be used for handsets.

Keep in mind that 5G is not just a technology but the collection of technologies. FCC Commissioner Wheeler said, “5G is not a technology. It is a revolution.” In his speech at CTIA on Sept 7, 2016, full speech here. I believe what he meant by that is we need to stop looking at the next generations of communications as a form of communication, wireless or wired. Like we looked at 4G as LTE, 3G as GSM and CDMA. Now we need to look at the network, the backhaul, the fiber, the HetNet, the collection of all technologies as a complete generation. It goes beyond wireless to the cloud, to the fog computing, SDN, NFV, as well as all the wireless formats.

Now that you know that, think of LTE as the foundation for 5G on the wireless front. We need to get LTE faster and the latency lower.

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Do Smart Cities need Wireless?

September 12, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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I would say yes, like I always do with wireless. However, to be honest most people don’t know what smart city is. It’s a cool buzz word that most people throw around. They include renewable energy, like solar, because solar is cool and easy on the eyes. I don’t see too many cities throwing up wind farms because they don’t look as nice in the city, but they would be something that would be renewable energy. They talk mostly about power in the beginning, but that isn’t what people really want, is it? They want connectivity. Preferably wireless connectivity.

Connectivity, to connect what? When we think of smart cities, we don’t really picture anything, so we? We talk about the connectivity, energy, infrastructure, and all the things needed to make a smart city. However, what services will we have in the smart city?

I often hear about how people that live in smart cities are excited. However, most of the smart city features I see now are about solar power. They have solar panels everywhere. Is that what people really want when they live in a city? Maybe, just maybe they want to be able to have internet access everywhere, with their devices. It’s nice to have connectivity with the smartphone, that is a given and an expectation in today’s world. However, many of us still rely on our laptops to do actual work. Maybe they can work on a tablet but most people rely on the laptop. Get them coverage for the laptop and then, life is good!

What is a “Smart City”?

Well, this is something that I find interesting because a smart city could be smart for so many reasons. Let’s break it down so we have a better understanding of the smart city.

Energy – it could be renewable energy, like solar. I would say wind but it seems no one wants a wind generator standing along a street in a city, but I’m not sure why. They all have solar panels on building tops and roof tops and they promote having battery backup available.

Infrastructure – this could be the way that the city controls things, like street lamps. Again, they revolve around energy but they would only turn on as needed and they would have LED lights. Billboards would be the same way, see you coming and they would not only turn on but maybe if they can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth they could get your profile and send an advertisement tailored for you, if your privacy settings would allow that.

Utilities – We would expect all of our meters to not only have a device in it to be read remotely, but we could see our electric or gas or water usage in real-time when we log into a website just like we can look at the minutes of usage for our smartphone.

Data Collection – the city would like to collect data about people and car traffic in each area so that they can allocate resources to an area when they expect it to be busy. Big data analytics will be a big part of this. They will collect the information so that the traffic lights are synchronized properly and that the police can be in an area prior to a busy time of day.

Transportation – This will include vehicles that can talk to each other, electric cars, automated parking meters, and real-time controlled traffic lights to allow for the perfect balance of foot and auto traffic. This is a dream of the connected city to provide solutions for all of these issues. Parking is a big one that would be great if you not only knew what parking garage had openings, showed you the height restriction for those of you with trucks and SUVs, but also a price comparison of what you would pay by the hour or day. All of this would be a proactive feature sent to your car or smartphone prior to going to the garage. By the way, I already see electric charging stations in many cities for electric cars. I was in Ocean City, Md., and they provide charging stations in random areas for Tesla and other models. I think that is really cool that a vacation destination would offer charging stations for tourists! Great job Ocean City!

Smart buildings – the building will have more than just smart thermostats. They will know how many people will show up on any given day, hour, or for a particular event so that they can control the lighting and temperature for that event which should save energy by not wasting it when no one is there. It would have great wireless connectivity throughout the building for your phone and with Wi-Fi so that you stay 100% connected and safe. It will have full alarming capability so that building security not only get the alarm real-time but can access video to wee what is happening in that particular hallway at that time.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

Wireless Connectivity – Here is where the city must stand apart, and I don’t’ mean just from the carriers. They should have a good Wi-Fi system all around the city with good connectivity to attract all of those mobile workers that appreciate the city life. They need to have an amazing public safety presence so that when a fireman runs into a building he or she can communicate with their team real-time to save not only other lives but their own. So that police can report on a situation and maybe even show the body cam footage in real-time to control a situation before it escalates. So many of us think that the wireless is just Wi-Fi and carrier, but public safety connectivity is critical. Many cities forget about this when allowing buildings to ignore the public safety coverage in buildings. Then when someone dies they never look at the wireless connectivity, instead they look at other issues when if the first responders had better coverage then they could have made a bigger impact on the outcome.

If you notice the above themes are mostly about energy and connectivity. While energy is big, most people don’t really seem worried about it in their daily life. Broadband connectivity, on the other hand, is very personal and affects all of them daily.

While people promote the energy aspect of the smart city, it usually isn’t enough to drive people in, if you know what I mean. If you tell people that they will have broadband access everywhere in the city limits and they will save energy, then they will relocate there in no time. Don’t believe me? Then why do so many cities get excited when Google Fiber is coming to their city? Google Fiber is sexy and we all want the broadband, am I right? I want the best connection I can get for the least amount of money.

Let’s design and build a smart city! So how do we do that? I have 3 examples to show you some business models that are already in place.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

Starbucks

What does your home and Starbucks have in common, other than maybe the coffee? Wi-Fi access to the internet. One, look at your own home. Do you have Wi-Fi there? How many of you will use Wi-Fi for the last 100 feet of access? If you have a cable modem or fiber connection, then I would guess all of you, I know I do. Wi-Fi is a great in-home solution. This is what smart cities need to make coverage available everywhere. They need Wi-Fi access is every public venue. I like free access, I am not going to lie, and Wi-Fi is great when it’s free.

Why do so many people hang out at the Starbucks? Because they have free Wi-Fi, yes, free Wi-Fi in their establishments and we love it. Even when it’s slow or loaded we love it. They set the new standards for coffee shops everywhere. Starbucks got it early on, they know that we all like free Wi-Fi Internet access. Yes, free Wi-Fi, we love it and that’s why Starbuck gets more than $5 a cup here in the US. Oh, they make a great drink but when people hang out there every day to write or do work or just stop in to update their email, it’s a combination of the great service, great drinks, and free Wi-Fi. The trifecta of a mobile worker’s paradise! The croissants are good too!

The Stadiums

Now, let’s look at stadiums, here in the USA most NFL stadiums have awesome coverage for both Wi-Fi and carrier access. Here is where you need both. Wi-Fi is nice, but I noticed it gets overloaded and slows down. That’s why they have so many access points in a stadium, to limit the number of users per unit. Here you have a large group of people, usually over 50,000 people on game day, that most of them have smartphones. They want to share the experience. They want to see the replay not only on the big screen but on their smartphone.

The NFL has done something really cool though, they realize that connectivity is not enough, they know that to add to the in-stadium experience that they need to add apps that you can only get in the stadium. Remember that the game ticket is a big money item. It’s much cheaper to watch the game at home on TV, so they added to the user experience by giving you apps that are only active on the Wi-Fi in the stadium. How cool is that? WOW! They offer replays, access to the big screen video, coupons for food and products. Now that is a game changer because they went over the top. They could have given just awesome access but they enhanced the user experience.

My point here is that most cities have connectivity is some way, but they need to enhance the user experience. Many do this with a website but they will need to get some city-specific apps. They will need to partner with in city business and provide real value to the people in the city. Whether they live there or are just visiting they need to have an awesome experience and learn more about the how great the city really is. They need to learn about the city without being super proactive.

The stadiums have more than you think behind the scenes. They are as green as they can be with recycling, http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/community/gogreen.html. They have wireless connections for vendors in the stadium for credit card processing, http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300081973/its-game-time-10-things-you-dont-know-about-nfl-stadium-connectivity.htm. They understand that fans need better wireless every year, http://www.patriots.com/news/2016/04/14/tackling-tech-nfl-fan-frenzy-drives-new-venue-wireless-specs. You see, they know their fan’s demographic. They get it and they continuously work to improve upon it. They also know how to keep the vendors in the stadium happy. They see the big picture, mainly because they have around 8 games a year, in the NFL, to make money, big money, enough to cover that billion dollar stadium they built. Cities need to approach their growth the same way.

Lesson to cities, reach out to the people first because if they have to rely on the locals then they only learn what that local knows, not what they may really be interested in. I travel quite a bit and I learn what the people I hang out with already know, but we may have different interests meaning I may think less of the city. For example, I like seafood, but if everyone that I know in a city likes steak, they will only take me to steak houses which may or may not have good seafood, get it?

The Office

When you go in an office, most of them have Wi-Fi access. In today’s world many rely on the workers to use their smartphone. The days of large phone systems are slowly fading. There are still office phones, but when getting on conference calls, many people use their smartphone unless a landline is convenient or if coverage stinks. The office has changed, today we rely more on our wireless device to talk and text than the office phone.

Why did I bring this up? For one, cities need to have good mobile coverage everywhere to be taken seriously. They can’t have spotty coverage so they need to work with the carriers to ensure that smartphone coverage, preferable LTE, is great inside and out. Yes, in building coverage is just as crucial as outdoor coverage. How many cities in the North will have people sitting in a park in February? Not many. They will all be inside an office building or a restaurant or a public venue.

Wireless coverage is critical for more than the convenience, but for public safety. If something happens and we need to call 911, then we want to connect ASAP. We want to be able to tell the 911 operator what is happening immediately, without have to hold the phone 3 feet over our heads to get a signal.

Safety matters and wireless connectivity is a big part of that.

Resources

https://www.nextenergy.org/nextchallenge/

https://www.ruckuswireless.com/solutions/smart-cities

https://youtu.be/m45SshJqOP4

https://youtu.be/Br5aJa6MkBc

https://www.umbel.com/blog/publishers/10-ways-stadiums-are-using-technology-to-delight-fans/

By the way, if you’re interested in IOT and you want to learn more about the smart home and IOT devices, there is a great podcast by Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel called “The IOT Podcast”, found here, http://iotpodcast.com/ and learn even more about the IOT industry.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Gerard Carroll of Empirix explains the E2E Solution for RAN Network Improvement and Troubleshooting.

September 7, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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My guest on today’s show explains how capturing data on the network can not only find problems but improve the network. Let’s welcome Gerard Carroll who is the RAN Solution Manager for Empirix, http://www.empirix.com/, an end to end data analytics solution provider. Gerard is a smart guy who was the CEO of Verios when Empirix acquired them. Data gives us knowledge. Remember that knowledge is power. The best way to learn all Gerard’s secrets to system improvement is to listen to the podcast! He is a brilliant guy! I am grateful and lucky he came on the podcast and would like to thank him for his time up front for taking the time to share real world knowledge with us. Most of us are just looking at one part of the network, we need someone to look at the system end to end and this is a great solution.

The Empirix solution goes beyond just capturing data at one data point on the network, but they have the vision to look at key points in the wireless network to see what is happening at each spot. In other words, they don’t just look at the backhaul, or the core, or even in the RAN or a single handset. They can pull from all of it to see how the data points at each spot. What does this tell you? It tells you all you need to know about the system, the end to end system. Why do this? Let me break it down for you, if you only look at the RAN, then you may think it’s a RAN problem or it isn’t, how do you know? If you only look at the backhaul, then only see the backhaul. How do you know where the real problem lies? I’ll tell you how, you look each section, core to backhaul to RAN to the end-user, then you have the complete picture of where problems are happening.

Gerard tells several stories, but one in particular where the customer could not figure out what the problem was. I am sure that the carrier was beating up some poor RAN tech because they couldn’t get the parameters set for good download speeds. However, when Gerard looked at his all-seeing data, he found out that they had a specific handset manufacturer that had a device that performed poorly! That’s right, it was a specific model of handsets that were bad! Who would have thought of that?

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But wait, there’s more!

Gerard mentions how the data they capture can be used for more than finding problems, but also for improving the system. It can help improve the QoE (Quality of Experience) for the end-user by looking at what they are really doing.

Some background:

I met Gerard up at NEDAS Sprint Summit in NYC, https://www.nedas.com/events/nedas-spring-in-building-wireless-summit-nyc. I was just blown away by how the Empirix solution could really tell you anything about the end to end network. When I looked at the website, they have several solutions, http://www.empirix.com/products/ that make the engineer on any part of the network happy to see. The RF guys and the data guys should all agree that this is the way to look at a network. I saw great possibilities with this solution, such as improvements and planning in optimization, backhaul, end-user QoE, and so much more. Their solutions also help us catch voice problems, like if you’re turning up VoLTE, you see what improvements are needed for the customer to have a quality voice experience!

Do you still think that it’s only the data that matters? Well, they have a RAN Vision solution that helps you look at the data surrounding the RAN so that you can understand if the tilt of the antennas is a problem! You see, it sees the network end to end, not just one part. How cool is that? Go beyond troubleshooting to network improvements that would make the end-user QoE skyrocket! OK, I got a little crazy, but we all want to improve the system, this is your answer to get there quickly so that you can make a plan to be the best network you can be within your budget.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

Who will it help?

Gerard’s solution at Empirix will help all aspects of the wireless carrier or any major network. For instance, the IT and backhaul people will see where they have problems and can improve along with the RF and RAN groups. Any PM would be happy to see where the real problems lie. The carrier will be happy because the real winner will be the end-user, the customer, so that customer service will understand where their pain points are and be able to improve the QoE, (Quality of Experience), for the end-user, the people that pay to be on the system. Why not make them as happy as you can by making the experience as pleasant as possible?

Don’t just take my word for it! Learn more about Empirix case studies at http://www.empirix.com/about-empirix/case-studies/ so that you can see what they did for customers in the real world.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

What will the IOT wireless protocols look like?

September 4, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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The Internet of Things, IoT, is more than a buzz word, it is the way things are moving. When you hear of 5G they often talk of IoT and how everything will be connected. This is very exciting but the technology is already here. It is being tested and proven as we speak. So what should deployment teams be doing now? They should prepare to deploy!

You might remember that I put together another blog about IOT needs wireless, found here.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

The thing about industrial IoT is that it will take skilled professionals to install it and test it. There will also be software to make sure that it works, it will take calibration and testing for these systems to be deployed. Specifically when buildings need their systems monitored heating and cooling and water. That’s right! They have water sensors to make sure a leak doesn’t happen in a building. Many industrial companies are going beyond tracking what they have and getting proactive.

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Do you think it only applies to buildings? I know you have heard of the connected car but industrial equipment manufacturer CAT has a system that works over LTE, video found here, that has automated the large vehicles and monitor all aspects of them. It is really amazing.
They use it for mining to safe on the workers but it is as safe as it can be in that environment. It is really amazing.

IoT can be almost anything so make sure you understand what the deployment teams will need to do. For instance, residential IoT will probably be the simple things, like thermostats and refrigerators that can be connected by the homeowner. Alarm companies will add alarm systems and video, in fact, they are already doing that using the customer’s broadband connections. These items may use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave for protocols. There are so many IoT protocols out there, but for the wireless deployment teams, chances are good it will be Wi-Fi or LTE.

So for the deployment teams to install this equipment, they should be ready to connect everything outside or inside. Let’s look outside where we could connect street lamps, traffic lights, traffic counters, utility meters, or anything that would be read or controlled in real-time. Like I said, CAT is already controlling heavy equipment at mines. Imagine when all the vehicles will need to be controlled. We have the use of drones for delivery being contemplated, and it won’t happen on Wi-Fi for a large network, it will be LTE. On these networks we will also have video, although that is not IoT, it will be on a similar network and tied the usage. If you think they can see everything now, wait until they put cameras on drones and deploy on a wide scale here in North America.

Indoors is another story. You could have what I mentioned for residential along with the industrial applications like control of equipment. Meters will need to be read in business buildings so that the program can adjust industrial controls as needed. It will all depend on how they want to control the system indoors. I could see Wi-Fi unless they need batteries then the other formats may be needed. I know that Wi-Fi is coming out with the new devices that have better battery usage. Now, Wi-Fi drains your battery but it’s so convenient.

A quick overview of IoT protocols:

Wi-Fi HaLow – The Wi-Fi Alliance has come out with HaLow, the indoor Wi-Fi format for IoT which uses 900MHz to improve indoor coverage. It will also have better battery life. 900MHz has less spectrum, but remember that most devices send very short message with data and control information. This is why video is not considered part of IoT but it will be expected to run on normal Wi-Fi. The problem with normal Wi-Fi will be battery life. However, Wi-Fi for normal IoT apps will be the most commonly accepted but security may be an issue. The idea here is that the 900MHz will not be running all the time so it will only wake up your device when it has to, not running on 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz which is probably running all the time.
Bluetooth – They are trying this but there are connectivity issues, range issues, and reliability issues. So far it’s not really taking off. Battery life is still an issue.
Bluetooth Smart – low energy Bluetooth to improve the battery life of devices and to improve the IoT connections. Peer to peer, short-range, 2.4GHz,
Z-Wave – proprietary protocol owned by Sigma Designs, 40Kbps and 9.6Kbps and 100Kbps, up to 4 hops, up to 40meters, 908.42Mhz in US, using 20Khz to 110 kHz of bandwidth,

Thread – a type of indoor low power mesh network that many devices used that are made by NEST. They basically have their own equipment on this 802.15.4 format. http://threadgroup.org/

ZigBee – Indoor format, mesh, 802.15.4, open standard if you join the ZigBee alliance, normally 10-30 nodes but in theory could do up to 2,000 nodes. 20Kbps in 868MHz band, 40Kbps in 915MHz band, 250Kbps in 2.4GHz band, less than 400m range, longer range lowers battery life
DECT ULE – Indoor format, Ultra Low Energy using Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications protocol, less than 50m range, up to 1Mbps, up to 400 devices on the network, 1920 to 1930MHz in USA and Canada
Sigfox UNB – outdoor, Sigfox Ultra Narrow Band, 3GPP GERAN, average range 30 to 50Km depending on-line of site, 928MHz in USA, 150mWatt unit in the USA, used in older devices
Semtech’s LoRa – Long Range, outdoor protocol, Open Source, STAR topology, no upper limit on devices, 300bps at long-range typically 1Kbps, 2-5Km range, 80MHz with 125 KHz bandwidth. Low-power sensors can be used in streetlights, gas cylinder level sensor, parking sensors, etc.
LTE – outdoor format, this could be in any LTE band but the problem with LTE is that it’s made for large packets, so there is development underway for smaller bandwidth applications. Ideal format for wide area because every carrier has LTE but needs to improve battery life if a remote device is not connected to power.

Resources:

http://www.lprs.co.uk/assets/media/Rethink%20IoT%20Wireless%20Market%20overview.pdf

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2985233/internet-of-things/lte-standard-for-machines-gets-the-green-light.html

http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1607-iot

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/wifi-halow-internet-of-things/

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/802-11ah-wi-fi-protocol-for-iot-solves-two-m2m-problems/

http://electronicdesign.com/iot/understanding-protocols-behind-internet-things

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

What will the IOT protocols look like?

August 31, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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You might remember that I put together another blog about IOT needs wireless, found here.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

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A quick overview of IoT protocols:

Wi-Fi HaLow – The Wi-Fi Alliance has come out with HaLow, the indoor Wi-Fi format for IoT which uses 900MHz to improve indoor coverage. It will also have better battery life. 900MHz has less spectrum, but remember that most devices send very short message with data and control information. This is why video is not considered part of IoT but it will be expected to run on normal Wi-Fi. The problem with normal Wi-Fi will be battery life. However, Wi-Fi for normal IoT apps will be the most commonly accepted but security may be an issue. The idea here is that the 900MHz will not be running all the time so it will only wake up your device when it has to, not running on 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz which is probably running all the time.
Bluetooth – They are trying this but there are connectivity issues, range issues, and reliability issues. So far it’s not really taking off. Battery life is still an issue.
Bluetooth Smart – low energy Bluetooth to improve the battery life of devices and to improve the IoT connections. Peer to peer, short-range, 2.4GHz,
Z-Wave – proprietary protocol owned by Sigma Designs, 40Kbps and 9.6Kbps and 100Kbps, up to 4 hops, up to 40meters, 908.42Mhz in US, using 20Khz to 110 kHz of bandwidth,

Thread – a type of indoor low power mesh network that many devices used that are made by NEST. They basically have their own equipment on this 802.15.4 format. http://threadgroup.org/

ZigBee – Indoor format, mesh, 802.15.4, open standard if you join the ZigBee alliance, normally 10-30 nodes but in theory could do up to 2,000 nodes. 20Kbps in 868MHz band, 40Kbps in 915MHz band, 250Kbps in 2.4GHz band, less than 400m range, longer range lowers battery life
DECT ULE – Indoor format, Ultra Low Energy using Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications protocol, less than 50m range, up to 1Mbps, up to 400 devices on the network, 1920 to 1930MHz in USA and Canada
Sigfox UNB – outdoor, Sigfox Ultra Narrow Band, 3GPP GERAN, average range 30 to 50Km depending on-line of site, 928MHz in USA, 150mWatt unit in the USA, used in older devices
Semtech’s LoRa – Long Range, outdoor protocol, Open Source, STAR topology, no upper limit on devices, 300bps at long-range typically 1Kbps, 2-5Km range, 80MHz with 125 KHz bandwidth. Low-power sensors can be used in streetlights, gas cylinder level sensor, parking sensors, etc.
LTE – outdoor format, this could be in any LTE band but the problem with LTE is that it’s made for large packets, so there is development underway for smaller bandwidth applications. Ideal format for wide area because every carrier has LTE but needs to improve battery life if a remote device is not connected to power.

Resources:

http://www.lprs.co.uk/assets/media/Rethink%20IoT%20Wireless%20Market%20overview.pdf

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2985233/internet-of-things/lte-standard-for-machines-gets-the-green-light.html

http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1607-iot

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/wifi-halow-internet-of-things/

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/802-11ah-wi-fi-protocol-for-iot-solves-two-m2m-problems/

http://electronicdesign.com/iot/understanding-protocols-behind-internet-things

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

A Tale of Two Carriers, T-Mobile burns past Sprint

August 24, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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You have all heard about the race for #3 and the drop to #4. T-Mobile is the solid #3 while Sprint is the solid #4. T-Mobile seems to be heading forward while Sprint seems to be falling hard. Sprint has so much debt while T-Mobile is building the dense network that Sprint talked about. You know about the race, but let’s look at how they got here and where they appear to be headed. Not only in coverage and the network, but in general.

Sprint cried WOLF one too many times!

First, you have Sprint, who is the carrier who cried wolf only to sit back and do nothing. By wolf, I mean Next Generation Network, (NGN)! Here was their chance to build the new network that would be the building block for LTE with an amazing LTE backbone that would deploy a mix of small cells and smaller macro sites to densify coverage. Then it was called the densification project, where they would put smaller sites everywhere. While they are working on this to put sites closer to the people, it has less to do with technology and more to do with getting off towers to save money.

Maybe by wolf you thought it was the 70,000 small cell roll-out, again, another made up story to drive prices down so that they can save money on those few hundred deployments. Then the partnership with Mobilitie to roll out sites in Right of Way, (ROW), as a CLEC, (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier), a lot like Softbank did in Japan. How is that going? I hear not so well and slow. If anything, it set the rest of the carriers back on any deployments as municipalities appear to be very angry. So angry that they’re changing the rules where they can so it can’t happen again. It seems like Sprint is running with scissors and falling repeatedly. They create quite a buzz! However, I feel like they rev the engine to impress everyone at the starting line, but when it comes time to race, they put it in gear and the car stalls, going nowhere. Maybe they are looking at it like a marathon, thinking they have more time, but do they?

I will give Sprint credit for creativity. They still seem to be determined to get out of as many large tower company leases that they can with the densification deployment where they will install poles in “Right of Way” areas. We’ll see what happens but the tower owners don’t appear to be worried. I would guess because they have those iron-clad leases to hold Sprint in for 8 to 10 years. Let’s face it, they are in no hurry. Good thing for Sprint the rest of the carriers see that it actually is a good idea to lower lease rates. I already hear AT&T and Verizon are looking into lease reduction. Not good for American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBC. However, it’s hard to leave the big tower boys for 3 reasons: 1) iron clad 10 year leases with no out clause, 2) they bought all of the carriers towers and own many more, 3) where else will the carriers go. Let’s face it, townships, cities, and municipalities made it easy for the large tower companies to take over with all the restrictions on new towers, but I digress, let’s get back on topic.

Sprint has real problems, which Bloomberg lays out, that means heavy debt. So what is Softbank doing? Maybe they want Sprint to figure it out themselves, perhaps because they could not buy T-Mobile, or may Sprint was in worse shape than expected. Maybe they plan to let Sprint o go into bankruptcy to rebuild, which I hope never happens. I give them credit, they did a lot of creative financing to get by this year’s (2016) debt, which looks to be $4B, yes, four billion dollars. If Marcelo Claure can pull this off, then he deserves a bonus, of course there won’t be one because it went to pay the debt, am I right? Congratulations to Sprint, they may be #4 in the network, reliability, and coverage, but they are #1 in debt, that’s a reason to celebrate, right, #1 in something!

This is a carrier who appears to be on the decline, no matter how cheap they sell airtime they just can’t catch up. It is going to be hard to catch up with no money and running the network on a shoestring budget. I know I sound negative hear, but I really hope Sprint turns it around for the sake of the industry. Hey, they could become a paging company, they can run the network much more cost effectively that this LTE network, just a thought. They have plenty of 2.5GHz spectrum which they need to roll out and make money on, if not in their network, then lease it or sell it, let’s see it work for you, not flounder.

I will give Sprint credit, they are doing all that they can with what they have. However, the limitations that are holding them back will cost them more money in the near future. They are slow, if not last, to move to VoLTE, that means that they need to maintain the CDMA network past 2020, which will cost them more money to run a network that is more expensive to maintain and may be “end of life”, (EOL), by 2020 if not before. It costs more money to maintain multiple technologies, especially end of life technologies. CDMA specifically because the equipment is usually made specific to each carrier, it’s hard to buy equipment like that off of Ebay!

What about T-Mobile?

Then you have T-Mobile, who not only is investing, and improving the network but they are also becoming a threat to #2 in an amazing way. They are pushing out LTE and improving speeds and they have an amazing marketing machine. If they could tap dance then they would be a triple threat! I am sure Legere can dance, but he is waiting for the right time, like when they pass AT&T to become #2.

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Here is where that company not only put their money where John Legere’s mouth was, they showed up to the party with results! You heard me, they have an amazing marketing machine that pushed their message in your face they offered no contracts, they gave you a great price and some free”Binge-On” data. Then what did they do? They kicked the LTE deployment into high gear and pushed great performing LTE out to the public for their customers to see what a real network can do. They didn’t just upgrade their home city, like Sprint did in Kansas City, T-Mobile concentrated on the most of the urban areas to show that they can build a kick ass, dense network where the people are. What an amazing feat! They are now on par with Verizon, who we all have the perception is the best network. While Sprint was talking the talk, T-Mobile was walking the walk, showing the competition that it can be done without all of the hype.

Let’s not forget that T-Mobile was the first to really push Wi-Fi voice calls, and they made it work. The found ways to improve the in-home coverage with their Femto cells that they handed out to customers. They constantly look for ways to improve the network. Now, they do it as cheap as they can, they aren’t going to pay top dollar if they don’t have to, but they are continuing to make the push. While they don’t like the DAS model, they will live with it if they have to. You see, they realize that bandwidth and coverage are important. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to build out the rural areas yet, I guess they don’t see a big pay back at this time.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

If T-Mobile can come from #4 with such a push that they can become #3, why can’t they become #2? This is the perfect time to do it because AT&T seems more worried about their DirecTV purchase than they do about improving the network on a nationwide basis. That’s OK, they figure their good enough and will probably maintain the LTE network until 5G comes out. I am thinking that T-Mobile could push for #2, but they would have to build more rural sites. I am not sure what their goal is right now except to improve the network and have bragging rights on speed. Maybe that is enough, to make Verizon look over their shoulder and to catch AT&T watching TV while T-Mobile pushed ahead quickly and impressively.

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

T-Mobile wants to sunset 3G quickly, they want VoLTE to be the voice of choice, they want data to rule. They understand how expensive it is to maintain legacy hardware and a legacy network that will soon be EOL. The sooner they can be all LTE, they can shut down the 2G and 3G networks, then they will be saving more money.I would bet Sprint engineers want to do this, but budgets won’t allow it so they still deploying 3G. That is my opinion. 3G vendors will capitalize on maintaining older products like they have done in the past.

You may think that I favor T-Mobile, but the facts are the facts. T-Mobile is moving ahead and making things happen. They are improving and they make good decisions. I wish them well and I hope they make a serious run for #2. It appears that with Legere at the helm, that may be possible.

To sum it up:

I actually thought Sprint was going to build the NGN network. I thought that they would move ahead and be a leader in the industry. Look how wrong I was! T-Mobile is really the carrier to watch, they really want the #1 spot which is giving them the momentum to push into #2. I hope they can do it because we all love the underdog, right? Their timing is great because they are catching AT&T watching TV instead of the wireless network and the only money Sprint is spending is on new commercials. Another thing to give T-Mobile is that they know how to make viral videos, which is free advertising, again, Legere’s marketing is amazing. I am becoming a fan of this guy.

Good luck T-Mobile, this industry needs a good shake up. You passed Sprint with flying colors, now it’s time for a real test. Can you do it? Can you spearhead right through AT&T into the #2 position? I don’t know but I am rooting for you to push them hard. Good luck!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

What is the 5G Business Plan?

August 19, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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I have heard a lot about 5G and the roll out and how small cells will boom with 5G. Let’s look at the facts, if 5G is in the millimeter wave spectrum, then they will be very small and very line of site networks.

How is this going to work? Are the carriers really going to rely on 28GHz, (here in the USA), to cover much more that a building or a street? They are complaining about putting up small cells and CRAN because of the fiber and rental fees, and the slow payback! It’s catching on now and there is a better business plan, but will it be enough at 28GHz?

What I don’t’ get is that they are all doing amazing research and getting awesome speeds, but to me, someone who has done point to point (PTP) microwave, it is not a surprise. If you only have 2 or 3 users, of course you can get kick ass speeds in a high spectrum with lots of bandwidth that is not shared. At home, when I am the only one on my Wi-Fi hot spot, the cable modem is the bottleneck, not the Wi-Fi, however, when I am in an airport using the free Wi-Fi with 100 other people, I have no idea where the bottleneck is unless I can’t connect, then I am sure it is the Wi-Fi. It happens all the time.

So let’s look at the business model. Do you really see AT&T and Verizon building a network for 10 people? Let me put it to you this way, when you want to put a small cell in your building for 10 users, will AT&T or Verizon run out and give you one? I will tell you from experience, the answer is no, but they will let you buy one but it’s very small. Now, if I want to put something in for 100 users, will they do it. Again, the answer is no, and now because you want a bigger small cell or 2 of them, they won’t even talk to you because they are afraid of how it will affect the network. I get it, but now let’s think about how they will deploy 5G, will it really be for the mobile user? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Now, let’s look at fixed wireless, here is an awesome application. One that you need LOS, (line of site), but you have the spectrum and the ability to put a small cell near people’s homes. This is where I see it as a great asset. This would be great and finally would give some wireless competition to the Cable modem.

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So for fixed wireless it looks like an awesome solution, but they have to make it work for the mobile device somehow.

The reason I am not so positive, because let’s look at path loss. At 200 meters there is a lot of free space loss here.

Frequency	Distance (Meters)	Tx Output (dB)	Rx Gain (dB)	Free Space Loss (dB)
600MHz	200	40	3	31.02
700MHz	200	40	3	32.68
1.9GHz	200	40	3	41.04
2.4GHz	200	40	3	43.06
2.5GHz	200	40	3	43.42
5.8GHz	200	40	3	50.73
24GHz	200	40	3	63.06
28GHz	200	40	3	64.4
38GHz	200	40	3	67.06
60GHz	200	40	3	71.02
70GHz	200	40	3	72.36

The reason I added the chart is to show the high loss you have at the higher bands. Now, while the number looks like it is double the loss, it is actually more than that. For every 3dB you lose 1.2 of your power, literally, lose half of your power.

Take a look at this chart showing power in Watts compared to power in dBm, pay attention! It helps put it into perspective. I like to look at watts because it is easy for the field engineer to see loss in power.

Power (dBm)	Power (W)
-30 dBm	0.0000010 W
-20 dBm	0.0000100 W
-10 dBm	0.0001000 W
0 dBm	0.0010000 W
1 dBm	0.0012589 W
2 dBm	0.0015849 W
3 dBm	0.0019953 W
6 dBm	0.0039811 W
9 dBm	0.0079433 W
10 dBm	0.0100000 W
20 dBm	0.1000000 W
30 dBm	1.0000000 W
40 dBm	10.0000000 W
50 dBm	100.0000000 W

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

We need to understand what the application will be for 5G to be successful. Let’s face it, LTE would not have taken off without the demand for bandwidth. What caused demand for wireless bandwidth? You could say the laptop, but you know it’s really the smartphone, specifically the iPhone that changed the wireless world. Now we can’t live without it and even the president, (Obama) says it’s a necessity. Link is at the bottom so you know that I’m not making this up.

So how do we make money? The carriers will come up with something, but the mobility factors seems quite limited. The fixed wireless aspect makes a lot of sense to me, but if we can get 10Gbps to our mobile device, I am all for it, but who will pay for the backhaul? Latency is very important, so they have to bring the computing to the edge, NFV and SDN will be a huge part of 5G. The latency has to be low and then the bandwidth will not be as critical, right?

Who will win in 5G?

We have all heard about 5G, the next big thing, for the carriers anyway. Will it really be all what we think it can be? Super high bandwidth with awesome applications? Who will win the 5G race?

The way I see it Verizon Wireless and AT&T will win, or at least be there first. They invested heavy, they are working to put out real standards, and they really want to win. This is something that the other carriers seem to be playing with but not taking as seriously. Sure, they all say they are working on 5G and I am sure they have something in a lab with high bandwidth in the 28GHz range, or somewhere up there, to test these applications. That way the investors are happy along and the public is impressed. I mean we all want to see virtual reality happen very soon from a wireless device, right?

Verizon seems to be working hard on the technical standards and the testing of the network.

AT&T seems to be finding ways to use it and testing it as well.

While I see that Sprint and T-Mobile are looking at it and testing in labs, they probably are in no hurry to lay out a lot of money just yet. They may wait to see what standard will be adopted then take the money they saved and use it to build a network, or expand what they have. I hope they are planning for this future. In all honesty T-Mobile is doing a great job of laying the ground work for high speeds while Sprint, well, Sprint doesn’t seem to be doing much of anything for the future.

Will 5G be a Failure?

So will it succeed? The issue that I see right now is not the technology, the loading, the multiple access, but really the spectrum. How far can millimeter waves go? How many connections can 28GHz or whatever band they’re in, can it serve? How large of an area can it really serve? We all look to small cells or CRAN to perform here, but will there be a payback. Can the carriers make a play for fixed wireless or will they try to capitalize on dense networks? Can they make the dense network business model work? Does it have to be a carrier to build this or can it be a smaller business who could tie back into another company’s core? Will they need a mobile core or can it start to replace fiber? Remember, there were so many microwave hops connecting broadband when fiber was not so readily available.

I don’t think that the question of 5G is fair, to be honest, its more like, “Will Millimeter Wave be a failure?” Isn’t that the big question here? The elephant in the room, so to speak. Can mm-wave perform the way that today’s spectrum does? Can it go beyond PTP?

The real winner will be the fiber backhaul companies, they will offer maximum bandwidth, chances are it will be dark fiber dedicated to the carriers, one more expense the carriers to look at before deployment. This will be the big cost just like now. Sorry cable companies, but the cable modem may not be able to service such a huge capacity. Fi they really do virtual reality, they will need to get to the edge for low latency and have a lot of bandwidth and the devices will need to maintain connectivity. Or will they?

What is the plan?

Maybe this is where the devices will need to take a step forward again, like the iPhone. Then the networks pushed LTE out so that high-speed data could get the devices reliable. Then devices added more and more memory to improve it once again. This is where the 5G miracle may happen. The devices will really need to make another quantum leap. The way I see it is that the networks will dump data fast in large chunks for high bandwidth applications and the device will need to capture and process that data. The app will rest in the device and the device must take the data and break it down. We are doing this now with applications in our smart phones and tablets, but they need to be the edge, they need to process it all quickly and they need to be able to connect and accept data quickly and efficiently all while processing it for the application.

I really the think that the edge has to push farther out, so that the cloud will extend farther. I know they talk about fog computing, where the edge is at the end, this is what will really push the network. Hop after hop, so that the computing is done so close to the device that it may be in the device itself. Will there be awesome high-speed kick ass wireless devices that 10 other devices can connect to? I hope so. Will fixed wireless take over the world? I hope so. What are you hoping for, other than a bunch more work in deployment?

One thing that could hold it back is that the carriers do NOT want to replace their networks. They have LTE in as the foundation, they do not want to do another fork lift upgrade. They want to just keep making minor updates until it completely maxed out. They are counting on LTE to push them well past 2020. When we all see 5G released in 2020, it will be on the back of LTE, which technically is still 4G but by then it should be on serious steroids.

One other thing, the carriers do not want to give up their dominance. They intend to rule the wireless world well into 2030. So when the FCC has auctions, they will spend billions. Just look at how much spectrum AT&T is sitting on, you think they would roll it out soon.

Just a few ideas, but worth thinking about.

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So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Does IOT need Wireless?

August 10, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Hell yeah! Don’t get me wrong, you could use CAT 5 to connect most of this stuff, but the idea is to have the equipment everywhere and talking all the time, or at least when we need to. They need to be wireless controlled for it to work properly and to be autonomous. What fun would a drone be if you needed to have a copper line connected to it. The FCC laid out their plan to sunset copper lines. I did a lot of work on them but I won’t miss them because wireless is so cool! If you like copper so much, then put that smartphone down and use a landline, if you can find one.

So, back to IOT, (Internet of Things), they rely on wireless connections for more than convenience. This is how the machine to machine, M2M, really take off. Whether it’s to control valves for a water company or to read your electric meter or to control natural gas flow, you need to have connectivity everywhere. We just need to define what that connectivity will be. It could be the standard carrier networks, LTE really. That is going to be key for so much of this. But most of these systems will need much less bandwidth.

Small data networks, that sounds crazy, right? NOT! You see the new networks are built for larger packets, so they are so inefficient, and too expensive, for a simple command to open or close a valve. LTE and Wi-Fi seem like overkill for these applications, although they are everywhere and the most convenient to work with, especially Wi-Fi, it’s in your house and would be a great way for your smart home full of IOT devices to talk to your smartphone and the real world.

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That is why the LTE format may not be the best for IOT, although it would be everywhere so by default it may be the technology of choice.

So how will wireless IOT work?

They need something for outdoor communication like LoRa, the low-bandwidth system. There is a LoRa alliance, https://www.lora-alliance.org/ if you want to read more about what they are up to. Another good article on LoRa is at http://postscapes.com/long-range-wireless-iot-protocol-lora/ where they go into detail about how it works. What they explain is that they are planning to use the spectrum that is left behind, with smaller bandwidth. They way the Semtech chip works is that they utilize spectrum that is sub giga-hertz, like 109MHz, 433MHz, 866MHz, and 915MHz where they have smaller amounts of spectrum. They need to stay away from the license free spectrum because it might interfere.

There is another format called SigFox for outdoor communication. Again, made for very small packets of data. I found information at http://www.link-labs.com/what-is-sigfox/ if you want more information but here is what I got out of it. They are using the 915MHz spectrum (ISM band license free), using 2 types of Phase Shift Keying, PSK. This supposedly will help get the data through the noise. I am not sure what the coverage would be for something like this but I would bet its very limited. This is a low power, wide area, (LPWA) network. A good article on SigFox is here, http://www.networkworld.com/article/3029253/internet-of-things/how-sigfox-plans-to-spread-its-low-power-iot-network-across-the-u-s.html if you want to learn how they plan to deploy. I am told that they already have several deployments in the USA, although I don’t know of any personally.

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Now, for the smart home, inside a building, or the smart office, you could use Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, or something proprietary. We all know Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, right? It’s on your smartphones and in your homes. What we don’t know if ZigBee and Z-Wave.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

What is ZigBee for IOT? Well, according to the ZigBee alliance at http://www.zigbee.org/what-is-zigbee/ it is a wireless language that is used to connect devices, which is such a generic explanation that I could use for any wireless protocol. Come on!

So I went into Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee where they give a much better explanation. It is line of site, LOS, and very short-range. It works in the ISM band, just like Wi-Fi, (2.4GHz in most countries but also in 915MHz in USA and Australia, 784MHz in China, 868MHz in Europe). The data rate is very small, remember I said smaller packets are all you need? This is made for very small and efficient bursts of data. They also support mesh networking. Mesh means that the devices not only connect to the hub but they can repeat the signal to each other forming a mesh. This is a great way to extend coverage if you don’t need massive bandwidth.

What is Z-Wave for IOT? Z-Wave takes ZigBee and makes some enhancements. It specifically works in the 908.42GHz range in the USA and 868.42MHz band in Europe. For a great explanation go to http://www.smarthome.com/sc-what-is-zwave-home-automation but its made for very small networks in the home. Find more at http://www.z-wave.com/ but I haven’t heard much more on this except that they have a version that will work with the Apple iWatch.

As you can see there are many technologies to roll out the IOT format. I don’t really know if there is a clear winner but I think it depends on the need. The wireless backhaul will come down to a chip they add to the device based on need, coverage, and cost. I could see someone using all of the technologies in a device to get the coverage they need, like maybe utility meters. That would make sense because it would be a one-time up front cost. However, for the in home stuff, cheap is what they need. I seriously don’t see people putting in a new network in their homes if they don’t have to but many companies will say you need a “hub” which will be the special format switch that their devices will, in theory, talk to the Wi-Fi in their homes. I already see it but it looks like they want to sell more devices in the home. So maybe high-end stuff will need the hub. I could see the hub as another line of defense in security, where if someone hacks your Wi-Fi and/or cable router then they would need to get by another device to get to your thermostat or light switches.

However, for an outdoor network I could see a dedicated network taking off for several reasons, cost reliability, and security. It costs money to pay the carrier a fee every month when you have a small low data device on it when you could put one of the cheaper hotspots in a space to connect your devices. Again, it really comes down to cost and reliability. Many will say they want security, but how secure can they really be?

A few more articles that may interest you:

http://pages.silabs.com/rs/silabs/images/Wireless-Connectivity-for-IoT.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoguKjNZKXonjHpfsX86%2B4rWKK3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DSsJkI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTLPBMbNsz7gOXBg%3D

http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-protocols/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LPWAN

http://www.semtech.com/wireless-rf/internet-of-things/

https://www.micrium.com/iot/devices/

http://www.networkcomputing.com/internet-things/10-leaders-internet-things-infrastructure/1612927605

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

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Wireless Carriers State of Affairs Commentary

August 2, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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The carriers seem to be very slow this year on growth, at least wireless network growth. Oh sure, if you talk to them they are growing by leaps and bounds. But if you are in deployment, you are either busy or really slow. It seems like more of the same old work.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have the work that we see and I am grateful for it. I just don’t see much work outside of the carriers like before. The utilities seem to be satisfied with what they have and public safety is still holding their breath for a LTE system that could serve them outside of the carriers. You know, like what we all thought FirstNet would do. They apparently will be the government’s first MVNO. All that spectrum and we might as well wait for the 5G networks to roll out. Way to go FirstNet, you’re LTE system will be deployed along with the latest 5G system. Maybe you want to start the RFP process over again. (Sorry, just frustrated to see something so promising turn out to be late and “business as usual”!)

So where are we with the carriers. Well, Verizon is rolling with the normal growth that we all expect from the # 1 network. They appear to be adding towers and rolling out CRAN/oDAS with the intent to get the biggest bang they can with the spectrum they have. All this while working on a standard for 5G, I mean a real standard, not just lip service. Verizon rolls on with their plan to be the biggest and best. While all the other carriers say they are good enough, Verizon appears to dominate with coverage and reliability, at least that’s what I see.

AT&T seems to be in a hold pattern for wireless. I see them planning a lot but just doing what they have to. I really can’t believe it but from my perspective, they seem to be sending the message that Verizon is the best and we’re good enough. They have a great network and are clearly #2, but the whole DirecTV merger seems to have them more worried about bundling packages than improving the network. They add where they absolutely have to, but other than that, their good enough, right?

Then there is T-Mobile, the #3 carrier who seems to be pretty motivated to catch up to AT&T. This is their big chance with AT&T resting on its current network. I see T-Mobile doing more to roll out and densify the LTE system. They also have a pretty amazing marketing system, seriously, that John Legere looks like a genius from my vantage point. They continue to pump money into the network with improvements, densification, and wireless improvements. They may not catch up to Verizon anytime soon but WOW! They really are pushing the envelope and this is the perfect time to leave #4 in the dust.

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Sprint is the #4 carrier and with the effort they’re putting into expand, it is no surprise to me. They have more spending cuts and are tighter with their money that the Scrooge was before Christmas! I feel bad for the people working there to be buried under all of that debt. I will say one thing, financially they seem to be pulling ahead. However, where will they be in 3 years when they have the only operational CDMA system, and not for nostalgia reasons but because they have to support voice in some way. They should be rolling out VoLTE soon, but will it be too late? If Verizon were smart they would sunset CDMA as soon as possible so that anyone who roams onto their system needs to have VoLTE.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

So what about the tower owners like American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBA? They play a huge part in this. The leases they have and the assets that they have will make them a serious partner in this because the carriers need to pay them a lot of money each month. They have pretty solid leases where companies can’t get out of them no matter what. They tie the carriers into long-term leases. All of this has made them really strong and a good long-term investment. However, some companies, like Sprint are going to do all that they can to reduce the number of leases with their move to roll out the new network on monopoles. I have to admit it’s a cool idea to save money. But let me ask you, what will is cost up front to do this? Is it worth it? Can they really save money by doing this? Will the municipalities and townships allow this? There is more to this than just saving the OpEx, the CapEx may not be worth it. Especially if they have no cash or high debt. Remember how much it costs to move a site? The tower owners know! They bank on that being an issue for the carriers when they set their rates. These guys are smart!

However, this makes it a ripe market for new companies to come in an offer better rates or maybe a disruptor to make a difference in the tower market. If someone could get a few key towers built then they would be ahead of the game, or would they? I have to tell you I personally have been in touch with several companies that wanted to build new towers and when they reached out to the carriers to see if there was interest, guess what the carriers said, N-O as in no. So why build it if they won’t come? So the carriers are shooting themselves in the foot, and I would bet it’s because they just don’t want to deal with the one-off towers. Then they complain about tower lease prices. OK carriers, then make a difference and move ahead with the smaller guys or stop complaining!

Let’s look at one more thing. The new FAA ruling requiring a 50’ tower to have lights in a residential area? Article found here, http://wirelessestimator.com/articles/2016/new-faa-rules-will-require-some-50-to-200-foot-towers-to-be-marked/ in case you don’t believe me. Painting is OK, I get that, but what if they require beacons? I know that the FAA should have one of these beacons near their house, they just made all neighborhood hate having any tower near them because they feel a plane that is 50’ off of the ground should be able to see the pole ahead of them. This is probably for the drones they expect to see but seriously, is the FAA smoking crack? If a drone can’t see the tower, then what? They should watch where they are going. They should not be flying at night. And if a plane is 50’ off of the ground in a residential neighborhood, like mine, I am going to be calling 911 and looking for a crash, seriously.

To digress even more, this is probably because of another report I read, https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2010/May/Met_tower_Power_Point_St._Cloud.pdf. Why do I bring this up? If you look at this PDF, you see that all of the towers are in the middle of a field where the land is very flat. This is a case to put lights on smaller tower when there is absolutely nothing around. Again, for planes flying under 200 feet AGL, like the ultralight (which should be higher than 200’ and not fly over developments) and drones. I think to mandate this nationwide is a bit extreme and they just added a lot of work for approvals for new towers. The way I see it this will stunt tower growth even more, giving the leverage to the large tower companies, so for them it might be a pain to retrofit the towers, but the bigger picture is that they just put another nail in the coffin of startups.

If you though NIMBY was an issue before, get ready for a new line of complaints when people realize they will have to live with a beacon flash outside their window all night long. People complain about street lamps near them, can you imagine a beacon flashing outside of their window.

On the other hand, this should be a good thing for the small cell industry because they generally go on lower poles and could be put anywhere. So now the small cell will literally be right outside their window, at eye level.

All of this makes the tower owners even more powerful and gives them amazing control over the carrier’s destiny.

I have to admit, I am really impressed with Crown Castles investment into the small cell arena and the way that they advanced a single small cell site into multiple small cell and oDAS sites. This really makes them look like they are preparing for the future. They got the fiber and they have the assets. They also seem to have a good plan which puts them in a favorable position. If the carriers want to move away from these leases, then they should not have sold their towers, which they did to pay for the spectrum, right? How is that working out? The old saying, rob Peter to pay Paul, is coming back to haunt them. To be fair, I would have done the same thing, they got a great influx of money, they were able to reduce staff, and they gave them to companies that do tower leasing for a living. Now they need to pay the rent for the rest of their time on the tower.

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

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What will 5G networks look like?

July 27, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Here is what I see, the carriers are pretty stubborn to keep the LTE systems in place, they really don’t want to do another network build for another 10 years. Do expect them to improve LTE, which does stand for Long Term Evolution, for another 10 years or so. Luckily they found ways to improve the data rates through aggregation and the FCC is releasing more spectrum. This is great for the carriers who dominate spectrum ownership. Why wouldn’t they when it costs BILLIONs just to attain spectrum. I don’t see many small guys doing much with high bandwidth. Luckily, low-bandwidth is starting to grow, and it really will be part of 5 g.

We have all been hearing about 5G but let’s look at what’s going on. It is not going to be a new transport format for the carriers. I would look at it as an add-on of smaller networks. This gives us a new look at the HetNet, a term we just don’t see enough but it really is the foundation for the networks as we see them today.

I believe that there will be more networks coming out. The FCC is releasing very high spectrum for 5G and Verizon is testing this. The question is how will people attain this spectrum, what will it cost, and so on. Not an issue right now but Verizon did set a standard which they would like to see approved. I give them a lot of credit for doing real testing and setting real standards for something that may happen before 2020, the original date we thought we would see it.

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This is where IOT and 5G should merge, they should be working together as a system. However, the IOT may not be the heavy bandwidth hitter we thought it would be. Instead it will be like it always was for Machine to Machine, M2M. Think of SCADA systems. SCADA, Supervisory Data Control and Data Acquisition. Utilities have been using them for years, only they called them SCADA. Now with the new low-bandwidth networks coming out they may be able to start using new services if they are secure enough. They really seem to like the 3.5GHz WiMAX systems because they owned them, but WiMAX didn’t work as well as they had hoped. So not they are looking for a new way to handle these low-bandwidth needs. This is technically IOT, but wouldn’t it be 5G?

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

The 5G network will be faster and build out in smaller networks. The 5G network will still utilize much of the 4G network, but mostly as a means to connect. LTE will continue to get faster and grown. Most of what you hear about is the high bandwidth usage, like virtual reality and the cars that will drive for us. This is all part of it but the network needs to be built out properly and reliably. Latency has to be very low, so the cloud will matter. How? This is what NFV, network function virtualization, and SDN, Software-Defined Networking, come into play. The process needs to be taken to the edge, as close to the user as possible to lower the latency.

So the 5G network will bring the network out to the end-user. With the higher spectrum it will be a very small network. The wireless will not be the only factor; the servers will need to be as close to the edge as possible

The 5G will have a fast wireless format.
It may also a server close to the edge. It will need to keep latency as low as possible.
The networking and routing will need to be very nimble and change very quickly.
Low latency will be the key.
Hi throughput will matter for some apps.
Low throughput will need low latency.

https://youtu.be/XFjmrzw-9EM

Here is some food for thought. I put these very simple drawings together hoping it may show you how the network could look.

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

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What is a “Smart City”?

Starbucks

The Stadiums

The Office

Resources

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But wait, there’s more!

Some background:

Who will it help?

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Sprint cried WOLF one too many times!

What about T-Mobile?

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To sum it up:

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Who will win in 5G?

Will 5G be a Failure?

What is the plan?

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So how will wireless IOT work?

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