What is 5G?

November 1, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Did you ever wonder, what is 5G anyway? What does that mean to me? If you’re not interested in technology, then it’s just another buzz word, but if you’re reading this, then you asked the question.

Here it is “The 5G Deployment Plan” available now!

The 5G network, as of 2016, is still being defined. What we do know is that it will not be like 2G, 3G, or 4G because it will be more than the format, spectrum, speed, or even the equipment. Let me break it down for you.

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Can we define 5G? Let’s look at the Wikipedia definition of 5G, found here, “5G (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems) denotes the proposed next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G/IMT-Advanced standards. 5G planning includes Internet connection speeds faster than current 4G, and other improvements.” So what does that mean? It’s more than just a network connection or a format. It will include the connection to the internet, the connections to each device, the broad-spectrum of devices used in the network.

Quick history recap:

Older formats were defined by what they could do but we really just looked at the wireless format. We looked at 3G as GSM or CDMA. We were looking at 4G as the next generation which was LTE as chosen by the carriers because it is the Long Term Evolution of wireless.
Then when going to 4G it was a competition between WCDMA and WiMAX and LTE, LTE clearly won the battle. All the carriers went with LTE. This helped them make the equipment and deployments more of a commodity which saves them money. The evolved packet core made it easier to distribute the radios and split up the core. The all IP system matched what most networks are today making the transfer of data more efficient and clean.
So why improve? Because we’re human, that’s what we do, advance. In this case it was the end-user’s insatiable demand for data that has pushed out 3G pretty quick, costing network operators a lot of money in upgrades to get to an all IP LTE system. Thanks to the iPhone, the mobile device changed forever!
The big difference? It’s the network! Going to 5G is more than just the wireless format, it’s all about the network and the combination of networks. Back when 4G was coming out there was this concept, the HetNet, that was introduced. The Heterogeneous Network is a concept that came from the computer world where, according to Wikipedia, “using different access technologies. For example, a wireless network which provides a service through a wireless LAN and is able to maintain the service when switching to a cellular network is called a wireless heterogeneous network”.

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The HetNet is the game changer along with new speeds and spectrum and formats. When looking at the system you could have macro sites and small cells, LTE and Wi-Fi and perhaps another format all working together as one big happy network where the end-user has no idea what network they are on. You could be in any spectrum, 600MHz, 700MHz, 1.9GHz, 2.5GHz, 24GHz, 28GHz, 60GHz or another band which could be allocated to 5G. You could even be in the unlicensed spectrum running Wi-Fi or LTE-U or a lightly licensed band like 3.65GHz, the CBRS, here in the states. The end-user may notice the change in speed but not the format or spectrum change. In fact, I would believe the end-user won’t care unless they see a big change is speed, or quality of experience, (QoE). Seriously, do you even think about it unless voice is crappy or the download rate is painfully slow or you lose connection altogether?

So, what is 5G? It’s the combination all the network encompasses. It will be all of the parts put together to make the speeds super-fast. Now, you’re probably wondering how we will get there. Lucky I put together this list for you to see how we will improve speeds.

Carrier aggregation – what this is the method used to aggregate carrier, which is explained by 3GPP here. What that means is that carriers used now can be combined in the equipment to look like one big pipe of bandwidth. It is advancing, currently I have seen 3 carriers all put together but it should grow to 6 or 7 in the near future allowing the pipes to be bigger.
Carrier aggregation with unlicensed bands – I thought I would throw this in there because it is very different that normal carrier aggregation. I will tell you why! Licensed aggregation is from the same BTS making it easy to aggregate but the unlicensed aggregation like LAA and LWA is combining spectrum from a BTS and some unlicensed access point. That makes it much more complicated and I have to give the OEMs so much credit to do this. In the UE device they can put it together and it seems that Qualcomm figured out how to do it in the device.
Massive MIMO – that’s right, the antennas are making a difference. I know, it’s more than the antenna but let’s just point out that it’s a team effort between the radio and the antenna to shove even more bit per second in the same bandwidth. There is a high-level overview here. I am not going to get into the technical details but the beam forming technology and the way that one antenna will have hundreds of antennas in it that can focus on one user, is amazing. I remember that Ruckus has high-tech antenna technology in the Wi-Fi spectrum which really set them apart from their competition. The antennas will push data to new limits in 5G systems.
Improvements in LTE – the formats are improving but bandwidth is limited in today’s spectrum so this is reaching its limit. However, we now have LTE-Advanced, which is being released in networks in 2016. This includes much of the services that are listed here. However, if the radios don’t improve then we don’t’ advance or evolve.
New spectrum – the spectrum is coming in bigger bandwidths for the carriers to put together. We no longer see carrier use 1MHz carriers, but they are looking for 5, 10, and 20MHz carriers. When the “5G” spectrum in the mmwave, (millimeter wave), is released they will have 20 MHz channels and higher. So imagine a carrier has 100MHz of bandwidth on one carrier and they can dedicate that to a limited number of users and they can aggregate it with 3 other 100MHz wide carriers to provide 400Mhz of bandwidth in the same spectrum. This is what the 24GHz and higher spectrum will accommodate. Would that compete with cable for home internet access? I think so, as a fixed wireless system where we no longer have to run cables or fiber to a house or business. If only the carriers would work out a flat-fee unlimited data plan for users that would rival the cable companies plans without the TV channels.

Scope of Work defined in this tutorial.

Now, I went over the wireless improvements but as you know it’s more about the network which includes the backhaul and core. Did I say backhaul and core? You know it’s more than that!

SDN – Software Defined Networking which makes the routing architecture smarter and more efficient. If you want to learn more start here.
NFV – Network Function Virtualization used SDN to make the network virtual. That will make the network functions work closer to the user. Learn more here.
Cloud Computing – here is where the applications are brought closer to the user, lower latency and improved customer experience to the point where the network sees less congestion. Learn more here. So where is the cloud? It should be in a server near you. They could be anywhere in a data room set up to serve you and they should be able to work anywhere.
Fog computing – this is taking the cloud and shoving it as close to the end-user as possible, to the edge. This is where the IOT will be able to make smart decisions in very little time, low latency. I found a good explanation here.
Cloud RAN – C-RAN is where the RAN will not have a local BBU, but a virtual BBU. Similar to CRAN which is Centralized RAN which is where the BBU hotel is remote and fiber connected the BBU to each radio head which could be using CPRI or another format. The limitation with this is that the fiber needs to be dedicated fiber for each radio head. I have an article here, but I want you to realize that if you are in the industry then CRAN and C-RAN are very different, ask any OEM or carrier. Cloud RAN is where the BBU function is more virtual whereas Centralized RAN has a direct physical connection to the BBU. Get it?

5G will encompass new applications, new ways to use the Het Net. New ways to get the processing power to the edge of the network using the cloud and even fog technologies. I think that we have to change the paradigm of the wireless network. It won’t be long until we have fixed wireless providing internet access to homes to replace the cable modems we need now. Operators will have more than 10Mbps backhaul for wireless cells, small or macro. It won’t be long until they need 1Gbps to 10Gbps to 100Gbps to satisfy the needs of the end-user.

So now we have 5G. This is going to be more than just a new format or a higher speed. It will be a combination of formats with so much more included. We will see 5G specific applications that will shape the network. We will see the networking equipment be a requirement, the cloud, even fog computing will be part of all of this.

Think about what we will see with 5G, artificial intelligence on the network, virtual reality anywhere, and so many new applications that we can’t even think of yet.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Will LTE will be the Foundation for 5G?

What is LTE UE Backhaul?

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tower-family-foundation-e1447069656192 — TowerFamilyFoundation.org

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Chad Tuttle of the B+T Group Talks Towers

October 23, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Today I spent time with Chad Tuttle of B+T Group who has really grown over the year. It is an interesting story for several reasons. Chad’s family was in the tower industry since the 1950s, in fact, they built out some of the AT&T towers, you know, the big towers with the “ice cream cone” looking dishes at the top. That is so cool that his family was part of that history.
I highly recommend listening to what Chad has to say, he is really an interesting guy who knows the tower industry better than most people. He is a really smart guy that understands how the industry works and what they should be doing. I want to thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to spend an hour with me, I really appreciate it.

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Anyway, while Chad does talk about B+T Group, and all that they offer, he gives us the history of how the tower industry grown, about co-location of carriers, and the evolution of how the carriers started sharing towers. When he started his business it was more common for companies to build their own towers and not share. Well, then wireless growth happened and soon, there were not enough towers, and people had to share. Then the structural integrity of the tower really mattered. This is where his business really started to take off. If the towers could not hold the load, then they would fall! If you want to learn more about the history of how the tower business initially began to grow, then listen to Chad tell us about it.
He talks about how B+T Group, started with Chad and his partner, Dinesh Bhat, who grew the business from the 2 of them to over 150 people, wow! Chad is a very hands-on guy, who has a great entrepreneurial spirit. He started this company in 2000 and took it to amazing heights, (get it, new heights). He is constantly looking for ways to improve the tower structural and maintenance business. He mentions his new ideas and the deliverables for site inspections and surveys. The reason they expanded was because their customers asked them to add services, like tower mapping and maintenance. When you do good work your customers ask you for more services. They do more tower modifications services than ever.

www.Towersafety.com

Who is Chad? Chad is a licensed engineer in 42 states, serves on the board for Arkansas/Oklahoma Wireless Association, Association of Civil Engineers and TIA committee for structural analyses. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1994, Chad began his career at National Steel Erectors, Inc., building telecommunications tower sites throughout the United States. In addition to spending three years as a structural engineer for BSW International, Chad managed and served on the board of directors of a private contracting company. In other words, he is a smart guy who knows the tower industry.

Scope of Work defined in this tutorial.
B+T Group covers 42 states, but they are based out of Tulsa, Ok. They offer structural services as well as other tower and maintenance services. However, the thing that really caught my eye was the Site 360. Now remember that they are still a tower mod company, that is their main business.
By the way, I know we talk a lot about the tower side of things but they have quite a presence in DAS and small cell deployment. It has been something that their customers asked for and they responded with solutions. They actually found a great way to do surveys quickly, accurately, and cost-effectively. Chad believes that the small cell business will boom, that we only scratched the surface of small cell deployment. I could see the scans that they use with new technology being useful for not only carriers for deployment, but what about the fiber companies that need the exact dimensions of the streets, the distance from to each pole, they have the technology to do this, and keep it online and on record. I am getting ahead of myself, sorry, it’s just a game changer for anyone who would normally send someone out to do exact measurements and hope they did it right. Read on wireless fans, or better yet, listen to the podcast!
They have a new service that aligns with Site 360, it is really cool. B+T Group will take detailed pictures of the tower, 360-degree digital images of the tower with all the information about what is on the tower with exact heights that are within 1 cm of accuracy. If you click on the picture and zoom in you can click on an antenna and get the model number or the cut sheet of the antenna. You can get the leasing information, it’s all there. Remember when you used a drawing and you really hoped it was accurate? This is a new deliverable that B+T Group is providing with Site 360.
This new technology allows them to take a picture of a street, tower, poles, anything and build up the database and drawings so that you can have a reference that will give you all the dimensions and measurements within 1cm of the tower, shelters, poles, street width, and everything mounted on the structures. Is that cool or what? I think it’s awesome!
Chad tells us how he was at the site and he could find that 3 new antennas added in 2 minutes by using his smart phone, all on the ground. One more thing, once they have the tower in their database they can give you all kinds of information you may want in the future, like down tilt, antenna size, mount size, how far the antenna is from the tower, details that you might have sent a crew back out to look at, so if you scan it in once, you have data for a lifetime!
To give you an overview of what Site 360 covers, let’s look at what you would want to audit the tower. You want to know exactly what is on the tower, what height, and who owns it. All this can be done from an interactive drawing. Look at the site and click down, you get more detail, from down tilt to what type of mount is being used, all by pointing and clicking!
Think about what you really want from a site audit, whether it’s a tower or a small cell pole. Also, what could you need in the future? Maybe someday you want to look at the down tilt of specific antennas. If you do the complete audit once, then you will have information for the future. What are you looking for? It’s a deliverable that you need now and you can use in the future! In this case the deliverable is not a 3-hour movie to watch, but rather online documents, could be interactive, that could include any of the following.
• Site Plan drawing
• Tower elevation drawing
• Feedline plan drawing
• Compound PhotoSynth
• Tower PhotoSynth
• 3-D Viewable Model
• Drone Video
• Appurtenance Audit
• Rear antenna PhotoSynth
• Antenna Level Drawing
• Mount Mapping and Drawing

How do they do it? One or all of these options:
1. Ground-based Audits.
2. Climbed Audits.
3. Preconstruction Inspections and Mapping.
4. Using new technology using pictures to capture all of the data.
5. Putting all of this onto a server for full access.
6. Creating the deliverables.
If you want to build a database for your tower sites, this is a great investment. Go to www.btgrp.com or call them at 918-587-4630 if you’re interested in any of their services and see what Site 360 can do.
More information:
http://www.btgrp.com/who-we-are
http://www.btgrp.com/development-services
http://www.btgrp.com/site360
http://www.btgrp.com/field-services
http://www.btgrp.com/contact-us

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Could you build an indoor carrier grade wireless network?

October 18, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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We have been talking a lot about 5G and how the networks going to look. I brought up some 5G business cases in a post that are feasible for more than the carriers and I am working on many more. What about the enterprise and the building owners, how will they benefit? What about the smaller building owners, how will they benefit? How will we get the enterprise to have a carrier-grade wireless network? How can we deploy in small venues where carriers think installing small cells and DAS is too expensive? How can the enterprise and building owners benefit? I think I have a plan, let’s talk it through.

Here it is “The 5G Deployment Plan” available now!

As you know the carriers are getting stingy when it comes to small cell and DAS deployments for anything smaller than a 30,000 seat stadium. So where does that leave enterprise and the smaller building owners? Don’t discount yourselves! You have more power than they know. You have the key to letting them into your building or office or even using them as a carrier. Let’s go over how the changes in the availability of carrier grade equipment will make all of this possible for all of you in the enterprise IT departments. You have to make an investment, but it may not be too expensive.

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Keep this in mind, the carriers fought to make LTE a commodity. They have pushed LTE-U and it opens up opportunity to you, it can give you control of what’s in your building. The upcoming CBRS, 3.65Ghz, will open new doors because of its lightly licensed availability for small cell deployments. Let’s see how.

Now this takes a change in mindset for wireless usage in the enterprise and buildings, so please, be open-minded!

Let’s think about what having your own carrier-grade wireless system can do for your business. For starters you can isolate you network and control who roams onto it. Coverage and security will be pretty awesome because you control both. You can control who roams onto your indoor network, so you choose which carriers you will allow to roam onto your network. You can have the carriers tie into your network to complete handoffs from their core to yours. How cool is that? I bet you wonder how this will happen. I’ll go over it below. Take control of your network and only share with the carriers that will work with you.

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 equipment will be available to everyone, not just the carriers. While the bigger OEMs like Ericsson and Nokia will have this equipment, there will be many companies making this equipment more affordable. Look at Wi-Fi, the hardware prices came way down when companies like Ubiquity made it very inexpensive. Router prices came down. Server prices came down. You will have the opportunity to get this equipment within your budget. Also, you will have a say on who can enter your building or office space in your wireless domain. This gives you power to choose what carriers you want in your office space. Maybe you don’t want any and you want your devices to roam onto your secure network in your office. Well, here you go. Public safety is going to set this up in their models this way so why can’t you? Make your network safe and secure to control who roams onto it.

www.Towersafety.com

There are several wireless spectrum choices in place to help you move ahead with this concept. Follow along.

LTE-U, which is LTE in unlicensed spectrum will be available soon. This will be just like your current Wi-Fi network which you probably already use. The good thing is that it will offer an easy way to handoff from the carrier to your cell. So your smartphone will offer features that seamlessly roll from your carrier to your network. Wi-Fi does almost all of this but LTE makes the handoff smoother. The downside is that it is unlicensed so if you have a lot of Wi-Fi hotspots and LTE-U hotspots then you will have bandwidth issues due to interference.
LTE in the 3.65GHz range is lightly licensed and made for indoor small cells. This equipment will be available to anyone soon so all you need to do is apply for the license online, which is going to be really easy, then you can light up a licensed network in your building or office. The upside is that its licensed so interference will not be an issue. The downside is that it takes more effort up front but once you set it up, it’s done until the license needs renewed.
Soon, the 5G spectrum will be available in lightly licensed or license-free bands. Think of this as a new opportunity. You will see be high bandwidth on large swaths of spectrum. When the carriers stop paying for indoor coverage you have the opportunity to allow only the carrier you want to use in your domain. They could have a dead spot in your building, but as long as your carrier of choice has coverage, who cares? Seriously, it’s not your responsibility to provide them coverage. You should not be force to let them in.

How can you improve throughput?

Carrier aggregation allows for all LTE bands to work together. This is something that we expect small cells to have very soon, so it will look like you have the bandwidth of both LTE-U and 3.65GHz LTE all in one. WOW! The downside is that you need an OEM small cell that supports this technology. You also need to build out small cells on both bands to make it work.
The 5G mmwave spectrum will have huge spectrum channels available for you to use in your building. Think about that! The potential is there for you to use something clean and massive in your own space!

What about the core?

The core is something you install yourself and have running like your servers in the data room. Of course, there is more to it than that but someone can help you figure it out. Several companies make smaller cores that you can use to anchor your LTE system and tie it into the carrier’s core. There is also MulteFire, the QUALCOMM format that allows you to have your own LTE service, unanchored if you wish. MulteFire gives LTE the ease of use and connectivity like Wi-Fi. I am not sure but it make invoke some security issues that you also have with Wi-Fi.
Security will be very tight on your licensed spectrum with the core to control who is in and who is not allowed on the network. It is up to you to make sure that your network is secure.

And then what?

Suddenly you have new IOT options and equipment that was only available to the carriers. Features that could really help you track people and equipment in the building. Wi-Fi has options like this as well, but now we’re taking it to a carrier grade level.
Offer your system as an extension to the carrier of your choice. Since they won’t pay for coverage in your office or building, contact them and see how they will roam onto your network. It may be mutually beneficial for them to use your network. I don’t know how billing may work but this may be a way for the carrier to improve their coverage and for you to extend the coverage of all of your company’s devices.

So what do you do next?

Choose your OEM, preferably one that will have a core product that will connect to a carrier’s network if possible. You can search for either LTE in a box or small LTE system or something like that.

What can you do with your network? Take it to the next level. If you don’t see anything past Wi-Fi, then why spend the money? If you do see potential in having all of the devices connected to a carrier-grade network, then use it to connect the devices that currently are only capable of working on the carrier network. The potential is there for LTE to change your life and make your wireless network go to the next level by offering apps specific to your location. Wi-Fi has this capability now in NFL stadiums, so why can’t you do it in your building? Think about the work specific applications you can offer your employees on their smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Maybe you have people that come into your work area from other regions that would need access to these apps? Now you have a quick solution to providing them with quick and seamless coverage in your work space.

What about IOT? Track and control your equipment within the smart building. Monitor and track all of your equipment in the building. You could not only monitor all the things you have now, like your servers and alarms, but a building owner could monitor pressure gauges or door alarms or heating and cooling sensors. Control of these things is also possible. These are all things that you may want to connect to your device. You may already have this. You could also track your people inside the building. While all of this sounds cool, most of it can be done today and you could lay the foundation on your network, but the connections could go farther.

Now, think of the next generation of what you plant to do within your office? Do you plan to work with virtual reality, (VR)? Do you plan to use heavier and heavier data for specific applications? Then you could see where you could dedicate spectrum just for an application like that. You could run it anywhere in your office space wirelessly. You could stop running cables to every workstation in the office and you could move from the laptop to the tablet if you haven’t already. Think of the potential you would have with dedicated spectrum tied into your unlicensed spectrum.

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

Who controls your office wireless space?

Think about how you control your domain! You will be the master of your domain, in a wireless sense anyway. You don’t need to beg the carriers to come in, instead, you can control who enters your domain. You can keep them out. You control it and if you want it secure then you don’t need to let anyone in. Let’s change the paradigm here to one where you have complete control of your wireless network.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Will LTE will be the Foundation for 5G?

What is LTE UE Backhaul?

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Deploying 5G Small Cells

October 11, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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How will 5G small cells be deployed? How will 5G small cells be installed? How will the 5G small cell planning go? These are all good questions. Let’s touch the surface to understand what the starting points are. Let’s also cover how you can play a part in the 5G expansion.

Here it is “The 5G Deployment Plan” available now!

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Wireless Deployment Handbook for LTE Small Cells and DAS

Basically I am not sure what the 5G format will look like in the mmwave spectrum but we all know that LTE will be the foundation in existing spectrums. It could be LTE-Advanced or eLTE, evolved LTE. It looks like LTE will be here for a long time, in tech time anyway.

With the coming of 5G we will see more and more HetNets. This is obvious if you are in the industry, but the great thing is that the networks will be able to talk to each other. Much like the internet now, where you just plug-in, the wireless networks will start to connect to other wireless networks. The carriers will be able to connect to an independent network and hand off data. They are doing it now with Wi-Fi. However, Wi-Fi is not as friendly with LTE as we would all like to think. That is why LTE-U will make things easier to interconnect wirelessly. How exciting is that? This will make the carrier independent small cell a multi-carrier small cell. How cool is that? Looking at the unlicensed band as part of 5G is essential, because many small cells in the unlicensed band will be used to offload the constrained licensed spectrum.

www.Towersafety.com

Interested in DAS, Amazon has a good ebook by Soyola Baasan .

That is why you could build your own network then reach out to the carriers to see if you could connect to them. The carriers made it clear that they don’t want to pay for small cells or DAS unless they see a clear payback. However, I think they would entertain a partnership with a business or company that could help them serve their customers.

Just to note all the carrier say they are testing 5G, but it looks like Verizon and AT&T have really made public progress here in the states. Verizon went so far as to set a standard, look for it here.

I don’t’ want to take anything away from T-Mobile though, they have tested 5G with Nokia just last month. You can read about it here.

First off, what is a 5G small cell? That is the question! If you follow me at all you know I say that 5G is the system, not necessarily the format Well, it is, but when you hear about the carriers talking about testing 5G, what does that mean? Let me explain.

First off, 5G will be a combination of LTE and new formats. When I talk about 5G small cells I really am talking about the 28GHz spectrum and up. Considering that licensed and unlicensed will be included. LTE-U and Wi-Fi will play a part. We need all the spectrum we can get. So keep that in mind when focusing on the 5G small cell.

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.

Now, the carriers are all testing 5G in small cells in the 28GHz spectrum and up. They are currently testing, in the USA, 28GHz because there is a lot of spectrum available there. The FCC approved it so let it be done! That is where most of the carriers have been testing equipment. Nokia and Ericsson are testing equipment in this range as well. So that is where we will focus on today’s discussion.

So the small cell will have to have the basics, a type of BBU and a radio head. Only this time, at 28GHz the cable loss would be super-duper high! Sorry for the technical terms, you need special cable to handle spectrum that high. So they will definitely have the radio head connected to the antenna. That is done today but most carriers, except T-Mobile, seem to like them separated so that can replace them if necessary. Usually they wind up replacing both, but I am getting off topic.

The radio head and the antenna one unit, just like microwave where they attach the radio head directly to the antenna. So think about the extra weight to the antenna will increase. This could have an effect on antenna placement and the way you mount the antenna. If it’s outdoors, then you may need to worry about the weight or the size of the unit. Most times it may not matter. Indoors it may not make a difference but you may not have the stealth unit you hoped for.

The BBU may all be in one unit for indoors or outdoors they could have it all-inclusive or could be a separate unit with a fiber connection between it and the radio head. The expectation is that the radio head will have more intelligence in it so that the fiber runs can be longer for someone like Verizon who loves to deploy the CRAN system. This will make the core and BBU more virtual The radio head will be able to do more but won’t have the full macro capability, but in theory it should not need it. It should be able to see the BBU which may be nearby or in the cloud. How cool is that? Virtual radio heads are not far away and the cloud will lower latency, but once again, I am getting off subject, let’s focus on the small cell.

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

So what has changed? It really doesn’t sound like much as far as the small cell is concerned. It sounds more like the same device, integrated in a different band that is smarter than the old device. So what?

Well, if you’re in this business you should already know the answer! It’s the antenna! That’s right, the antenna and the connection between the radio head and the antenna! That is going to help us get maximum spectrum from the radio head to the antenna and from the antenna to the UE device! How? I am glad you asked!

MIMO, (Multiple In Multiple Out) which allows more spectrum to pass between devices. First off, the radio head will have 4 to 16, (maybe more) connections to the antenna allowing many bands to talk to the end device. Fun MIMO PDF to read here. This gets highly technical, so bear with me. They cram a whole bunch of antenna panels into on antenna and then split signals to and from each little antenna. But wait, there is more! Now the little antennas can focus in a specific user giving them a priority and allowing it to pass more and more traffic. OK, maybe my explanation wasn’t so technical, but NI does a good job explaining massive MIMO here. My point is that the antennas are way smarter and they will be the game changer here.

MIMO can be used on macro or small cell, but for small cell the additional spectrum will really help because we have huge bands at 28GHz and up. In fact, Sprint has a ton of spectrum at 2.5GHz and up but they seem to be very slow to deploy. Maybe they would sell it, I have to think that they would because the CFO recently said how the spectrum would be perfect for 5G. Antennas got smart so it will really help you

Massive MIMO is going to make wireless connectivity better and better. Who knows what we will see next. I want to see this technology rolled out. It can be used in almost every band to improve throughput and coverage to the device. Think about what the cell will have to do, but also the devices will need to add more antennas to really utilize it. If the antenna can really have one smaller antenna talk to a specific device whilst talking to other devices simultaneously using common spectrum, it will be a game changer. I know there is more to it than that, but it sounds pretty cool.

The antenna technology will may take more RF engineering, I believe, because planning will take more time on smaller networks. On the other hand they will be in a higher band, 28GHz and up with more spectrum. This may allow installer to install based on line of site and then they can use the spectrum planning to keep the channels from stepping on each other, just a thought. That is somewhat like Wi-Fi now. Not sure how it will be handled or now neutral host will be handled. These are all thoughts that I am sure someone is working on.

There is a nice PDF found here, http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/06/5G-architecture-options.pdf that covers architecture of the 5G radio. Please note that they clearly state that 2 technologies are discussed, but the reality is that it will include both LTE (which they will call ELTE) and the NR, (New Radio developed by Qualcomm I believe). We can talk about that in a future blog if you’re interested.

FYI – 28GHz will be licensed, but I am not sure how. I say it like that because the coverage area must be very small. So I would like to see it as lightly licensed. I really see it used more like the 3.65GHz band, only smaller coverage area or as a backhaul. With all of that spectrum you could have backhaul depending on the usage. More info here.

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Will LTE will be the Foundation for 5G?

What will the IOT Wireless Protocols look like?

What will 5G networks look like?

Will LTE will be the Foundation for 5G?

What is the 5G Business Plan?

Wireless Deployment Handbook for LTE Small Cells and DAS

What is LTE UE Backhaul?

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Move over Wi-Fi, here comes LTE-U!

October 3, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Have you been reading about all the tension between LTE-U and Wi-Fi? I wish the FCC would just release an authorization to use LTE-U. After all, it is license-free spectrum, right? Let’s look at what’s happening.

Here it is “The 5G Deployment Plan” available now!

LTE-U is being backed by OEMs like Qualcomm, Nokia, and Ericsson. It is also being backed by the carriers because they see it as a great neutral system host that will handoff seamlessly with the licensed LTE that they have now. I really hope it takes off because it could really open some doors for neutral hosted small cells.

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I have to admit, for the LTE-U group to hand off the sharing and testing to the Wi-Fi Alliance took some balls. They knew that the Wi-Fi groups would go to the FCC and make it a David and Goliath battle, the big carriers against the small Wi-Fi operators like the cable companies. (Do you sense my sarcasm here?) The FCC was probably happy to see this because it was one less thing they had to deal with, and they didn’t need to dump it off to NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology. CableLabs was doing most of the testing in the beginning, and they had nothing good to say about LTE-U, remember? Articles here and here and here.

A while back T-Mobile asked the FCC to speed up the LTE-U release, found here and here, so that they can move ahead with a new technology. Well, for the bleeding edge of technology, it is really moving slow, isn’t it? The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced its LTE-U plans, again, and pointing out that Wi-Fi might be adversely degraded. Could you imagine if the carriers would have made statements that they would rather stick with GSM or CDMA because LTE would cause too many problems? I see this as new technology that could change things. I get it, the Wi-Fi Alliance is protecting the interests of all their members but let’s move ahead here. It might be good to have a little competition and get the technology out to the real world. Let’s have the end-user decide which is better, Wi-Fi or LTE-U. We all have Wi-Fi and like it, but don’t you think we all want to try something new? While LTE isn’t new, to use it in the ISM spectrum is quite exciting to me. In the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” Apparently not. The delays in the testing of LTE-U has created a lot of tension.

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Well guess what! The testing plan has come back from the WFA, (Wi-Fi Alliance)! They said they would get the results sooner than later. They finally released the test plans, found here if you want to read through it, so maybe we can move ahead. They promised that they will turn around something in a few days! WOW! It took them a long time to get here but now they can turn around testing in a few days.

I admire the LTE-U groups for putting their testing plans in the hands of the Wi-Fi Alliance, but I guess they really wanted the testing to be fair and balanced, just like Fox News. The WFA took a lot of criticism for their processes. If you remember CableLabs was doing early testing and all they seemed to do was criticize LTE-U. Recently Verizon and Qualcomm were not happy with the comparisons, article here, because it made LTE-U look bad, according to Verizon. That is what you get when you throw the testing over to a group that has a lot to lose.

Think about it, Wi-Fi systems are being built to provide alternative access and offloading for the license access. Cable companies who didn’t invest in purchasing spectrum made a simple investment in Wi-Fi like many WISP, Wireless Internet Service Providers, also did. They were able to build a business using license-free spectrum. They spent money on the equipment and access to allow subscribers to get internet access using Wi-Fi. Remember that Wi-Fi is on almost every device out there with a processor.

I am a fan of Wi-Fi because it is in every device. I use it everyday and I love having it in my home. It really works great and is very reliable. However, it is in a license-free band, it would be nice to have alternatives. The problem is that many people expect Wi-Fi to be free, like when they go to Starbucks or use it in their homes.

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.

Back to LTE-U, in January the FCC put out a statement about moving ahead with LTE-U testing, found here, which made the testing sound positive and exciting. While spectrum sharing concerns were mentioned it impressed that we would move ahead in a timely manner. So here we are.

Luckily Ericsson started testing in Africa where they can see what it can do in a real world setting. This will be a critical band for the 5G migration. Maybe South Africa will offer us answers to the questions about interoperability and spectrum sharing that we just can’t seem to get in the USA.

In the USA back in 2015, several senators working to find out how LTE-U will destroy Wi-Fi, article found here, to make sure that the FCC looks into this. Well, here we are over a year later and we are still trying to figure out what is going on. Do you think this is what Senators Brian Schatz, Richard Blumenthal, Tom Udall, Ed Markey, Maria Cantwel, and Claire McCaskill know what is going on today? In fact, Brian Shatz called for more regulation on unlicensed spectrum. More regulation, that’s just what we need in the unlicensed band. I have to argue with this, seriously, the FCC does a pretty good job, but it’s unlicensed spectrum, how much regulation do the senators think the government should have? If there is more regulation then they would license it, right? Am I missing something here? It’s unlicensed! Wi-Fi can interfere with itself is not managed properly, should we report all of our license settings to the government. Should we capture the configuration of our Wi-Fi routers in our homes and email them to Senator Shatz’s office? If you want to contact the senator from Hawaii, then go to https://www.schatz.senate.gov/contact and let him know that you believe that regulation is a good or bad idea. Let him know what you think about more government regulation in unlicensed spectrum.

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

Just to cap this off, Commissioner Wheeler did respond, link here, letting the senators who see more regulation as a positive thing, that the FCC is keeping an eye on this and will manage it to the best of their abilities, after all, they are the experts.

So let’s get this straight, LTE-U is going to be the villain in this story because it is the new technology that is being pushed by the big carriers and OEMs. To be honest I don’t’ see it that way. I see a new technology that will open up doors for better efficiency of the spectrum and a foundation for the license free growth of 5G. While many worry about the coexistence of Wi-Fi and LTE-U, I worry about progress. Progress of wireless technology in unlicensed spectrum.

Analogy time: You know, Henry Ford said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”. Really they wanted cars and it changed the world. If we would have asked the Wi-Fi users what they want, they would say faster Wi-Fi, am I right? It’s all about progress and perspective. We will always have people who push back, but we need to look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture here is the limitations of Wi-Fi and the movement to 5G. Remember that LTE will evolve or be sunset. The carriers want something that will evolve so they don’t need to do a complete system overhaul like they did for 2G and 3G. Those forklift upgrades get quite expensive, although for the deployment teams it means a lot of work!

I am rooting for LTE-U to move ahead in the real world so we can truly see what it’s capable of. Real world usage will tell us if it will be a success or just another WiMax or iDen. I see an opportunity for small businesses to try something new, for IOT to advance, for new companies to enter the market with new technologies that were previously limited. I am an optimist.

What do you think? Let’s move ahead. I am asking the FCC to start pushing and pulling to make LTE-U happen sooner than later. Let’s go FCC, let’s move wireless into the next generation, Generation 5! (You probably call it 5G.)

Let’s move ahead to new possibilities and potentially new ways to communicate. Virtual Reality is pretty cool, but there is so much that we haven’t thought of yet. Maybe Buzz Lightyear, (from Toy Story), will start saying, “to 5G and beyond!” I can’t wait!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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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.

Interested in DAS, Amazon has a good ebook by Soyola Baasan .

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.

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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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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!

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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.

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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!

TOWER CLIMBING: AN INTRODUCTION (The book about getting started as a tower climber)

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!

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor to keep both sides doing the right thing for payment.

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!

Kathy over at Tower Safety and Instruction is having a contest where you can win a $100 gift card from Home Depot if you can provide the best caption for her picture, found at http://towersafety.com/get-ready-enter-tower-safety-super-team-contest/ so enter ASAP because it ends August 31st, 2016!

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!

TOWER CLIMBING: AN INTRODUCTION (The book about getting started as a tower climber)

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

What will the IOT protocols look like?

August 31, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Kathy over at Tower Safety and Instruction is having a contest where you can win a $100 gift card from Home Depot if you can provide the best caption for her picture, found at http://towersafety.com/get-ready-enter-tower-safety-super-team-contest/ so enter ASAP because it ends August 31st, 2016!

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.

Newsletter sign-up!

Subscribe–> iTunes or Stitcher or Overcast

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!

TOWER CLIMBING: AN INTRODUCTION (The book about getting started as a tower climber)

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What is a “Smart City”?

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The Stadiums

The Office

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Some background:

Who will it help?

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