Tag Archives: CRAN

The Small Cell and CRAN Deployment Report

June 23, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

Learn about Wireless Small Cells and CRAN.

This report is to help you understand more about small cell and CRAN deployments and all associated options. When you work in the wireless industry it’s hard to tell them apart. For instance, centralized RAN and Cloud RAN often looked at as small cells because a radio head is being deployed on a pole or building all by itself. It may look like a small cell, but it isn’t.

Learn about deploying CRAN, Mini Macro, and DAS along with small cells.

Another thing is the mini macro; it’s just a big and power small cell. It has the form factor of a small cell but can do more. Not quite as much as a macro site, but more than your typical 1-watt small cell.

Then there is DAS. DAS incorporates small cells, Wi-Fi, radio heads all into its system for the carriers. It could be one of these or all of these. DAS systems for 4G and 5G are going to be all digital.

It’s going to help you look at small cell deployment holistically. There are deployment notes, history, and an outline of what works and doesn’t work. This report covers more than small cells to give you a big picture of the future of wireless outside of the macro site.

Get the report!

The paperback on Amazon found here, https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983252859
The PDF, Sellfy, for PayPal, https://sellfy.com/p/JLUp/
The PDF, Gumroad, Credit Card, https://gum.co/SmallCellsCRAN

Here is a taste of the table of contents:

Small Cell History
- A quick History Lesson about Carrier Coverage
- The business of repeaters:
- The Business of DAS:
- The Birth of Small Cells
What is a Small Cell?
- What do People call Small Cells, but they are not:
- Resources:
Why (or why not) Install Small Cells?
- Deployment Options
- Indoors (Homes)
- Indoor (Business)
- Outdoors
- Design Flaws
- Small Cell Evolution
- Deployment models
- Top 5 Small Cell Deployment Hurdles
  - Small Cell Development
  - Cost of hardware:
  - Installation:
  - Integration:
  - Leasing with Site Acquisition:
  - Utilities: Power and Backhaul/Fronthaul
- What is a Mini Macro?
  - Why Install Mini Macro Cells?
- The rise of CRAN and C-RAN/cRAN
  - What is CRAN and cRAN/C-RAN?
    - What is the difference between a small cell and CRAN?
    - What are the advantages and disadvantages of small cells?
    - What are the advantages and disadvantages of CRAN?
    - How do I choose which to deploy?
  - What about the cost and payback?
    - CRAN systems and costs:
    - Small Cell systems and costs:
    - What’s the cost difference?
  - Would you Deploy Small Cells or CRAN?
- Would you deploy DAS or Small Cells?
  - Do you need to choose?
  - Will DAS and Small Cells Work Together?
  - DAS and CRAN
- What G makes sense for small cells?
  - 2G? Are you kidding me?
  - 3G was not hot either.
  - 4G and LTE make Sense.
  - And now, 5G!
- Small Cell Opportunities
  - Overview by Market:
    - Enterprise:
    - Indoor:
    - Outdoor:
  - The real winners:
- Why not just put in more macro sites?
  - What about the Massive MIMO Macro?
- How will 5G that change the small cell model?
  - Extreme Broadband
  - Ultra-Reliable Low Latency
  - Massive IOT Connectivity
  - Outdoor small cell vendors:
- Increase Small Cell Value
  - Will Small Cells work with IOT and become the FOG edge?
  - Could a small server be put in small cells to control IOT and act as a FOG server?
  - Could IOT feed small cell growth?
  - Make small cells part of the 5G solution.
  - It’s all about the Value!
- Small Cell Installation Checklist
  - Quick, high-level checklist:
  - Question Checklist:
  - Site Acquisition Checklists
- Use Small Cells to Build a Private LTE Network
  - Build your own Private LTE Network
    - Why Private LTE?
    - Why would I want a private LTE system?
    - What is the CBRS?
  - CBRS and the Shift in Spectrum Ownership
  - Your Private LTE Network
  - Small Cells in LAA, CBRS, LTE-U are 5G Building Blocks!
    - Carrier Aggregation and Private LTE
    - LAA – Licensed Assisted Access
    - CBRS – Citizen’s Broadband Radio System
    - Carrier Aggregation made this possible!
    - What about the devices?
    - How can this help you?
  - Indoor Coverage Matters!
    - How will we cover inside?
    - Wi-Fi
    - LTE-U
    - DAS systems
    - CBRS
    - Inside coverage summary
  - The Common Carrier Small Cell
  - Mounting Small Cells in the City
    - City Deployment Notes
      - Expense Reduction:
      - Now, let’s look at ways to make money of existing city asset.
    - City Asset Audits
      - What assets can we mount in a city?
    - Acronyms and Definitions

Get the report!

The paperback on Amazon found here, https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983252859
The PDF, Sellfy, for PayPal, https://sellfy.com/p/JLUp/
The PDF, Gumroad, Credit Card, https://gum.co/SmallCellsCRAN

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to learn!

More products from TechFecta and Wade4Wireless:

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

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

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

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

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Would you Deploy Small Cells or CRAN?

April 15, 2018 Wade Leave a comment

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

What is a small cell?

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

Learn small cells at:

What is CRAN?

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

Sign up for HostGator Today!

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

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

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

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

Learn CRAN at:

What is the difference?

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

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

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

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

What are the advantages and disadvantages of small cells?

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

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

What are the advantages and disadvantages of CRAN?

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

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

How do I choose which to deploy?

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

Scenarios:

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

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

What about the cost and payback?

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

CRAN systems and costs:

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

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

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

Small Cell systems and costs:

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

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

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

What’s the cost difference?

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

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

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

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

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

It’s all about the Value!

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

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

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

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

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

Sign-up to get all your updates!

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

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

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

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Densification Breakdown

February 8, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Get Tower Tracker Pro Today

Thank you Sprint for making densification the new buzz word in the industry but the reality is that it’s been happening for years. Now we have the ability to put the cell w here the people are with small cells and CRAN. The concept is nothing new and yet Sprint is making it a buzzword, good job Sprint.

OSHA is asking for public comment on Safety and Management, click here.

Quick history lesson. First carriers built tower sites and building top sites. Lets call them the macro sites. In the early days they were built for the maximum coverage of real estate. They were usually high above ground level, (AGL), so that they could cover the most square miles, square meters, for coverage. Then along came DAS, so that we had great indoor coverage. Then systems went digital and the devices power got lower and lower. Cell sites had to cover smaller areas. More macro were sites built and DAS systems were being deployed. Then came the smartphone which changed the way people use their devices in the carriers ecosystem. Everything is going digital and LTE is taking over. Now you have a huge number of macro sites and DAS installations. What could help? Enter the small cell and CRAN systems bringing the signal as close to the user as possible for maximum data bandwidth.

Densification has been around for years but now we have the opportunity to change the landscape of deployment and coverage. Seriously, let me explain. In the past we were concerned with area coverage and RF penetration. We put in sites to get closer to where the people are. Then came DAS, where we could put systems inside buildings to cover more people. Coverage was key.

Now coverage isn’t good enough, is it? Now we need to provide bandwidth, which at first was OK, until the iPhone changed everything. That is why we migrated from GSM and CDMA to LTE. When you look at coverage and download speed we all look at LTE. The new format that the carriers hope will last 10 years or so. It is getting faster and faster by using upgraded radio heads, devices, and MIMO. So the radios are getting faster and faster.

Now we need to make sure the sites have plenty of backhaul, but the real solution is to control loading. Loading, or should I say we need to offload!,Since most people rely on their smartphone for everything, we need better indoor coverage. This could be a small cells, LTE-U, or Wi-Fi.

Say hello to my friend the HetNet. The carriers need to use all the tools available to handle the increasing data needs of the user. I say user because smartphone users are data users and most of them want one thing, more data. More data means more bandwidth and that means the best coverage possible. You also need backhaul where the people are using their devices. Backhaul growth is critical.

To do all of this we need to densify the network, add sites to offload. Oh, did I mention Quality of Experience, QoE? QoE needs to be taken into consideration. Keep the user happy!

Where did I start? Oh yeah, maximizing spectrum. Spectrum ain’t cheap, so let’s make the most of it. This is where Verizon and T-Mobile have really taken the lead because they know that the smaller the cell coverage the better re-use of spectrum they get. They can break it down to where spectrum can be re-used in a smaller area. So now they can get more users on that spectrum by adding small cell coverage areas. It does take more sites and it is more of an investment in the sites, but saves on the spectrum. That is why the oDAS using small cells and CRAN makes so much sense, which Verizon has been deploying successfully. This really helps QoE for the user. Carriers have more control doing it that way and they can break off the loading from the Macro sites by concentrating the spectrum where they need it. Thus, the smaller coverage area allows the spectrum reuse to go way up.

Get the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistakes

This is where the small cell and CRAN really help, by allowing carriers to get the most bandwidth for the buck in the spectrum they have without purchasing more. Carrier aggregation really helps, more on that here. It makes sense to break down the coverage so that loading and spectrum are more efficient. When they need more spectrum they can purchase it and start to overlay it where needed. It makes more sense at this stage of the game to overlay new spectrum, as long as the devices are ready to handle the new spectrum.

Quick note:
- Small Cell is a stand alone cell site, could be a mini macro or a single sector cell site, a single eNodeB, but very low power
- CRAN is centralized Radio Access Network which means there is a BBU mounted in a central location connected to several remote radio heads nearby.
- cRAN or C-RAN is Cloud RAN. This means that the core has the controller and the radio heads are remotely located at a site where there is only a router and a radio head. These are still being tested and built, timing is the issue.

There are also other strategies, like offloading to the unlicensed band. Look how we all rely on Wi-Fi for the data offloading. It really has been a great thing and it saves on our carrier bills. Now that Wi-Fi calling is happening maybe carrier Wi-Fi will become more popular. Just wait until LTE-U takes off, it will add so much more to the toolbox. Aggregation will work so well with LTE-U.

Scope of Work tutorial for the contractor.

I believe that LTE-U will also be exciting. It will really make the system run very well and it should maximize the unlicensed band while allowing a clean handoff from licensed to unlicensed. One more option that we will have and it’ something that the carriers seem very excited to work with. They didn’t exactly greet Wi-Fi with open arms until recently when LTE took over and it became a world of applications on the devices.

Sprint is going to adopt the densification philosophy with their new plan, the densification plan that Mobilitie has to execute. Sprint says that the 600MHz spectrum, article here, is not enough because they need bigger channels. Strange! Why? Because they decided not to bid at all, getting no spectrum, and use their 2.5GHz band for in band backhaul. That doesn’t align with the message, but hey, I don’t do marketing at Sprint, do I?

Newsletter sign-up!

Name

Email

Δ

The carriers will need to find a way to release the indoor small cell deployments to contractors so that enterprise coverage can grow, Article here. They don’t want to pay for more indoor coverage but they haven’t developed a system to let deployment teams sell direct. Get it together carriers! I’ll bet T-Mobile may do this first just to push the other carriers around and improve their coverage by getting customers to pay for it.

Listen–> iTunes or Stitcher

Give to the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? Who supports Hubble? The wireless workers and the tower climbers, that’s who! With no support from the carriers or NATE, so it’s up to you! What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?

Purchase the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistake

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

2016 WD4Cast

January 11, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

The 2016 Wireless Deployment Forecast Edition!

OK, so I thought it would be nice to see where we think the deployment industry will go in 2016. So I look at this as the Wireless Deployment Forecast, WD4Cast. What is happening with small cells, DAS, the carriers, FirstNet, and the deployment industry? I give you my views here, from a high level of course and this is my perspective. Keep in mind this is an educated guess based on what I see today. I sure don’t believe much of what AT&T says after they completely killed deployment in 2015, remember that? I am sure that MasTec does because they had to lay off a slew of people and watch their training facility fill with cobwebs.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook, LTE Small Cells, CRAN, and DAS edition.

600MHz Auction. I may bring up the 600 MHz in this but if the auction is this year then the carriers won’t have much until next year. They will wait for the OEMs to have a radio head before they can do much. Each carrier will have their own specifications. So I see 600MHz happening in 2017 but they may prepare for it in 2016. However, the broadcasters will have their hands full with the changes that are to come. Will they just decommission and retire? Will they move to a new band? Will they just merge with another carrier and share the digital channels. Let’s face it, more broadcast channels didn’t need the new channels that they got when they went digital, so why not share? It makes sense to me but I really don’t know what the FCC implications would be. It sounds like a great idea if a broadcaster could lease out the other channels they have for over the air, OTA, coverage. Or they could split the maintenance and lease costs with the new partner. Just a few suggestions.

Deployment will increase this year. We all expect so much but the carriers don’t want to spend more than they have to because they want to see an increase in revenue. While AT&T says that, look at the DirecTV acquisition, they want to grow new sources of revenue, so they stopped the wireless growth for a year. They also want to come up with a better way to deploy. They originally thought that they could put a car on top of a tower, or at least the equivalent of the weight of a car, but they had to rethink that. So maybe they are trying to figure out how to deploy properly. Whereas Verizon and T-Mobile decided to build more sites over the past 2 year and it seems to be working very well. They are getting the biggest bang for each dollar they spend on spectrum, how cool is that? By building more sites they can shrink the cell coverage, alleviate the loading, and improve customer experience. What a concept! Now that they figured it out maybe the other carriers will follow suit.

Let’s talk FirstNet. If you’re on a team that responds to RFPs, then you will be busy for most of 2016 with FirstNet because they will have everyone responding to the RFP coming out very soon. Other than that we won’t see any work from that until maybe mid 2017. The site acquisition teams and the site engineering teams may see it before that. In fact, if AT&T does respond to the offer like they said they would, then it will be all the AT&T contractors that will get the work because, in my opinion, AT&T is in the best position to win it. Remember that the FirstNet build is more than deployment. They need billing systems, device distribution, and more. They got nothing and need all the systems to be in place so that they can cover all public safety entities in the USA. Not something that most companies can do but a carrier is already setup to do this.

Verizon Wireless has been building with a steady plan, and I see them ramping up a bit in 2016 just because they will have more spectrum to deploy. “They won some in the previous auction and the equipment should be ready. One thing that all of the carriers will want to do is put as much in one radio head as possible to save on the tower rent. They don’t want to overload the tower but more importantly they want to cram as much as they can into a radio head. They want to see if one antenna can handle this and 600MHz so that they can add weight but no more units to the tower. Don’t worry, if you are working for them you will be replacing what they have and they will need to do structural on the tower for the additional weight. It will be more work on the tower connecting up more fiber, maybe, and more RF cables from the radio head to the antennas. Maybe even replacing the antennas.

AT&T will finally do some more field work. What choice do they have? They need to start growing again so that they can deploy the new spectrum. Deploy, deploy, deploy! They will expand the tower sites. I do believe they will develop a small cell or CRAN plan as well. While they said it was too expensive, Verizon helped drive the costs down because of their cutting edge thinking. AT&T just wanted to take over DirecTV, they didn’t have time to be creative. However, another plus with AT&T is that they plan to deploy the Wireless Local Loop, WLL, for broadband connectivity. This is awesome if they actually do it because t will compete with the cable companies for access to homes, if they can make it work! It is a big demand to offer that much wireless broadband to a home for video. Just because T-Mobile USA offers free video streaming doesn’t mean AT&T will.

T-Mobile is still growing and seeing the rewards of more customers, they well deserve them because they have been adding more sites and more spectrum! Way to go T-Mobile! I appreciate all the work you’re doing and I see you doing more, maybe 20% more in 2016. I hope so anyway because you have the opportunity to compete with the big boys and leave Sprint in the dust. This is great that you are deploying. T-Mobile USA has done some great things in 2015, with the growth of the system and the distribution of small cells to the home, the femto cells, and the marketing that they have in place to really propel their growth by leaps and bounds. I really have to give a lot of credit to Legere for all that he has done to grow and put his foot on Sprint. I would say that AT&T and Verizon see a real competitor in T-Mobile, a real threat.

Sprint may actually start the densification that they talked about for years. We all know Sprint. They will find the most cost-effective, (cheapest), way to do it. They went through a learning process, a bunch of RFPs to vendors, to eliminate any normal way of doing it and then they threw it in the lap of Mobilitie to make it happen. Good luck Sprint, the deployment teams will be happy for the work as long as they make money and don’t do it for free or at a loss. Remember, they want to earn a living, not work for nothing. Now, to be fair, Sprint isn’t actually doing the deployment management, it is actually Mobilitie who is making this happen. From what I hear Mobilitie is already moving ahead and laying out the plan for densification. They are working to deploy the mini macro, which is really a single sector cell site. That single sector will probably be an Omni antenna. It appears as though Sprint will deploy in-band backhaul where possible so they don’t have to run fiber anywhere or mount a panel, so this will maintain a low profile site, in theory. I am curious to see how that goes and if that 2.5GHz spectrum is more valuable as backhaul than fronthaul. If you were an investor and saw that spectrum as backhaul like 5.8GHz, how would you feel about it? Mobilitie is making a move and should have a lot of work for deployment teams this year. It appears their plan is innovative, or cheap depending on your perspective, by deploying on non tower company owned sites and using as much existing equipment taken from inventory and macro sites. Again, this is merely an observation, not sure if they will actually deploy this way.

LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS. I love the HetNet! I will start with the outdoor deployments. I really think that this year, if the carriers deploy they will rely on deploying small cells and oDAS around town because, as Verizon has shown, this is the best way to utilize the spectrum that you already have. I think that T-Mobile will follow suit because they are smart and they intend to densify the heavily populated areas. I know that we all talk about the Sprint densification plan but all the carriers are doing this, they just call it a Het Net system, (Heterogeneous Network). The Het Net is where you deploy multiple Macro, small cell, and DAS. I would also include Wi-Fi and LTE-U in this network. Throw it all in there and you have a Het Net system. I am really excited about the 3.5GHz spectrum that the FCC will open up to LTE because of the new opportunities. If the FCC opens this up and gives out the spectrum it will be a beautiful thing when we can deploy on the lightly licensed spectrum for fronthaul and backhaul. WOW, it is really going to help smaller businesses deploy small cell as a service, (SCAAS), and I can’t wait!

By the way, Carriers need to Free the Small Cells!

Let’s look inside, indoor coverage. If you look around you will see that most people rely on Wi-Fi for most everything but voice. Am I right? There are still issues with handing off the call to Wi-Fi. I know we expected carrier Wi-Fi to pick up the slack but the only company I saw to make inroads on this was T-Mobile who did a great job with Wi-Fi calling, but it still doesn’t hand off to LTE very well, at least that is what I am told. So how will we improve indoor coverage? I know we will rely on DAS and Wi-Fi, but the carriers don’t want to pay for any more indoor coverage that doesn’t have a payback, I get it. What we need is to put small cells and Wi-Fi and LTE-U in as many buildings as we can. Who will pay? The landlords and the businesses in the buildings. Who will deploy? The deployment teams doing small cell and DAS

That’s all for this week, be smart, be safe, and pay attention.

I hope this helps, for more get the eBook! Find out where to get the eBook here.

By the way, the carriers need to free the small cells! Find out more by clicking here.

Subscribe! iTunes or Stitcher

Get your copy of the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistakes

So what do you think? Get on my email list today!

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Small Cell Installation Checklist

January 4, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

For all of you that want do small cell installations for the carriers, this may help you along. Let’s start with a high level checklist to verify the steps before doing any installations. I have more detail in the podcast.

Quick high level checklist:

Get certified by the OEM
Know the local permitting and ordinances
Landlord issues
Site Survey
Outdoor is different from indoor
Where is power coming from?
Traffic control
Grounding
Mounting
Testing and commissioning
Optimization

Now, a more detailed list that may help you out, taken from my book. The Wireless Deployment Handbook, LTE Small Cells, CRAN, and DAS edition.

Installation

Here is where the hardware actually gets installed. Let’s look at what needs to be done.

The indoor small cell is usually 2 watts or less and could be 12 inches by 6 inches by 4 inches or less and generally will weigh 10 lbs or less. They could have a very small and light antenna on them for either Omni directional coverage or directional coverage. Indoor small cells could remind you of the Wi-Fi access point, unit but bigger.

If you’re installing an outdoor unit then it may be bigger and you have to weather proof the connections.

If it is a CRAN system then it could be DAS, or you may have a DAS system that may have receive antennas or a front end with a BBU.

Remember that we are doing a quality installation, I have seen some horrible Wi-Fi installations. This is a quality installation that will work great and look very nice or be hidden from the customer, get it?

Let’s get ready to install.

By the way, Carriers need to Free the Small Cells!

So let me ask you a few questions:

What are you installing?
1. Small Cell
2. CRAN
3. DAS unit
4. Backhaul
5. Fronthaul
6. Cable runs for fiber, copper, or RF?
Do you have the NTP, Notice to Proceed, from your customer?
Do you have permission from the landlord or tenant? If your customer has it then maybe you should have a copy.
Is the landlord/tenant expecting you?
Were you trained and certified by the OEM?
Do you know how to ground the unit properly?
Do you know how to clean and terminate fiber?
Do you know how to crimp and terminate CAT5 and CAT6?
Do you know how to mount the unit properly and permanently?
Do you know the antenna alignment? Do you know how to connect the antenna and weather proof it if needed?
Di d you document everything properly?
Do you know how to commission and test the unit?
Do you know the closeout package requirements of your customer so you do not need to return to the site?

Installation Preparation

Make sure you have all of your ducks lined up prior to the installation. I am talking about all the things that you may need on site.

Did you make an appointment with the landlord or tenant or manager?
Did you confirm?
Do you have a name and number of the on site contact?
Do you have the equipment you are installing or are expecting prior to the installation? Can you track it to see if it was shipped?
Did you record the serial number of the unit you are installing and document it?
Do you have any certification that are required to show anyone on site in case you are asked?
Did you or someone test the unit you are installing? Are you sure it will work?
Do you have all the stuff you need like cables, caulk, connectors, hardware, and anything else needed?
Did you review the site survey? Did it prepare you for the installation?
If it’s outside, do you need traffic control?
Will you be able to install at that particular time of day? A pole installation may require you to mount at night. While inside a building they may want you there at lunchtime when no one is in a particular office. Know your schedule ahead of time if possible.
Do you need to have a lease in place before mounting, is it in place?

I hope this helps, for more get the eBook! Find out where to get the eBook here.

By the way, the carriers need to free the small cells! Find out more by clicking here.

Subscribe! iTunes or Stitcher

Talk to me people and get on my email list today!

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

LTE MIMO Deployment Notes

December 3, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

I found a video that is interesting, if you are into massive MIMO, which is being proposed for outdoor work. I think this is interesting because Professor Dr. Wolfgang Utschick talks about how MIMO works. He gives a long and detail explanation (snooze). I listened to it because I really find it interesting. This is how I spend my Saturday mornings, seriously.

The video, https://youtu.be/zhncADqR9rg, goes into great detail about the complexities of how the MIMO works down to the signal level. This is a really smart guy giving a boring delivery, so I will break it down for you, if you listen to my podcast you may find it more interesting than the video. Let me tell you my version, lots of antennas = better signal propagation both ways, with better noise rejection and more throughput. Multiple signals going in and out simultaneously allows for the device and BTS to work better, clean up the noise and errors so that the customer can get some kick ass bandwidth. That is the name of the game. Then he talks about the multi user MIMO works y using the same signal. Then he sums it up by going over the beam forming properties of the antennas.

Subscribe! iTunes or Stitcher

What does this mean to you? Well deployment teams, it means that the RF designers will be working with multiple antenna systems. It means that the site designers and the site acquisition teams now have to work with MIMO antenna systems wither on a building or on an antenna or small cell or DAS. Yes, they will be deploying these for DAS. Don’t think it’s something new, look at what Wi-Fi has been doing for a few years, and they are big into MIMO. Now they want LTE to do more than 2 antennas, up to 8 or even 24. This will have to balance with practical installations to what your device, (smartphone) can support. They have to work together after all.

Let’s not forget the installation teams will be dealing with larger or heavier antennas and more cables on the tower. That’s right, bigger and heavier. What about the remote radio units, they were just starting to get smaller and now they will be bigger or they will add more. You will find out soon with 4T4R and 8T8R.

Then there is optimization, the drive teams will need to get new devices to test with. So this will add complexity not only to the system but the testing as well. Just like with carrier aggregation, the MIMO upgrades will make things more complicated.

What will the carriers say? Well, they are already deploying 4T4R, 4 transmit and 4 receive MIMO, and some are doing 8T8R. They are working their way to 16T16R. How cool is that? I believe they will push to do more if it is cost-effective. Some carriers saw this as a ploy for the OEMs and antenna companies to sell more equipment, until they saw the payback. Yes, the payback of efficiency and bandwidth. They are going to do all that they can to improve the pipe, like this and carrier aggregation. All ways to get the biggest bang out of the bandwidth they have.

To get the most out of this, they need to shrink coverage areas as well. So in doing this they may not really need to maximize MIMO. I think to find a balance between the cost for MIMO and the cost to deploy a site will maximize the investment. They want a reasonable coverage area based on loading. In the old days it was based on population but now in the world of data it’s a balance of population and usage. Now the carrier’s system is becoming more and more of a pipe. They know they can’t do it all, but they can provide quality coverage to the mobile masses. They have to do this within a budget.

WDH = Wireless Deployment Handbook , end to end deployment.

WDH PayPal on Sellfy.com

WDH Credit cards and PayPal on Gumroad.com

WDH Kindle has a lighter version

The goal is to make sure the user has a great quality of experience, (QoE), for the right budget. Of course it could be better but at what cost? The equipment and the services start to run up the CapEx and to maintain something like that may run up the OpEx although I am not sure how. The only thing I see is backhaul will be bigger, equipment maintenance, and maybe tower rental. There may be more that I am missing.

How does CapEx go up? Let me tell you the obvious, the hardware goes up. The antennas cost more, the radio heads cost more, chances are the BBU and the hybriflex cable costs more. It all adds up. They to install it, extra weight, extra testing, extra optimization, and all the little things all add up. It ain’t free! All those nickels and dimes add up to hundreds or thousands a site.

So when looking at the new LTE systems, now you see the complexity that is in a simple design. You also see that budgets play a part. Not every carrier can throw money at these issues but they will do what they can to serve the user and to have bragging rights. Going to LTE gives them bragging rights, doing VoLTE also really helps.

There is a long-term goal as well. If they can get the LTE system up and running then they can start to decommission 2G and 3G systems saving on maintenance and service 2 systems as well as freeing up that bandwidth for 4G. Get the old systems out, maintain the current system, and save money while increasing the QoE for the user. It all makes sense to me.

What about 5G? Well, from what I have been reading is that the 5G will be an extension of what they have now. I know that the carriers do not want to start swapping out gear so soon, especially in 2020 if they don’t have to. They want to just add-on to what they have or they want to do it all through software upgrades. Why spend the massive amounts of money if they don’t have to. After all, we went from 3G to 4G in a very short time. Why not use MIMO and other ways to improve the system? It all makes send to me to have the hardware ready for software updates. Let’s decommission the 3G system before we replace the 4G equipment.

I am hoping that 5G will change the IOT, meaning machine to machine where we can get real-time readings for our power meters, gas meters, and water meters. I know that they have this in some parts of the country but not where I live. Hell, they don’t even read the power meter every month so if I have something in my house that is sucking down power I don’t know about it for 2 months! Just venting here but I see great things happening soon. I know the utility companies are waiting for federal grants to move ahead, but come on! I can see my bank statements and credit card bills in real-time. Let’s get started on making the meter reading happen in real-time.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Sign up for my newsletter and tell me what you think!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Learn about QRedentials

QR Reader –>

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Wireless Deployment Handbook for LTE Small Cells and DAS

November 12, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

I get asked questions about small cell deployments all the time. The first question is “how can I do the deployments?” and the second question is, “how can we deploy small cells and DAS systems efficiently for less money?” Most people don’t know the end to end process of what it takes to deploy. Once you learn the process you can start to dissect it to build a better process.

All the questions add up. What are the differences between indoors and outdoors? What are all the steps? Why is it so expensive? Do you still need to optimize? Do you need to do e911 with LTE small cells? What can be done to make it more efficient?

Introducing the “Wireless Deployment Handbook for LTE Small Cells and DAS”. Written for the deployment teams.

A document to help the deployment teams understand the end to end process. The handoffs are very important. Covering deployments to make them easy to understand. This will be a living document to be updated as the industry changes, (the great thing about eBooks is that you can update it and send the updates out to the people who bought it). See all the steps that cover end to end deployment. Look at the planning and how it is laid out. This will help the teams that are planning to go from macro deployments to small cells. Look at this as a tool for learning all the steps and how to plan for your part. Why not learn from my mistakes?

Subscribe! iTunes or Stitcher

For me, this has been a learning process over the past 3 years. The original thought is that it would be a “cell site” but smaller, which it is, but I learned quickly that the model is cost prohibitive. The backhaul is still an issue The process has evolved and I realize now that the models have to be cost-effective to sell. So I thought I would record what I have learned by putting together a book that would outline the end to end deployment process.

Where to get it!

PayPal on Sellfy.com

Credit cards and PayPal on Gumroad.com

Kindle has a lighter version

A partial table of contents so you can see what’s covered!

Naming Overview (Abbreviations and Acronyms)

A Quick Note on Deployments

What is a Heterogeneous Network?

What is a Small Cell?

Why Install Small Cells?

What is CRAN?

Why Install CRAN?

CRAN Deployment Notes

What is DAS?

Why Install DAS?

iDAS

oDAS

DAS or Small Cells?

Will DAS and Small Cells Work Together?

What is a Mini Macro?

Why Install Mini Macro Cells?

Unlicensed Bands

How Does Wi-Fi Fit In?

What is LTE-U?

Carrier Aggregation

Carrier Aggregation with Wi-Fi, LTE-U, and LTE

Voice

Connections – Backhaul and Fronthaul

Backhaul and Fronthaul Options

Backhaul Planning

CRAN and Fronthaul and oDAS

What is involved in deployment?

Project Management

RF Design

Site Acquisition

Site Survey

Site Design

Network design

Installation

Commissioning

Integration

Optimization

Inspections

Value in Partnerships

Deployment Evolution

Installation Skills for Small Cell, DAS, and CRAN

Fiber Connections

Copper Connections

RF Connections

Mounting the Small Cell or CRAN RRH

Pole Mounting

Strand Mounting Notes

Stealth Mounting Notes

Grounding

Overcoming Challenges: Problems and Planning

RF Coverage versus Offloading

Permitting and Zoning Challenges

Backhaul and Fronthaul Challenges

Power

Mounting Assets

PIM Testing

Tiger Teams

Installation

Planning Overview

Don’t you think it’s about time that the end to end deployment is laid out so that field workers get a good understanding of wireless deployment of small cells and DAS for the carriers? I do, so I took a few months to put together this deployment handbook to give a view of the end to end deployment steps for LTE small cells, DAS and CRAN. Why? Because this will help you make your part of the process easier. Helping you plan and build a price model. You may not be the lowest bidder, but you will be the smartest bidder. Plan ahead for not only the pricing but also the work flow. Handoffs were a problem in the past since the teams didn’t know what was next. When the teams are all on the same page then the process becomes more efficient. Most people think it’s just the installation, but there’s so much more when you look at it end to end

“Plan ahead” is more than a saying, its good business. LTE small cell and DAS can be confusing. This book will help you understand, in layman terms, what is happening out there. The learning process can be costly, so why not get an edge? Knowledge is power and having a reference really helps.

Be Smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Sign up for my newsletter and tell me what you think!

PayPal on Sellfy.com

Credit cards and PayPal on Gumroad.com

Kindle has a lighter version

Learn about QRedentials

QR Reader –>

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Small Cell Deployment – 8 tips on partnership.

July 23, 2014 Wade

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Subscribe! Write a review! Show me you listen!

Hello all,

Small Cell deployments will present you with many issues. Make sure that you have the right partnerships in place. What partnerships do you think you need? Well, I made a quick list to help you deploy. Remember that this is high level but I wanted you to know what to think about before bidding on this work.

Site Acquisition partnerships. Remember that the site acquisition teams will be critical in this industry because they are going to find hundreds to thousands of poles and buildings to hang these things on. You should be clear who you are working with and make sure you know all the details of where you are mounting. If you are mounting on poles it would be great to be consistent with the height and cable runs. This will save you so much time in the long run. More on this in the future.
Original Equipment Manufacturers will be the equipment makers and if you don’t know how to install, ground, and power the unit, things will get ugly. If they have a certification program make sure that you take it. If they have installation documentation make sure you get it and look at prior to the installation. If the installation is done wrong it has serious implications causing you to go back out to repair or the carrier to replace or the warranty to be void. You should know what is expected way before you drive to the site.
Deployment vendors. I know you may think this is crazy because you are a deployment company, but chances are for you to be competitive you will work in a region. So you may have to work with a vendor that interfaces with the customer on a nationwide deployment. You will need to be clear with what territory you cover. Make sure they are clear on what you can install and what you can maintain. Maintenance will be something that you can make recurring revenue if you sign up for it.
End customer. By end customer I mean the actual carrier that you are installing for. Your customer may be a large vendor or a site acquisition firm or maybe the carrier itself. Whoever it is make sure you know all of their install requirements. Remember that each company has different rules for installation and testing and sign. It is nice to get paid for what you have done and if you didn’t follow a proper process they could withhold payment or make you go out to each site again to do something that would have taken 5 minutes the first time. It’s your costs that get hit!
Backhaul companies. This is something that you may not have direct contact with but you should know what they want you to install and how to install it. Know what fiber is expected and where they terminate and what connectors they may want on their end. If you don’t think it matters, you may wind up making a second trip when you need to get more fiber connectors. Also, just because it’s a cable company doesn’t mean that it’s going to be DOCSIS. You really need to make sure you know the backhaul provider and type of backhaul. Remember that it could even be wireless backhaul. You could be in one city connecting up 5 different backhaul companies and 5 different types. Make sure you look it over before you go out to do the installation.
Distributors and suppliers. Make sure you are able to get more connectors if you need them. It’s not likely that Home Depot or Lowes will have fiber connectors that you need, (Graybar maybe if one is close but don’t count on it). If you need RG6 or RJ45 connectors, great. Make sure your distributor of choice will overnight something to you even if you are in a hotel. Make sure you know what to order so you don’t wind up waiting another day when you get the wrong part. You probably have been there and it really sucks.
Lift rental companies. If you don’t have your own bucket trucks or JLG lifts, then you may want to know who the local company is to rent. Look at rates and locations and support. If you can pick it up locally maybe you save some money. Also, if you rent a bigger truck, do you need to have a CDL to drive it? You will look pretty stupid showing up to get it and they ask for your CDL and you don’t have one. I had to get one to drive our trucks and buckets where I worked. Also, know the difference between the CDLs, I had the basic without the air brake certification. By the way, if you’re reading this and asking what a CDL is, maybe you should start looking into other work. You may not need it but you should know what it is. A ladder will only be one of your tools and a bucket truck may be another.
Project managers. I am not sure what project manager you will be working with, it may be a PM company hired to manage the deployment, it may be the vendor who hired you, the site acquisition company, the OEM, or the end customer. Make sure you have a good relationship with the PM because they will be directing you and managing your work. They may control your signoff to get paid. They may be the ones who have all of the paperwork about the sites from the surveys. Remember that the PM wants you to complete all the installations quickly and without errors. So you both are partners with an interest in success.

You can’t do it alone! You need more than you think, just ask Navin from the movie “The Jerk”, (Steve Martin) who didn’t think he needed anything;

Don’t forget to take the poll for jobs!

Remember that the Hubble Foundation needs your support. Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang!

I am working on 2 new projects, a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283

My Books from Amazon, Shameless plugs:

My books on Sellfy, PDF, PayPal:

My books on GumRoad, PDF, Credit Card:

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Small Cells? What hell is a small cell?

June 6, 2014 Wade

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

OK, what the hell is a small cell? Well, let me tell you about small cells. It’s like putting the cell site where the people are, I mean right where the people using the most data. Suddenly you have a cell that can service a group of people with little RF loss and high data throughput. This is a great thing for carriers because it relieves the macro from the loading it would have from one area in its larger coverage area. That is the goal of the small cell, to alleviate the loading and add coverage. I will concentrate on the outdoor small cells for this article but the indoor may be very similar, just less up front work.

So putting a small cell in should be easy, right? I mean if any of you worked with Wi-Fi you would think you can just pop up an access point and you have an instant hot spot. Well, there is so much more to it than that. The carriers will need to do some work up front is they are to put it in their system. They need to do the RF design, loading study, and coverage analysis. They will probably study the analytics to see where the need is based on coverage and macro cell loading, (data and voice). This is prior to placing the small cells in the macro coverage area. They will look at each sector of a Macro site.

The other challenge is putting the backhaul in. It usually will be fiber, about 10 to 100Gbps backhaul provided to the router connected to the small cell. This is usually a Service Aggregate Router, (SAR). Backhaul quality is everything because you have to make sure you have quality of service. Here is where the LTE small cells have a huge advantage because they have a complete IP backbone, unlike most 3G stuff out there, LTE will be a cleaner deployment. All this is done before they decide to deploy anything.

So mounting the unit will not be too hard, but the connection of the backhaul will require fiber skills. They may have wireless backhaul in some areas, if they connect from the wireless backhaul to the SAR it will be using a fiber jumper. Fiber will be the key to most small cell backhaul connections. The one exception may be if the cable companies step up with a cable backhaul for small cells, they call this Data Over Cable Interface Specification, (DOCSIS), which should be a game changer if it becomes mainstream. Then you could use a standard cable connection for backhaul. This may or may not work because carriers seem to like a dedicated connection back to their core or to one of their cell sites. This is a dedicated connection that would give them security and complete control. It’s what most of them want to do. They don’t just tie into an internet connection like a Wi-Fi connection would. It’s just not that easy at this time. If you’re interested in LTE backhaul, there is a good overview at http://lteuniversity.com/get_trained/expert_opinion1/b/skrishnamurthy/archive/2013/04/01/why-ethernet-backhaul.aspx to explain in more detail.

So let’s look at what we’ve done, we’ve completed the engineering, defined the spots where we wanted it. We then narrowed the spot by finding a mounting location, a pole or a building top, then we found a mounting location that has a fiber connection near it, (fiber is not everywhere), now we finally have the exact location to mount it. Then we have to get a lease, this is all part of site acquisition! We need to work out all of those headaches. If you are not familiar, you don’t just go out and mount it to a pole. You need to find out who has rights to the pole or building, who you lease it through. Then you may or may not need to do a structural analysis on the mounting asset. You will need to do a site design drawing for the documentation prior to the mounting of the asset. What about permits? The local municipality or city wants to take their cut and they want to know what is mounted where. So you will need to make sure all the permitting is completed, this usually slows down the process even more and cost money because you need to file paperwork and often need to hand deliver the documentation.

OK, location found, fiber nearby, mounting asset identified, leasing completed, permitting completed, now we can mount and move ahead, right? OK, now we need to follow the engineering, install the unit, connect the fiber, power to the unit. Did you say power? Did anyone order power? This is something else that needs to be taken care of, power at the pole. So now, at a pole we need fiber and power. Both have a long lead time.

OK, pole, permitting, lease, power, fiber, so now we can mount, and connect it up. Then we’re off to the races. Well, it is mounted to the pole so we are good there. We connected the backhaul to the SAR, we are good there. We now power it up and it should work, right? Make sure the antennas are facing the proper direction and the tilt is set up properly. Now you need to make sure it is provisioned properly, that means that the SAR has to be integrated, then the small cell has to be integrated, then the carrier will want to make a test call and they may or may not want to optimize it with someone doing a walk test. Remember, if the cell has any problems it could create more problems with self interference. The engineering has to take that into consideration. Self interference is taken very seriously because it will create dead spots.

Once the small cell is up and running, life is good in that area, loading is off the macro and on the small cell. The carriers plan to put 10s of thousands of these in. I believe that if the FCC allows more bandwidth to be freed up for LTE, this will be the way that utilities will access their fixed networks. Public Safety already is carving out their chunk of LTE bandwidth. I think that they will rely heavily on small cells because they need coverage in specific areas. Let’s face it, LTE and small cells will be an amazing thing as the world of data takes over. Video will not be just for entertainment, it will be the requirement both ways, video streaming up to the network and down to a device.

OK, now I gave you a background, how does it affect the field worker? Well, you may need to be certified to mount the small cell by the OEM. Remember that the warranty will be affected if you mess something up. Also, this is going to have intricacies that may be affected by how you mount it. Antenna direction, fiber skills, and power connection could all play into this. The Power Distribution Unit (PDU) may be mounted at a different location to power the SAR and Small Cell. You need to know what you are doing to make the connections. It will take skills. Chances are good that you will need to make a test call for the integration phase, provisioning, to be completed. You may need to program the SAR by connecting your laptop to it and uploading a specific configuration file. You need skills! This isn’t Wi-Fi, it’s carrier grade equipment. If you do tower work you know the difference.

I plan to do more on small cells in the future. This is something I have been working on and I have more information to share.

Let me know what you’re struggling with out there in the field. I would like to write about something that could help. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or hitting me up on Facebook or reach out to me on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/wadesarver/! I am looking for tower pictures on Facebook page! I am working on a new book, an aid for the field worker and I plan to have a new website ready soon. I have been very busy on other projects but I think that it should happen soon.

Hey, I talk about learning fiber training and I see that JDSU has free webinars on fiber, go their website here and see if you can learn more about fiber! The webinars are free!

To learn more about LTE and Small Cells;

http://lteuniversity.com/get_trained/video_tutorials/default.aspx

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/solutions/small-cells

http://www.thinksmallcell.com/

http://www.qualcomm.com/solutions/wireless-networks/technologies/1000x-data/small-cells

http://www.3gpp.org/hetnet

http://www.ericsson.com/res/thecompany/docs/press/media_kits/hetnet_infographic_vertical_04.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_cell

http://www.wilson-street.com/2013/10/how-to-deploy-metro-cells-infographic-3-part-1/

http://www.wilson-street.com/2013/10/how-to-deploy-metro-cells-infographic-3-part-2/

http://www.wilson-street.com/2013/07/public-access-small-cells-roadmap-to-successful-deployments/

http://electronicdesign.com/engineering-essentials/understanding-small-cell-and-hetnet-movement

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

RF Awareness, are you aware? Seriously, are you? Episode 002.

June 4, 2014 Wade

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Hello all,

To listen in a new window go here BlogCast!

I am not sure if you are aware but David Horn wrote a blog at http://www.lbagroup.com/blog/fcc-contractor-rf-training/ about the mandate issued by the FCC, http://www.fcc.gov/document/verizon-pay-50k-resolve-radiofrequency-exposure-investigation%20 about Verizon Wireless getting slapped with a $50K fine. So now working there you are required to take RF Awareness training. Why? Because of RF exposure on 2 east coast rooftops. Look at the links, then come on back and I will tell you a story of someone who reached out to me about his RF exposure nightmare. Special thanks to Clifford Wilcox for sharing this on Facebook!

So, I was conversing with someone, (I will reveal his name if he would like me to but not until he explicitly gives me permission) on Facebook about his RF exposure experience. He was working close to an antenna, broadcast, and had major problems afterwards. I am going to quote exactly what he sent to me. He got ill and went to an expert to find out what the problem was, this is the report he got back from them. Let me point out that all of these problems happened in exposure that was less than 45 minutes. It was broadcast so it was high power and this is analog, which as far as I know is no longer used in the US, so things have changed.

Here is the edited report, I removed names and the identification information;

“I have gone through an analysis to try to bracket what I think you may have been exposed to. This is an estimate only! It would take considerably more time to model the batwing elements in detail. Hence, I have used a simple dipole element to estimate local fields near the element and what you might have been exposed to.

My assumptions: Frequency of exposure: NTSC analog TV signal Antenna: 12 bay batwing, Harris TAB-12H Power gain: 11.3 FCC licensed ERP for station at the time: 316 kW

Based on these assumptions, if the station were operating at FULL power of 316 kW ERP, this would imply approximately 932 watts of rms (average) power into each bay of the antenna. If the station was operating at 10% of normal power while you were working on it, the power would be, of course, one-tenth as much, or 93.2 watts per element.

I calculated the electric field strength parallel to a dipole radiator (I realize that the element is really a batwing design but that would take a lot more time to model) and found that at a distance of 1 foot from the element, the maximum electric field strength would be equivalent to a plane wave equivalent power density of about 46 milliwatts per square centimeter at full power or 4.6 milliwatts per square centimeter at one-tenth normal power. Please keep in mind that this is a value where the RF field will be maximum along the radiating element and at a distance of 1 foot from it. Since you were sitting on the element itself, the RF field that at least part of your body would have been exposed to would be much greater. I did not explore calculations at closer distances to the element since this would take additional time to make sure that the theoretical model is calculating correctly.

The accepted maximum permissible exposure (MPE) for occupational exposure in the channel 7 frequency band is 1 milliwatt per square centimeter. These results would suggest that at the presumed safe operating power level of one-tenth normal power, your exposure could easily have been as much as 4.6 times the MPE. Because you were actually sitting right on the element, I would expect your exposure to be substantially greater than my one-foot number but without more careful and detailed analysis, I can’t say exactly what it might have been.

Based on my own experience in climbing towers to make RF field measurements, I know that sometimes there can be miscommunications between the field guys and the tech controlling the station. While I have no information to suggest that this might have been the case, it is relevant to understand that were the station actually operating at its normal full power, the exposure would have been substantially greater, namely, about 46 milliwatts per square centimeter. This is, then, 46 times the MPE and would have resulted in very significant thermal loading on the body!

If the body is exposed to a uniform RF field over the whole body equal to 4.6 times the MPE, the thermal load imposed on the body could be about 130 watts. This power would be distributed throughout the body and while above the accepted limit of about 28 watts (equivalent to exposure at the MPE), would likely have been felt but, in my opinion, not necessarily hazardous. I say this because the MPE has a built-in safety factor of 10 in it. But, if you were exposed to the full power of the station, the thermal load on your body could have been in the neighborhood of 1,300 watts! This is a completely unacceptable value and would be almost five times the hazard threshold (i.e., the hazard threshold can be thought of as a power deposition of about 10 x 28 watts or about 280 watts – in other words, the safety factor of ten has been removed and we are now right at the hazard threshold).

The 1,300 watt thermal load figure is approximately 12 times the body’s basal metabolic rate of 105 watts (i.e., the thermal generation of your body just sitting still). This kind of thermal loading would have been distinctly felt by you as getting hot! It is my understanding that you were told that the station was operating at the so-called safe level of only 1/10th normal power. And, if this is true, then your exposure, while still above regulatory limits, might not have been sufficient to result in a hazard. But, IF, by chance, the station was operating at full power, your exposure would have not only been way, way above regulatory limits, you would have, in my opinion, been sort of cooked. I am only trying to give you some perspective on your possible exposure. Apparently, we don’t really know for absolute sure what power the station was operating at. A first start would be to get copies of the station’s log book during the time you were working on the tower to see if there is validation of what they told you about what power they were really operating at.

In summary, even at the one-tenth power operation, I think that there is a high likelihood that you would have been exposed to RF fields exceeding the worker MPE, though it might have not resulted in reaching the actual hazard level of energy absorption rate. On the other hand, if the station were to have operated at full power, your exposure would have not only exceeded the worker MPE, but it would have likely resulted in significant body heating, well beyond the level that is believed to be hazardous. Because you were exposed while sitting on the top batwing for at least 30 minutes, the issue of time-averaging is not relevant.

One other point. The exposure limits are based on limiting the rate of energy absorption in the body as a whole, what I have been discussing above, and in local parts of the body. You can think of this as though there is a power deposition limit as averaged over the whole body mass as well as a power deposition limit for any given specific point in the body. I have only addressed the case of the average over the whole body in this analysis. The issue of what the localized RF absorption rate may have been in various parts of your body is another question.

I hope this provides useful information to you in regard to your exposure while working on the tower”

USA TV broadcast frequencies [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_television_frequencies]

OK, there are a lot of “what-ifs” in this report but it doesn’t change the fact we all need to be educated and aware. So RF awareness is something we all need! You need to be aware of what is on the tower. I say it all the time, there are more risks than the fall. Wake up people! We need to work together to provide a safe work environment. Let’s learn from these mistakes and make it a safer future for all wireless field workers. Awareness is the first step! Jimi Hendrix asked, “Are you experienced?” [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg2segLZoeA ]so I am asking you, “Are you aware?” [I don’t have a video, sorry]. Aware of the risks out there beyond the fall. Wake up and be aware! This is a brotherhood and a team, together we learn and teach each other. It’s more that climbers, it’s the wireless field workers that need to work together.

After I put this together I feel we should consider having everyone wear RF alert monitors while working, especially on rooftops. I would only wear them at broadcast sites if I climbed, but I am thinking we should make them standard equipment for all workers at the tower site. Let me know what you think.

OK, shameless plug time. My new book is out, I create a Wireless Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Site Work

I am working on getting out on Amazon, not quite there yet.

PDF on Gumroad (Credit Card) https://gumroad.com/l/RSJZ

PDF on Sellfy (PayPal) https://sellfy.com/p/kxAw/

If you want to reach out to me, Facebook is the best way, Feel free to Twitter or Google+ or email wade4wireless@gmail.com to reach me as well. Or leave a comment on this blog.

Learn about Wireless Small Cells and CRAN.

Get the report!

Here is a taste of the table of contents:

Get the report!

More products from TechFecta and Wade4Wireless:

Share this:

What is a small cell?

What is CRAN?

What is the difference?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of small cells?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of CRAN?

How do I choose which to deploy?

Scenarios:

What about the cost and payback?

CRAN systems and costs:

Small Cell systems and costs:

What’s the cost difference?

It’s all about the Value!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

Share this:

Newsletter sign-up!

Share this:

So what do you think? Get on my email list today!

Share this:

Quick high level checklist:

Installation

So let me ask you a few questions:

Installation Preparation

Talk to me people and get on my email list today!

Share this:

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Sign up for my newsletter and tell me what you think!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Share this:

A partial table of contents so you can see what’s covered!

Be Smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Sign up for my newsletter and tell me what you think!

Share this:

Subscribe! Write a review! Show me you listen!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Tips to Work With