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SmallcellWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Smallcell
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Smallcells[1]arelowpoweredradioaccessnodesthatoperateinlicensedandunlicensedspectrumthat
havearangeof10metersto1or2kilometers.Theyare"small"comparedtoamobilemacrocell,which
mayhavearangeofafewtensofkilometers.Withmobileoperatorsstrugglingtosupportthegrowthin
mobiledatatraffic,[2]manyareusingMobiledataoffloadingasamoreefficientuseofradiospectrum.
Smallcellsareavitalelementto3Gdataoffloading,andmanymobilenetworkoperatorsseesmallcellsas
vitaltomanagingLTEAdvancedspectrummoreefficientlycomparedtousingjustmacrocells.[3]ARCchart
estimatesthatby2017atotalof5millionsmallcellswillshipannually.[4]

Contents
1Typesofsmallcells
1.1Compatibletechnology
2Purpose
3Umbrellaterm
4Futuremobilenetworks
4.1Deployment
5Smallcellbackhaul
6References
7Externallinks

Typesofsmallcells
Smallcellsencompassfemtocells,picocells,andmicrocells.Smallcellnetworkscanalsoberealizedby
meansofdistributedradiotechnologyconsistingofcentralizedbasebandunitsandremoteradioheads.
Beamformingtechnology(focusingaradiosignalonaveryspecificarea)canbeutilizedtofurtherenhance
orfocussmallcellcoverage.Acommonfactorinalltheseapproachestosmallcellsisthattheyare
centrallymanagedbymobilenetworkoperators.
Smallcellsprovideasmallradiofootprint,whichcanrangefrom10meterswithinurbanandinbuilding
locationsto2kmforarurallocation.[5]Picocellsandmicrocellscanalsohavearangeofafewhundred
meterstoafewkilometers,buttheydifferfromfemtocellsinthattheydonotalwayshaveselforganising
andselfmanagementcapabilities.[6]

Compatibletechnology

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SmallcellsareavailableforawiderangeofairinterfacesincludingGSM,CDMA2000,TDSCDMA,W
CDMA,LTEandWiMax.In3GPPterminology,aHomeNodeB(HNB)isa3Gfemtocell.AHomeeNode
B(HeNB)isanLTEfemtocell.WiFiisasmallcellbutdoesnotoperateinlicensedspectrumtherefore
cannotbemanagedaseffectivelyassmallcellsutilisinglicensedspectrum.Thedetailandbestpractice
associatedwiththedeploymentofsmallcellsvariesaccordingtousecaseandradiotechnology
employed.[7]

Purpose
Smallcellscanbeusedtoprovideinbuildingandoutdoorwirelessservice.Mobileoperatorsusesmall
cellstoextendtheirservicecoverageand/orincreasenetworkcapacity.Withsmallcells,mobileoperators
canoffloadtrafficasmuchas80%duringpeaktimes.[8]ABIResearchestimatesthatby2015,48%of
mobiledatatrafficwillbeoffloadedfromthemacronetwork.[9]Noindividualtechnologywilldominate
offloading.[10]
ABIResearchalsoarguesthatsmallcellsalsohelpserviceprovidersdiscovernewrevenueopportunities
throughtheirlocationandpresenceinformation.[11]Ifaregistereduserentersafemtozone,thenetworkis
notifiedoftheirlocation.Theserviceprovider,withtheuser'spermission,couldsharethislocation
informationtoupdateuser'ssocialmediastatus,forinstance.OpeningupsmallcellAPIstothewider
mobileecosystemcouldenablealongtaileffect.[12]
Ruralcoverageisalsoakeymarketthathasdevelopedasmobileoperatorshavestartedtoinstallpublic
accessmetrocellsinremoteandruralareasthateitherhaveonly2Gcoverageornocoverageatall.Thecost
advantagesofsmallcellscomparedwithmacrocellsmakeiteconomicallyfeasibletoprovidecoverageof
muchsmallercommunitiesfromafewtenstoafewhundreds.TheSmallCellForumhavepublisheda
whitepaperoutliningthetechnologyandbusinesscaseaspects.[13]Mobileoperatorsinbothdevelopingand
developedworldcountriesareeithertrialingorinstallingsuchsystems.Thepioneerinprovidingrural
coverageusingsmallcellswasSoftBankMobiletheJapanesemobileoperatorwhohaveinstalledmore
than3000publicaccesssmallcellsonpostofficesthroughoutruralJapan.Toovercomethebackhaul
challengeinremotelocationstheyhaveusedVSATsatellitebackhaultolinksitestotheircorenetwork.
TheInformaTelecomsandMediaconsultancyalsohaveapapercoveringthisuseofsmallcells.[14]

Umbrellaterm
Themostcommonformofsmallcellsarefemtocells.Femtocellswereinitiallydesignedforresidentialand
smallbusinessuse,[15]withashortrangeandalimitednumberofchannels.Femtocellswithincreased
rangeandcapacityspawnedaproliferationofterms:metrocells,metrofemtocells,publicaccessfemtocells,
enterprisefemtocells,superfemtos,Class3femto,greaterfemtosandmicrocells.Theterm"smallcells"is
frequentlyusedbyanalystsandtheindustryasanumbrellatodescribethedifferentimplementationsof
femtocells,[16]andtoclearupanyconfusionthatfemtocellsarelimitedtoresidentialuses.Smallcellsare
sometimes,incorrectly,alsousedtodescribedistributedantennasystems(DAS)whicharenotlow
poweredaccessnodes.

Futuremobilenetworks
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SmallcellsareanintegralpartoffutureLTEnetworks.[17]In3Gnetworks,smallcellsareviewedasan
offloadtechnique.In4Gnetworks,theprincipalofheterogeneousnetwork(HetNet)isintroducedwhere
themobilenetworkisconstructedwithlayersofsmallandlargecells.[18]InLTE,allcellswillbeself
organizing,drawingupontheprincipleslaiddownincurrentHomeNodeB(HNB),the3GPPtermfor
residentialfemtocells.
Futureinnovationsinradioaccessdesignintroducetheideaofanalmostflatarchitecturewherethe
differencebetweenasmallcellandamacrocelldependsonhowmanycubesarestackedtogether.[19]With
softwaredefinedradio,abasestationcouldbe2G,3Gor4Gattheflickofaswitch,andtheantennarange
caneasilybetuned.[20]

Deployment
9.6millionresidentialfemtocellshavebeendeployed,representing56%ofallbasestationsglobally,asof
February2013.Intotal,almost11millionsmallcellsencompassingpublic,enterpriseandresidentialhave
beendeployedby47operatorsworldwide.[21]

Smallcellbackhaul
Backhaulisneededtoconnectthesmallcellstothecorenetwork,internetandotherservices.Mobile
operatorsconsiderthismorechallengingthanmacrocellbackhaulbecausea)smallcellsaretypicallyin
hardtoreach,nearstreetlevellocationsratherthaninmoreopen,aboverooftoplocationsandb)carrier
gradeconnectivitymustbeprovidedatmuchlowercostperbit.[22]Inonesurvey,55%operatorslisted
backhaulasoneoftheirbiggestchallengeforsmallcellrollout.[23]Manydifferentwirelessandwired
technologieshavebeenproposedassolutions,anditisagreedthatatoolboxofthesewillbeneededto
addressarangeofdeploymentscenarios.Anindustryconsensusviewofhowthedifferentsolution
characteristicsmatchwithrequirementsispublishedbytheSmallCellForum[24].Thebackhaulsolutionis
influencedbyanumberoffactors,includingtheoperatorsoriginalmotivationtodeploysmallcells,which
couldbefortargetedcapacity,indoororoutdoorcoverage.[25]
InAugust2013theUSFederalCommunicationsCommissionannouncedachangeinitsrulesgoverning
the60GHz(5764GHz)band,makingitoneofthekeytechnologiesforLTEbackhaul.[26]Theregulator
statesinitspressannouncement[27]thatthismovewill"facilitatetheuseofthisunlicensedspectrumasa
backhaulalternativeindenselypopulatedareaswhere4Gandotherwirelessservicesareexperiencingan
everincreasingneedforadditionalspectrum."

References
1. SmallCells:OutdoorPicoandMicroMarkets(http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1006138
Small+Cells%3A+Outdoor+Pico+and+Micro+Markets)
2. CiscoVisualNetworkingIndex
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns827/white_paper_c11520862.pdf)
3. SmallcellskeytomakingLTEpay(http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20111103/carriers/carriersseesmall
cellsaskeytomakingltepay/)
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4. ARCchartHetNetMarketSummary&Forecasts:MacroCells,SmallCells&WiFiOffload
(http://www.arcchart.com/reports/heterogeneousnetworkshetnetsreport.asp),November2012.
5. Smallcellrange(http://www.picochip.com/page/99/)
6. SmallCellterminology(http://ubiquisys.com/femtocellblog/smallcellterminologyisevolvingwiththe
technologyfemtocellpicocellmicrocell/)
7. SmallCellForumReleasestructureandroadmap(http://scf.io/en/documents/100_
_SCF_Release_structure_and_roadmap.php)
8. Smallcellstrafficoffload(http://www.alcatellucent.com/wireless/femto_small_cells.html)
9. Mobiledataoffloadwillgrow100fold(http://www.abiresearch.com/press/3479
Mobile+Data+Offloaded+Will+Grow+100fold+by+2015,+Says+ABI+Research)
10. Smallcellschallengethemacronetworkmodel(http://blogs.informatandm.com/302/smallcellschallengethe
macronetworkmodelatthemwc/)
11. Monetizingthefivebarlifestyle(http://www.wilsonstreet.com/2011/02/monetizingthefivebarlifestylewith
femtocells/)
12. Longtailofsmallcells(http://www.wilsonstreet.com/2010/11/minorityreporthowalongtailofmobile
applicationscanboostfemtosuccess/)
13. ruralandremotecoverageusingsmallcells
(http://scf.io/en/documents/047_Extending_rural_and_remote_coverage_using_small_cells.php/Extending)
14. backhaulforruralsmallcells(http://www.informatandm.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/iDirectWhite
Paper_online.pdf/Satellite)
15. FemtocellHistory(http://www.thinksmallcell.com/FAQs/femtocellhistory.html)
16. Forgetfemtothinksmallcell(http://www.wilsonstreet.com/2010/12/forgetfemtothinksmallcell/)
17. SmallCellstoPlayaBigPartinNetworkArchitectureoftheFuture(http://www.isuppli.com/Mobileand
WirelessCommunications/MarketWatch/Pages/SmallCellstoPlayaBigPartinNetworkArchitectureofthe
Future.aspx)
18. HeterogeneousNetworks(http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=204134)
19. Deathofthebasestation(http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2760813/AlcatelLucentforecasts
deathofbasestation.html)
20. GreenSmallCellFlexibleNetworks(http://www.flexible
radio.com/sites/default/files/attachments/20120227/smallcells_vtm.pdf)
21. PublicaccesssmallcellmarkettohitUS$16billionin2016(http://www.smallcellforum.org/newsstorypublic
accesssmallcellmarkettohitus16billionin2016),February2013.
22. SmallCellBackhaulRequirements
(http://www.ngmn.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Downloads/Technical/NGMN_Whitepaper_Small_Cell_Backhaul_
Requirements.pdf)J.Robson,NGMNAlliance,June2012
23. SmallCellsMarketStatus(http://www.smallcellforum.org/smallcellforum_resources/pdfsend01.php?
file=Small_Cells_2012Q2_Market_Update.pdf),InformaTelecomsandMedia,June2012
24. BackhaulTechnologiesforSmallCells,usecases,requirementsandsolutions(http://scf.io/document/049)Small
CellForum,February2013
25. Fivewaystodeploysmallcellsandtheimplicationsforbackhaul(http://cbnl.com/resources/smallcellstrategies)
CBNL,August2012
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26. FCCchangesrulesin5764GHzbandtoenhancewirelessbackhaul
(http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/fccchangesrules5764ghzbandenhancewireless
backhaul/20130809)
27. FCCModifiesPart15RulesforUnlicensedOperationin5764GHzBand

Externallinks
SmallCellForum(http://www.smallcellforum.org/)
SmallCellForumReleaseprogram(http://www.scf.io/)
SmallCellHubNews(http://www.smallcellhub.com/)
ThinkSmallCell(smallcellsblog)(http://www.thinksmallcell.com/)
IntroductionofSmallCells(http://www.queryhome.com/53326/smallcellanintroduction)
Youtubevideointerview(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmwCNbpTMVQ)betweenRCR
WirelessNews(http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/)andSenzaFiliConsulting(http://www.senza
fili.com)presidentMonicaPaolini(2/18/13)
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