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An essential part of any design, todays antennas can meet the cost per bit challenge of nextgeneration wireless networks.
Dec 9, 2008Kent Heath, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Ubidyne Inc. | Mobile Dev Design
With the introduction of HSxPA 3G service, cellular network operators have begun to introduce
broadband wireless service models that are increasingly competitive with traditional fixed-line DSL or
cable access plans. In some markets, like Australia, operators are now competing aggressively both
with each other and with the fixed-line networks.
These operators are offering flat-rate data plans that let consumers purchase broadband services at
rates that are similar to or lower than fixed-line, but with the added benefit of anytime/anywhere
mobility. This is driving an explosion in wireless data consumption, resulting in dramatic data traffic
growth but with a much lower increase in revenue improvement for the operators.
Because of the popularity of the new fixed-price data plans, network capacity limitations are quickly
becoming a concern in dense urban areas, driving operators to spend heavily on infill solutions. At
the same time, consumers are expecting the same service in rural areas that they experience in the city,
requiring increasing capital expenditure (CAPEX) spending for coverage even where density is low.
To compete successfully and profitably, network operators need to adopt next-generation broadband
wireless technologies like WiMAX and Long Term Evolution (LTE) that can offer cost per second or
cost per bit that scales down faster than ever before (Fig. 1). Yet this demands advanced RF and
antenna techniques, and some significant challenges lie ahead when it comes to deploying these new
techniques in a real network environment.
Already commonly deployed in Wi-Fi applications for in-building signal enhancement, MIMO systems
are now being seriously considered for commercial cellular network deployments, as well as with new
3.9G WiMAX and LTE systems where high data rates are a key market driver.
Although considered too expensive for commercial application in the past, the throughput advantages
of MIMO systems are now generally accepted based on the work of the LTE/System Architecture
Evolution Trial Initiative (LTSI), which has shown downlink peak rates of up to 326 Mbits/s with 4x4
MIMO systems (Fig. 2).
Implementation Challenges
Though active antenna techniques offer significant performance advantages to network operators in
terms of coverage, capacity, and terminal battery life, these schemes havent been deployed widely due
to a number of practical implementation considerations and economic limitations with traditional
analog RF network equipment.
Significant additional equipment and installation costs are required to deploy most of these systems.
As discussed above, RET and advanced adaptive tilt systems require electromechanical subsystems for
the control and activation of the vertical tilt functions.MIMO, beam forming, and advanced diversity
systems require the addition of multiple RF components (such as transceivers, power amplifiers, and
masthead amplifiers), multicolumn passive antenna arrays, coax cables/feeders, and associated
mounting hardware.
In addition to the purchase cost of these components, these elements add to the cost and complexity of
the installation, with site license fees to install new equipment and increased installation costs to
contractors due to the additional weight and wind load. In some cases, costly rooftop or tower reenforcement may be required to support the additional network elements.
Increasingly, OPEX costs are becoming the dominant factor impacting their total cost of ownership.
Unfortunately, with traditional analog RF systems, the OPEX costs typically scale directly with the
added complexity of the active antenna approach taken. Additional active components like masthead
amplifiers, power amplifiers, and advanced tilt systems consume more power.
Monthly site leasing costs are also increased based on the weight or wind load of these added elements,
which can be a significant potential problem for MIMO antennas. These added costs are particularly
acute in rural areas in emerging markets where sites are powered by costly trucked-in diesel fuel and in
areas where site real estate/leasing costs are at a premium due to local community restrictions against
unsightly masthead or rooftop equipment.
In general, cost of quality tends to scale with an increasing number of RF components within
complex systems. This has led to significant concern by many operators that employing advanced
antenna systems may degrade network reliability and increase repair and maintenance costs.
Furthermore, electromechanical RET and advanced tilt systems add further complexity and are subject
to higher potential failure rates than solid-state system elements.
And, the obvious concern with traditional active antenna systems is the added carbon footprint from
both the manufacturing of added network elements and the fuel consumed to power them. In addition,
an increasingly challenging problem for operators is related to the visual impact of adding new
equipment to existing cellular sites.
For example, a local operator in Scottsdale, Ariz., was unable to get approval to install a traditional
cabinet-mounted basestation on the ground below an existing antenna tower. So, the operator had to
commit to dig a chamber underground and bury the new equipment to hide it from viewa very
expensive solution!
This fully digital processing chain allows for the individual adjustments of amplitude and phase of each
antenna element as well as the grouping of several elements into logical antennas with independently
fading signals. The AER system is highly scalable and easily reconfigurable, permitting the groupings
to be dynamically changed online through the radio sever.
Figure 4 shows an example of the scalable configuration realizing up to four independent logical
antennas. As indicated, with no change in hardware, the AER system can be configured to replicate the
performance of traditional remote radio head + passive antenna systems (when configured for one Tx
and two Rx signal paths). The AER has built-in Tx diversity and can be configured to support 2x2 or
4x4 MIMO signal paths, providing a future proof solution as the network software from basestation
OEMs evolves to exploit these capabilities.
Figure 5 illustrates the simplicity of deploying the AER system. Because of the high level of integration,
the AER can be mounted up the tower or on a rooftop as if it were a traditional passive antenna. Then,
operation only requires the CPRI or OBSAI fiber-optic cable and power supply to be connected the
input of the AER.
In Summary
Antenna embedded radios are one example of new creative solutions that are required to provide the
benefits of active antenna systems without the associated drawbacks. As flat-rate, broadband tariff
schemes become increasingly more prevalent and operators accelerate competition on data service, the
need persists for ever lower costs.
This competitive pressure at the operator level will continue to drive the infrastructure segment to find
more creative solutions to satisfy consumer hunger for ever increasing data at attractive prices. To
meet this challenge, more revolution than evolution is needed to continue the neverending race
toward higher levels of service (capacity and coverage) while maintaining the trend of lower cost per
bit.