Picocells The Applications Handbook

A proven way to maximize Return-on-Spectrum

Introduction

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Coverage, Capacity and Return-on-Spectrum. Operators havebeen struggling with coverage andcapacity problems since mobilecommunications were invented.

Repeaters, Distributed Antenna Systemsand micro base stations all play a role.But they also force the operator to pay ahigh price, in terms of capital expense,operating expense, delay, hassle oraccess.

When IP-enabled picocells first cameonto the scene, they appeared to offer a new alternative to operators facingdifficult coverage (and capacity)challenges. But they also made a lot of operators feel a bit uncomfortable.Using IP for backhaul made a lot ofsense… but it was just a bit unfamiliar for network planners used to their trusted tools.

Today, picocells have come a long, long way. They’re deployed by mobileoperators, all over the world as a fast,cost-effective solution to a wide range of coverage and capacity problems. Asyou’ll see, these applications start within-building coverage, but extend farbeyond as well.

The ip.access nanoGSM solution is theworld’s most deployed picocell, by far.Since launching the product, we’vehelped operators take it into all sorts ofdifferent places – some of which wenever envisaged ourselves.

In every case, picocells were chosen for very simple, hard-nosed reasons:because they offer fast, cost-effectivecapacity and coverage in places yourmacro network finds hard to reach (andconventional solutions fall short). Theeffect, in every case, is to maximize whatwe call Return-on-Spectrum.

This Handbook is a brief summary ofthese application areas. It’s designed tohelp network planners think about yourcoverage and capacity problems in newways and to recognise ‘picocell-shaped’problems in your own networks. It willalso help staff from the commercial sideof your business – such as enterprisecustomer account teams for example –who wish to provide alternatives to theircustomers and talk with authority aboutthem.

We hope you find the Handbook usefuland that you’ll give us a call to discussyour own network challenges.

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Contents03. Picocells: a primer05. Pros and cons07. Picocells and the alternatives

The Applications:09. Filling macro network holes10. Offloading the macro network11. Business parks13. High rise offices15. Operator retail stores16. Difficult buildings17. Multi-tenanted buildings19. Underground facilities20. Satellite-based applications

Case studies:22. The evolution of picocells23. Cincinnati Bell, US25. T-Mobile, UK27. Spring Mobile,Sweden

Business case:28. Improving in-building coverage29. Cutting deployment costs

30. Summary31. FAQs34. Conclusion – About ip.access

“T-Mobile says it has found that poor in-building cellular coverage was the No. 1 reason its customersswitched to rivals.”Business Week, 27 June 2007

The Coverage Challenge— Enterprises expect in-building service quality –

coverage in the workplace is a major driver ofdissatisfaction with operators – a consistent finding in all global regions.

— Where coverage is an issue, it’s the dominant issue – a key reason for churn along with price and handset choice.

— Coverage is often the primary differentiatorbetween operators – and the decisive factor in awarding contracts.Source: ip access survey October 2005

The Capacity Challenge— More people using more bandwidth-hungry

applications – it’s a recipe for capacity problems,especially in city centres.

— Adding new macro cells is expensive andincreasingly unpopular in many communities.

— Premium rate data services demand amplecapacity, or quality of service suffers.

Introduction

3

Picocells: a primer

Picocells are a simple, time-testedsolution to a range of coverage andcapacity challenges.

nanoGSM, the world’s most deployedpicocell, is a robust, flexible systembased on three components: the picocell,the controller and the manager.

The picocellsThe nanoBTS picocells are completeGSM base stations that use thestandard Um interface to the handsetand an Abis interface carried over IP forthe backhaul.

nanoBTS – A compact picocell, forGSM/GPRS/EDGE the nanoBTS isavailable in four variants covering the850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and1900MHz bands.

The nanoBTS offers high-speed datarates with full support for EDGE and asignificant increase in voice capacitywith half-rate AMR.

nanoBTS offers:

— Indoor range up to 200m.

— Low-cost IP backhaul.

— Simple deployment – using a singleEthernet connection for power, trafficand signaling.

— Network Listen™– supplements RFplanning, allowing the planners to seeinto the difficult indoor environment tooptimize coverage and avoidinterference issues.

Why network planners use picocells

— Fast coverage and capacity

— Lower capex than distributed antennasystems

— Lower opex, with IP backhaul

— Easy, flexible deployment

— No cell distortion, interference orhandover problems

— Easy to integrate and manage

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The controllerThe nanoGSM Base Station Controller(BSC) handles and routes all the IP trafficbetween the picocells and your existingMSC and SGSN over the standard A andGb interfaces. There is also an option toconnect into architectures withsoftswitch MSCs.

The BSC provides channel allocationand controls the power level algorithmsand handover procedures for thepicocells. The unit is engineered for highavailability by combining selectiveredundancy with fast restart capabilities.

The BSC combines a processor module,signalling gateway, media gateway andframe relay gateway. It is housed in a 4Uhigh compact PCI chassis for easyinstallation in a low-cost package.

The nanoBTS BSC is also provided in asoftware variant called the softBSC, anapplication supported on a standardLinux® OS. The softBSC supports all thesame features as the hardware BSC.

The managerThe OMC-R (Operations andMaintenance Centre – Radio) providesall the facilities needed for the operationand maintenance of the nanoGSMpicocells and controller includingconfiguration, performance and alarmmanagement.

Introduction

5

Picocells: pros and cons

Pros:1. Picocells give you fast, low-costcoverage where it’s hard to get yoursignal. Like in buildings.

2. They’re a great way to offer enterprisecustomers guaranteed capacity andservice quality in their offices.

3. They win the ROI analysis againstrepeaters and DAS systems in mostdeployments for 10-1000 people (and beyond).

4. They actually add capacity to yournetwork instead of draining it away. Thinkof a base station the size of a book.

5. They cut your operating costs byusing existing IP for backhaul.

6. They support fast data rates(nanoGSM supports GPRS and EDGE) and high voice capacity with half-rate AMR.

7. They’re easy to integrate. Forexample, nanoGSM has been integratedinto just about every kind of GSM network. Our Base StationController simply plugs into your MSCand SGSN.

8. They’re quick and easy to install. Apicocell goes on a wall with four screws.Then an Ethernet cable is plugged in andit’s ready to roll.

9. They’re easy to take with you, if yourcustomer moves.

10. They’re easy to manage using ourmanagement software or feeding alarmand performance data into yours.

11. They earn dramatically more minutesand megabytes and significantly reducethe likelihood of churn.

12. They’re proven. nanoGSM picocellsare already carrying billions of minuteseach year for operators all over the world.

The ‘cons’ would have to be very, verybad to out-weigh all of this.

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Cons:1. Picocells are a new thing to introduceinto your network. You may prefer not tohave a new technology in there.

2. They mean you have to learn a bitabout IP. But not much, really. It’s just acheap, available source of backhaul.

3. In some places, there may be no IPavailable for backhaul. But you tend tofind IP in places you don’t find basestations. And you can use satellitebackhaul, too.

4. Your network equipment vendor maynot like the idea. But they’ll get used to it(and whose network is it anyway?)

5. Your network equipment vendor mayclaim they won’t integrate easily. But theydo. We’ll show you.

6. Some people will think you’re spendingtoo much on 2G when 3G is the future. In reality, picocells cut your 2G infra-structure costs. But you’ll have to explainthat (we can help make the case).

7. They’re not as simple as repeaters.No, they’re not. But they don’t distortcells, drain capacity, fumble hand-overs, create interference and causemanagement headaches either.

Distributed AntennaSystems (DAS)DAS solves a lot of problems and manyapplications justify the high start-up andcapex costs.

A DAS with a micro base station in abasement is a high-quality, proven wayof getting spectrum into buildings. Webelieve there will always be a role forDAS – and our picocells are sometimesused to feed them.

But for many applications, it’s hard tojustify the deployment costs, detailedsite planning, permissions from buildingowners, T1/E1 costs and the expenseand hassle of laying coaxial cable.

For many of these applications, networkplanners can justify picocells when thebusiness case for DAS just doesn’t addup. And for others, picocells complementactive DAS in cost-effective hybridsolutions that enjoy the best of bothworlds.

TweakingNetwork planners are ingenious problemsolvers. Sometimes tweaking the macronetwork, intelligent traffic shaping or re-aiming an antenna can solve coverageproblems. It’s hard to get more cost-effective than that.

Ultimately, tricks and tweaks may not bescalable enough for the coverage andcapacity issues many operators arefacing. But it’s always worth looking at.

Doing nothingNetwork planning is a game of trade-offs. You can’t do everything everyoneasks for and all the things you simplymust do.

Doing nothing always has a cost. It maymean losing a customer or foregoing anopportunity that could generatesignificant revenue.

For many network planners, picocellsoffer a low-cost alternative to tapdancing. Because they’re cost-effective,the business case threshold is low.Andbecause they deploy so quickly, they let you seize opportunities intelligently.

Introduction

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Picocells and the alternativesRepeatersRepeaters are to network planning whatthe rock was to the caveman. Simpleand ubiquitous, but not the mostsophisticated solution around.

Network planners have alwaysunderstood the limitations and side-effects of repeaters, but the alternativesalways looked more expensive anddifficult to deploy.

Today, planners aren’t so quick to turn torepeaters to fill black spots or penetratebuildings. Picocells are increasingly theirpreferred alternative.

Repeaters

Only extends coverage, no additionalcapacity (feeds off macro network)

Complex and time-consuming to install

Distorts macro cell, causing interferenceand handover issues, and creating radioplanning problems

Difficult to manage, with no automatedfault reporting

Does not provide knowledge of the enduser’s location, so additional servicesare not possible

Cheap repeaters amplify competitors’ signals

nanoGSM

Adds both coverage and capacity, withability to improve data rates

Extremely quick and easy to install

Seamless integration into the macronetwork – Network Listen featuresimplifies radio planning on site

Fault and performance monitoring andfull O&M support

Location awareness creates thepossibility to offer in-building bespoketariffs and other location based services

Generates operator-specific signal

apps

The Applications:09. Filling macro network holes10. Offloading the macro network11. Business parks13. High rise offices15. Operator retail stores16. Difficult buildings17. Multi-tenanted buildings19. Underground facilities20. Satellite-based applications

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The problem Every network has black spots wherecoverage is marginal or non-existent.

Even urban areas that enjoy excellentcoverage overall usually have a fewcoverage holes due to geography,building layout or coverage strategy. Andrural areas are notoriously difficult andexpensive to reach with a conventionalmacro network.

In areas with marginal coverage, servicequality inside buildings can drop offsharply, resulting in dropped calls,‘network busy’ signals, slow data ratesand poor voice quality.

And where coverage doesn’t exist at all,of course, there can be no revenues.

The solutionPicocells offer a fast, cost-effectivesolution to coverage problems.

Inside buildings – picocells addpinpoint coverage and capacity exactlywhere your high-value enterprisecustomers work. And by offloading themacro network, they improve service forthe entire cell while delivering the bestpossible quality indoors. Additionally,where RF spectrum is limited, picocellsoffer better interference control and addmore capacity in the network.

Outside – picocells can be deployed as low-cost but full-function basestations. ADC’s new FlexWave™ BaseStation System integrates the ip.accessnanoGSM® technology into a self-contained, outdoor hardened, microGSM base station solution using IP forbackhaul.

ConsiderationsIs it possible to use the customer’sbroadband for backhaul or do we have to make other arrangements? Picocells need broadband (unless satellite is an option).

Is the enterprise customer a prime target?Enterprises love the benefits of their own ‘private base station’.

Does the area have branch offices of larger Enterprise customers?Solving coverage for branches cansecure the whole contract.

Does the customer’s decision-maker live out of range of the network?Many VIPs live in areas of poor coverage– a picocell in their homes may be theanswer.

1Application 1

Filling macronetwork holes

Urban network mapwith coverage holes

2Application 2

Offloading the macro network

In-building picocells

The problemProviding good service means alwayshaving sufficient capacity available. Butavoiding ‘network busy’ errors incommercial centres and large cities isbecoming more difficult as usage levelsincrease, driven by competitive voicetariffs and attractive new data services.

Subscribers are spending more time onthe network doing new, more bandwidth-intensive things. That may affect thequality of service operators provide topremium customers, like BlackBerry®

and other PDA users, who expect to beable to access services whenever theywant. Providing the right level of capacityis tough in densely populated areas andit’s limited by the spectrum available toan operator.

Simply adding new macro cells – even if they’re micro base stations – isexpensive and time consuming. Andpublic opposition to the introduction ofmore and more radio masts isincreasing around the world as well,even if good sites can be found.

An operator’s lack of capacity is not onlya churn driver but a break on the uptakeof new services.

The solutionPicocells help maximise spectrum re-use:

— Unlike repeaters, picocells addcapacity to the network indoors and out. Using picocells to solve in-building coverage problemsincreases the capacity in the out-doormacro network.

— They remove the problems of celldistortion, interference, handover andmanagement in city centre locationswhere macro BTS spacing can be aslow as 200m metres.

— They provide sufficient extra capacityto ensure that subscribers ofpremium rate data services get thebetter radio quality they need.

Considerations Intelligent radio planning is the key togetting more from your spectrum.ip.access can help you solve planningproblems so you get the best possibleReturn-on-Spectrum.

It’s critical to manage the effects of anyin-building solution on the surroundingmacro network.Properly deployed picocells do notinterfere with the macro network andactually improve its performance byoffloading capacity.

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The problemRecent years have seen an explosion inoffice developments at new businessparks around the world. These modernsites frequently house some of the mostdynamic, expanding businesses – andnearly all of them have demandingcommunications requirements. Theyrepresent lucrative opportunities formobile operators that can get theirservices right.

Many business parks are found on theedge of towns and cities where networkcoverage is poor or even non-existent,because the location is far from thenearest macro BTS. Customers willsimply not subscribe to a service if theirphones do not work where they do.

Frequently in the more distant locations,new macro deployment is uneconomic –there may not be enough traffic towarrant building new cells. And even ifthere is a case for building out the macronetwork, it will generally not be possibleto do this quickly.

The solutionPicocells are a simple way to fillcoverage holes and signal strengthchallenges:

— Deployment of picocells is fast andunobtrusive.

— Provides high quality in-buildingcoverage that meets any customerrequirements.

— Customers feel the operator hasresponded directly to their needs,building confidence and long-termloyalty.

— Unlike DAS systems, the capital costof picocells is not lost if the customermoves or changes suppliers.

— All new sites will have modern fixedline infrastructure offering accessiblebroadband for backhaul.

3Application 3

Business parks

Typical business park in a rural area

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Considerations Are there enough subscribers, and is there enough traffic, to warrantinvestment by the operator?Picocells can often be deployed cost-effectively even for a small officeenvironment.

Can the operator develop a strategy towin business from all the companies atthe park?By deploying picocells strategicallyacross the business park, an operatorcan gain a reputation for providing thebest coverage on site.

Is the customer willing to underwrite the cost of the picocell deployment?Picocells provide dedicated mobilecoverage for the office, bringingsignificant benefits to a businesscustomer. These benefits may besufficient for the customer to fund the IP backhaul, or even subsidise thepicocell deployment.

“The improvement to in-building coveragethat nanoGSM delivers will make a majordifference to our customers, particularlyour corporate subscribers, who rely ontheir mobile phones as a vital businesstool. ip.access’ technology gives us acost-effective way to extend our outdoorcoverage levels indoors, mainly in newbuildings whose construction materialsobstruct signal penetration from outside.”

Pavel Kolar , CTO, Telefonica O2Czech Republic

The problemHigh rise office buildings proliferate inevery crowded city. Signal strengthtends to get weaker the higher you go,demonstrated by the fact that manyoperators refuse to guarantee theirservice above the 12th floor.

Ironically, the problem stems from thelarge number of BTS normally found incrowded cities, as operators strive toguarantee outdoor service in placeswhere most of their subscribers demand it.

Increased BTS density forces the needfor antenna tilts, which significantlyreduce signal strength on the highestfloors. In addition, as power is crankedup, interference from many BTS leads topoor signal quality.

Unfortunately for operators, manycompanies locate their senior executiveson the top floors of high rise buildings,precisely the people who are mostsensitive to signal strength and quality.And, critically, these are the people whomake the decisions about corporatemobile contracts.

The solutionPicocells can be used to target specificfloors quickly and easily:

— They can be deployed in a few hours,offering a quicker, more flexiblealternative to traditional DAS andrepeater solutions

— The small size of picocells and theirease of installation means moreflexible, cost-effective deployments

— Picocell radio output quality providessuperior coverage over severalthousand square metres in a building

— Lower picocell power output posesminimal interference challenges

— The most senior decision makers at acustomer site have their needs muchbetter met, increasing loyalty andlowering the propensity to churn.

ConsiderationsWould it be better to deploy a system forthe whole building?Picocells provide a quick, cost-effectiveand highly targeted solution if theproblems are limited to the upper floors.(They might even be the best way tocover the whole building, if necessary.)

How easy is it to get access to theexecutive offices?Picocells can be installed very quickly,without the need to lay cables, therebyminimising disruption.

What are the radio planning implicationsof introducing picocells?

— Interference, handover, security,neighbour issues and managementare all built into the nanoGSM systemto simplify network planning.

— Power levels can be tuned to providehighly targeted coverage and minimiseinterference with the macro network.

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4Application 4

High riseoffices

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High rise offices

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The problemBranded retail outlets have become themain way mobile operators promote andsell new services and devices to theircustomers. They spend a fortune to buildan environment that sets them apartfrom the competition and they require anexcellent signal for demonstrations,particularly for data services.

The problem is that a store’s locationinside a shopping mall may result in apoor signal, and even if location is not anissue, demonstration areas tend to be atthe rear of the shop where coverage isinvariably worse. Some shopping centreowners also charge fees for mobilecoverage rights, pushing up the cost ofcustomer acquisition in what is likely tobe an already expensive location.

The solutionPicocells offer a flexible and fast route to excellent coverage and signal quality in retail stores:

— Makes use of existing IP connectionused for point of sale terminals.

— Small footprint and easy installationmeans that there will be no need toinvolve the shopping mall owners.

— Gives great coverage even in themost difficult in-buildingenvironments.

— Capacity can be reserved for datachannels with high throughput,enabling more effective demos ofnew services.

ConsiderationsDo you have broadband connections in all stores?Broadband is needed for picocellbackhaul.

Are data services demonstrated in-tore?Increasingly, new data services must bedemonstrated to encourage uptake.

How many stores are in hard-to-reachlocations?You might only need picocells in a fewstores where location makes coverageand capacity an issue.

Is there a demand for picocells now?Talk to your store staff about coverageand quality issues in-store.

5Application 5

Operator retail stores

Typical operator retail outlet

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The problemModern construction methods involve a bewildering use of materials and arange of innovative constructiontechniques. While these may pass anoccupier’s aesthetic, status orenvironmental tests, they often block RF signals, making coverage withinpatchy or of poor quality.

The main problems stem from thespecial materials architects choose suchas copper cladding or metal for roof andwall construction. Thick concrete and theincreasing use of special glass windowsfor thermal efficiency can also causeproblems.

Unusual public buildings, such asmuseums, visitor centres, airports andstations are often susceptible tocoverage problems.

The solutionAll of this adds up to the requirement for a cost-effective in-building solution to overcome these challenges tocoverage. Picocells work well in theseenvironments:

— Allows the operator to provideexcellent service in a challengingenvironment, improving customerperception of service quality.

— Puts coverage directly inside thebuilding, rather than straining themacro network to serve in-buildingusers from outside.

— Much cheaper and quicker thanadding a dedicated macro cell orDAS solution.

ConsiderationsWill there be enough traffic to warrantpicocell deployment? Start with the buildings that get the most use.

Think about the usage of the building in question.Consider user demographics, length of stay, etc.

Evaluate competitive performance.Do competing networks out-performyours in the buildings in question? Can you afford poor coverage or is it a potential cause of churn?

6Application 6

Difficultbuildings

Difficult buildings

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The problemMost large office buildings contain more– sometimes substantially more – than asingle tenant. These companies willnormally be serviced by a variety ofcompeting operators. And unless theoffice is newly built, it is unlikely that itcontains a full DAS wireless buildingsystem.

Most buildings – because of thematerials used in construction or thestructure of the building itself – havedead coverage spots indoors. But it’ssimply uneconomic for operators toinstall DAS systems to cover a few floorsand address their specific customerrequirements – especially if thosecustomers may move to new premisesin the future, wiping out the operator’scapital investment in the equipment.

The solutionPicocells furnish operators with the toolsto provide targeted coverage forcustomers working in multi-tenantedbuildings:

— A single picocell will usually cover awhole floor.

— They can be located in the heart of thebuilding to provide coverage indifficult to reach areas.

— Picocells can provide targeted RFcoverage to allow closer frequencyreuse.

— Multiple picocells can operate on thesame frequencies if separated by afew floors, making radio planningeasier.

— They can use different frequencies tohandle several customers located inclose proximity.

7Application 7

Multi-tenantedbuildings

Indoor usage

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ConsiderationsAre there penalties associated withhaving to separate in-building andmacro network frequency bands?Frequency re-use is easily managed withnanoGSM.

Building owners may offer access totheir installed DAS.Installing picocells can often be morecost-effective than paying for access to an installed DAS.

Are the tenants likely to move?Picocells can be removed and re-deployed quickly and easily when atenant moves.

“For 99 per cent of in-building coverage applications a picocell-only approach is ourpreference. We prefer picocells because of the RF control that they provide, whichallows much closer frequency reuse. They also create minimal interference”

Nick Stevens, Senior Radio Frequency Engineer, Cincinnati Bell, US

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The problemGSM signals do not penetrateunderground. In densely populatedurban areas, a high quality signal maybe required for safety or network qualityreasons.

But because underground facilities (carparks, subway stations…) are likely to below-traffic areas, the requirement is foran easily deployable, cost-effectivesolution. This is not least becauseaccess for donor antennas may belimited, and it’s likely that routing thickcoaxial cables for passive antennasystems will be difficult.

The SolutionPicocells provide a very cost-effectivesolution in this situation:

— Easy to deploy while providingthousands of square metres ofcoverage.

— Require only Ethernet cabling for connectivity.

— No requirement for dedicatedequipment room or intensivemaintenance.

ConsiderationsIs there IP available for backhaul?Or can broadband be easily installed?

When and how is the undergroundfacility used?Consider how usage maps to yournetwork demand profile.

8Application 8

Underground facilities

Underground carparkbelow high rise offices

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The problemMany mobile applications are required inareas where there is no broadbandconnectivity available for backhaul. Inthese circumstances, operators areexploring the viability of satellitecommunications. The key applicationareas are:

Rural areas – where the aim is toprovide coverage to remote locationslike villages, rural commercialsettlements (such as rubber plantations,mining camps, refugee camps and thelike). The requirement here is for anoutdoor picocell with large coverage.

Oil and gas – where onshore andoffshore exploration and production rigs(the former are mobile) requireconnectivity to support the privatecommunications needs of workers aswell as for safety reasons.

Marine – where cruise ships, ferries,private yachts and commercial shippingrequires connectivity.

Aircraft – where the commercial aviationsector want to provide phones forpassengers. This service is currentlyprovided by two companies AeroMobileand OnAir. There is also a requirementfor connectivity on executive jets to allowVIPs to keep in touch, invariably usingnormal mobile devices.

The solutionPicocells provide a very flexible solutionto connectivity challenges in these areas.

The solution involves connecting apicocell BTS into an existing remote huband then routing signals over a satelliteconnection into a ground station. Fromthere the traffic is moved into the core ofa mobile operator’s network. Thearchitecture uses the IP link on thesatellite which is cheaper than a circuitswitched connection.

The consumer benefits becauseinvariably all calls are made andreceived on their personal cell phonenumber and call charges appear on theirmonthly bill. Whether on sea or in the air,business people can continue to usepremium services, like BlackBerry® orother PDA services with the full range offeatures they use normally in their offices.

ConsiderationsHow do I avoid interference from otherRF services?Interference can be easily managed withfrequency re-use and other techniques.Talk to ip.access.

Is satellite connectivity already available?If so, adding picocells can be extremelycost-effective.

How easy is it to route traffic into themobile network?Integration with the core network issimilar to systems that use DSL forbackhaul.

9Application 9

Satellite-basedapplications

Satellite basedapplications

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case

sUsing picocells to provide enhanced services Three case studies; two business cases

Picocells evolution story

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Solving in-buildingchallengesThe first problem picocells solve isimproving coverage inside buildings.Operators use picocells in thisapplication because they offer fast, cost-effective coverage in places the macronetwork finds hard to reach, and whereconventional solutions fall short.

Cincinnati Bell has been installingnanoGSM picocells since 2004, andnow uses them for nearly all of its indoorcoverage requirements, removing allactive and passive repeaters from thenetwork.

Macro network offloadAvoiding ‘network busy’ signals indensely populated inner cities isbecoming difficult as voice and textusage spirals and people spend moretime doing more bandwidth-intensivethings. Picocells add capacity to thenetwork instead of simply moving itaround (like repeaters). And they areeasy to install (unlike DAS and microbase stations) and integrate into themacro network.

T-Mobile in the United States haspioneered macro offload usingnanoGSM picocells to increase cellcapacity.

Enterprise market captureAs picocells become more and moreubiquitous as the solution to difficultcoverage and capacity challenges, morefar-sighted operators are beginning tosee how to use the technology to attractand retain lucrative business customers.

In Sweden, for example Spring Mobilaims to replace fixed telephony in theoffice using nanoGSM and has recruitedover 500 enterprise customers replacingfixed lines.

The evolution of picocells

Operators originally deployed picocells to deal with coverageblack spots. As the technology has matured, however, operatorsare also beginning to use picocells:

— To improve macro network capacity and performance

— To attack the lucrative business customer segment throughthe promise great service quality.

These case studies illustrate how the three-phase picocellevolution has occurred, and explain the benefits of picocells ateach stage of the journey.

Enterprise marketcapture (differentiation)

Macro offload(capacity)

In-building(coverage)

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Rapid response to Laura Bush arrivalCincinnati Bell attacks in-building coverage with nanoGSM®

Case study 1

Nick Stevens, top network planner atCincinnati Bell, knew that the company’sdecision to use picocells from ip.accesswas going to work after one of thecompany’s senior executives called himabout an emergency that was just aboutto hit his department.

Stevens received the call one Fridayevening in August 2004. A high profilecultural institution, the Freedom Center,was opening that weekend in downtownCincinnati and a whole range of politicalleaders and celebrities – including LauraBush, Colin Powell and Oprah Winfrey –were to descend on the Ohio city for theevent.

nanoGSM to the rescue “The Marketing Director told me heneeded cell phone coverage for 3000people at a news event that was beingcovered by the national media and itneeded to be ready for Sundayafternoon, just 48 hours away,” saysStevens. “He suggested we used arepeater, our standard solution at thetime.”

“Once I’d picked myself up from thefloor, I told him that we had only onerepeater in stock and, even if we used it,it would take several weeks to get upand running. It was also unlikely that theFreedom Center Museum would beopen to draping ugly lengths of coaxcable around their high open-ceilingdesign and pristine building.”

Fortunately Stevens and his team hadjust made the decision to use ip.access’nanoGSM picocells to solve tricky in-building coverage challenges.“We’d

evaluated the product, but we’d neveractually installed it for a customer,”Stevens says.“We were able to provisionand configure six picocells and a basestation controller in less than 24 hoursfrom a standing start. We met animpossible deadline and everyone hadperfect coverage quality.”

Cincinnati BellCincinnati Bell is one of America’s mostsuccessful local exchange and wirelesscarriers, offering a mixture of wire line,DSL and wireless services to customersin Cincinnati and Dayton, as well as innorthern Kentucky and Indiana. Thecompany serves more than half a millionwireless customers in its key markets.

The business market is critical forCincinnati Bell. Stevens was finding thatthey were missing opportunities withenterprises that were saying they lovedthe Cincinnati Bell macro service, butwouldn’t take it because they couldn’tget coverage in the building.

Stevens points out that every mobilenetwork has black spots where coverageis marginal or non-existent.“In thoseareas, particularly if there’s a highdensity of people, service quality insidebuildings often drops off sharply,resulting in dropped calls, ‘network busy’signals, slow data rates and poor voicequality,” he says.

“And, critically, in our experience, poorcoverage in the workplace is the keysource of enterprise dissatisfaction. It’soften the primary differentiator betweenoperators and the decisive factor inawarding contracts.”

Nick Stevens Senior Radio Frequency Engineer,Cincinnati Bell

“We provisioned andconfigured six picocells anda BSC in less than 24 hoursfrom a standing start.”

“Poor coverage in theworkplace is the key sourceof dissatisfaction. It’s theprimary differentiatorbetween operators.”

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Repeaters causinginterferenceCincinnati Bell explored the picocelloption because they were experiencingsevere problems with repeaters, mainlyinterference and cell distortion. Radioplanning also became problematic.

Additionally, the company had limited RFspectrum availability and while therepeaters extended coverage, they alsodrained capacity from the cell in whichthey operated.

“Our Freedom Center experienceshowed us conclusively that thenanoGSM base stations integratedquickly and seamlessly into our macronetwork,” adds Stevens. “We found thatmore often than not, repeaters weredifficult and time consuming to installand problematic to manage (repeatersgenerate noise on the network and taketheir capacity from the Macro network).The ip.access picocells install in a fewhours and offer integrated fault andperformance monitoring.”

Large and growingnanoGSM networkCincinnati Bell now runs a network ofhundreds of nanoGSM base stationscontrolled by multiple base stationcontrollers (BSCs), making it one of thelargest picocell networks in the world.Stevens expects that number to growsignificantly in future.

The process for introducing newpicocells is now really honed: it startswith the sales team submitting abusiness case for a customer based

around their cell phone voice and datausage. The finance department thenreviews this business case.

Once the business case makes sense –if the customer has enough traffic towarrant more Cincinnati Bell hardwareinvestment – Stevens’ team is given thego-ahead and a budget. He then divesinto radio planning and designing andinstalling the solution.

In the normal scheme of things – whenthere are no Freedom Center launchesto handle – it takes just 30 days toprocure, commission and install a newpicocell. Well over half of that time istaken up with meeting regulatoryrequirements, principally setting up 911connectivity.

Committed to nanoGSMStevens and the rest of the radioplanning team now use picocells fornearly all of Cincinnati Bell’s indoorcoverage requirements; and they areremoving all active and passiverepeaters from the network.

They have also reassessed their use ofmicro-BTS. “Adding capacity and powerto the macro network via micro basestations is simply too expensive andtime-consuming compared tonanoGSM,” Stevens says.

While Stevens and his team continue touse Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS),they do so in a limited fashion. “We stillsometimes install DAS in complex newbuildings,” he adds, “but for 99 per centof in-building coverage applications apicocell-only approach is ourpreference.”

“We prefer picocells because of the RFcontrol that they provide, which allowsmuch closer frequency reuse. They alsocreate minimal interference.”

Picocells allow Cincinnati Bell to deliverstrategic coverage benefits to their mostimportant enterprise customers. ThenanoGSM picocells can be speedilyinstalled, offer low cost deployment (inboth Capex and Opex) and make radioplanning a simple task.

“They’re so simple to manage,”concludes Stevens.

“For 99 per cent of inbuilding coverage applications apicocell only approach is our preference.”

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Macro offload Big Apple style T-Mobile addresses coverage and capacity with ip.access

Case study 2

Like many operators around the world, T-Mobile in the US has a history of usingpicocells to solve its in-buildingcoverage challenges. But unlike itsrivals, the company also believes thatpicocells are a highly cost effective wayto take the pressure off the macronetwork.

Yvonne Manns, T-Mobile’s SeniorRegional Radio Frequency EngineeringManager for In-building Solutions for theNortheast Region (which includes areasnorth of Boston, New York, New Jersey,DC, Philadelphia, and south to Virginia)has pioneered macro offload usingpicocells to increase cell capacity. “Indense urban areas you can attribute ahigh proportion of macro cell capacityand performance challenges to in-building usage,” she says.

Since 2005, Manns’ team has deployed20 base station controllers (BSCs) andover 2000 Base Transceiver Stations(BTS) from ip.access in the nine majormarkets for which she is responsible.

While the bulk of these have been aimedat solving in-building coveragechallenges for major corporateaccounts, Manns believes that macrooffload will be the key picocelldeployment driver in future.

In-building challengesAccording to Manns, every operatorfaces in-building coverage and macrocell capacity problems in denselypopulated areas. She manages a largeEngineering Region in T-Mobile’s $17 billion US business that serves over27 million customers in all.

Her territory covers New York, one of the most competitive and capacitychallenged markets in the world. In theBig Apple (and elsewhere), she’sdeployed nanoGSM picocells fromip.access in an array of buildings likeshopping malls, university campusesand airports.

“When we started working withnanoGSM our major goal was providingimproved in-building coverage for ourcorporate accounts,” she states. “ThenanoGSM BTS were usually deployed intandem with either an active or passiveDistributed Antenna System (DAS), or asa standalone solution which aided indeveloping a streamlined, efficient andcost effective process for responding tocustomers’ coverage and voice/datecapacity needs.“

Yvonne Manns Senior Regional RFEngineering Manager,Northeast Markets, T-Mobile

“Resolving our in-buildingcoverage problems will havea significant impact to notonly improving ourcustomers’ experience onour network but it will alsoimprove the macro sectorscall performance byoffloading the traffic capacityand improving overall callquality.”

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“Picocells can be deployed very cost effectively and efficiently.”

“They also help to improve our macro network’s spectralefficiency and enhance the macro sectors call quality.”

“But in areas like New York City, eventhough RF macro coverage is very good,our large corporate clients at times stillexperienced poor performance insidetheir offices. It became apparent thatresolving our in-building coverageproblems will have a significant impactto not only improving our customersexperience on our network but it will alsoimprove the macro sectors call perform-ance by offloading the traffic capacityand improving overall call quality”.

Manns points out the need for in-buildingcoverage solutions as voice andespecially the data traffic usageincreases.

“The good news is that our subscribersare spending more time on our networkutilizing our data services,” she notes.“Therefore to ensure that our PDAcustomers experience excellent qualityof service, we have to ensure that weprovide coverage outdoors and indoors.The indoor coverage helps to offload themacro network’s traffic load especially inour dense urban areas.”

Providing the right level of capacity islimited by the spectrum available to anoperator. And T-Mobile – for historicalreasons – probably has the tightestcapacity restrictions of any mobilecarrier in the US. However, they areincreasing their spectrum capacity withthe purchase of the AWS licenses andwith the acquisition of Suncom.

Introducing nanoGSMT-Mobile began using nanoGSM picocellsfrom ip.access due to their ease of instal-lation, cost and the use of IP connectionsfor backhaul. Manns notes,“When acustomer needs additional in-buildingcoverage, we can deliver it really quicklysince the IP unit is small, inexpensiveand utilizes a cheaper backhaul solutionwhich helps to reduce OPEX costs.”

The ip.access nanoGSM BTS removesthe problems of cell distortion, inter-ference, handover and management incity centre locations where macro BTSspacing can be as low as 200 metres.

“They provide extra capacity indoors toensure that our subscribers receive theradio quality they need to access ournetwork and to maintain their call,”addsManns.

Manns concludes,“Picocells can bedeployed very cost effectively andefficiently, which helps to retain ourEnterprise customers in need ofadditional coverage. They also help toimprove our macro network’s spectralefficiency and enhance the macro sectorscall quality. That’s why we use them.”

Case study 3

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Spring provides every one of itscustomers with a single phone number(and voicemail box) combined withcentralised PBX functionality regardlessof whether they are in the office or on theroad. When customers use the phone inthe office, the tariffs are the same asnormal fixed line prices. When outside,the users roam on the Tele2 network(Tele2 bought 49 per cent of Spring inOctober 2006).

Spring has successfully targeted theSwedish SME market and to date over500 businesses have signed up for theservice.

How it worksnanoBTS base stations from ip.accessare installed in smaller enterprises andSMEs using duplexers and externalantennas. Many hundreds have beendeployed in many locations to overcomethe difficult RF environments found inolder offices in Sweden due to thebuilding materials used. IP backhaul ishandled via a range of agreements withlocal ISPs.

Under the brand name OnePhone,Spring has ambitions outside of Swedentoo: in 2006 it won a license in the UKguard band low power spectrumallocations and the company is lookingto repeat its success in Sweden bylaunching similar offerings in the UK andelsewhere across Europe.

A case study from Sweden

Spring Mobil is the newest of four GSM mobile operators inSweden. It started operations in 2003 and is using picocellsfrom ip.access and others to launch a GSM offering to theenterprise market, replacing fixed services in office buildingsaround the country.

Business case 1Improving enterprise in-building coverage:turning happy customers into profits

Assumptions1. An enterprise with 200 employeesoperating in a 15,000 square feet facilityis suffering coverage problems and islikely to churn.

2. The enterprise has 50 business mobileusers, and an additional 27 consumerusers on the same network (based on a90% mobile penetration and a 20%operator market share). Average mobilephone usage amongst this group is 500minutes per month (both incoming andoutgoing calls). Total customer revenueover a 3-year contract period is $166,000,assuming $60 ARPU.

3. 60% of usage occurs within the buildingand 20% of usage occurs during the peakhour.

4. The number of nanoGSM picocellsrequired to achieve full coverage of thepremises is based on a rectangular floorlayout and an operational range of ananoGSM cell of 30 meters.

Picocell deploymentTwo nanoGSM picocells are required toachieve full coverage of the premises.Based on the usage assumptions, twopicocells are also sufficient to meet thein-building capacity requirement.

By depreciating the hardware andinstallation costs over the 3 year contractperiod and including annual operatingexpenses (dominated by DSL line rentalfor backhaul), the cost for an enterprisenanoGSM deployment equates toaround $7 per user per month. Thiscould be underwritten by either a 12%pro rata increase in voice and datausage, or by the addition of a further 10business mobile users with a monthlyARPU of $60.

The business case can be furtherimproved if the customer funds the DSLline rental. Furthermore, becausepicocells can be readily redeployed toother locations, the hardware cost couldbe depreciated over its working lifetimerather than the contract duration. Forexample, by depreciating the hardwarecost over a period of 7 years rather than3 years, the cost per user is reduced toaround $6 per month.

Business case 1

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Assumptions1. An operator providing mobile servicesin a densely populated urban areacovering five square kilometres sufferscapacity challenges, and wishes tooffload the indoor mobile phone usageof 7,000 business users from its macronetwork to:

— Improve quality of service for thebusiness customers, and preventchurn to other operators.

— Improve the performance andthroughput of the macro network for other users.

2. These 7,000 business users onaverage each consume 800 voiceminutes and 5MB of data per month.60% of this usage occurs insidebuildings, and one fifth of this usageoccurs during peak hour each day.

3. The operator evaluates two solutionsto this problem: extension of the macronetwork versus deployment of nanoGSMpicocells from ip.access.

4. In the picocell proposal, the goal is tooffload from the macro network all theindoor voice and data usage of the 7,000business users.

Cost comparisonIt turns out that coverage is the primarydeterminant of the number of macro cell sites required: although the capacityrequirement could be met with only 10 macrocells, this would lead to over-capacity in some areas and insufficientcapacity in others. Therefore 18 macrocell sites are required to make sure thatthe extra capacity is available where it isneeded. We assume that 9 existing cellsites can be upgraded, and 9 new sitesmust be deployed.

To achieve the same goal, the requiredcapacity could be delivered by deploying226 nanoGSM picocells.

Because the picocells can be deployedexactly where the highest usage occurs,this is a much more targeted (andtherefore more cost-effective) way tosolve the capacity problem.

The annual cost for the nanoGSMdeployment, including both capex costs(depreciated appropriately over periodsranging from 7 to 10 years) and opexcosts) is more than 50% less expensivethan the equivalent macrocelldeployment.

Note: These results are based on theassumption that customers are dispersedequally throughout the target area.

Business case 2Macro offload: cutting the cost of deploying network capacity via picocells

Business case 2

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Summary

Poor coverage and quality are majorcauses of business customer churn. ThenanoGSM picocell from ip.access helpsoperators win and keep businesscustomers by giving them their ownprivate cells. Picocells help operators:

— Differentiate from commoditynetworks.

— Increase revenues from voice and data.

— Offer competitive in-office tariffs.

— Decrease churn.

nanoGSM provides fast, low-costcoverage and capacity where operatorsneed it most. It helps operators sell moreminutes while supporting their bestcustomers with the most up-to-dateservices. It reduces churn and increasesusage of mobile services.

With our picocells, operators can helpsell new services while improving macrocell performance.Picocells preventoperators over-spending on infra-structure because they enable ‘PinpointProvisioning’, adding coverage exactlywhere it’s needed.

Picocells provide a flexible, low impactand high-performance solution thatintegrates easily with all core networks.

All this explains why nanoGSM is aproven, end-to-end solution carryingbillions of minutes of traffic every year, in dozens of networks around the world.All of our customers know that nanoGSMreduces capex with low-cost basestations and reduces opex with simple,straightforward IP backhaul.

Key picocell benefits

— Generate more voice and data usagewhile supporting an operator’s mostimportant customers with the bestquality of service.

— Reduce churn and drive traffic fromfixed lines to mobile networks.

— Sell new services while improvingmacro cell performance.

— Prevent over-spending oninfrastructure through ‘PinpointProvisioning’, adding coverage andcapacity exactly where it’s needed.

— Provide a flexible, low impact andhigh-performance solution thatintegrates easily with all corenetworks.

SummaryPicocells benefits for operators and customers

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FAQs

Understandably, mobile network planners are wary about adding anything new to theirnetworks. Three key issues are how to integrate picocells with the macro network, howto deploy them and how to handle backhaul.

This set of Frequently Asked Questions captures some of our integration experiencegained with nanoGSM™, the world’s most deployed picocell. If it leaves any questionsunanswered, do give us a call:

A. Macro networkintegrationAn FAQ for network planners

How do you keep the picocells frominterfering with the macro network as ithops frequencies?

The good thing is that the picocell tendsto be isolated by the building’s walls(which is why the macro has a hard timepenetrating), so interference issues areeasily managed.

Still, you do need to prevent the macroand picocell bumping into each other.To do this, many operators allocate oneor two carriers just for in-building use sothat the macro network will never hop in.

Some operators use the guard channelbetween the signalling and trafficchannels. Others put the picocells on theguard channel between their spectrumand a competitor’s.

What happens when you’re inside thebuilding but near a window, where themacro signal may penetrate?When the phone could receive either themacro or pico signal (especially

important on higher floors where macrosignals often penetrate), the idea is toset the parameters of the picocell toprevent ping-ponging. Similarparameters are available to the piconetwork as are available to any otherTRX on the macro network (handoverbias, power levels, etc.).

You can also set the neighbour lists sothe phone stays on the picocell insteadof handing over to the macro basestation.

How do you handle handover betweenpicocells?In a multi-floor building, the picocells areconfigured so that the macro networkhands over to the ground floor picocells(when the user enters the building), thenthe ground floor picocells hand over tothe higher floors.

As the user descends floors and exits,the picocells handover back down andthen handout from the ground floor tothe macro.

On any given floor, picocell coverageareas can overlap so they can sharecapacity. Directed Retry balances theload.

How will I know if there’s anything wrongwith the picocell layer?You need to know about anything that’spreventing the network from carryingminutes. nanoGSM has a comprehensiveset of alarms to keep you alerted. Alarmsare communicated using SNMP v1 andv2 to easily integrate with your alarm andticketing systems.

How can I monitor the performance ofthe picocell network?Unlike most repeaters, picocells are veryeasy to monitor and manage.

Key performance metrics (dropped calls,handover failures, network outages, etc.)are all available from within the nanoGSMmanagement platform and are easilyimported to your own managementsystem.

What happens when I re-plan my mobilenetwork?Picocells can be easily re-configuredcentrally using the management interfaceor the API for your own managementtools. Re-configuration can also beautomated using scripts if you prefer.

FAQs

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B. Picocell Deployment How tricky is network planning withpicocells?It’s much more straightforward than youmight expect. A lot of the work happensbefore you go on site – essentially doingyour business planning and determiningwhich base station controller you havethe most capacity on.

Once that’s sorted, site survey anddeployment couldn’t be easier.

Do you need any special RF equipmentto survey and deploy?Nope. You just plug in the picocell, put iton beacon mode and walk the premiseswith a test handset. Very quickly, you’llsee how many picocells you’ll need andwhere you want to put them.

What’s a typical provisioning process?Most operators do a single site visit for aquick survey, then provision the BSC andit’s one more visit to plug in the picocellsand walk the building to verify handoverand make sure 911 is working.

Where are the best places to installpicocells?We usually suggest putting them on awall (two screws) but we’ve seen them inthe closet with the DSL modem, on afiling cabinet or on top of a drop ceilingpanel. A nanoGSM picocell is the size ofa schoolbook. It can go just aboutanywhere.

C. Backhaul requirementsHow much bandwidth does a typicalpicocell require for backhaul?Like so many issues in network planning,the answer is ‘it depends’. In this case, itdepends on the combination of voice anddata channels you want to provision andthe number of simultaneous users youwant to support.

But that doesn’t mean it’s tricky to get theright answer for any given deployment.In fact, it’s quite simple. See the tablebelow right:

How many simultaneous voice calls can Iexpect to support with a 1TRX picocell?Theoretically, a 1TRX nanoGSM cansupport 7 simultaneous calls or 14simultaneous calls using half-rate AMR –but we rarely see it pushed to this limit.In the real world, we’ve often found that asingle picocell can support 10 simultan-eous calls using AMR with no problem.

Can we use the customer’s existingnetwork for backhaul?Course you can. Many operators do justthat. It just requires a bit of firewallconfiguration.

If we use the customer’s DSL line, how do we handle firewalls?In a corporate environment, when thepicocell is sharing the enterprise network,you deploy the picocell inside the firewall.If the IT department is nervous aboutthat, we’ve produced a one-page sheetshowing how we just

need a pinhole in the firewall for certainIP addresses over certain ports in certaindirections. In fact, we don’t know of asingle case where security wascompromised by allowing a picocellinside a firewall.

How do you get bandwidthrequirements so low?nanoGSM uses sophisticated multiplexingto put all the calls together, savingunnecessary header traffic. In practice,this allows us to support the traffic of twopicocells on a single dedicated DSL line.

What happens when the network is congested?On busy networks, it’s easy to simplyturn off voice time slots. This reducescapacity but minimizes backhauldemands to maintain networkperformance.

How do you determine the actualbackhaul bandwidth each picocell is getting?Our management console enables youto review your actual achieved bandwidthand adjust the air interface capacity onthe picocell to match it, avoiding theproblems of overload.

FAQs continued

Voice Channels 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Bandwidth (kbits/sec) 32.8 49.4 66.0 82.7 99.3 115.9 132.5 149.1

Packet rate (pkt/sec) 50.5 50.8 51.0 51.3 51.5 51.8 52.0 52.3

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D. Typical picocell coverage areasWhat’s the coverage area of a singlepicocell?In the open air, a picocell easily achievescoverage of 100-200 metres. In the realworld, buildings vary widely in theirconstruction and attenuation. Even in acluttered environment, operators typi-cally achieve a coverage radius of 60m.

Why are nanoGSM coverage areas somuch greater than DAS and repeaters?A nanoGSM picocell is a complete basestation not just an antenna. So there’snothing between the receiver and thedetector to create noise. As anyonenamed Boltzman will tell you, everyconnection point and every foot of cablecauses noise which degrades the qualityof a radio signal. With a nanoGSMpicocell, the antenna is connectedstraight into the receiver. Don’t get uswrong: there’s a place for DAS in thenetwork planner’s kit bag. But for rawcoverage, you can’t beat a nanoGSM.

What are your receiver sensitivity levels?Network planners tend to design for –85dB. Our picocells comfortably go to –95dB or even –100dB and still work justfine. That gives a tremendous amount ofadded usable coverage. When wedemonstrate nanoGSM, we give peoplea phone and say ‘keep walking’. They’reamazed how far they get before thesignal degrades.

Remember a nanoBTS is a not arepeater. It’s a full-fledged base station.So we get dramatically more coveragefrom the same power levels.

What kind of factors reduce thecoverage of a picocell?The usual things: weird buildingconstruction, metal, elevator shafts,metalized windows, steel reinforcedconcrete, electromagnetic interference…they can all be reflective to radio andaffect the coverage area. But we’venever found a building that picocellscouldn’t cover cost-effectively.

What’s the lowest coverageperformance you’ve ever encountered?Funny you should ask. We once workedwith an operator to provide coverage foran underground silicon wafer fabricationplant that was also used as anearthquake shelter.

The bunker had 18-inch reinforcedconcrete walls – even the divider walls –and there was a lot of radio noise fromthe plant. There was a macro cell lessthan two city blocks away and full barsoutside the front door. Inside: zerocoverage. We expected we might needa single picocell for each room – eighteenin all. In the end, we easily achieved acoverage radius of 25m and only neededsix picocells for the whole deployment.

Can you control the power level tomanage capacity?No problem. If you’ve got 100 people inthat 60m radius, you’ll want to dial downthe power and use a few more picocellsso there’s plenty of capacity for everyone.

FAQs continued

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As this Handbook demonstrates, picocells are making a majorimpact on network planning in a wide range of applications.

They may not solve every planning challenge – what technologydoes? – but for getting fast, low-cost coverage and capacity tohard-to-reach places, picocells are increasingly the first choice inthe network planner's bag of tricks.

At ip.access, we’re passionate about the potential of combining IPand mobile networks. We’ve deployed more picocells than anyonein the market and understand the unique challenges presented byin-building and remote coverage.

All of this experience is reflected in nanoGSM, an end-to-endsolution that solves the interference, security, handover andmanagement issues raised by other technologies.

Wherever you are in the picocell adoption curve, we’d like to help.Let us know about the problems you’re facing and theopportunities you’d like to seize. If picocells are the answer, we’llshow you how. If they’re not, we’ll tell you why and suggestalternatives.

Thanks for your time.

About ip.accessip.access is the world leader inharnessing the power of IP to drive downcosts and improve coverage andcapacity for mobile operators.

Our whole-systems expertise combinesworld-class skills in radio, IP, integrationand management – especially fordifficult in-building challenges.

Our nanoGSM picocell solution is theworld’s most deployed and our Oyster3G™ femtocell solution is the winner ofthe 2007 GSM Association Award forBest Radio Access Product.

ip.access solutions are used by morethan 25 of the world’s most successfulmobile operators.

Conclusion

Copyright © ip.access 2008. ip.access, nanoGSMand nanoBTS are trademarks of ip.access ltd. Allother trademarks are acknowledged.This documentcontains advance information, subject to changewithout notice. No responsibility is assumed byip.access for the use of this information, nor forinfringements of patents or other rights of thirdparties. This document is the property of ip.accessand implies no license under patents, copyrights or trade secrets. No part of this publication may becopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form of any means, electronic,photographic, or otherwise, or used as the basis formanufacture or sale of any items without the priorwritten consent of ip.access.

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