Neolectum - Mobile applications - Broadband technology - Satellite communications - Smartphone - Cellphone - Wireless-

Cell-Site Infrastructures

The need for Cell-Site Infrastructure Sharing in Crowded Mobile Networks

“Sharing cell-site infrastructure in today’s competitive and crowded mobile environment must be increasingly accepted as standard practice by operators, if they are to reduce unnecessary costs and obtain optimum capacity and coverage levels over which to deliver the high-value content and services that, today, form their core, revenue-generating activities.”

These comments, by Peter Jackson, Director in Europe for leading provider of wireless base station enhancement products, Communications Components Inc. (CCI), reflect the growing need for increased levels of cell-site co-operation and equipment sharing between operators.

By doing so, environmental impact is reduced and the performance of all parties competing for bandwidth and coverage from the same tower can be optimized, fairly. Currently, however, only around 15% of mobile operators engage in network sharing activities.*

“As wireless networks continue to grow, greater daily demand for services has increased the pressure on cell sites to deliver more in terms of capacity and coverage,” Jackson continued.

“In turn, site running costs have risen and one obvious way to defray these costs is by sharing key network infrastructure. In some cases, this enables operators to decommission existing cell sites to avoid unnecessary duplication of coverage, which, in turn, leads to huge savings.”

He said that efficient equipment sharing – not simply sharing a tower – will deliver increased site capabilities without impacting network performance. By using equipment such as low-loss combiners and multiplexers, capex and overall opex will be significantly reduced by enabling operators to share infrastructure viably, including RF equipment such as antenna systems.

It also enables the addition of new technologies such as LTE, without compromising network quality. Jackson illustrated the benefits of sharing citing the effect the positioning of an operator’s antenna system has on coverage and range: on a tower supporting four mobile operators in the same band, where each has its own antenna system, there is usually a minimum vertical-separation requirement of 2m between antennas to avoid cross coupling and interference.

If these operators are not sharing, their 3m-high antenna systems, plus the 2m vertical separation between each, will take up 18m of a 30m tower. However, the RF signal coverage and range will lessen the closer to the ground the antennas are, with the bottom antenna achieving worst propagation and the operator/owner of that antenna achieving worst coverage for its subscribers.

“Good customer experience relies on good housekeeping at the base station,” said Jackson, “In the case of antenna systems, height really does matter and is a key factor in delivering good coverage. If all these operators shared a single antenna system, as well as other relevant and practical RF equipment, not only would they benefit from optimum height and tower positions resulting in optimum range and coverage, but they would also make major opex and capex savings in the process.” *(source: A.T.Kearney) • 23-11-11

Founded in 1996, Communication Components Inc. (CCI) is one of the fastest growing providers of base station enhancement products.

The company’s innovative solutions are designed to enable service providers to maximize their base station investments through capacity expansion and coverage enhancement. CCI solutions are designed for applications in PCS, 2G/3G GSM/EDGE, 3G/UMTS, CDMA/WCDMA, 4G/LTE, and AWS scenarios, with thousands already deployed with leading MNOs around the world.

The company’s capacity expansion products enable base stations to increase traffic without adding feeders and antennas, and with no loss of coverage, and its coverage enhancement solutions are custom designed to seamlessly integrate with existing BTS equipment. CCI also specializes in turn-key in-building systems for applications from small office through to large campus-wide solutions.

The company also provides full field installation support services, from design assistance to site commissioning. CCI is headquartered in New Jersey, USA, with European offices in the UK and Switzerland.

Ghana - Value-added-services

Mobile Voice Content services in Ghana

Kirusa, one of the leading developers of mobile value added services, today announced a joint initiative with Mobile Content.Com Ltd. (MC.C), the leading Ghanaian value-added-service provider. This tie up will enable MC.C to offer their mobile voice content services to cellular operators in Ghana.
With this initiative, subscribers will be able to listen to innovative new voice services on their cellphones, including Songs, Jokes, Religious and Spiritual messages, Sports, News, Horoscopes, Love tips, Health tips, Movies, Comedy and messages from Celebrities etc., by dialing a short code. Subscribers can use this service from any mobile phone, and will pay for the service on a pay per use basis or on a subscription basis.

Speaking on the partnership, Conrad Nyuur, General Manager of MobileContent.Com, said, “We are committed to providing exciting new experiences for mobile telephony subscribers. The partnership with Kirusa is an opportunity for subscribers to sample new services which include sending greetings to friends and family through music, listen to jokes from local comedians, seeking religious commune and inspiration, all on the voice platform. The Kirusa platform provides an excellent framework for us to offer such services, with open APIs, and easy integration.”

The Kirusa platform is an open platform supporting industry standard VoiceXML, subscription management, and providing integration into all the key elements in the carrier network. The Kirusa platform thus provides a framework for third party application developers and content providers to quickly offer and monetize innovative voice and content services to mobile subscribers.

Commenting on the occasion, Surinder Singh Anand, Vice President of Product Management at Kirusa, said, “Both Kirusa and MobileContent.Com share the focus on building substantial value for mobile subscribers. We have complementary products which would ensure novel services and alternatives for subscribers to stay in even closer contact with their loved ones, and we are pleased that MobileContent.Com has chosen to provide their services on the Kirusa platform.” • 11-2-11

Mobile Content.Com Ltd. (MC.C) is the leading Ghanaian value-added-service provider, the preferred link for music, sports, news, games, health, inspiration etc. on mobile telephony. Our services build a crucial link to entertainment and information for mobile users and MC.C has continuous pioneered lifestyle changing mobile-based products in Ghana and selected West African markets. With the demonstrated leadership role in the development of VAS services on GSM mobile telephony in Ghana, MC.C has powered a range of services, from financial, media, education, religious to sports; ultimately, MCC provides platforms for the 17.5m mobile subscribers in Ghana to use their handsets in vastly enhanced ways. For more information, please visit http://www.mobilecontent.com.gh/

Kirusa is one of the leading global developers of Voice SMS based Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS); enabling mobile subscribers to ‘reach out’ to their family and friends. Kirusa’s solutions include the hugely successful Kirusa Voice SMS service, the world’s most advanced “Voice SMS” solution that has been selected by more than thirty carriers around the world. Kirusa Voice SMS enables mobile subscribers to send messages by speaking. Kirusa has pioneered a suite of applications that facilitate mobile subscribers to interact through voice, including Call-n-Tweet application which helps update twitter status using voice. Kirusa provides an open platform with APIs to enable third parties to offer mobile applications and content services to mobile subscribers. Kirusa has launched a Consumer Corner, an online site for information and resources on Voice based MVAS for mobile subscribers.

Mobile Backhaul Applications

Eclipse IDU GE3, an ultra-compact indoor unit (IDU)

Aviat Networks Announces Smaller, Faster, 'Smarter' Indoor Unit for Mobile Backhaul Applications • Enables High Capacity Tail End Links with Advanced Carrier Ethernet Features for All-IP and Hybrid Wireless Cell Site Connections

Aviat Networks, Inc. announced the Eclipse IDU GE3, an ultra-compact indoor unit (IDU) that combines the very latest Carrier Ethernet networking and advanced radio features for hybrid TDM/Ethernet or all-Ethernet/IP wireless transmission. Supporting link throughputs up to 400 Mbps, the IDU GE3 will provide more than enough backhaul capacity for the overlay of new 4G/LTE base stations, and offers significant advantages over costly fiber deployments or leased lines. The Eclipse IDU GE3 will debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, from Feb 14-17, 2011.

The Eclipse IDU GE3 enables the deployment of cost-effective wireless tail-end cell-site connections and standalone point-to-point links. In conjunction with the nodal site capabilities of the Eclipse Packet Node, the IDU GE3 optimized backhaul cost and performance. The IDU GE3 shares the very latest in Ethernet Switch technology that is at the core of the recently announced Eclipse DAC GE3 nodal Gigabit Ethernet card: to provide seamless extension of Carrier Ethernet features from the node to the cell site. This new embedded switch provides the most advanced Carrier Ethernet features available in a microwave platform--for hybrid or all-packet microwave transport. Available in a space-saving one-half rack unit (RU) package, IDU GE3 offers features that include:

• Full 256QAM Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) support--enabling up to a fourfold increase in spectral efficiency over non-ACM systems;
• High port density with six Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) and 16 native TDM (E1/T1) ports;
• The latest Carrier Ethernet features, such as VLANs, advanced Quality of Service (QoS) traffic priority assignment and Ethernet OAM (Operations, Administration and Management); and
• Packet synchronization options--SyncE, IEEE 1588v2 and Eclipse Distributed Sync (EDS)
"The IDU GE3 extends Eclipse Packet Node Carrier Ethernet features in a new optimized package suitable for last mile cell-site or simple link applications," says Shaun McFall, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of Aviat Networks. "This new indoor unit packs an incredible combination of transmission features and network intelligence into a smaller footprint than ever before."

The new IDU GE3 is fully compatible with the Eclipse Packet Node nodal indoor units and the complete line of Eclipse indoor and outdoor RF units, enabling operators to immediately deploy this new unit into existing Eclipse-based transmission networks with minimal cost and operational impact. • 10-2-11

Aviat Networks will be displaying the IDU GE3 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, courtyard pavilion CY08.