Tools of the trade for small cell backhaul The essential role of - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

www.cbnl.com Tools of the trade for small cell backhaul The essential role of wireless technologies Dr John Naylon CTO, Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited Small Cells World Summit, 26 June 2012

Agenda • What’s different about small cell backhaul? • Wireless technology fundamentals • Three tools for every toolbox • Current CBNL small cell backhaul trials • Conclusion 2 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

About Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited (CBNL) • Founded in 2000 • Specialists in innovative microwave backhaul for data-centric mobile networks • Leaders in the small cells backhaul space: • Lead NGMN LTE Provisioning Guidelines project • Leading Small Cell Backhaul Requirements project • Vice Chair of Backhaul SIG www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Agenda • What’s different about small cell backhaul? • Wireless technology fundamentals • Three tools for every toolbox • Current CBNL small cell backhaul trials • Conclusion 4 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

What’s different about small cell backhaul? • Location, location, location − Outdoor small cells aren’t in traditional locations − Consequence : fibre is much less of an option • The numbers − Many more units to backhaul − Consequence : sharing backhaul more attractive • The traffic − Fewer UEs in the cell, which means… − Less aggregation in the RAN, which means… − Peak-to-mean ratio of small cell traffic is higher − Consequence : aggregation desirable in backhaul 5 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Traffic characteristics of mobile backhaul traffic • Mobile backhaul traffic is already quite bursty, because it is data dominated: HSPA+ Macro Node B backhaul traffic Peak: 23.31 Mbps Mean: 5.54 Mbps Ratio: 4.20 Mbps Mbps 6 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Bursty traffic is hard to carry efficiently • Efficiency = mean channel utilisation 1 peak to mean ratio = 25% average peak channel capacity = HSPA+ Macro Node B backhaul traffic Peak: 23.31 Mbps Mean: 5.54 Mbps Ratio: 4.20 Mbps Mbps 7 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Small cell mobile backhaul traffic is even burstier • Higher peak data rates (better user geometries); lower mean data rates (fewer users), so… • peak-to-mean ratio of traffic goes up, estimate for mature networks ~10:1, so… • dedicated backhaul link efficiency goes down to ~10%, so… • much more equipment running at much lower efficiency, so… • CFO has a heart attack! Western European small cell backhaul traffic Peak: 31.17 Mbps Mean: 0.49 Mbps Ratio: 63.61Mbps Mbps 8 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Agenda • What’s different about small cell backhaul? • Wireless technology fundamentals • Three tools for every toolbox • Current CBNL small cell backhaul trials • Conclusion 9 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Wireless fundamentals : Capacity versus Coverage Coverage Requirement: Capacity Cells in cluttered locations Aggregating 10 cells to a PoP requires 10 × mean cell demand Uncertain LOS to PoPs NLOS ⇒ low frequency High capacity ⇒ high frequency Implications: Spectrum scarce, expensive Spectrum plentiful, inexpensive Low frequency ⇒ low capacity High frequency ⇒ LOS only Very low aggregation factor Coverage not uniform High capacity and NLOS capability are mutually exclusive requirements 10 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Wireless fundamentals : Point-to-Point versus Point-to-Multipoint Point-to-Point (PTP) Point-to-Multipoint (PMP) 2 ODUs / truck rolls / rentals per link 1 ODU / truck roll / rental per link (+1) Zero aggregation on-air On-air aggregation Simpler “single - ended” installation Complex installation Dedicated capacity Shared capacity Higher TCO per link Lower TCO per link PTP and PMP cost scales differently versus density 11 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Traffic fundamentals : bursty traffic and efficiency Point-to-Point backhaul Multipoint backhaul Cumulative Peak: 77.9 Mbps Cumulative Mean: 39.7 Mbps Cumulative Peak: 123.2 Mbps Cumulative Mean: 39.7 Mbps Efficiency = mean channel utilisation peak channel capacity • Efficiency = 32.2% • Efficiency = 51.0% Statistical multiplexing gain = 51.0 32.2 = 1.58 12 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

The story so far • Given the requirements and the fundamentals of wireless technology, is there • Given the requirements and the fundamentals of wireless technology, is there a one-size-fits-all backhaul panacea for small cells? No (or not yet anyway). a one size fits all backhaul panacea for small cells? Capacity Coverage Cells in cluttered locations Aggregating 10 cells to a PoP requires 10 × mean cell demand Uncertain LOS to PoPs Edited by CBNL High capacity ⇒ high frequency NLOS ⇒ low frequency Spectrum plentiful, inexpensive Spectrum scarce, expensive High frequency ⇒ LOS only Low frequency ⇒ low capacity Very low aggregation factor Coverage not uniform Cost Density 13 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Agenda • What’s different about small cell backhaul? • Wireless technology fundamentals • Three tools for every toolbox • Current CBNL small cell backhaul trials • Conclusion 14 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Three tools for every toolbox E-Band Non-LOS Microwave Point-to- Multipoint Multipoint Point Capacity Low High Very High Good, area Point Very good, Coverage area coverage coverage coverage Efficiency Good Good Poor Ease of install Very easy Easy Hard and licensing 15 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Non-LOS Multipoint: use it when… High E-Band Non-LOS Frequency Point-to- Multipoint Multipoint Point • Motivation for small cells is increased RAN coverage (‘not - spots’) rather Capacity Low High Very High than capacity • Density of small cells is low (limit of Good, area Point Very good, Coverage 1 — 2 sites per backhaul sector) area coverage coverage coverage • Lower quality of experience acceptable Efficiency Good Yes No • Position of small cell is particularly adverse Ease of install Very easy Easy Hard and licensing 16 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

E-Band Point-to-Point: use it when… E-Band High E-Band Point-to- Frequency Point-to- Point Multipoint Point • Very high capacity sites (more like macro) Capacity Very High High Very High • Middle-mile solution when traffic is already aggregated Point Good, area Point Coverage coverage coverage coverage • Difficulty of installation not an issue – e.g. low number of sites Efficiency Poor Yes No Ease of install Hard Easy Hard and licensing 17 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Microwave Multipoint : use it when… High E-Band Microwave Frequency Point-to- Multipoint Multipoint Point • Motivation for small cells is increased network capacity Capacity High High Very High • Good quality of experience is required Good, area Good, area Point Coverage coverage coverage coverage • Density of small cells is high Efficiency Good Yes No Ease of install Easy Easy Hard and licensing 18 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Small cell backhaul toolbox summary Fibre if accessible E-Band Non-LOS Microwave Point-to- Multipoint Multipoint Point Number of small cell sites Low capacity High capacity Extreme capacity Adverse location Normal Middle mile small-cell Cost effective locations Most expensive Cost effective 19 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Agenda • What’s different about small cell backhaul? • Wireless technology fundamentals • Three tools for every toolbox • Current CBNL small cell backhaul trials • Conclusion 20 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Current CBNL small cell backhaul trials • Building on years of macro backhaul experience, CBNL are actively trialling small cell backhaul with numerous operators and vendors LTE Picocell lightRadio Metro Antennas WiFi VectaStar Backhaul VectaStar Backhaul VectaStar Backhaul 21 www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence

Conclusions • Small cell backhaul is different: • No single technology matches the many more cells to backhaul, non- requirements for small cell backhaul traditional locations and even perfectly, so a toolbox approach is burstier data needed • Good end-user quality of • Multipoint microwave is a cost experience requires much more effective, rapidly deployable backhaul capacity than there is low solution for small cell backhaul in frequency backhaul spectrum many use cases VectaStar from Cambridge Broadband Networks is the market leader in multipoint microwave www.cbnl.com 22 22 22