The 1000x Challenge
More small cells - taking hetnets to the next level.
Small cells play a pivotal role in bringing huge amount of data capacity, where it is needed the most, by brining network closer to users. Small cells are already popular among mobile operators. But to reach 1000x capacity, we need much more of them, everywhere—indoors, at homes, offices, enterprises, shopping malls etc., and in outdoors, at busy intersections, stadiums etc. And we need in all the familiar flavors—3G, 4G, Wi-Fi (often all integrated in a single box)—in all the different forms, including: user installed small cells, operator installed picos, metros, relays, remote radio heads, distributed antenna systems, etc.
For such dense heterogeneous networks, the key is to make sure interference is managed and there by the overall network capacity is increased. Thanks to the already developed interference management techniques, the overall network capacity scales with the degree of densification of small cells. We are now focused on developing enhancements that take the performance even further.
Hetnet optimization - Possible today; Clear roadmap toward 1000x
Hetnet optimization - Possible today; Clear roadmap toward 1000x
Optimization of HetNets provides substantially higher overall network capacity than that can be achieved by mere adding small cells. Enhancements such as “Range Expansion” are possible with today’s HSPA+ and soon to be commercial LTE Advanced networks.
A clear and robust roadmap is being charted out to reach the magical 1000x capacity increase. The enhancements in this roadmap include:
Utilizing even more small cells to deploy hyper-dense networks, and introducing new deployment models such as Neighborhood small cells
Techniques to leverage even more spectrum as it becomes available
Next generation interference management and Self Organizing Network (SON) techniques for unplanned, and even user deployments and many more.
NextGen Hetnets – Opportunistic small cells and 3G/4G—Wi-Fi interworking
NextGen Hetnets – Opportunistic small cells and 3G/4G—Wi-Fi interworking
With HetNets getting so much popularity, the industry is already at work to advance the performance of these networks even further. One such example is opportunistic small cells, which dynamically switch ON and OFF based on the data demand. This not only reduces interference, but also saves energy. Another example is extending carrier aggregation to combine traffic among small cells and across small and macro cells. These and advanced interference cancellation techniques found in next-gen devices are few examples of enhancements that aim to further increase the overall performance.
The heterogeneous mix of cells, provides abundant opportunities for the industry to innovative and offer many new ways to increase performance and offer excellent user experience, for example, leveraging the wide spread availability of Wi-Fi networks. NextGen HetNets will bring robust interworking between 3G/4G and Wi-Fi, be it seamless mobility and roaming between the two networks, or better integration of the two in the infrastructure and devices, or using both the technologies to improve the user experience.
Neighborhood small cells – An inside-out approach
Neighborhood small cells – An inside-out approach
With so many variables involved in deploying small cells, there are numerous combinations of business cases, and deployment models to choose from. One promising example that Qualcomm is proposing is the “Neighborhood Small Cells (NSC)” model — a network of extremely low-cost, plug-and-play, open, indoor small cells. It provides extremely high indoor capacity as well as good outdoor coverage and capacity in the immediate “neighborhood.” Qualcomm’s UltraSON suite of interference and mobility management techniques makes such models a reality by solving interference challenges and by offering seamless mobility.
The NSC is extremely cost effective because consumers can deploy the small cells and provide the backhaul, saving operators time and money. Our initial studies show capacity increases of up to 500x with a mere 9 percent penetration of households, and up to 1000x with 20% penetration, while using 10 times more spectrum. Future enhancements are focused on enable the same 1000x increase with even less spectrum or lower household penetration.
Qualcomm: small cell solutions for 1000x
Qualcomm: small cell solutions for 1000x
Qualcomm, being a wireless pioneer, excels in developing the leading edge technologies and products. With our end-to-end approach and unsurpassed wireless expertise, we are keenly focused on making the 1000x vision a reality. Small cells is one of our main research areas.
We have live over-the-air small cells networks, which are used to develop, prototype and test our small cell technologies. As been demonstrated previously, we plan to show further enhancements, such as hyper dense networks using these test beds in the future.
Qualcomm also has a strong portfolio of chipset solutions supporting a broad range of small cell form factors from residential femtocells, to enterprise Metro/Picocells, to wireless backhauls, for both indoor and outdoor usage scenarios. These solutions cover both 3G/4G and Wi-Fi technologies.