Alcatel-Lucent's LightRadio: The Death of Traditional Base Stations?
In February, at the MWC in Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent presented to the general public its solution for organizing metrosings in LTE networks. The decision was called the lightradio. Unfortunately on Habré was already one post dedicated to this event, and then focused more on the antenna complex that is used to operate several networks. Let's try to understand better what the lightradio is and how it can affect the development of mobile access networks.
I think everyone has already come across a Cisco forecast that in the next 5 years, the amount of mobile traffic in the networks of telecom operators will increase by 18 times. Of course, the rapid development of the mobile device market capable of consuming a large amount of traffic has long led to network traffic in the centers of large cities (and sometimes not only in the centers). The traditional way out of this situation is to build more base stations. But the process is expensive and long (you would see the number of permits that need to be obtained for the construction of one site). The exit has been thought up - metrosyty. Metro equipment is a miniature, integrated base station of low power, capable of being located anywhere in the city, and requiring only power and connection to any existing network (optics, DSL, Wi Fi). The idea itself is far from new, but in Barcelona Alcatel-Lucent showed the first commercial solution implementing this concept.
The size of the integrated base station, compared to the traditional solution, is radically reduced. Unfortunately, I do not have exact data regarding the dimensions, but visually the BS for external installation looks smaller than ordinary street lights. There is no need to build expensive websites, which, moreover, have recently been very difficult to place in busy cities. The base station can be placed both outside the building and inside (the dimensions then become even smaller).
')
In this solution, there may be integrated antennas for simultaneous operation in GSM, WCDMA, LTE, Wi Fi networks. This allows you to organize a channel of communication with the base station using point-to-point Wi Fi (in the unlicensed range), in places where there is no access to cable infrastructure.
The management of Alcatel-Lucent data networks may well be a topic for a separate and fairly large article. Those who worked with the SAM 5620 know that the company strives to create a unified system of management, monitoring and configuration for all types of equipment, including base stations. This management system can later be transferred to the cloud. All BSs, as well as any other equipment, are logically terminated on the 7750 SR gateway, which is a universal service router designed to build all types of networks, from triple play to Mobile Backhaul.
All metro cells are connected to the network on the principle of plug-and-play, and corporate solutions will allow connecting the metrocell not only to the provider’s network, but also to the corporate network (for example, to a corporate PBX) thanks to the provided APIs.
There has also been success. The total power consumption of the radio access network is reduced to 40-50%, which in certain cases allows using only solar batteries for daytime power, and batteries that are charged during the day, for power supply at night.
The developers at Bell Labs claim that the antennas they have developed allow gains of more than 10 dB in areas with dense urban development. I think this is still a more marketing move, and it would be interesting to look at real tests in cities. Although the test network was presented in a large pavilion filled with people, stands and equipment, it still weakly models urban buildings.
Well, the most interesting
Here we must pay tribute to Alcatel, they really made the first big step not only towards more reliable, faster and cheaper LTE networks, but also began to move towards creating a unified network infrastructure.
Meter cells installed in rooms and connected via optics or copper to the Internet can provide access not only to 3G, 4G networks, but also to Wi Fi. Moreover, switching between networks is absolutely transparent to the user, does not require any additional configuration from him. The terminal switching algorithm is quite intelligent: it evaluates the signal levels from all available networks, both 3G and wifi, their load, and selects the best one. In addition, it evaluates the user's behavior: if the user moves past the access point, then there is no sense in switching it to wifi, and it remains in the 3G network.
User authentication is performed using a sim card, imsi / imei, pin code, login password and can be configured as desired by the operator. Since the API is planned to be made available (I do not know under which license), it is quite possible that several operators use one point / base station simultaneously.
In addition, since non-licensed band is used for wifi, it becomes possible to create your own small operators :). Of course, everything depends on the will of the operator, but at least such technical possibility exists. The user will no longer need to buy various access cards, etc. All his bills will be set by his operator, wherever he is.
Regarding coverage, then Alcatel experts declare a 4-fold increase in network capacity, when using meter for access.
Personally, I thought it was, if not a breakthrough, then it was a premonition of a breakthrough. I came across how hard it is to find a place for a new site, or how expensive it is to expand an existing one. Well, each of you faced with the fact that one or another network may not work in a place of mass gathering of people. Such a solution should help eliminate these problems.
Well, in the end it will be very convenient to stay online and in the corporate network on your smartphone / tablet, leaving the office on the street, from there to the subway, and from there through the cafe and home.
PS By the way, as it turned out, thanks to this product, Alcatel-Lucent entered the top 50 innovative companies in the world according to the MIT's Technology Review magazine.
I wonder if the lightradio will kill the traditional base stations?
I think everyone has already come across a Cisco forecast that in the next 5 years, the amount of mobile traffic in the networks of telecom operators will increase by 18 times. Of course, the rapid development of the mobile device market capable of consuming a large amount of traffic has long led to network traffic in the centers of large cities (and sometimes not only in the centers). The traditional way out of this situation is to build more base stations. But the process is expensive and long (you would see the number of permits that need to be obtained for the construction of one site). The exit has been thought up - metrosyty. Metro equipment is a miniature, integrated base station of low power, capable of being located anywhere in the city, and requiring only power and connection to any existing network (optics, DSL, Wi Fi). The idea itself is far from new, but in Barcelona Alcatel-Lucent showed the first commercial solution implementing this concept.
Dimensions
The size of the integrated base station, compared to the traditional solution, is radically reduced. Unfortunately, I do not have exact data regarding the dimensions, but visually the BS for external installation looks smaller than ordinary street lights. There is no need to build expensive websites, which, moreover, have recently been very difficult to place in busy cities. The base station can be placed both outside the building and inside (the dimensions then become even smaller).
')
Antennas
In this solution, there may be integrated antennas for simultaneous operation in GSM, WCDMA, LTE, Wi Fi networks. This allows you to organize a channel of communication with the base station using point-to-point Wi Fi (in the unlicensed range), in places where there is no access to cable infrastructure.
Control
The management of Alcatel-Lucent data networks may well be a topic for a separate and fairly large article. Those who worked with the SAM 5620 know that the company strives to create a unified system of management, monitoring and configuration for all types of equipment, including base stations. This management system can later be transferred to the cloud. All BSs, as well as any other equipment, are logically terminated on the 7750 SR gateway, which is a universal service router designed to build all types of networks, from triple play to Mobile Backhaul.
All metro cells are connected to the network on the principle of plug-and-play, and corporate solutions will allow connecting the metrocell not only to the provider’s network, but also to the corporate network (for example, to a corporate PBX) thanks to the provided APIs.
power usage
There has also been success. The total power consumption of the radio access network is reduced to 40-50%, which in certain cases allows using only solar batteries for daytime power, and batteries that are charged during the day, for power supply at night.
Coating
The developers at Bell Labs claim that the antennas they have developed allow gains of more than 10 dB in areas with dense urban development. I think this is still a more marketing move, and it would be interesting to look at real tests in cities. Although the test network was presented in a large pavilion filled with people, stands and equipment, it still weakly models urban buildings.
Well, the most interesting
Possible usage scenarios
Here we must pay tribute to Alcatel, they really made the first big step not only towards more reliable, faster and cheaper LTE networks, but also began to move towards creating a unified network infrastructure.
Meter cells installed in rooms and connected via optics or copper to the Internet can provide access not only to 3G, 4G networks, but also to Wi Fi. Moreover, switching between networks is absolutely transparent to the user, does not require any additional configuration from him. The terminal switching algorithm is quite intelligent: it evaluates the signal levels from all available networks, both 3G and wifi, their load, and selects the best one. In addition, it evaluates the user's behavior: if the user moves past the access point, then there is no sense in switching it to wifi, and it remains in the 3G network.
User authentication is performed using a sim card, imsi / imei, pin code, login password and can be configured as desired by the operator. Since the API is planned to be made available (I do not know under which license), it is quite possible that several operators use one point / base station simultaneously.
In addition, since non-licensed band is used for wifi, it becomes possible to create your own small operators :). Of course, everything depends on the will of the operator, but at least such technical possibility exists. The user will no longer need to buy various access cards, etc. All his bills will be set by his operator, wherever he is.
Regarding coverage, then Alcatel experts declare a 4-fold increase in network capacity, when using meter for access.
Personal impression
Personally, I thought it was, if not a breakthrough, then it was a premonition of a breakthrough. I came across how hard it is to find a place for a new site, or how expensive it is to expand an existing one. Well, each of you faced with the fact that one or another network may not work in a place of mass gathering of people. Such a solution should help eliminate these problems.
Well, in the end it will be very convenient to stay online and in the corporate network on your smartphone / tablet, leaving the office on the street, from there to the subway, and from there through the cafe and home.
PS By the way, as it turned out, thanks to this product, Alcatel-Lucent entered the top 50 innovative companies in the world according to the MIT's Technology Review magazine.
I wonder if the lightradio will kill the traditional base stations?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/140970/
All Articles