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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ericsson just announced the Radio Dot System to address the indoor coverage and capacity issues that plague all
mobile networks. With the first release, the system more closely resembles a hybrid active DAS solution but the
implied product roadmap suggests that the system will evolve to more closely resemble a small cell architecture
with centralized baseband processing. We attended the coming-out party on the 25th in San Jose and we offer
our initial thoughts in this mini Signals Flash! report.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
The
Dot is one of three components that comprise the Radio Dot System. There is also the Digital Unit (DU)
and the Indoor Radio Unit (IRU). The system is scalable up to 12 IRUs per DU and up to 8 Dots per IRU to
provide coverage and capacity to a 48,000m2 to 76,800m2 building or venue.
The
initial release will support up to 2x20 MHz of spectrum with both UMTS/HSPA+ and LTE in Band 2 and
Band 12 (presumably LTE only). Field trials will occur in Q3/14 with General Availability in Q4/14.
Given
AT&Ts participation at the event and the supported bands, it is clear that AT&T will be one of the first
customers. Multiple operator customers are likely to follow.
Although details about the product roadmap are a bit vague, in particular regarding the timing of new features
Ericsson went from being a laggard to a leader in the market that is traditionally served by small
cells, DAS, or something that falls somewhere in-between.
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Following the event, the senior executive from Ericsson that was largely responsible for the
product asked us what we thought about the product. We paused for a moment to collect our
thoughts and then responded by saying, its cool as Sh&#! We have probably made more politically correct statements in the past but 48 hours later we still stand by our statement.
The cool part of the Radio Dot System is the Dot itself. Seeing pictures of the Dot or watching
it on TV dont do it justice. Tipping the scale at only 10 ounces, the Dot has a sleek form factor
that is somewhat bigger than a hockey puck. However, unlike a hockey puck the Dot is comprised
of two parts that are held together with magnets along with an Ethernet port that is visible
in the back. Popping open the AMU (Antenna Mounting Unit) from the AAU (Active Antenna
Unit) reveals the sophisticated active antenna solution, including a software component that can
address pathloss and interference due to the Ethernet backhaul. Given the product roadmap, the
sophistication of the Dot will need to scale considerably.
With the forthcoming release, the Dot up-bands the intermediate frequency that is used over
the Ethernet to the desired RF frequency with simultaneous support for UMTS/HSPA+ and LTE.
The Dot is limited to a single frequency band and 2x20 MHz of spectrum. With a transmit power
of 2x100mW with MIMO, the anticipated coverage area per Dot is 500m2 to 800m2. Ericsson is
initially focused on Band 2 (~1900 MHz) and Band 12 (~700 MHz) with AT&T [and other operators]
having spectrum in both bands. Presumably, the Band 12 Dot will only support LTE since Band 12
is only being used for LTE services. We assume our operator recognizes that LTE data coverage
without 3G voice coverage is not acceptable to us. Our suspicion is that the Band 12 Dot will be
deployed in venues where pre-existing in-building solutions, such as DAS, that offer 3G coverage
already exist or in venues where 3G coverage is adequate but additional data capacity is required.
There is a natural tendency to compare the Dot with the lightRadio Cube since both products
have great marketing names, they are small, and they require a fair amount of additional equipment to make them work. In the case of the Dot, there is the baseband unit (DU = Digital Unit)
and the radio unit (IRU = Indoor Radio Unit). In their totality, the DU + IRU + Dot = traditional
macro base station functionality, but it is the smaller scale of these components, along with
how their functionality is distributed and then connected together that makes it a compelling
indoor solution.
Figure 1 shows several possible deployment scenarios. For each Dot, there needs to be a DU and
an IRU. However, there can be multiple IRUs (12) per DU and multiple Dots (8) per IRU, or up to
96 Dots per system. Ericsson claims that each Dot has an effective coverage range of 500m2 to
800m2. Doing the math, the Radio Dot system with a single DU should be able to cover 48,000m2
to 76,800m2. Clearly, deploying a single Dot wouldnt be economical but it wasnt clear to us at
what point the Radio Dot System becomes more economical than a traditional small cell solution
and at what point a typical DAS solution makes sense. For that matter, it isnt entirely clear to us
that the traditional DAS solution as we know it will ever make as much sense in the future with
the exception being its ability to support a neutral hosted solution.
The DU, which is about the size of a stereo DVD player, connects to the IRUs via fiber cable using the
CPRI interface. The IRUs connect to the Dots via dedicated Ethernet wires. It is, however, possible
to multiplex the IF signals over an Ethernet wire and provide service to two collocated Dots for
example, if supporting the needs of two operators or a single operator with two frequency bands.
Depending on the deployment scenario, the IRUs and DU could be collocated or they could be
located in separate buildings. In the Subtending Nearby RBS scenario, the DU functionality is
provided by a nearby macro base station that happens to have an available CPRI port.
All of the dots that are connected to a single IRU appear as a single cell/sector so there isnt
any interference generated between each Dot that is attached to the same IRU. We believe
there could still be mobility issues and interference at the boundaries between Dot clusters
serving different IRUs that need to be addressed. The IRU can get information from each Dot
and each Dot has its own unique signature which the IRU recognizes. Further, the Dots/IRU can
make adjustments for interference and pathloss in the Ethernet cable. However, it isnt entirely
clear how, or if, inter-IRU interference is addressed. For example, the furthest out Radio Dot
could experience interference that the other Radio Dots dont experience, and there should be
a mechanism to make adjustments without impacting all of the Radio Dots in the system. It is
unclear to us whether or not this capability exists or if it will be introduced at some point in the
future. The Dot currently contains an Active Antenna system but we dont know exactly what
this means or how effective it is in dealing with these issues. Only time will tell.
DU
IRU
Given the Radio Dot architecture, we feel sorry for anyone that is responsible for forecasting
or tracking the small cell market since the Radio Dot System is not comparable to a small cell,
regardless of how the small cell is defined. Our best definition of the Radio Dot system is that it
is the result of unintended consequences when a small cell and active DAS have a Friends with
Benefits relationship. It is comparable to active DAS because the IRU capacity is distributed
with geographically separated drops (Dots) where the RF energy is released. It differs from active
DAS in that Ethernet is used instead of fiber (except between the DU and IRU) and a full macro
base station does not have to sit in front of the head end unit. DAS has the advantage that it can
support the needs of multiple operators assuming that each operator has its own macro base
station connected to the system.
Without an onsite centralized node/scheduler, small cells will not be able to scale to support the
needs of a medium or large enterprise. SON solutions can help mitigate interference between
uncoordinated small cells and/or with the macro cells but we are not convinced these solutions
are adequate to deal with rapidly changing RF conditions. If each small cell has its own termination point in the operators core network the complexity and cost associated with establishing
and maintaining all of the connections would also be costly and logistically problematic for the
operator. Conversely, no operator would ever consider deploying the Radio Dot System in a
building or venue that only required a few dots. The economics simply wouldnt work.
Ericsson provided some insight into its product roadmap. Overall, the potential features and
functionalities are intriguing but the devil is in the implementation details and when these
enhancements are introduced. Obviously, they also have to work well, but generally Ericsson
more than holds its own when it comes to radios.
In its press release Ericsson mentioned that the Radio Dot System supports integration with
Ericssons carrier Wi-Fi portfolio. While true, the statement is a bit misleading since Wi-Fi
isnt currently included in the Dot and it may never be included in a Dot that also supports
the licensed LTE/3G bands. At the moment, the Wi-Fi integration is done in the backend, for
example, assigning the mobile device to either the Radio Dot System or to Wi-Fi based on a set
of criteria. This capability also assumes that the operator has already deployed the carrier Wi-Fi
solution or that it has the ability to deploy it in the future. At some point in the product roadmap
it is conceivable that the carrier Wi-Fi solution has a Dot of its own and that this Dot is installed
alongside the cellular Dot using a new bracket or mount.
The DU only provides the baseband functionality and as we understand it all data sessions and
call flow will go into the operators core network with the first release. However, Ericsson did
discuss a separate blade that can sit alongside the DU and host various enterprise-specific applications. Ericsson is also introducing what it stressed is a prototype small cell gateway toward the
end of this year that at some point could be commercialized and provide local traffic breakout
functionality and other similar services. These capabilities, when they become available, are
important as a selling point to enterprises and to improve the economics associated with
deploying the solutions.
The downside of a small cell solution is that it is specific to a single operator unless two operators have a RAN sharing agreement. Most enterprises dont want to limit themselves to a single
operator and in venues, such as large stadiums, college campuses, and shopping malls, all operators [we hope] want to provide ample coverage and capacity. Turning the Radio Dot System into
a neutral hosted or at least a two operator system seems possible. The DU supports the same
functionality as a typical Ericsson RBS so this means that from a baseband perspective the Dot
Radio System can split the traffic and route it to the appropriate operators core network. The
operators need to be on board with this approach and in the US we havent seen any indication
of this event happening. Then again, it exists pretty much anywhere a DAS is deployed today.
Meeting the neutral host requirements with the RF side (IRU + Dot) is a bit more convoluted
and we are not entirely sure what is possible. We know an individual IRU can support multiple
technologies, specifically UMTS/HSPA+ and LTE, but it is limited to a single band (e.g., 1900 MHz).
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It isnt clear however, if the same IRU could support 2x10 MHz of LTE for one operator and 2x10
MHz of LTE for another operator. Part of the challenge is if the operators do not have adjacent
spectrum since that definitely limit the possibility of using a single Dot while it may introduce
unattainable filtering requirements in the IRU. Worst case, with todays solution there would
need to be two adjacent IRUs one for each operator and most likely separate Dots for each
operator. Aesthetically, two Dots would look OK but it would impact the economics and the
practicalities of deploying the solution with limited Ethernet wiring. If there was enough demand,
a multi-band IRU also makes sense and we see no reason why it wouldnt be technically possible
to achieve.
The last, and perhaps most interesting, step in the product roadmap is the transformation of
an individual Dot into its own cell with a unique PCI value. We dont know how or when this
transformation will take place but it means a major increase in overall system capacity. As previously noted, with todays implementation of the Radio Dot System all of the PCIs attached to
the same IRU have the same cell ID, meaning that the available capacity/network resources is
shared between them. Once this transformation takes place it will require a very sophisticated
and highly scalable mobility management/interference coordination/SON solution to deal with
the complexities of a large number of unique cells in a highly concentrated region. It is unclear
where this functionality will reside or if the existing hardware with new software will support
the feature.
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the moment we are 36,000 feet above sea level headed to the SON conference in Nice, France.
If we learn anything interesting well put out a SON report when we return. Until next time, be on
the lookout for the next Signals Ahead.
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