Tutorial on
Small Cell/HetNet Deployment
Part 1: Evolutions towards small cell
and HetNet
Jie Zhang1, 2
1RANPLAN
Wireless Network Design Ltd., UK
Web: [Link]
2Dept. of EEE, University of Sheffield, UK
Globecom12 Industry Forum, 03/12/2012
Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
An overview of the tutorial
Evolutions towards small cell/HetNet
Challenges of small cell/HetNet deployment
Some of our publications on small cell/HetNet
deployment
1. An overview of the tutorial
Part 1: Evolutions towards small cell and HetNet
Part 2: Interference in small cell and HetNet
Part 3: SON for small cell and HetNet
Part 4: Small cell backhaul
Part 5: Tools for small cell and HetNet deployment
2. Evolutions towards small cell/HetNet
What is a small cell?
Small cells are low-power wireless access points that
operate in licensed spectrum.
Small cells provide improved cellular coverage, capacity and
applications for homes and enterprises as well as
metropolitan and rural public spaces.
Source: [Link]
What is a small cell?
Types of small cells include femtocells, picocells,
metrocells and microcells
broadly increasing in size from femtocells (the smallest) to
microcells (the largest).
Small-cell networks can also be realized by means of
distributed radio technology consisting of centralised
baseband units and remote radio heads.
Source: [Link]
What is HetNet?
HetNet could mean a network comprising of different
RATs (WiFi, GSM, UMTS/HSPA, LTE/LTE-A)
Multi-RATs from multi-vendors will co-exist in the next decades
A HetNet also means a network consisting different
access nodes such as macrocell, microcell, picocells,
femtocells, RRHs (Remote Radio Heads), as well as
relay stations.
Leads to two (multiple) tier/layer networks
In this tutorial, we will focus on HetNet that comprises of
different access nodes.
Small cell & Macrocell coverage &
transmission power
Small cell
Coverage: Typically 10m to 200m cell radius within urban and
in-building locations, up to 2km cell radius in rural areas.
Transmission power: 20 mW to 2W
Macrocell:
Coverage: Typically cell radius is a few kilometres, up to 35 km
Transmission power: 20-40W
Capacity, configuration of small cells
Note: Use UMTS/HSPA small cell as an example.
Soft handover applies to CDMA based small cells.
Evolutions towards small cell & HetNet
Macrocell Driven Small Cell Solutions
Microcell
Microcell + RRH
Distributed Base Station
Femtocell Driven Small Cell Solutions
Femtocell
Picocell
Metrocell
Overview of a Dense Urban Scenario
Macrocell only is not good enough (red: signal level, >-60 dBm; dark blue: signal
level <-110 dBm)
Scenarios generated using Ranplan-SmallCellTM tools
Macrocell Driven Small Cell Solutions
Driven from Macrocell
Motivations
Fill coverage holes where macrocell can not reach
Provide higher capacity density for dense urban area
Smaller footprint, lower energy consumption
Microcell
Parameters
Value
Output Pwr.
10 ~
2000mW
Coverage
100 ~ 1000m
Support
User
> 100
Scenario
Outdoor
Macrocell + Microcell Solution
Deploy a microcell on a lower building in the middle will improve but still not
good enough.
Scenarios generated using Ranplan-SmallCellTM tools
Microcell + RRH
Further split the microcell into smaller cells using RRHs
Parameters
Value
Output Pwr.
10 ~ 100mW
Coverage
50 ~ 100m
Support User > 100
Scenario
Outdoor
Indoor
Outdoor signals have been greatly improved. Some indoor
coverage is OK, but not all.
Distributed Base Station
Parameters
Value
Output Pwr.
1 ~ 10mW
Coverage
10 ~ 20m
Support
User
> 100
Scenario
Indoor
Outdoor
Distributed Base Station
DBS/DAS can provide high capacity and distribute signal more evenly.
Femtocell Driven Small Cell Solutions
Driven from Femtocell
Motivations
Support more users or SME/Metro area
Provide larger coverage for wider area
Adapt to more scenarios other than residential
Femtocell
Parameters
Value
Output Pwr.
1 ~ 20mW
Coverage
10 ~ 20m
Support
User
4~8
Scenario
Indoor
Femtocell
Scenarios generated using Ranplan-SmallCellTM tools
Picocell
Parameters
Value
Output Pwr.
20 ~ 250
mW
Coverage
50 ~ 100m
Support
User
16~32
Scenario
Indoor
Outdoor
Picocell (indoor)
Picocell output power should be controlled.
Metrocell (outdoor)
Parameters
Value
Output Pwr.
~ 250 mW
Coverage
Up to 2km
Support
User
~ 32
Scenario
Outdoor
Metrocell (outdoor)
Evolution to HetNets
Macro/Micro
Femtocell
Micro+RRH
Picocell
DBS/DAS
Metrocell
Small Cell Typical Deployment
Scenarios
Home
Enterprise
Hot spots (indoor and outdoor)
Emergency
Airplanes
On the move (bus, taxi)
3. Technical challenges of small
cell/HetNet deployment
Interference
Self-organization
Mobility management, e.g., handover
Access control methods
Backhauling (4G: 1Gbps; B4G: >10Gbps)
The first four challenges were identified in an EPSRCfunded femtocell project that we submitted in 2007. They
are still valid today.
4. Some of our publications on Small
Cell/HetNet deployment
D. Lpez Prez, A. Valcarce, G. De La Roche, J. Zhang, Access Methods to WiMAX
Femtocells: A downlink system-level case study, in IEEE ICCS, November 2008.
D. Lpez-Prez, G. De La Roche, A. Valcarce, A. Jttner, J. Zhang, Interference
Avoidance and Dynamic Frequency Planning for WiMAX Femtocells Networks, IEEE
ICCS, November 2008.
D. Lopez, A. Valcarce, G. De La Roche and J. Zhang, "OFDMA
femtocells: A roadmap on interference avoidance," IEEE
Communications Magazine, vol. 47 (9), Sept. 2009. Currently the
most widely cited among over 1000 femto papers). [>260 citations]
G. De La Roche, A. Valcarce, D. Lpez-Prez and J. Zhang, "Access Control
Mechanisms for Femtocells," IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 48(1), Jan. 2010.
All the above papers attracted a large number of citations
our other work (joint channel, power and MCS allocation,
distributed approach, decoupling of DL and UL in HetNet, eICIC in
HetNet)
New Book (Wiley, Q2 2013)
Small Cells: Technologies and
Deployment
Jie Zhang1,3, David Lopez-Perez2, Hui Song3,
Guillaume de la Roche4, Enjie Liu5 , Xiaoli Chu1
1University
of Sheffield, UK
2Bell-Labs, Alcatel-Lucent, Dublin, Ireland
3Ranplan Wireless Network Design Ltd., UK
4Mindspeed, France
5University of Bedfordshire, UK
Thank you for your attention!
Prof. Jie Zhang
Chair in Wireless Systems
The Communications Group
Dept. of EEE
University of Sheffield
Tel. +44 (0) 114 2225380
Email : [Link]@[Link]
Web: [Link]/eee/staff/j_zhang
