Radio-planning as an answer to the last-mile technological and financial issues
PITA Service Quality & Operationnal Workshop 25-29 July 2005
Solutions in Radiocommunications
Agenda
Who we are? Last Mile in context: yesterdays experience as a help to todays needs What technology to choose? Wireless last-mile radio-planning Whats next?
Last mile in context
Use of the radiowave propagation in order to connect the subscriber at the last mile of the network : wireless starts when the copper ends ! Cheaper than cable, Easy to deploy and undeploy High bit rates (several Mbit/s per subscriber/CPE), Frequencies used : 2.4 to 40 GigaHz, and lower (from LOS to nLOS solution) Associated services : VoIP, broadband internet, multimedia
Last mile in context
Many technologies for the same goal: Microwave links WLL (LMDS) W-MAN (WiFi, WiMAX, WiBRO, Flash-OFDM) Mobile (3G) Broadcast (DVB-H, T-DAB, Wi-TV) Mesh networking Different technical and commercial maturity UMTS already launched commercially, Bit rate lower than initial expectations LMDS faced a major crisis in Europe and Northern America in the years 2000 FWA-type of WiMAX has just been certified Studies and tests for DVB-H MW links requires expensive deployment costs WiFi is very sensible to interference and distance limited
Last mile in context
Many questions, few certainty Everybody agrees on the fact that content convergence is the key for future applications Ideally, the use of one or another technology should be transparent for the customer Different actors profile, different expectations Established operators:
- complement to white areas where DSL is not already available (rural areas) - wireless alternative to DSL to face the increasing Bit Rate demand for Residential and SoHo areas
Alternative operators:
- offering a wireless solution to the standard access to the subscriber (optical fiber, cable, dedicated line, non-modifiable installation)
Last mile in context : Competing or complementing wireless technologies ?
What is the best technology? Segmentation of the Market according to customers precise expectation According to the targeted market one technology or a combination of solutions will better fit the needs Whatever the solutions, the technologies will co-exist Building and proving a business case should rely on deployment hypothesis, that can be fulfilled by a radioplanning tool such as ICS telecom nG
Cartography in 2D and 3D
ICS telecom-nG manages 5 cartographic layers that are necessary for the propagation calculation and display:
Digital elevation models Raster Images Clutter files Building files Vector files
Plannification of the last mile by digital simulation
Dimension the network according to todays needs and tomorrows
Plannification of the last mile by digital simulation
Located the best positions in order to place the BS
Plannification of the last mile by digital simulation
Plannify the parenting of each CPE to their BS, connection per connection
Plannification of the last mile by digital simulation
Plannify the parenting of the CPE to their BS, connection per connection
Plannification of the last mile by digital simulation
Plannify the parenting of the CPE to their BS, connection per connection
Plannification of the last mile by digital simulation
Simulate the coverage and the resulting interference area of the network
Planning of the last mile by digital simulation: anticipating the business figure
Connectable subscribers
% connected subscribers
100 %
Mesh
80 % Addition of a relay between nodes
PMP
Range of revenue depending on the distribution of the type of customers
50 %
30 %
10
Subscribers number
20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000
Last mile : whats next ? (1)
Adaptive modulation
Traffic demand per user: 30 Mbit/s
Connection possibilities due to adaptive modulation
Last mile : whats next ? (2)
Smart antennas
Last mile : whats next ? (3)
From the CPE placed on the rooftops or building sides to Indoor CPEs
Last mile : whats next ? (3)
From the CPE placed on the rooftops or building sides to Indoor CPEs
Last mile : whats next ? (4)
From a fixed service to a nomadic service (withing the same cell) to a mobile service (handling handover) OFDM technology takes advantage of the canyon effect
Conclusion
Simulation can integrate a large amount of input information (environment, context, users profiles, technical parameters) Possibility to play multiple scenarios, to compare equipments (same or different technologies)
ICS telecom nG providing tangible elements for the elaboration of a reliable business case
