A Cost-Effective Solution For Enhancing Both Capacity And Coverage
With a more than thousand-fold growth in mobile broadband demand in the last decade, deploying faster radio access technologies like LTE and LTE-Advanced will help mitigate congestion. However, upgrading macro network capacity has limitations, prompting a shift in focus from coverage to capacity outdoors. Operators are now concentrating on creating fully integrated hot zones rather than isolated hot spots.
The increasing demand for indoor connectivity necessitates expanded coverage and capacity, particularly in large indoor enterprises and key public buildings. Flexi Zone addresses these evolving needs efficiently and economically.
The deployment of small cells has taken center stage in addressing capacity needs for indoor and outdoor environments and businesses. However, integrating the small cell layer with the macro network is crucial to establishing an efficient Heterogeneous Network (HetNet). This integration is essential as operators scale up capacity and coverage while managing their small cell networks effectively. Additionally, operators can enhance their networks by fully integrating Wi-Fi as another option in their portfolio of radio access technologies.
Nokia Flexi Zone is Nokia’s primary offering in the small cell arena.
It constantly integrates capabilities typically associated with macro base stations and enables operators to leverage small cell technology effectively to meet coverage and capacity demands in urban and rural areas. Deploying tens or hundreds of thousands of small cells presents significant challenges. Control traffic generated could overwhelm transport and core networks, interference between macro and small cell networks is a concern, and avoiding backhaul bottlenecks is imperative. HetNets are inherently more complex than traditional macro networks, necessitating the automation of many manual processes involved in controlling and optimizing network operations.
Nokia Flexi Zone Is Cost Effective and Versatile
Introducing additional macro base stations to enhance indoor coverage or boost capacity is often not economically practical. Seeking more cost-efficient alternatives becomes imperative to alleviate the strain on your current infrastructure’s coverage and capacity demands.
The Nokia Flexi Zone suite offers a versatile small cell solution that handles LTE/5G/Wi-Fi traffic, effectively alleviating congestion from your macro network by extending coverage to street-level and indoor areas. Flexi Zone Base Stations can be used independently or in conjunction with a cluster of low-power access points controlled by a local controller to create comprehensive coverage zones. This setup enhances user experience while complementing macro network capacity and coverage, all at a reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to traditional small cell systems.
Flexi Zone also ensures both safety and future-proofing, as scalability allows for adaptation to evolving capacity and performance requirements, including support for Ultra Dense Networks. Additionally, streamlined backhaul support is facilitated by leveraging existing Ethernet cabling for indoor deployments. At the same time, the impact on the core network and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) is minimized through the unified behavior of up to 500 eNode Bs, simplifying radio frequency interference management and operational processes.
Innovative Architecture Offering Unparalleled Versatility
Nokia Flexi Zone introduces an innovative architecture designed to address the challenges of deploying HetNets. This small cell cluster solution, tailored for indoor and outdoor “hot zones,” revolves around two central components: the Flexi Zone Access Points and the Flexi Zone Controller.
Flexi Zone Access Points combine low-power LTE, 3G (for indoor use), and Wi-Fi functionalities within self-configuring units, facilitating coverage and capacity enhancement for underlay networks across indoor and outdoor environments. These access points can operate autonomously as micro/pico base stations for small deployments and hot spots. With the addition of the Flexi Zone Controller, these hotspots can seamlessly evolve into expansive hot zones. This adaptable approach presents the most cost-effective strategy for expanding limited-coverage deployments to cater to burgeoning demand or large indoor locations.
The novel “hot zone” architecture of Flexi Zone streamlines the intricate deployment and operation of numerous small cells. This architecture enhances performance and substantially reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of small cells by up to 50 percent compared to standalone small cell solutions.
Compact And Powerful Access Points
Flexi Zone small cells are the smallest in the industry and are the sole base stations offering features and capacity equivalent to macro cells. This unified functionality simplifies integration and operation with the macro network, resulting in 30 percent lower overall costs than conventional units.
These versatile Flexi Zone Access Points can function as standalone pico LTE base stations, effectively addressing localized hot spots or small coverage areas. In response to growing demand, these access points can be effortlessly upgraded via software, with the addition of a controller transforming them into fully-fledged “hot zones.”
Operators can limitlessly expand capacity and coverage by deploying access point clusters across hot zones and large indoor locations, catering to diverse enterprise and public indoor spaces. Additionally, the Flexi Zone Indoor Pico 3G Base Station offers the flexibility of software upgrades to LTE, facilitating operators’ spectrum re-farming decisions.
Designed for outdoor deployment and harsh indoor environments, Flexi Zone micro/pico base stations support a wide range of frequency bands for 3G, FDD LTE, and TD-LTE. Optional Wi-Fi integration further enhances site capacity, leveraging unlicensed spectrum to improve the customer experience at high-traffic locations.
Picocell Base Stations
Another offering in the indoor Picocell base station lineup, available in 3G or LTE and optionally equipped with Wi-Fi support, is designed for public indoor spaces and small to medium-sized enterprise buildings. This solution delivers notable performance enhancements compared to femto solutions. When paired with the Flexi Zone Controller, up to 500 picocells can be integrated into a cluster, effectively addressing extensive and densely populated indoor deployments.
Flexi Zone also provides the flexibility to overlay LTE onto existing Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) or serve as a competitive alternative to DAS and hybrid DAS solutions in large buildings. By leveraging existing Ethernet infrastructure, Flexi Zone minimizes upfront costs and simplifies deployment while also facilitating network sharing opportunities from the outset.
Flexi Zone eMIMO Omni Antenna
The Flexi Zone eMIMO Omni Antenna is a compact small cell antenna that revolutionizes performance, offering the equivalent performance of a directional antenna while providing 360-degree coverage. It stands out as the industry’s first omni antenna to maintain cross-polarization in all directions, enhancing Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) performance by up to 60 percent at the cell edge compared to standard omni antennas.
First Small Cell To Offer >1Gbps Peak Rate
In response to the escalating demand in densely populated urban areas, the Nokia Flexi Zone Multiband Micro/Pico Base Station platform emerges as the pioneering solution, offering small cell data rates surpassing 1Gbps. Built upon LTE-A Pro standards, this platform integrates up to three radio modules capable of supporting a combination of three distinct LTE licensed bands/carriers, along with up to 60MHz of LTE-U/LAA (License Assisted Access) and up to 80MHz of Wi-Fi/LWA (LTE-Wi-Fi Aggregation).
By incorporating LAA or LWA support, the platform empowers operators to deliver guaranteed Quality of Service via LTE, while also harnessing unlicensed spectrum to furnish subscribers with data rates exceeding 1Gbps. This innovative approach addresses the escalating connectivity needs of urban environments while ensuring optimal performance and user experience.
Macro Power In A Mini Package
Nokia Flexi Zone Mini-Macro LTE Base Station, comparable in size to a small cell, packs macro-level RF power (2 x 20W). This enables operators to extend macro-sized coverage to areas where traditional macro base station deployment is impractical. Beyond facilitating cost-effective rural coverage, this base station introduces novel applications, including providing low-cost indoor coverage for tall buildings via outdoor deployment on nearby structures (known as ‘outside-in’) and discreet deployments in sensitive residential zones.
Flexi Zone Controller Covers All Deployment Scenarios
The Flexi Zone Controller can support up to 500 access points within a hot zone, presenting itself as a single eNodeB to the network. This consolidation of access point interfaces streamlines integration and IP addressing, reduces signaling back to the core network, and simplifies backhaul through a delay-tolerant topology. Additionally, the controller orchestrates scheduling across the cluster to manage interference within the hot zone and distribute capacity efficiently. By housing Self-Organizing Network (SON) functionality, operational and maintenance costs are further reduced, with faster, more accurate adjustments affecting a broader range of elements.
Operating a mix of indoor and outdoor cells within one cluster, the controller pioneers a small cell solution tailored for large and very large indoor environments such as airports, university campuses, and shopping malls. The platform’s unlimited capacity scaling and advanced interference mitigation techniques also cater to high-density indoor locations like busy metro stations, exhibition centers, and conference halls.
For indoor small cells lacking easy access to GPS signals, new Flexi Zone timing and synchronization features simplify deployment. Over-the-air synchronization of TD-LTE cells enables up to five small cells to synchronize using a single GPS signal from an access point near a window. Additionally, the Network Timing Protocol (NTP) facilitates synchronization of FDD-LTE small cells through timing signals over lower-quality Internet access.
Nokia Flexi Zone And Mobile Edge Computing – Bringing Individual Content To The User
Flexi Zone goes beyond merely achieving the right capacity and coverage; it empowers operators to introduce customized content to specific areas, utilizing Nokia Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) to establish “intelligent small cells.”
MEC furnishes processing, storage, and real-time network data collection capabilities, allowing applications to deliver context-relevant services that revolutionize the mobile broadband experience.
The Flexi Zone Controller caters to all deployment scenarios. It is a hardware component capable of supporting up to 500 access points within a hot zone, appearing as a single eNodeB to the network. This aggregation streamlines integration, reduces signaling, and simplifies backhaul while coordinating scheduling to efficiently manage interference and capacity distribution. Housing Self-Organizing Network (SON) functionality within the controller also accelerates operational adjustments, reducing maintenance costs.
Supporting a mix of indoor and outdoor cells within one cluster, the controller facilitates Flexi Zone’s capability to address large and very large indoor environments, such as airports, university campuses, and shopping malls. With virtually unlimited capacity scaling and advanced interference mitigation techniques, Flexi Zone caters to high-density indoor locations like busy metro stations, exhibition centers, and conference halls.
For indoor small cells lacking easy access to GPS signals, new Flexi Zone timing and synchronization features simplify deployment. Over-the-air synchronization of TD-LTE cells and Network Timing Protocol (NTP) synchronization of FDD-LTE cells ensure seamless operation.
Small Cell Solutions From Nokia Networks
Flexi Zone is part of Nokia’s comprehensive portfolio of small cell products and services, including the carrier-grade Nokia Airscale Smart Wi-Fi solution for seamless integration with cellular networks and the Flexi Lite Base Station for outdoor 3G coverage in-fill and hot spots.
The versatility of Flexi Zone extends to various applications, such as security camera local encoding, motion detection, caching, content extension, enterprise app enhancement, and indoor location tracking in shopping malls. These applications offer improved performance, lower transport costs, enhanced shopper experiences, and valuable insights for marketing strategies.
About Infinity Technology Solutions
Infinity Technology Solutions specializes in broadband and critical communications infrastructure development. We help our channel partners create and deploy private wireless, microwave backhaul, IP/MPLS, and optical networking technologies.
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