Effectively Densifying Networks To Increase Reliable Mobile Coverage
With the increasing demand for mobile data usage indoors, customers expect seamless service quality indoors comparable to what they experience outdoors. Reliable indoor mobile coverage is crucial to support both current applications and upcoming innovative services. Seamless indoor mobile connectivity is pivotal for ensuring customer satisfaction. Densification plays a key role in unlocking the potential of the next phase of data-driven digital services when enhancing indoor networks.
Nokia’s Smart Node and femtocell solutions are designed to effectively densify networks and provide excellent customer experiences in small indoor spaces. Nokia offers an optimal portfolio of small cells for residential and small to medium-sized enterprise environments, catering to diverse consumer requirements. Their portfolio includes 4G/5G multi-standard solutions with support for IoT connectivity.
What Are Femtocells?
Femtocells can be likened to personal radio base stations, providing comprehensive indoor mobile coverage with various benefits. These all-in-one radio units offer security, consistently low latency, and stable multi-user capacity without performance degradation. Like Wi-Fi networks, femtocells establish a resilient mobile network for a targeted local cluster of users by leveraging existing power and backhaul infrastructure at customers’ premises. Plug-and-play solutions facilitate easy shipment to customers for self-installation, enhancing operational efficiency.
Given the diverse adoption rates of 5G among consumers and uncertainties surrounding 5G spectrum availability in certain regions, flexible solutions featuring swappable or extendable 5G hardware present distinct advantages. A modular design 4G/5G femtocell enables communication service providers (CSPs) to address the immediate needs of 4G/NB-IoT consumers while remaining adaptable for future advancements.
Femtocell Co-Deployment With Existing Wi-Fi
Deploying femtocells alongside existing Wi-Fi networks offers several advantages for consumers and CSPs. Wi-Fi is already prevalent in many homes and small to medium-sized enterprises. However, transitioning to Wi-Fi 6 routers entails setup costs, deterring some customers until they perceive clear benefits justifying the expense. Comparatively, the cost of upgrading to new Wi-Fi 6 Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) mirrors that of deploying femtocells for 4G/5G coverage. Therefore, co-deployment presents a mutually beneficial solution.
Various small enterprises share commonalities, such as essential service providers, retailers, clinics, e-commerce and logistics endpoints, and restaurants. Today, businesses and their clients rely heavily on mobile devices for internet connectivity, particularly indoors, generating the bulk of indoor traffic.
While widely used, Wi-Fi has limitations, primarily catering to clients and employees not bound to fixed consoles. In contrast, co-deployed femtocells streamline operations by reducing overheads like password sharing, security setup, and network segmentation, tasks demanding technical expertise. This approach also ensures seamless mobile network connectivity for clients, enhancing the CSP’s brand perception.
Key benefits of co-deployment include:
- Streamlined network access for clients and mobile workers, eliminating individual authentication and security setup overheads, thus reducing enterprise security costs.
- Enhanced security, as femtocells offer built-in carrier-grade security, mitigating snooping risks inherent in Wi-Fi systems.
- Confidence in data security, with femtocells providing end-to-end security through features like IP-Sec tunnels and robust encryption.
- Seamless mobility for consumers on the carrier network minimizes login and authentication time and allows users to focus on engaging with the enterprise.
- Improved Wi-Fi performance due to reduced traffic on Wi-Fi networks.
- Efficient migration of macro traffic to indoor mobile network access points relieves macro traffic loads and minimizes error correction efforts, especially in areas with poor coverage or noisy signals.
- The femtocell local break-out feature reduces data traffic load on the CSP’s core network, lowering operating costs and enhancing profitability.
Femtocell Co-Deployment With Wi-Fi 6
Traditional building materials often interfere with and weaken indoor network coverage, particularly impacting performance in the 5G NR and Wi-Fi 6e spectrum. High-paying customers prioritize premium connectivity, such as 5G ‘early adopters’ and VIP consumers. Therefore, it’s in the CSP’s interest to minimize indoor coverage gaps for these clientele. However, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6 systems have security overheads that hinder mobility and handovers, affecting seamless connectivity between indoor Wi-Fi and outdoor macro networks. Additionally, requiring guests and enterprise clients to have network access credentials for Wi-Fi can push them toward mobile networks instead. Subpar indoor mobile networks diminish user experience and tarnish the CSP’s brand.
Co-locating femtocells offer several benefits:
- Providing a secure network with minimal user overheads.
- Enabling seamless call handovers between indoor and outdoor networks.
- Supporting emergency services for risk management and disaster mitigation.
- Offering simple, secure network connectivity for visitors and guests.
These niche market segments require effective management. Co-locating 5G/LTE networks ensures reliable, best-in-class quality of service.
Recognizing that no single deployment combination fits all CSP-served market segments, discarding the traditional view of Wi-Fi as a competitor to mobile networks is crucial. CSPs adopting a combination strategy and educating end-users about its benefits can maximize customer value and better monetize their investments. By positioning Wi-Fi and mobile networks as complementary indoor technologies, CSPs enhance the customer experience and pave the way for immersive 5G experiences.
Features and Benefits of Nokia SNF
Ensuring Built-in Security for All
Mobile networks inherently provide robust network security, impervious to hacking attempts. This guarantees secure communications for all users without requiring them to understand, install, or configure any security tools. With the rising prevalence of digital payments and widespread mobile usage, a personal mobile network offers equitable security to all, particularly in high-traffic indoor environments. Nokia’s Smart Node femtocells ensure customers operate within secure, resilient networks.
Densifying Networks While Optimizing Macro Network Expenditure
Nokia solutions guarantee reliable network coverage as operators expand and adopt new technologies. The Nokia portfolio of products features local break-out capabilities, alleviating the burden on both mobile and core networks, thus optimizing investments for capacity enhancement. Additionally, they reduce operating expenses by eliminating backhaul, power, and real estate management costs.
Embracing 5G On the Go
Pioneering the market, Nokia introduces the first modular, future-proof design for 5G on the go. Nokia’s 5G-ready Smart Node facilitates seamless deployment of 5G through easily attachable modules. This unparalleled flexibility allows operators to deploy 5G at their discretion and empowers consumers to access 5G when needed.
Effortless Plug-and-Play Personal Mobile Networks
Nokia’s self-deployable, plug-and-play radio units simplify shipping and can be easily delivered to remote consumers, often without requiring a site visit. Leveraging Self-Organizing Network (SON) features significantly reduces network deployment and optimization costs.
Nokia Femtocell Specifications
Smart Node 4G+5G Multi-standard
- Simultaneous LTE and 5G carriers
- Up to 32 LTE and 32 5G simultaneous active users per carrier
- 5G Sub-6 GHz support
- 5G NSA Option 3X (EN-DC), 5G SA Option 2 (in future)
- Local break out functionality
- NB-IoT and CAT-M ready
- TR-069-based OAM leveraging Nokia OAM systems
- SON and Full Secure Plug-n-Play Enhanced security features including Digital Certificates, IPSec for encryption with IKEv2, Firewall and Tamper Alarm
- 256 QAM D/L, 64 QAM U/L
Femtocell Multi-band SOHO
- Two simultaneous carriers: one LTE and one W-CDMA
- Up to 64 LTE and 32 WCDMA simultaneous active users*
- Up to 64 LTE simultaneous active users*
- Up to 32 WCDMA simultaneous active users*
- 3G software feature parity with Nokia 3G small cell portfolio software
- TR-069-based OAM leveraging Nokia OAM systems
- SON and full secure plug-n-play enhanced security features including digital certificates, IPSec for encryption with IKEv2, firewall and tamper alarms
- Ability to daisy-chain the backhaul between the two RJ-45 interfaces.
Femtocell Multi-band Residential
- Two simultaneous carriers: one LTE and one W-CDMA – 8 LTE and 8 W-CDMA simultaneous active users*
- 3G software feature parity with Nokia 3G Small Cell portfolio software
- TR-069-based OAM leveraging Nokia OAM systems
- SON and Full Secure Plug-n-Play Enhanced security features including Digital Certificates, IPSec for encryption with IKEv2, Firewall and Tamper Alarm
Femtocell LTE Residential
- One LTE carrier with up to 20 MHz carrier bandwidth
- Up to 16 simultaneous LTE data and VoLTE calls
- Self-configuring and self-optimizing capabilities
- Adaptive transmit power for coverage optimization
- 2G/3G/LTE network listening Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR)
- Closed Subscriber Group
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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