HetNet News: Qualcomm, Sprint Go Off to the Races

March 12, 2014

Qualcomm and Sprint have demonstrated phase two of an over-the-air trial of TD-LTE small cells at the Phoenix International Raceway in Phoenix during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The density of mobile devices and high mobile demand, as well as challenging RF conditions at such an event made it ideal spot for a trial.

The deployment involved 31 pico stations provided by Airspan and installed by Qualcomm. AirSynergy 2000 LTE-A pico base stations were installed in the track area, using the company’s self-optimizing network (SON) technology. According to Qualcomm, the small cell network has an equivalent density of 1,000 cells per square kilometer operating in Sprint’s band 41 TD-LTE spectrum. It integrated the company’s UltraSON technology for improving data performance and quality of service in small cell networks.

Mobile Planner on the Way

iBwave has an upcoming release of iBwave Mobile Planner, the mobile app that greatly simplifies the design of indoor small cell networks and integration with HetNets. Timely, the new release comes as mobile operators around the world are starting to move with urban and enterprise small cell deployments, and early adopters are beginning to execute. According to Gordon Mansfield, chair of the Small Cell Forum, “The industry needs tools and methods to ease and accelerate the upcoming volume of small cell deployments.” iBwave’s product is positioned to enhance such deployments by simplifying the design work for indoor small cell networks. It enables technicians with only basic IT or Wi-Fi experience to create designs in a few steps: choose floor plan and site parameters; select and place small cells, and visualize network coverage contours. The designs can be saved and uploaded by other teams. Since designs are created on-site, the amount of time and costs for small cell planning are significantly reduced.

Ixia Writes the Book

A new e-book authored by wireless test equipment company Ixia, called “Small Cells, Big Challenge – A Definitive Guide to Designing and Deploying HetNets” has just been released. It takes a timely and in-depth look at using HetNets to keep pace with subscriber demand. This first-of-its-kind resource explores the benefits of HetNets to operators and customers, unfolding deployment plans, and the many technology challenges.

The book shares detailed best practices and strategies for optimizing HetNet deployments, including device selection, interference, mobility, security, end-user QoE, and more. A complimentary copy can be downloaded from: hetnet.ixiacom.com