Go Big with Small Cells
Consultix approach to unlocking the true potential of Small Cells rollout
Small Cells are set to dominate the telecom landscape. They assist the macro layer to provide capacity (in areas with high traffic demand) and/or coverage (where the macro signal doesn’t go). That’s why operators look to Small Cells to fulfill different market demands for Smart Cities, in-building and DAS, private/enterprise networks over (CBRS) shared spectrum or even to provide mmWave coverage for 5G.
However, Small Cells come with their own set of challenges. A successful Small Cell deployment must: ⁃ Minimize Pilot Pollution and Interference between the Small Cells and the macro network (or among small cells) ⁃ Optimize Handover performance and reduce signaling load on the network... otherwise, the benefits from the dense deployment of Small Cells can be limited, lost or even have a negative feedback on the user experience as a whole. Operators continue to invest in Small Cells but they cannot yet scale the rollout to its full potential. A dense urban environment with hundreds of small cells is often very hard to simulate accurately for optimum design and require detailed information about the propagation environment to avoid unexpected/multipath interference. Moreover, physical limitations (or lack of permits) during installation often force a change in design, starting an endless loop of design and survey activities that prevents effective rollout. Furthermore, as deployments ramp-up, future installations are expected to be performed by third parties outside the authority or full supervision of the operators. So, a new approach in design/deployment is needed to rollout Small Cells to their full potential while mitigating the negative impact on the user experience due to interference or excessive handovers.
Consultix WTX-610 Illuminator allows Small Cell deployment teams to easily verify the best location for Small Cells in the field (under realistic conditions), carefully craft the shape of the cell boundaries and verify interference and handover conditions against the actual propagation environment to avoid surprises when the system goes live. Ease of use and compatibility with common drive test tools make it easy to integrate within operators’ (or third party) field activities for faster, more efficient Small-Cell rollout process.
