With the extraordinary year of 2020 coming to an end, the telecommunications industry is also looking forward to building a truly interconnected future where connectivity is everywhere and no one can enjoy it. To achieve this goal, operators will continue to accelerate the rollout and expansion of 5G networks worldwide in 2021.
At the same time, governments will further clean up more spectrum to accommodate more users and data. With the open network structure gaining more and more attention and giving birth to a new generation of products and innovative technologies, the de-aggregation trend of RAN will appear within a certain range and continue in the next few years.
The 3 Development Trends Of Outdoor Wireless Networks In 2021
Here are the three major trends we see.
The Development Trends Of Outdoor Wireless Networks In 2021 1, 5G & Massive MIMO
Although the new crown epidemic and the resulting shutdown have had a certain impact on the deployment of 5G networks in some countries and regions around the world, with the launch of 5G smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S20 and Apple iPhone 12, 5G deployment will continue to develop rapidly.
In order to support these new devices, operators need to focus on pragmatic 5G network implementation and prioritize which deployments can really benefit from the bandwidth advantages brought by Massive MIMO (multiple inputs/multiple outputs), as well as the costs, resources, and energy that come with it. The requirements for consumption are evaluated.
Massive MIMO greatly improves spectrum efficiency and can provide higher network capacity and more three-dimensional coverage. However, operators will need to determine whether the deployment costs, support costs, and actual power consumption requirements related to active Massive MIMO are reasonable, or whether the relatively low rate but higher performance cost ratio of passive antennas (8T8R or 4T4R) is sufficient.
In fact, according to reports, in order to meet the power consumption requirements in the initial high-end Massive MIMO deployment in certain geographic locations, it usually needs to be turned off for several hours at a time during off-peak hours to save power consumption.
From CommScope’s point of view, the most suitable scenario for Massive MIMO deployment is dense urban deployment, while passive antenna solutions are more suitable for suburban deployment.
However, even in an urban environment, Massive MIMO deployment faces challenges. Different configurations will bring about differences in coverage characteristics. If the solution is not selected properly, the high floors of high-rise buildings may not be fully covered.
Therefore, selecting the most suitable antenna technology for each deployment for different application scenarios will become a priority for mobile network operators in 2021. For high data traffic, operators will use 64T64R for dense urban high-rise buildings, 32T32R for urban low-rise buildings, and 8T8R or even 4T4R for suburban areas.
At the same time, 32T32R or FWA may also be used in rural areas of some countries. For sites with moderate traffic demand, mobile network operators will deploy 8T8R solutions to fully cover low-rise urban buildings.
The Development Trends Of Outdoor Wireless Networks In 2021 2, Clear spectrum
Clearing the spectrum to accommodate more users and data is critical to building a truly connected future where connectivity is ubiquitous and no one enjoys it.
However, most of the world’s low-band and mid-band spectrum has been used by the military, commercial satellite operators, wireless Internet service providers (WISP), and other utilities for a long time. To redistribute or share these frequency bands for use in next-generation wireless commercial services usually requires active participation and planning of current users and government regulatory agencies and extensive discussions on how to reduce the impact on existing services.
Despite the above-mentioned challenges, we expect that governments will take further active actions in 2021 to clean up spectrum resources for 5G and higher versions in the future.
For example, in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently completed the auction of the Priority Access License (PAL) for the 3.5 GHz frequency band and is preparing to start auctioning the 280 MHz mid-band (C-band) spectrum to make the frequency band 3.7-3.98 GHz The range is available for flexible use (including 5G).
Regarding the latter, operators will continue to develop sites in 2021, first starting to use C-band in urban areas at the end of 2021 or early 2022.
For many suburban areas, mobile network operators and their users will not be able to use the C-band until June 2023. In addition to the CBRS and C bands, in the next 18 months, the United States also plans to use a 100 MHz continuous mid-band spectrum in the 3450-3550 MHz band for 5G.
In Europe, the European Union (EU) is committed to opening up new frequency bands and bandwidths for 5G in all EU countries. The frequency bands include 700MHz-30MHz, 3.5GHz-400MHz, and 26GHz-3GHz.
Similarly, some European operators have used 1800MHz or 2100MHz for 5G under the dynamic spectrum sharing mode (DSS). In the Middle East and Africa, the spectrum has been allocated to multiple operators in the C-band, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and South Africa.
In China, in order to promote the development of 5G and promote the effective use of radio spectrum resources, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Notice on Adjusting the Frequency Use Plan of the 700MHz Frequency Band”, which clearly adjusted the frequency use plan of the 702-798MHz frequency band to mobile communication systems. And use the 703-743/758-798MHz frequency band plan for frequency division duplex (FDD) mobile communication system.
Subsequently, China Mobile and China Radio and Television also signed a 5G network co-construction and sharing cooperation framework agreement in May. According to the plan, China Mobile and the China Broadcasting and Television Association will jointly invest in the construction of a 700MHz 5G wireless network at a ratio of 1:1, jointly own and have the right to use the 700MHz 5G wireless network assets.
The spectrum cleanup of 5G and higher versions in the future is underway, which is also a common global trend, and we expect this trend to accelerate in 2021.
The Development Trends Of Outdoor Wireless Networks In 2021 3, Open RAN interface
In 2021, the development of open RAN interfaces will receive widespread attention and will give birth to a new generation of products and innovative technologies. This is because the open RAN supports truly open and interoperable interfaces within and between the various sub-components of the RAN, including radiofrequency, hardware or baseband units, and software.
This model encourages suppliers at all levels of the supply chain ecosystem to expand their business and develop technology through open interfaces, thereby promoting innovation. At the same time, through open interfaces and commodity hardware platforms, it can reduce capital costs and provide a single supplier.
Joe Madden, the chief analyst at Mobile Experts, said that almost all major wireless access operators have begun to pay attention to open RAN interfaces to varying degrees. He expects this to be the best solution to the coverage problem.
The open RAN interface provides many new advantages for mobile operators. First, the open RAN interface can help operators reduce costs through the common modularity of the commercial module (COTS) processing equipment of the baseband unit (BBU) and the RU hardware.
In addition, the open RAN interface supports the separation and generalization of the software part from the (vendor) dedicated hardware system, thereby facilitating the creation and rapid deployment of new services and operational solutions.
As mentioned above, as more new suppliers enter the market, open RAN interfaces can promote a stronger supply chain ecosystem. Therefore, with the deployment of open RAN interfaces and gaining a lot of attention to further promote a new generation of products and innovations (such as tighter integration of radio frequencies and antennas), the disaggregation of RAN in 2021 is bound to continue and further develop.
In addition, the open RAN interface will continue to play an important role in accelerating the deployment of the 5G infrastructure by achieving extensive interoperability between devices. The US operator DISH has decided to select an open RAN interface for 5G deployment in the US and promised to cover 70% of the population through its 5G network by June 2023. In Japan, Rakuten’s 5G network will be based on an open RAN interface architecture, allowing it to mix and match technologies that are most suitable for users.
At the same time, Vodafone has also confirmed that it plans to launch open RAN interface pilots in Europe and Africa. The initial pilots are expected to focus on 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile phones and data services. In the future, there will be other Vodafone openings involving 5G. RAN interface pilot.
It is worth mentioning that Vodafone became the first UK mobile operator to start an open RAN interface site. Operators in China are also considering using open RAN for small cell sites for indoor coverage to enhance the effect of 5G indoor applications. Specifically, it may start in 2021.
Build a better future
The year 2020 is drawing to a close. The telecom industry is looking forward to 2021, and is looking forward to building a better future-interconnection is ubiquitous in a true sense and no one will not enjoy it.
Although the new crown epidemic has brought some impact on the global deployment of 5G networks, as more 5G smartphones and terminals are launched, 5G deployment will continue to develop rapidly in 2021. In order to support these new devices, mobile network operators need to evaluate which deployments can really benefit from active Massive MIMO deployments in order to truly focus on the efficient implementation of 5G networks.
Governments around the world will clean up more spectrum to accommodate more users and data. The development and deployment of open RAN interfaces will also receive more and more attention, which will give birth to a new generation of products and accelerate the deployment of 5G.
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