In-Building Solutions
Why In-Building Coverage?
Outdoor cells might be blocked by high
penetration loss of modern buildings
Dominant cell definitions often
disturbed by multiple cells from outside
Massive demand for capacity requires
dedicated in-building sectors
A look at the in-building market
The in-building market has 4500
seen global growth double 4000
in the last five years 3500
3000
2500
Active DAS
Active solutions have 2000 Passive DAS
accelerated faster than any 1500
other type 1000
500
0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Active vs. Passive DAS – Global System Revenues Forecast 2011 to 2017
Source: ABI Research
A look at the in-building market
In 2012 ABI Research reported:
“Axell’s DAS system also supports a mixture of high and low power
remotes with frequency support ranging from FM to 2600 MHz,
supporting multiple technologies on one head end. The company scores
high on ‘LTE and MIMO Support’, ‘Capacity Enhancements,’ and
‘Scalability’.”
“Its presence as a leader in the indoor public safety market gives it a high
score on ‘Multi-technology Support’.”
Axell is the only company in top 4 concentrating fully on active solutions
(ABI Research In-Building Wireless report, 2012)
Ways to Provide In-Building Coverage
Passive DAS (Distributed Antenna System)
RRH (Remote Radio Heads)
Optical DAS
Passive DAS
Advantages
• Low cost
• Standard material (coax, splitters,
antennas)
• Wideband – but higher losses at
Combining higher frequencies
BTS BTS
Challenges
Operator A Operator B • Difficult to adjust sectors to add
900 900 capacity
• Limited ability to scale due to losses
1800 1800
• High power combining is PIM sensitive
2100 2100 • High loss at data growth relevant high
frequencies
RRH (Small Cells)
BTS
Advantages
Operator BBTS • Can be installed near the antenna
Operator B
• Very smart split of BTS components
900 (processing/RF conditioning)
1800 • Good network transparency and failure
detection
2100 Challenges:
• Single box for each band AND operator
results in many units being required
• Inability to simulcast reduces trunking
efficiency
• Complex combining at remotes
• High levels of power and space required
Optical DAS
Low power Very small footprint
combining even for multi-
reduces PIM issues operator/ multi-band
(single box)
OMU
POI Low passive path
loss improves NF
and UL - much
BTS BTS higher UL
Operator A Operator B throughput
900 900
1800 1800
2100 2100
Advantages of Optical DAS
All bands and operators in one box – small footprint, low power consumption
Energy efficient
Provides high data throughput on all frequencies
Individual sector patterns for each band and operator
BTS Hotel concept optimises CAPEX/OPEX
Easy expansion to new antennas or bands
The Big Picture
Feature Passive DAS RRH Optical DAS
Low NF / path loss
Simulcast
Single cabinet for all bands/operators N/A
Active DAS Alarm Monitoring
Ease of system expansion
PIM issues to high power combining
Support of multiple operators
High energy efficiencies
Base station Hotel (BTS) Concept
Base stations of multiple operators with multiple
standards can be contained within a BTS hotel in a
location optimised for this purpose
BTS hotels considerably reduce OPEX/CAPEX
with savings on space, power and cooling
Easy access by multiple parties can be
provided to allow swap and replacement
within minutes, avoiding access to security
restricted areas
BTS Hotel as Centre Point of Distribution System
1 All base station capacity is
R
combined at one location
R
R
BTS-sectors feed the OMU
R
(Optical Master Unit)
R
R
Master Site R
OMU converts RF to fiber and
BTS BTS R distributes signals to Remote
BTS BTS R
Units
OMU
BTS BTS 1
1
Optical Solutions
Optical System Overview
Master Unit
• Modular POI – to combine sectors and adjust levels
• Expandable
OMU – to convert RF to optical fiber and to supervise
BTS remote units
MBF Remote Units
1 2 3 n 4
MBF-D-9-22 MBF-D-9-22 MBF-D-9-22 MBF-D-9-22
1510nm 1530nm 1550nm 1570nm
1310 nm
C C C
Fibre optic Master Unit
Base Transciever Station
&
Optic Distribution Frame
Optical Fibre
Axell Wireless System Architecture
MBF 20 and MBF 40
BTS BTS OMU II supports up to 24 MBF
20 units or 8 MBF-40 - can mix
and match
MBF-40 unit
1 antenna port
POI - Point of Interface Up to 43dBm on
Can support up to 8*24 MBF-20 one antenna port
Up to 4 bands
or 64 MBF -40 units
MBF-20 unit
2 antenna ports
23dBm per antenna
port per band
Up to 4 bands
OMU – Optical Master Unit
• Supports 8 optic modules per tray
• Cascadable – up to 24 optical ports
• Automatic optical level adjustment
• Sectorization option
• Control via Ethernet and/or Modem,
SNMP
• External alarms and dry contact
From POI TX/RX
To MBF via fibre
via coax feeder
MBF Remote Units
Can be mixed in one optical system
MBF-20 MBF-40
RF Power (Per Band) 2 x 18dBm 37 to 43 dBm
Bands per unit Up to 4 Up to 4
LTE – MIMO
Multi-operator
support
Application In-Building In-Building, Tunnel,
Outdoor, Stadia
High-Power Repeater MBF-40
• Output power supports 5 EMEA bands (800, 900,
1800, 2100, 2600)
• Composite power from 37-43 dBm
• Convection Cooled
• Low Noise Figure < 3.5 dB
• Automatic commissioning with pilot tone – both
directions
• >80dB Tx / Rx isolation to overcome potential for 3rd
order intermod in Rx for EGSM (35MHz B/W)
Low-Power Repeater MBF-20
• Future proof - easy upgrade to support up to 4 bands
through a single F/O cable
• Small size and weight
• Ideal for In-Building cellular applications
• 2 antenna ports with 2 x 18dBm composite power
per band
• Single mode SC/APC F/O cable
• 4 different wavelengths on the UL to utilize a single
F/O cable
• Low UL noise figure - reduces interference to the BTS
MBF MIMO
Examples of different MBF-40 topologies
MIMO
2X2
MIMO
2X2
MBF MIMO
Flexible, modular solutions
Example of MBF-40 MIMO
connection to OMU II
Easy to Use GUI
To monitor OMU (MU) and MBF (RU)
Some Typical Applications…