HETNET

Mobile broadband traffic is growing rapidly, driven by the increasing popularity of

connected devices, such as smartphones and tablets. User expectations for mobile
broadband are on the rise as people rely more and more on mobile applications, video
content, cloud-based services and staying connected anywhere, anytime. Consumers
have come to expect a consistent, high-quality and seamless mobile broadband
experience wherever they are Meeting these expectations is a key priority for operators
looking to differentiate themselves in the Networked Society, in which everything that
can benefit from a connection will be connected. To provide the right mobile broadband
experience, networks need sufficient capacity and coverage to deliver high data
throughput with very low latency. One approach is to deploy a heterogeneous network,
commonly referred to as a hetnet.
Hetnet is about providing seamless user experience for smartphones and mobile
broadband services everywhere. Whether a user is on the move, on home or in office.
It is about network migration, adding capacity and coverage in a smooth cost effective
way.
To prepare networks for surging traffic demand, operators should improve and densify
their existing mobile broadband networks and add small cells in an optimal way. How,
when and where operators migrate to heterogeneous networks will be dictated by their
mobile broadband services and their existing networks, as well as broader market,
technical and economic considerations. One size does not fit all, and flexibility is needed
to ensure that customer expectations are met in the most cost effective, spectrumefficient and future-proof way.

Users are increasingly aware of the connection speed, data rate, coverage and
availability of their mobile broadband services. To ensure that subscribers remain
satisfied, operators must deliver a consistent, high-quality and seamless mobile
broadband experience that meets or exceeds their expectations.
To obtain maximum value from the radio spectrum, operators will need flexible basestation site solutions that allow for ideal placement of the radio site. Operators may
need to consider alternatives for site location by connecting with new partners such as
municipalities, retailers and external agencies rather than traditional deals made with
landlords and tower-approval committees. In metropolitan areas, complementing an
already dense macro network with additional small cells at street level needs to be
implemented using small antennas in such a way that equipment is almost invisible.
For most operators, radio spectrum is a limited resource and one of the most strategic
and important investments. Naturally, this fact leads to a demand for spectrum to be
used as efficiently as possible especially in densely populated areas.
The performance of a heterogeneous network depends greatly on the degree of radio
coordination. If the underlaid small-cell layer is uncoordinated, spectrum needs to be
partitioned to avoid interference, which leads to inefficient use of radio spectrum and a
direct loss in achievable user bit-rates. By using coordinated embedded cells instead,
the spectrum can be fully reused in both layers macro and small-cell underlay which
means the same services can be delivered using half the spectrum, simply because the
achievable user bit-rate is proportional to spectrum bandwidth. Coordinated embedded
cells also increase capacity so that only 30-50 percent as many smaller cells are needed
to provide the same total network traffic and increase user bit-rates for devices limited
by transmission power or interference by a factor of two to ten (source: Ericsson). The
performance of coordinated embedded cells is enabled by efficient spectrum reuse
across layers and radio coordination functionality. Consequently, single vendor solutions
for heterogeneous networks make sense from a coordination and interworking
perspective saving spectrum and reducing the total cost of ownership for the small-

cell layer by at least 50 percent (source: Ericsson) as the result of reduced

infrastructure (fewer cells needed), rollout, operation and maintenance costs.
Designing a heterogeneous network in the most effective way involves improving,
densifying and adding to the mobile broadband infrastructure as depicted in below
given figure

1. IMPROVE:
Improve existing macro cells. It is a cost effective way to improve capacity. By
enhancing macro cells with more spectrum,advanced antennae, increased order of
diversity on the receiver and/or the trans-mitter. Continued evolution of HSPA and LTE
technology will drive macro network efficiency through specialized features, such as
higher-order modulation, higher sectorization, andmulti-carrier and multi-antenna
solutions, as well as spectrum refarming, using hybrid radio solutions. Increasing
capacity and data rates in this way does not require new sites.

2.DENSIFY:
Densify the macro network the capacity and data rates achieved by enhancing the
macro network alone, will eventually be insufficient to meet demand. The targeted
addition of cells strategically located can improve capacity. This approach keeps the
total number of sites relatively low, whilenetwork performance becomes less sensitive
to traffic location.
A simple way to densify a network could be a cell-split, which enables a site from
transitioning to a six-sector site from a three,sector site.These strategic cells could use
macro equipment, or even micro equipment

3.Add
Add small cells by complementing macro cells with small cells and dedicated indoor
solutions, based on the 3GPP standard. This approach can include the use of micro
cells, pico cells or low-power remote radio units (RRUs), as well as Wi-Fi. It delivers
high per-user capacity and rate coverage in areas covered by the small cells, with the
potential to improve performance in the macro network by offloading traffic generated
in hotspots. The degree of integration that can be achieved throughout the
Heterogeneous Network will determine the overall network performance.

A key question when adding small cells to macro networks is which carrier frequency
to use for small cells. Whether it should be same as macro cells or it should be
different.
With separate frequencies for small and macro cells, large no. of small cells will be
needed to improve capacity as spectrum can not be reused in macro layer. And
moreover, it will become very complex.
Instead reusing macro frequencies in small cells will require fewer small cells and
seamless user experience is easily provided. This however require a tight integration of
small cells and macro infrastructure.

ERICSSON NETWORK ARCITECTURE FOR HETNET:

The ERICSSON network architecture supports small cells fully integrated with macro
network. Small base stations or access points can either connect to a central controller
using dedicated transmission/IP based backhaul. Some RRUs can also connect directly
to a macro base station or main unit that host the digital broadband.
The Ericsson architecture for HetNet leverage on proven macro functionality. It
supports advanced radio coordination and effective integration of operator managed
WiFi.

Small Cell Products:

Below are given some small cell products used in HetNet systems.
The micro RBS is a small integrated base station suitable for outdoor and indoor
hotspots. It is flexible yet very capable.
The micro RRUs is a small radio unit that connects to a digital base band unit over CPRI
interface. It is ideal for large indoor hotspots and difficult radio environments.

The standalone WiFi access point AP 6000 gives the operator an effective tool to
serve laptop and smartphone users in small indoor and outdoor hotspots.

The multi standard pico RBS supports WCDMA, LTE and WiFi in mixed mode
operation. For flexible deployment, the pRBBs supports a variety of transmission options
and this makes the pRBS an ideal solution for indoor and outdoor hot spots.

AIR serves as a very effective tool in dense Urban areas. It is a multi-standard product
that supports MIMO and beamforming techniques , it is prepared for 4 way receive
diversity , thus making it very good option to densify already dense macro networks.

Conclusion:
To Conclude, HetNet gives the operator the tools to improve, densify and add to the
macro network for a smooth and cost effective network migration. The macro layer can
be improved greatly through more spectrum and improved antenna systems and radio
functionality. Small cells allow for flexible deployments and are tightly integrated in
macro network for max capacity and seamless user experience.