What is Small Cell Technology

Major U.S. telecom providers are preparing to use cellular technology to roll out 5G coverage. What does it mean?

Simply put, small cell technology uses a low-power, short-range wireless transmission system or base station. They cover small geographic areas or small indoor and outdoor spaces.

Small cell technology shares the same characteristics with base stations that telcos have used for years. However, they can handle the high data rates of mobile broadband and consumers, as well as the high density of low-speed, low-power devices for the Internet of Things.

These features make it critical to the delivery of 5G cellular plans:

• Ultrahigh speed
• One million devices per square mile
• millisecond latency

How Small Cell Technology Works

Small cell technology improves the utilization of multiple input, multiple output, beamforming and mmWave. This concept simplifies the deployment of launch sites and speeds up implementation.

Additionally, these transceivers can be wall mounted for indoor applications. For outdoor coverage, use small towers and lamp posts. Backhaul connections are less complex than they used to be and typically consist of fiber, wire or microwave connections.

In 3GPP version energy loss rate in 17 and 18, the concept of integrated access and backhaul of millimeter wave technology is also proposed. Ultra-fast millimeter-wave signals do not require fiber optics or other means, but go directly through the cellular network to the backhaul of cellular base stations. It requires line-of-sight between sites, but saves capital and operating expenses because new fiber doesn't need to be installed.

There are three types of small cell technology in the industry today:

• Femtocell
• Picocells
• Microcellular technology

Each type is differentiated based on its coverage capabilities and the number of individual users it can support.

Micronetwork planners and engineers sometimes lump femtocells into a separate category. Their cost, purpose and installation process differ from other small cell technologies, which are more like traditional large cells. Femtocells are positioned in the custom and IT technology market for quick installation in homes or businesses, just like Wi-Fi access points.

Femtocell

Femtocells are small mobile base stations that help extend the reach of residential and enterprise applications. They are mainly used to offload the network when the network is congested. Femtocells can extend coverage and increase penetration of buildings by indoor consumers.

Femtocell features:

• Coverage area: 30-165 feet (10-50 meters) (indoor)
• 100 mW
• Support 8-16 users
• Backhaul: Home or Business Ethernet
• low cost

piccell

Piccells are small cellular base stations that cover small indoor areas such as buildings or aircraft. Ideal for small businesses, picocell can provide extended network coverage and large data throughput. Applications include:

• office
• Hospital
• shopping center
• schools and universities

Picocell Features:

• Coverage area (indoor): 330-820 feet (100-250 meters)
• 250 mW
• Support 32-64 users
•  Backhaul: wired, fiber
•  low cost

Microcellular technology

A micro base station is a type of base station in a mobile network that is served by low-power base stations and covers a limited area, such as:

• shopping center
• hotel
• Unique space within a smart city or transportation hub

Microcellular technology is generally more abundant than Picocell, although the difference between the two is not always clear. In addition, micro base stations can support more users in unique geographic areas.

Microcellular technology features:

•  Coverage: 1600 feet - 1.5 miles (500 meters - 2.5 kilometers)
•  2-5 watts
•  200 simultaneous users
•  Backhaul: Wired, Fiber, Microwave
•  Moderate cost (more expensive than femtocells and picocells)
•  Massive IoT and Mobile Broadband

IoT applications have connected millions of devices, including high-speed cameras and autonomous robots. Mobile broadband connects to low-data smart sensor networks, creating massive machine communication infrastructure, massive IoT.

With the expansion of mobile broadband and massive IoT infrastructure, traditional mobile networks have limitations in further enhancing technological advancements. Microcellular technology plays a key but distinct role in:

Mobile Broadband: Microcell technology is critical to providing femtocell coverage. Mobile network operators can use small cells deployed in the new mid-band frequency band in the 3.5GHz frequency range. Thanks to the wide bandwidth (100MHz), they can cover new signals in new spectrum for greater capacity and higher average data rates.

Massive IoT: Microcellular technology increases the area density of 5G connections for a large number of sensors and other low-power, low-data IoT devices.

5G is necessary to make way for new technologies enabled by the internet, artificial intelligence and sensors. Businesses and organizations will have to rethink or update outdated IoT strategies.