Fine-grained coverage of wireless sites

Network coverage is the biggest challenge facing telecom operators. The arrival of the wave of data services will bring a new round of network competition. As the neurons of wireless networks, sites need to be more refined and cover even the smallest corners to cope with changes in multiple scenarios and achieve goals such as site acquisition, fast delivery, green environmental protection, and TCO savings.

Based on the needs of operators, Huawei has developed a series of site solutions to meet the coverage needs of operators in different scenarios, such as densely populated urban areas, rural towns, remote areas, high-speed railways/highways, and special scenarios.

Urban coverage: harmony is the way

The scenes that need to be covered in cities are numerous and complex, and the difficulties they face are also the greatest. For example, it is impossible to obtain a large enough site space to meet the construction requirements of traditional sites. Huawei's Mini-shelter equipment accommodates power supply, power distribution, monitoring, wiring, base stations, transmission, backup power, etc., but only occupies 1M2/cabinet, making it very easy for operators to build sites and find addresses.

Today, as residents' environmental awareness is gradually increasing, especially in some cultural scenic spots in cities (such as parks, scenic spots, squares, etc.), it is difficult to obtain sites because traditional sites are not in harmony with the surrounding environment. Huawei's beautified sites, designed by many landscape designers and urban planners, can be perfectly integrated into the cultural environment in various forms.

The site energy consumption caused by the sharp increase in data services is also a difficult problem that operators need to solve urgently. Huawei Mini-shelter is equipped with a variety of temperature control equipment that can adapt to different climate environments, and the refined energy-saving technology of compartment temperature control greatly reduces energy consumption.

There is another important scenario in urban coverage, that is, the problem of the original sites being cancelled and new sites not yet acquired due to the renovation of old urban areas. If an emergency communication vehicle is used, it will take up a lot of resources and take a long time to use; if a new permanent site is built, the investment will be large and time-consuming. In response to this situation and demand, Huawei has developed a rapid deployment site (RDS: Rapid Deploy Site), which can quickly complete the construction of the basic facilities of the base station within 2 days, and the entire site can be relocated and moved to other places for continued use later. The cost of the rapid deployment site is much lower than that of the emergency communication vehicle, and it is mobile and quickly opened, which well meets the needs of temporary site construction in the renovation of old urban areas; in addition, this temporary site can also cope with temporary hot communication needs such as some large-scale gatherings and seasonal sports events.

Rural coverage: cost is key

The wireless network and coverage in towns and rural areas are much simpler than in cities, and there is no great difficulty in acquiring sites. Operators are generally more concerned about the cost of building sites and hope to have enough site space to support site evolution and upgrades.

As communication equipment becomes more adaptable to the environment and smaller in size, indoor sites are gradually evolving into outdoor sites. Traditional indoor sites require a lot of equipment such as power cabinets, battery cabinets, and equipment cabinets, while outdoor sites can accommodate all equipment in one cabinet, reducing space, costs, and ensuring fast deployment.

At present, in Huawei's integrated outdoor station solution, the power module is only 1U high and can output nearly 97% conversion efficiency; the distributed base station BBU unit only requires 2U of space height, and has strong environmental adaptability and can operate at a temperature of 40-50 degrees; the transmission equipment is only 1-2U high; and the backup battery of the entire base station can meet more than 4 hours of backup power under 150/300AH conditions.

Huawei's integrated outdoor station solution provides a powerful tool for Chinese operators to achieve rural coverage and improve network quality, especially in populous provinces such as Henan, Shandong, and Anhui, where it has taken advantage of its integration and low cost.

Remote coverage: easy management

Remote areas, especially those with underdeveloped economies, have poor public infrastructure, no roads, and lack of electricity, making initial site construction and subsequent maintenance difficult and expensive. Due to economic backwardness and sparse population, ARPU is low, bringing limited returns to operators. Therefore, what operators want most is to provide communication services to local residents at low cost and easy to manage.

As a developing country, Zambia's economy has started to develop steadily in recent years, and its per capita income has increased. Faced with the fast-growing mobile market, the local mainstream operator, MTN Zambia, has actively expanded the capacity of its GSM network, gradually covering urban areas, but network coverage in remote areas, especially in some natural scenic resorts, is still a problem, leading to customer complaints and affecting MTN's brand.

Huawei's "integrated, small-capacity, green" site solution Easysite has attracted great interest from MTN Zambia. The Easysite solution uses solar power to completely solve the power supply and maintenance problems of operators in areas without electricity in African countries with rich solar energy resources, and also achieves energy conservation and environmental protection. The integrated site design greatly reduces the site's civil engineering work, speeds up construction, and reduces the initial investment cost of site construction. Currently, MTN has deployed Easysite in a natural forest park and natural village in Zambia, providing convenient communication services for tourists and local residents who come to vacation.

Railway coverage: uninterrupted power supply

High-speed railway mobile communication coverage is a global problem. In the railway/highway scenario, frequent cell switching leads to a greatly increased call drop rate and poor customer experience. The RRU remote shared cell solution can expand the cell coverage distance, reduce the switching frequency and call drop rate, so it has become the preferred solution. The key to this solution is local power supply and backup power.

In order to better apply this solution, Huawei's small-capacity wall-mounted power supply with backup power came into being. It is flexible to install and can be mounted on a pole or directly hung on a tower together with the RRU, helping the RRU to be pulled farther, improving network quality and improving anti-theft performance; the wall-mounted power supply can also be equipped with a small-capacity battery to ensure 2-4 hours of backup power, which effectively solves the problem of unstable power grid.

China's Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway crosses many provinces and has complex surrounding terrain. After adopting Huawei's RRU remote cell solution, the network quality has been greatly improved. Now, even in high-speed trains, passengers can still make calls and surf the Internet smoothly and stably, and freely enjoy various communication services.

Special coverage: temperature control must be precise

High-cold and high-temperature areas place extremely high demands on site temperature control. Huawei's Mini-shelter products are made of double-layer color steel plates with insulation materials in the middle, and are equipped with natural cold sources such as direct ventilation and heat exchange and low-power temperature control equipment. For extremely low temperatures, heating films can be added to control the temperature in the cabin. In summer, temperature control can be performed through high protection level (IP55) direct ventilation or heat exchange, maximizing the use of natural cold sources and reducing site energy consumption.

Northern Europe is located in a high-latitude area with long and cold winters. Local operators require outdoor cabinets at sites to have strong insulation functions and hope to use natural cold air as much as possible for temperature control to save site energy consumption. With Huawei's Mini-shelter, sites no longer need to be equipped with air conditioners. Low-power heat exchange and direct ventilation can meet temperature control requirements, making sites greener.

Kuwait is located in the Middle East. The average daily temperature in summer is above 40 degrees, and the hottest temperature is over 50 degrees, with a large temperature difference between day and night. The local operator VIVA requires that the outdoor cabinet of the site can provide a reliable temperature control system under high temperature during the day and work with low power consumption at low temperature at night. Huawei specifically proposed the "intelligent heat exchange Mini computer room" solution. In this solution, first, the insulation design of the wall panel effectively blocks the impact of solar radiation on the temperature in the cabin; second, the intelligent heat exchange technology integrates air conditioning and heat exchange. The air conditioning works at high temperature and the heat exchange works at low temperature. They automatically alternate and back up each other, providing reliable temperature control equipment and achieving the purpose of energy saving and consumption reduction. Compared with traditional air-conditioned computer rooms, the temperature control energy consumption is reduced by about 50%.

After decades of development, wireless communications have brought great convenience to people's lives. Today, the network has evolved from voice to data, and massive amounts of information are pouring into individuals, families, and all walks of life. Operators are constantly innovating to provide users with high-quality and stable businesses and services. Wireless networks also need stronger functions and more refined coverage to adapt to their needs and development. Huawei's rich site products and solutions can meet the needs of operators, help them obtain sites earlier and more easily, solve site deployment problems in various scenarios, and lay a solid foundation for excellent networks.