Professional Documents
Culture Documents
W H I T E PA P E R
W H I T E PA P E R
1. About Airspan 5
W H I T E PA P E R
2. Introduction 6
3. An Introduction to WiMAX 7
3.1 Why WiMAX? 7
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9. Conclusions 41
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Glossary
W H I T E PA P E R
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About Airspan
W H I T E PA P E R
Airspan Networks provides wireless voice and broadband data systems and solutions
for the mobile and fixed WiMAX and Wi-Fi markets, including Voice over IP (VoIP). Its
wireless products serve operators around the world in both licensed and unlicensed
frequency bands between 700 MHz and 6 GHz. Airspan has a strong wireless
product roadmap that includes WiMAX Forum Certified equipment and products
meeting 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi standards. Airspan’s HiperMAX and MicroMAX base
station products support portable and mobile 802.16e-2005 WiMAX alongside fixed
and nomadic 802.16-2004 products. Airspan products also include “self install” and
professionally installed customer premise equipment.
Airspan is on the Board and is a founder member of the WiMAX Forum and a
member of the Wi-Fi Alliance. The Company has deployments with more than 400
operators in 100 countries, 100 of which use Airspan’s WiMAX products. Airspan’s
wireless systems are based on radio technology that delivers excellent area coverage,
capacity, high security and resistance to fading. These systems can be deployed
rapidly and cost effectively, providing an attractive alternative to traditional wired
communications networks. Airspan also offers radio planning, network installation,
integration, training and support services to facilitate the deployment and operation
of its systems. Airspan is an international telecommunications equipment provider
headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.
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Introduction
W H I T E PA P E R
Airspan is pleased to introduce its IEEE 802.16e-2005 Mobile WiMAX products and
solutions. In this document we describe the products, assumptions and approaches
used to design and propose the Mobile WiMAX network.
Airspan has been delivering WiMAX solutions since 2005 and is a recognised leader
in WiMAX with over 100 WiMAX commercial deployments and trials worldwide. The
hands-on experience gained from these projects puts us in a unique position in
providing our customers with products, services and solutions that enables them to
be competitive and successful in their chosen markets.
Key Benefits
• Specialist radio planning tools developed for this purpose and calibrated for our
products
• Innovative design processes and approaches that take into account customer’s
specific requirements
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An Introduction to WiMAX
W H I T E PA P E R
Since its arrival, WiMAX has redefined the wireless broadband landscape turning this
technology into one of the leading technologies of the decade. First came fixed
WiMAX based on the IEEE 802.16-2004, which for the first time defined a
worldwide open standard for broadband wireless. This was followed by the IEEE
802.16e-2005 standard upon which Mobile WiMAX is based. The latest standard is a
superset of the fixed WiMAX standard and adds mobility and other advances for
delivering improvements in capacity, throughput and spectral efficiency required for
delivering mobile broadband services.
Mobile WiMAX enables broadband wireless anytime, anywhere using any WiMAX
enabled devices, whether it is a laptop, desktop modem, digital phone or even a
games device. Mobile WiMAX creates a seamless broadband environment at home,
in the office and on the move.
WiMAX is good news for end users, network operators, service providers and
suppliers alike. WiMAX makes possible new economics as well as new performance
levels, transforming the business case for deployment of broadband wireless access. It
creates the necessary environment for high quality, multi-megabit services to be
delivered to end users more cost effectively by creating a global marketplace and a
framework for inspiring innovation.
The world’s leading silicon suppliers are committed to supporting WiMAX. They are
already into their third or fourth generation of WiMAX silicon, constantly improving
functionality, and levels of integration. High volume and new levels of integration are
driving the WiMAX customer premises equipment costs ever lower, dramatically
improving service provider economics.
A number of vendors including Airspan are developing Mobile WiMAX end user
equipment in the shape of USB devices or PCMCIA cards, unleashing a new era of
broadband wireless mobility, instantly WiMAX enabling many millions of portable
devices.
Today’s WiMAX Forum™, which was established by Airspan and other visionary
industry leaders, champions the widespread adoption of this standard, establishes a
brand for the technology and lays the groundwork for interoperability between
products from different suppliers.
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• A global standard for delivering mobile and fixed broadband to the end user
against interoperable system profiles
• Provides the lowest cost way to deliver wide area wireless broadband
• Supported by the leading industry players, creating a huge ecosystem that benefits
all Airspan is committed to WiMAX
As a founding and charter member of the WiMAX Forum™, Airspan has led the way
in WiMAX, being among the first wave of companies to achieve certification for its
base station and customer premises equipment. Airspan is a WiMAX Forum board
member and as such plays an active role in shaping the present and the future of this
global standard.
IEEE 802.16e-2005 specifies a number of new features essential for the rollout of an
efficient mobile WiMAX network. Currently 802.16e-2005 optimised for mobile and
portable applications; currently it is not optimised for fixed and portable deployment
but work is underway to define a suitable system profile for this in the future.
W H I T E PA P E R
WiMAX forum has broken the IEEE 802.16e-2005 certification process into two
stages called Wave 1 and Wave 2. Wave 1 and Wave 2 certification have in turn been
divided into two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. The content of the phases for Wave 1
have been defined. For Wave 2 phase 1 has been defined, phase 2 definition is
ongoing.
Below we consider some of these features in a little more detail and establish their
contributions to better coverage, throughput improvements and eventually CAPEX savings.
Both OFDM and SOFDMA air interfaces of the 802.16 standard support variable
bandwidth sizes for NLOS operations. In order to keep optimal subcarrier spacing,
the FFT size should scale with the bandwidth. Possible SOFDMA profiles are shown in
Table 2. Please note that in order to reduce system complexity and facilitate
interoperability the decision was made to limit the number of profiles for WiMAX. At
the present time only two FFT sizes, 512 and 1024, are recommended in WiMAX.
SOFDMA Profiles
Parameter Values
System bandwidth (MHz) 1.25 5 10 20
Sampling frequency (MHz) 1.4 5.6 11.2 22.4
FFT size 128 512 1024 2048
Number of sub-channels 2 8 16 32
Subcarrier frequency spacing 10.94kHz
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3.2.2.1 STC
Space time coding (STC) is a method employed to improve the reliability of data
transmission in wireless communication systems using multiple transmit antennas.
STCs rely on transmitting multiple, redundant copies of a data stream to the receiver
in order to improve the chances of successful decoding of the received data. As such
STC is a special case of Matrix A MIMO described below and works with
802.16-2004 and 802.16e-2005 CPEs with a single antenna. The use of STC can
result in system gains of up to 7.5dB in QPSK modulation.
The purpose of STC is not to increase the system capacity but to improve the error
rate performance of the system by transmitting coded information. Since higher
order modulation schemes are more susceptible to noise, as the error rate
performance of the system improves, it may be possible to use a higher order
modulation scheme, which means that each symbol carries more bits of data, which
in turn may result in modest increases in system capacity. STC can be seen as a
special case of MIMO, where Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) technique is used.
Indeed this is one of the Matrix A MIMO scenarios. Figure 2 depicts the STC
operation.
BS SS
(S2*) S1 Tx1
H1
1001 S2S1 Rx2
S PA C E -T I M E
M O D U L AT O R
ENCODER
Tx2 H2
(S1*) S2
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3.2.2.2 MIMO
Multiple Tx/Rx chains and antennas in the base stations is now a well-established
technique. Technological advances in high scale integration are making multiple Tx/Rx
chains and antennas also economically viable for the mobile and stationary subscriber
stations. The WiMAX Forum Mobility Task Group (MTG) defined profile specifies two
MIMO versions called Matrix A MIMO and Matrix B MIMO. The IEEE 802.16 standard
defines other MIMO classes, for example Matrix C MIMO, which may be adopted by
the WiMAX Forum in future profiles.
In MIMO systems Multiple Input and Multiple Output are defined in relation to the
channel. Two or more Tx antennas input multiple inputs into the channel and two or
more Rx antennas extract outputs from the channel.
Matrix A MIMO
Matrix A MIMO implements the rate 1 Space-Time Coding scheme (commonly known
as the Alamouti Code). This technique captures diversity gains by sending a single
data stream in two parts out of two antennas, interleaved with transformed/conjugated
versions of the same information, so that the receiver has higher probability of
successfully extracting the desired signal. Matrix A achieves a spatial diversity order of
two, but does not set out to achieve combining, interference mitigation, or spatial
multiplexing gains.
Matrix A MIMO delivers higher link robustness, reducing fade margin by up to 11dB,
with little or no degradation as subscriber mobility increases. The impact on end-user
data rate is small; reduced fade margin may allow the use of marginally higher order
of modulation, but it is not comparable to the 1.5-1.75 times throughput gain
achieved by comparable Matrix B MIMO through spatial multiplexing. Matrix A
MIMO is useful in suburban and networks with light loading and relatively high
subscriber mobility. Figure 2 depicts the Matrix A MIMO operation.
BS H1,1 (f)
(S2*) S1 Tx 1
H1,2 (f)
1001 S2S1
S PA C E-TIM E
MODUL AT OR
ENC OD ER
H2,1 (f)
Tx 2
H2,2 (f)
(S1*) S2
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Matrix B MIMO
For channels with a rich multipath environment it is possible to increase the data
rate/ throughput by transmitting separate information streams on each antenna in
the DL direction. Using sophisticated receiver technology, the different streams can be
separated and decoded. For example, using 2 transmit and 2 receive Tx/Rx chains
(and the associated antennas), up to twice the capacity of a single antenna system
can be achieved. This is particularly useful in urban deployments where long reach is
less important than high throughput at the end user device. In WiMAX, spatial
multiplexing on the downlink is made possible using the Matrix B MIMO, which can
provide a capacity increase of 1.5-1.75x in a 2x2 Matrix B MIMO configuration.
Figure 4 depicts the Matrix B MIMO operation.
BS H1,1 (f)
S1 Tx 1
H1,2 (f)
1001 S2S1
S PA C E-TIM E
MODUL AT OR
ENC OD ER
H2,1 (f)
Tx 2
H2,2 (f)
S2
Smart MIMO
Smart MIMO is a hybrid of the Matrix A and Matrix B MIMO described above and
enables the range extending qualities of Matrix A MIMO and the throughput
enhancing qualities of the Matrix B MIMO to be utilised in an intelligent manner
throughout the sector. The base station scheduler makes an intelligent choice for
individual mobile stations to assign them to a Matrix A or Matrix B part of the
WiMAX frame. This provides optimal gains on an individual mobile station basis per
frame which maximises the efficiency of the WiMAX channel.
Smart Antenna Systems (SAS) combine antenna arrays with sophisticated signal
processing to enhance SNR for higher throughput and link robustness while
simultaneously reducing interference. Beamforming is an example of SAS. When
receiving a signal, beamforming can increase the gain in the direction of wanted
signals and decrease the gain in the direction of interference and noise. When
transmitting a signal, beamforming can increase the gain in the direction the signal is
to be sent and direct nulls at users that would otherwise be interfered with.
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With the potential for fewer base stations to achieve a particular system-wide
coverage and capacity, beam-forming can provide a savings of as much as 30-40%
on CAPEX and 20-30% on OPEX.
SAS can be used in conjunction with MIMO to provide a Hybrid system when
beamforming and MIMO gains are combined on a single WiMAX interface.
3.2.2.4 Sub-channelization
Broadband wireless systems tend to have better downlink (DL) performance than
uplink (UL). This is because the base station radios are more powerful than the radios
implemented in the user devices in order to keep the costs and power requirements
as low as possible. This creates an imbalance in the UL and DL performance of the
network and restricts the range to that which can be achieved by the end user
devices transmitting towards the base station.
One of the techniques that can be employed to boost the UL performance is called
sub-channelization. When the system is UL sub-channelization enabled, the available
channel bandwidth can be divided into a number of sub-channels thus reducing the
amount of the channel bandwidth used by the end user device. Since the available
energy is concentrated in smaller number of sub-channels the UL performance can be
improved by up to 12dB depending on the number of sub-channels that are used.
This in turn translates to CAPEX and OPEX savings by helping to achieve better
balance between the UL and DL performance of the system.
3.2.2.5 Hybrid-ARQ
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The simplest version of H-ARQ, combines Forward Error Correction (FEC) and ARQ by
encoding the data block plus error-detection information (such as CRC) with an error-
correction code (such as Reed-Solomon code or Turbo code) prior to transmission.
When the coded data block is received, the receiver first decodes the error-correction
code. If the channel quality is good enough, all transmission errors should be
correctable, and the receiver can obtain the correct data block. If the channel quality
is bad and not all transmission errors can be corrected, the receiver will detect this
situation using the error-detection code. In the case of chase combining, the receiver
stores the incorrectly received coded data blocks and when the retransmitted coded
data block is received, the information from both coded data blocks are combined
before being processed by the decoder of the error-correction code. This approach
increases the probability of successful error correction and improves system
performance by reducing lost data and retransmissions.
Timely channel quality indication (CQI) messages at the receiver are essential for
adaptive power and rate control and H-ARQ to be effective. The support of high
mobility services requires that fast corrective actions are taken at the transmitter to
ensure the link is operating optimally at all times. Mobile WiMAX has specified CQI
messages that are compact in size, resulting ensuring that the CQI messages provide
fast and reliable feedback of path conditions to the base station while maintaining
low overhead.
IEEE 802.16e-2005 specifies high performance error correction codes called turbo
codes which provide an additional 3dB gain.
Power management features such as idle mode and sleep mode are essential for
battery powered mobile and nomadic end user devices without which the battery life
of the device will be unacceptably short. When the end user device is not actively
being used to communicate with it goes into a low power mode thus saving
electrical power. The device resumes normal operation when needed.
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Airspan’s WiMAX product portfolio is one of the most comprehensive in the industry.
We will now describe these products and the benefits they offer.
HiperMAX is the ultimate mobile WiMAX base station designed for high-density
deployment situations. HiperMAX has been architected to provide a highly scalable,
fully redundant base station product that will deliver the optimum performance for
years to come. HiperMAX is fully compatible with the Mobile WiMAX Network
Reference Model (NRM). HiperMAX is part of the Access Service Network (ASN).
HiperMAX supports the reference point (R6) between the base station and the ASN
Gateway as well as the reference point (R8) between base stations. HiperMAX
interworks with Airspan’s ASN Gateway, ControlMAX, and with other third party ASN
gateways.
HiperMAX represents the state of the art, next generation base station design and
includes:
• Fully upgradeable, software defined radio (SDR) based PHY and MAC layer
implementation capable of simultaneously supporting both SOFDMA and OFDM
• Fully digital, OBSAI based, fibre optic interfaces between indoor and outdoor
equipment, which can operate at km’s separation
• GPS based timing synchronisation essential for TDD deployments and frequency
accuracies required for Fractional Frequency Usage deployment models
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HiperMAX-micro
HiperMAX Radio
HiperMAX and HiperMAX micro share the same radio implementations which are
connected to the baseband processors via OBSAI based fibre optic technology. The
HiperMAX radios can be configured to work with diversity, MIMO or SAS based
antenna configurations.
HiperMAX radios can be used in conjunction with cross polar antennas. When used
together with 45o cross polar antenna, it is possible to deploy one antenna instead of
two thus providing savings in antenna and planning costs.
The HiperMAX family of base stations offers the operator unrivalled CAPEX and OPEX
benefits. Here is why:
• HiperMAX-2 and 4 supports ATCA chassis that can house up to 12 sectors for
enormous base station capacity for high density deployments or redundancy for
high availability services
• OBSAI based fibre optic interface between the baseband processor and the radio
provides unrivalled flexibility in terms of placing the radios near the customers for
targeted service delivery
• With the potential for fewer base stations to achieve a particular system-wide
coverage and capacity, beam-forming can provide a savings of as much as 30-40%
on CAPEX and 20-30% on OPEX
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W H I T E PA P E R
Airspan develops its own mobile and fixed end user devices as well as collaborating
with other vendors of such equipment for achieving interworking. The current range
of subscriber station (SS) and mobile station (MS) equipment are summarised below:
Services Data, VoIP Data, VoIP Data, VoIP Data, VoIP Data, VoIP Data, VoIP
IPTV Video Video Voice Video Video
Airspan’s WiMAX products incorporate all the features that are required for the initial
installation and commissioning of the products as well as their day-to-day efficient
running. To this end, all products include comprehensive management capabilities in
terms of features designed into the products as well as the centralised Operations &
Management (O&M) system, Netspan.
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Netspan is designed around a client /server architecture. The Netspan server runs on a
PC platform, making use of an SQL database to store the configuration, statistics and
alarm history from the radio network. Access to the Netspan server is from Microsoft
Internet Explorer, using the web service of the Netspan server.
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For small networks or trials, where backup and redundancy capability within the host
machine is not required, the following specification Netspan server can be used.
• CD ROM Drive
The Netspan O&M has terminal mobility service support from day 1, enabling
roaming. Netspan cooperates with the CSN and ASN for subscriber and service
provisioning. Network Authentication is managed separately from service provisioning
and activation, which is a fundamental part of any mobile system design.
Each Netspan operator is given configurable access rights, allowing each operator to
be granted the rights appropriate to their function. Netspan provides configuration
and diagnostic access to every WiMAX network element, right down to each
individual Subscriber Terminal.
Netspan offers the operator significant CAPEX and OPEX benefits. Here is why:
• GUI based user interface with intuitive design minimising training and number of
crafts persons required to run the network
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We start by describing the Network reference model defined by the WiMAX Forum
followed by a description of the implementation options offered by Airspan.
R2
NAP HOME NSP
Network Access Provider Network Service Provider
Internet
BS
AAA HA
R6 ASPs
R1 IP R3
R8 ASN IMS
Mobile Station Cloud GW
(MS) (FA) IP Legacy Core
R6 Cloud CRM Billing
Networks
BS
ASN CSN
Access Service Network Connectivity Service Network
2G/3G Mobile
Networks
R4 R5
Other
Another ASN Operator’s
CSN
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Network Reference Model reference points are summarised in the table below:
The IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard calls for the ability to manage subscriber mobility at
a number of layers as well as to authenticate, account and apply policy on a per
subscriber basis. This is achieved by dividing the WiMAX network into two main
parts:
The ASN consists of the WiMAX base stations and the ASN Gateway, whereas, the
CSN is at the core of the network providing control and management functions such
as AAA, DHCP, FTP and IMS.
A key element of the ASN is the ASN Gateway, which controls and aggregates the
traffic from one or more WiMAX base stations and manages handover between them
which includes maintaining authentication service flows and key distribution between
base stations.
The NWG has defined three ASN profiles, referred as profile A, B and C from which
vendors and service providers can select their preferred solution. Profile A and C both
use centralized ASN Gateways, however, in Profile C the base stations are responsible
for implementing the Radio Resource Management (RRM) and Handover
management functions. Profile B embeds the key ASN functionality inside the base
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station, which removes the need for a centralised ASN gateway. Recently Profile A
has been withdrawn leaving just Profiles B and C. Airspan currently offers Profile C
compliant solutions in collaboration with the specialist ASN Gateway vendor Starent.
Airspan’s ASN Gateway portfolio is called ControlMAX which is described later.
Connectivity Service Network (CSN) is the core of the network. It controls and
manages the ASNs and the subscribers with a variety of services such as AAA, Home
Agent functions, DHCP server, etc. CSN is also responsible for connecting to other
operator’s networks and enables inter-operator and inter-technology roaming.
Airspan is collaborating with Starent and other specialist vendors to deliver a
comprehensive CSN solution which is described in the next section.
Airspan’s Mobile Station (MS) device, 16eUSB, will be Wave 2 compliant from the
outset and will support MIMO as described in Section 4.
Airspan also recognises that the success of a mobile WiMAX deployment depends
not just on the radio solution but also requires a well integrated network solution
which is in accordance with the NRM defined by the WiMAX Forum. To this end
Airspan is prepared to cooperate with the operator’s chosen suppliers for ASN
gateways, AAA servers, DHCP servers, etc. Airspan has also established commercial
relationships with leading independent vendors in their respective fields in order to
offer its customers a total solution. We will now introduce this solution.
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Working our way from left to right, we have already described Airspan’s MS and BS
solutions in section 4. We will now concentrate on describing the ASN Gateway and
CSN solutions.
ControlMAX offers the choice of a high capacity platform or an “entry level” server
platform with the flexibility for small and large networks that can scale accordingly.
The high capacity without changing or adding additional chassis. The system
simplifies the network by reducing the required number of devices under
management and minimizes connection set-up latency by reducing the number of
call hand-offs in the network.
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• Authentication
- RADIUS client support
- Authenticator functionality including key generation and distribution
- AAA proxy support
• Redundancy
- Session Persistence
- Geographic Redundancy
• Inline Services
- Content Detection & Control
- Deep Packet Inspection
- Statefull Firewall
- Peer to Peer Detection
- Enhanced Charging, enabling charging based on events, content, volume or time
- Content Filtering
• Mobility Agent
- Foreign Agent (FA)
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ControlMAX is available on a server platform, providing a low cost entry level system
for small networks. This supports either a distributed architecture, with an ASN-GW
installed at each BS site, or a star topology with a single ASN-GW aggregating traffic
from multiple BS sites.
ControlMAX offers the operator significant CAPEX and OPEX benefits. Here is why:
• Scalable capacity grows with the need giving pay-as-you-grow benefits enables
CAPEX spend management
• Carrier grade quality hardware and software platform provides high availability,
improving customer service experience and reduces OPEX costs
• High performance platform supports more base stations and offers the option of
offering more gateway functions, positively improving both CAPEX and OPEX
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This is the crucial part of CSN functionality that controls efficient IP address
management as well as user and device access to the network.
• Mobility support for proxy- or client-based MIPv4, and/or support for MIPv6
Airspan’s AAA solution provides a scalable and robust product to meet these
functions, using a powerful and policy and profile engine. Using industry standards, a
single platform supports authentication, authorisation and accounting of services
across all access types and infrastructures.
In conjunction with a reliable scalable DHCP server, Airspan provides highly available
and rapid address management thus improving the user experience.
Entitlement Control
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Billing
• Inter-administration accounting
Airspan offer the ability to support both prepaid and post paid solutions for billing
the end customer.
Airspan’s CSN solution offers the operator important CAPEX and OPEX benefits.
Here is why:
• Centralised policy control for rapid rollout of new applications improving revenues
• Real-time control of network asset usage improves OPEX and maximises network
investment
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Airspan has been deploying wireless solutions around the world since the mid-1990s.
The experience we have gained from deploying more than 400 networks in over 100
countries has been extremely valuable. We have integrated this experience into
processes that are used to deliver our customer optimum solutions that meet and
exceed their requirements.
We will now consider the elements of the design process in more detail.
In order to provide the operator with the right solution we need to understand the
key requirements for success. The operator’s requirements will span a wide range of
issues, including regulatory, competitive and financial. A systematic way of capturing
these requirements is essential for designing the right solution. Airspan’s experts
work closely with the operator in capturing the necessary data and in the iterative
analysis of the results.
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The key parameters for requirements capture are summarised in the table below.
Topic Requirements
Regulatory Position 1 License conditions
2 Frequency band
3 Available spectrum
4 Channel size
5 Power limitations if any
6 Guard bands to be allowed with other networks in the
same geographic area
Schedule 1. When is the network scheduled for launch
2. How are the services phased?
Geographic Coverage 1 The area to be covered
2 Other networks in the area belonging to the operator or
competing networks
Coverage Requirements 1 Traffic coverage probability for different types of subscribers
2 Coverage probabilities for indoor and outdoor usage
3 Contiguous coverage vs island deployments
Subscriber Profiles 1. Types of subscribers to be served - business or residential
2. Type of devices to be served?
3. Expected percentage of the types of users
4. Subscriber distribution across the coverage area
5. Expected mode of operation – Fixed, Nomadic, Portable, Mobile
6. Expected subscriber uptake and density
Service Definitions 1 Types of services to be offered - types of data services, VoIP, video, etc
2 Service definitions - UL and DL bandwidth requirements,
delay requirements, etc.
3 Mobility requirements
4 Traffic requirements
5 Security requirements
6 QoS requirements
Deployment Criteria 1 Preferred base station locations, if any
2 Base station site selection preferences
Network Criteria 1 Whether the system will be deployed alongside existing systems
thus requiring integration with existing network elements
2 Network traffic requirements
3 Extent of network required - Radio Access Network, ASN, CSN,etc.
4 Topology - distributed vs centralised
5 Billing requirements
Network Management 1 Operations and Management requirements
2 O&M interfaces
3 Collaboration with other management systems
4 Access control to the system
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Once the key requirements are understood the network can be designed to best
reflect the requirements.
The extent of the network design is dependent on the network criteria specified.
• If the required network is the Radio Access Network (RAN) then the main design
work will comprise of the RF design and planning which is described in the
following section
• If the required network involves the RAN and the ASN then network design will
take into account the design of the total Access Services Network, including the
base stations, ControlMAX and the interfaces to other ASNs and the CSN
• If the required network involves the RAN, the ASN and the CSN then the network
design will embrace all aspects of the network as depicted in Figure 7 above
Traditional frequency re-use for 6-sector and 3-sector deployments are demonstrated
in Figure 10a and 10b below.
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6 Sectored Cells – typically 10% aggregate 3Sectored Cells – typically 40% aggregate
capacity reduction due to co-channel capacity reduction due to co-channel
interference when using 3 channel allocations interference when using 3 channel
across entire network. allocations across entire network.
IEEE 802.16e-2005 networks are well suited to planning using this method.
Fractional Frequency Reuse utilises Partially Used Sub-Carriers (PUSC) on the downlink
and the uplink.
IEEE 802.16e-2005 networks are optimally deployed using 3-sector cells. With this
approach, a 3-sector cellular structure is created using 3 PUSC zones. Within each
PUSC zone 1/3 of the available FDMA tones are used. In addition, all the tones are
used across the different PUSC zones near the base station. This is demonstrated in
Figure 11 below.
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• Blue areas are served by PUSC zones in the WiMAX frame structure
- Within each PUSC zone, 1/3 of the available OFDMA tones are transmitted.
- Each adjacent sector is allocated a different set of OFDMA tones – denoted
by P1, P2 and P3
The benefit of using this approach is that a single wide-band channel (5MHz,
10MHz) can be used throughout the network deployment. Additional capacity can
be deployed by adding new layers onto each cell by using additional channels.
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Airspan employs a global RF planning team with representation in each region of the
world. All activities are coordinated both from a central office and through regional
sales teams. The central office ensures consistently high quality and efficient
processes are delivered as well as effective use of tools and databases; regional
control ensures tight project timeline and financial controls are met. We have also
developed a worldwide pool of certified RF planners who can be brought rapidly into
the team should the need arise for large or intensive projects. These teams, tools and
processes have been honed through our long history of participation in pre-sales and
deployment WiMAX projects.
On the tool side, our RF planning solution incorporates two well-known third party
products as well as utilising a number of tools specifically developed by us.
Airspan has chosen to use Planet EV™ from Ericsson and WaveSight™ from Wavecall
as its WiMAX RF planning tools of choice and utilise them into alongside other in-
house developed tools. We have worked closely with these suppliers in order to
ensure that the planning tools fully reflect the performance, features and
characteristics of Airspan’s products for more realistic predictions.
Airspan also regularly evaluates other 3rd party products to reduce the time taken to
carry out RF Planning activities, maintain a lead in the use of new technologies and
thereby increase the value of our RF planning services. For example, we are currently
evaluating a site and sector optimiser that optimises site configurations and
minimises site counts to satisfy coverage requirements. Initial results are very
favourable which means we plan to offer this feature in the near future.
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• BUSINESS MODEL PHASE - Nominal cell plans which provide increased levels of
accuracy
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Some examples of the output of this phase are shown in figure 12 below.
The Business model phase of RF design produces more accurate results by using more
detailed market requirements and traffic modelling data together with more precise
preferred base station site locations, customised propagation models and medium
resolution DTM and clutter databases.
Typical examples of the output of this phase are shown in figure 13 below.
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The planning for the network deployment phase needs to deliver the highest level of
accuracy as this is critical for the successful rollout of the network.
This phase is driven by the latest and most detailed market information, subscriber
traffic dimensioning data, acquired or available base station site locations, detailed
propagation models calibrated by drive testing, medium to high resolution DTM and
clutter databases, BS site/sector configuration databases and network management
data.
Examples of the deliverables from this phase are shown in the following figures
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This section provides a summary of the link budget details. Airspan has developed
link budget analysis tools that can predict both coverage and capacity analysis based
on the predicted coverage. Link budget based analysis is useful for providing relatively
quick answers which need to be backed up by the more detailed RF planning work as
detailed in the next section.
The link budget analysis is based on extensive work carried out by Airspan both at a
theoretical and at a practical level. Theoretical analysis is calibrated and refined
through actual measurements obtained from field work.
Parameter Values
Frequency band 2.5GHz, 3.5GHz, 4.9GHz
Channel bandwidth 5MHz and 10MHz
TDD Ratio Configurable. Typically 3:1
Modulation QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
Propagation model Cost123
FFT size 512/1024
Interference margin 1.5/3dB
BS Antenna height 30m
16eUSB antenna height 2m
Integrated laptop 2m
EasyST antenna height 2m
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8.2 Link Budget Calculation for a 3.5GHz TDD system with 5MHz channel size
The UL and the DL link budget calculation for a 3.5GHz TDD system with 5MHz
channel size is shown in the table 6 below.
Tx diversity gain dB 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0
Pilot power boosting gain dB -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6
Rx diversity gain dB 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0
Composite Rx sensitivity dBm -104 -104 -104 -104 -104 -104 -104 -104
(QPSK ? DL PUSC 1/3)
Tx diversity gain dB 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Rx diversity gain dB 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Composite Rx sensitivity
(QPSK ? UL PUSC 1SC) dBm -111.9 -111.9 -111.9 -111.9 -111.9 -111.9 -111.9 -111.9
Table 6 – Link Budget for 3.5GHz TDD system with 5MHz channel size
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8.3 Link Budget Calculation for a 3.5GHz TDD system with 10MHz channel size
The UL and the DL link budget calculation for a 3.5GHz TDD system with 5MHz
channel size is shown in the table 7 below.
Tx diversity gain dB 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0
Pilot power boosting gain dB -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6
Rx diversity gain dB 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0
Composite Rx sensitivity dBm -101 -101 -101 -101 -101 -101 -101 -101
(QPSK ? DL PUSC 1/3)
Tx diversity gain dB 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Rx diversity gain dB 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Composite Rx sensitivity
(QPSK ? UL PUSC 1SC) dBm -108.9 -108.9 -108.9 -108.9 -108.9 -108.9 -108.9 -108.9
Table 7 – Link Budget for 3.5GHz TDD system with 10MHz channel size
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Table 7 below provides guidelines to the estimated maximum ranges that can be achieved with
a 3.5GHz TDD system with Matrix A MIMO implemented using HiperMAX base stations
together with a range of different MS/SS devices.
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9. Conclusions
W H I T E PA P E R
In this white paper we have introduced Airspan’s IEEE 802.16e-2005 Mobile WiMAX
solutions and their benefits. With over 100 commercial and trial WiMAX
deployments around the globe, Airspan is a recognised leader in this technology
space.
Airspan has created a mobile WiMAX platform that provides key benefits to the
operator:
• Wave2 compliant solutions with advanced radio features such as MIMO and SAS
that improve the system’s reach and throughput thus optimising CAPEX
investment
• A complete solution that can be integrated with the operator’s existing network
elements or one that offers a complete ground-up network solution which
minimises the system integration work to be carried out by the operator
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How to find out more about Airspan products and solutions
W H I T E PA P E R
For more information about Airspan, its Airspan has sales offices in
the following countries:
products and solutions, please visit our
Europe
website:
Czech Republic
www.aispan.com Finland
Poland
Russia
Or write to us at one of the addresses below. United Kingdom
Middle East
United Arab Emirates
We will be delighted to send you additiopnal
Africa
information on any of our products and their
South Africa
applications around the world.
Asia Pacific
Australia
China
The material contained in this document Indonesia
is for information purposes only. It does Japan
not form a formal specification for Airspan Philippines
products and is subject to change Sri Lanka
without notification
www.airspan.com