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Can a Small Cell System Handle All Enterprise Voice and Broadband Needs?
June 03, 2013

We think this is possible. We have been collecting 18-months of system performance data from the network deployments, and the data shows a 99.5% reliability. Performance metrics are collected by our SpiderNet system, a centralized configuration, fault, and performance management system that allows our customers to rapidly provision, deploy and monitor E-RAN deployments. Keep in mind two key metrics (KPI) for how macro cellular and Small Cell networks are measured by mobile operators:

  • Voice call set-up success rate (CCSR) must be at 98% or better
  • Voice call drop rate (CDR) to be less than 0.8%

The average performance data for voice call set-up success rate, voice and data sessions and handoffs events, were collected from scalable network deployments ranging from 7 to 65 radio nodes and supporting 500 to 3,000 people, each powered by one Services Node.

SpiderCloud's E-RAN networks, with soft handoff, today show average voice call set-up success rates of 99.5% and an average call drop rate less than 0.8%, where the best network deployment shows a call setup success rate of 99.8% and call drop rates below 0.4%.

Each deployment handles thousands of voice calls every day, ranging from 300 in enterprises where mobile devices complement desk phones to over 3,100 in enterprises where only mobile devices are used, and the Small Cell system handles all broadband communications needs. Each of the networks manage hundreds of thousands of data and handoff sessions every day, with the largest deployment experiencing over 500,000 daily sessions.

With these performance metrics, we have shown scalable Small Cell systems installed to support small to large enterprises, can indeed handle all of the voice and data needs of an enterprise.

In comparison, individual or “mesh” Small Cells using hard-handoff, experience voice call drop rates upward or 5% or more. Why is that?

Dense indoor networks present several challenging technology obstacles. Experience shows the indoor Radio Frequency (RF) environment becomes increasingly complex and challenging as the density of the deployment increases. This is particularly true in multi-story buildings where mobile devices experience a three-dimensional (3D) RF environment. A single handset is able to see a very large number of Small Cells, some on its own floor and others from floors above and below it in buildings with open atriums and in campus areas. A device may experience as many as 3-5 handover events per minute, and the radio signal inside buildings experiences flat fading, which means that even a stationary handset sees signal from individual and uncoordinated small cells fluctuate by 6-8 dB. Without a central coordination point or support for soft handoff, such network deployments will experience an unacceptable call drop rate of 5%.

In brief, different solutions fit in different places. See what I mean in Art King's recent blog - Small Cells Repeats the Enterprise Evolution Cycle.

So how do you achieve 99.5% reliability?
One Services Node can control up to 100 multi-access 3G/Wi-Fi/LTE Radio Nodes. Our E-RAN system overcomes these obstacles while simplifying the installation process greatly compared to traditional methods. One E-RAN can deliver unprecedented capacity and coverage to over 10,000 connected smartphones and tablets, with just one connection to the mobile operator’s core network. The scalable system architecture simplifies deployment and overall network configuration for mobile operators as they address pent-up demand for reliable mobile services from enterprise and large venue customers.

Can a Small Cell System Handle All Enterprise Voice and Broadband Needs?
If the system can scale and support soft-handoff and SON - You betcha! More importantly, Enterprise customers already show a strong willingness to switch mobile operators for better coverage. The Market Opportunity for mobile operators in US and Europe is $100 billion for enterprise services.

SpiderCloud Wireless will be at the Small Cell World Summit in London this week.

- Ronny Haraldsvik SVP/CMO
Twitter: haraldsvik

Small Cells Repeats the Enterprise Evolution Cycle
May 20, 2013

It’s remarkable, the evolution that small cells are going through right now. But, when we think back and look at history, small cells are simply repeating the enterprise evolution cycle of the LAN and Wi-Fi. Three critical technology transitions in enterprise are being paralleled by in-building mobile technology:

  • 10Base2/10Base5 to10BaseT LAN
  • Shared Ethernet to Switched Ethernet
  • Standalone Wi-Fi “Fat AP” to Controller Based Wi-Fi “Thin AP”

Why were these evolution cycles and transitions important?

10Base2/10Base5 to10BaseT LAN
10BaseT was ratified in 1990 and, along with widespread adoption of copper/fiber-optic structured cabling (EIA/TIA 568a/b), enabled enterprise IT to deploy LANs beyond a departmental level. Prior to the emergence of 10BaseT, LAN’s based on 10Base2/5 were departmentally owned/operated. They were hand crafted by specialists using expensive components and coaxial cabling. Additionally, enterprise system availability standards could not be achieved on LAN’s prior to 10BaseT. 10BaseT was the core driver that enabled networks to be deployed at-scale inside enterprises as a common transport layer for departmental and mainframe computing on a low cost, repeatable commodity infrastructure. The other component to success was the 10BaseT LAN’s technology acquisition, and installation costs being far lower than10Base2/5. In addition to rapid commoditization of the active electronic systems, a much larger pool of capable labor (telephone cable installers) to wire buildings created fierce competition.

Shared Ethernet to Switched Ethernet
Kalpana pioneered Ethernet switching in 1989. The concept of switching MAC layer packets enabled Ethernet to radically scale up, and was key to the gradual extinction of competing LAN technologies. Shared Ethernet was constructed such that every computer shared access to the cable. This, as you would expect, created contention issues for access to the network and manifested as very slow performance on large or busy networks. Ethernet switching broke networks into smaller pieces where only the computers on a segment of the switch would contend for access. In the world of today, shared Ethernet is not seen in enterprises, every network port is switched, and our computers are never prevented from transmitting because of another host on the same network.       

Standalone Wi-Fi “Fat AP” to Controller Based Wi-Fi “Thin AP”
In the 2001-2002 timeframe, a number of entrepreneurs founded startups (Airespace, Aruba Networks, Trapeze Networks) targeted at resolving the scaling problems in Wi-Fi that enterprise customers were experiencing. The leading edge AP’s of that generation were termed “Fat” in that they were assumed to be standalone devices that had to hold full intelligence locally. Since they were standalone, they did not understand how to cooperate with other AP’s in the environment and each had to be manually configured and managed as single entities. It was an epic nightmare, I was there. The controller architecture was brilliant for Wi-Fi as the “Thin” AP’s installed around the network received their common configuration from the controller and it completely orchestrated all interactions amongst the AP’s. In the world of today, standalone AP’s are relegated to residential, SOHO, and SMB applications where scaling and high performance/density needs are not a requirement.

Small Cell Repeats the Enterprise Evolution Cycle with remarkable parallels.

DAS vs Enterprise Small Cells
The DAS environment is similar to the 10Base2/5 networks of the past. Specialized engineering, installation, and technology along with costs that limit its application to larger venues or very high value enterprise customers. Enterprise small cells use commodity Ethernet for transport and install like access points such that the contractor that wires and deploys office buildings for Wi-Fi can now add small cells to their bag of tricks.

Macro-network to Macro-network/small cells
The notion of densification is conceptually similar to what Ethernet switching did for shared Ethernet cables. Instead of just a 2-mile radius shared 3G/LTE radio domain, the addition of small cells takes the load off the shared macro-network. If you visualize it like Ethernet switching, small cells create lots of little switched segments that unload the larger shared network of that traffic. Every small cell is like a switch port.

Femtocells to Enterprise Small Cells
The problems with placing multiple Femtocells in office and apartment buildings such that they conflict with each other is well known. It was inevitable that a system architecture would emerge to coordinate and operate a cloud of associated small cells inside a building. Why? The Femtocell pioneers encountered the same density problems that Fat Wi-Fi AP’s did in the late 90’s. While SpiderCloud is the first to create a purpose built indoor small cell controller based architecture that solves for the problem space that the Wi-Fi guys did 10 years ago, we certainly won’t be the last. But it is apparent that enterprise is not just a market segment but it requires a “plug and play” technology that is capable of supporting high density, high performance indoor needs.

The old adage of “history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme” lines up nicely when we see the emergent small cells segmentation into Femtocell (home, SOHO, SMB) and enterprise small cells. And, it compares well with the evolution of Ethernet & Wi-Fi in the enterprise networking market. We are heading into an amazing time. Enjoy!                     

The important thing to remember is that “a new and more important role is emerging for mobile operators where enterprise mobility and value-added IP services is part of the ‘package.’ Mobile is the heartbeat of any organization, and wireless is the digital oxygen that our devices breathe at home and on the road.”

Small Cells are evolving with enterprises’ needs and transition from being wireless - to becoming mobile businesses.

- Art King, SpiderCloud Wireless, Director of Enterprise Services & Technologies

Twitter: @EMobilityInside
Visit our Enterprise IT site @ http://SpiderCloud.com/EInsider

“Turn Off Wi-Fi!” - Could this be the answer?
May 09, 2013

Sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it? However, the effect of turning off Wi-Fi at work and other venues is a predictable outcome of the acceleration of the Consumerization of IT trends – when 3G/LTE works as promised. Let’s explore the decisions that result in device owners consciously turning off Wi-Fi.

First, some context:

  • “I asked my kids why their wireless data use had jumped on their smartphones. They said that the school had blocked Facebook and YouTube on Wi-Fi and most students had stopped using it while at school.” – A recent comment by a highly reputable Mobility Analyst
  • “I switch off Wi-Fi when I get to work because my smartphone and tablet don’t work right on our Wi-Fi.” - A comment by a Product Manager at a large mobile operator
  • Blurring the Lines of Networks (Enterprise & Mobile) – (a recent blog)

Why is Wi-Fi turned off? The shared theme is legacy infrastructure configurations and decisions are easy to work around simply by opting out to a medium that cannot be controlled by the IT organizations, best explained by Newton’s third law of motion: To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.  

Within the enterprise, there are two legacy areas of interest:

Service Blocking

  • ACTION: Security people block availability of select services on enterprise and guest Wi-Fi.
  • REACTION: The device owner TURNS OFF Wi-Fi in favor of mobile 3G/LTE, goes to Starbucks, or tethers a connection that IT cannot control.

Legacy Firewalls

  • ACTION: Smartphone and tablet core services/apps are partially functional while behind the enterprise firewall.
  • REACTION: The device owner TURNS OFF Wi-Fi in favor of mobile 3G/LTE, goes to Starbucks, or tethers a connection that IT cannot control.

Newton’s law shows us that the reactions to both legacy deficits are the same: move to a wireless service that functions as the device owner expects it to. This reaction in both the BYOD and COPE ownership models is expected, as there is an assumption of mixing personal and business usage while at home and work.

Gartner reported this week that by 2017 BYOD becomes the norm in enterprises. Assuming the details are ironed out to make this an equitable reality for device owners and the enterprise, enterprise IT will move their trust boundaries closer to their data centers and implement a strategy that assumes a mobile device is an exclusively remote access device no matter it’s location. If the security people continue to apply service blocking rules even on guest Wi-Fi, mobile operator provided wireless is destined to become the desired destination of device owners.

As mobile operators deploy small cells systems that incorporate 3G/LTE/Wi-Fi, the pervasive availability of service will help make the transition invisible with EAP/SIM authentication or similar forms of primary/secondary device and user authentication. Wi-Fi only networks will start to fade from most cellular-sponsored services and enterprises will start to demand the same from its own IT infrastructure. From a functional perspective, wireless network choice will be an automatic process with service quality, function, and underlying connection automation and intelligence driving the selection process. Exact Ventures has also determined that there is a significant market for enterprise IT operations to outsource guest Wi-Fi operations and compliance to their mobile operator. The driver behind the move to outsource guest Wi-Fi is very clear; when you have finite staff, they must be focused on the core business and activities that drive competitive advantage.        

At SpiderCloud, we have taken the approach that all Radio Access Network technology is needed, and mobile operators are positioning themselves to provide wireless services to their enterprise customers. For many enterprises where BYOD/COPE is rising and the Wi-Fi switch is turned OFF at work by device owners, immaculate coverage and capacity of the mobile operator’s infrastructure will be a key competitive advantage in that enterprise.

The important thing to remember is that “a new and more important role is emerging for mobile operators where enterprise mobility and value-added IP services is part of the ‘package.’ Mobile is the heartbeat of any organization, and wireless is the digital oxygen that our devices breathe at home and on the road.”

If we make it simple and secure to both access and use networks, there will be no need to “turn off” Wi-Fi, or turn off any radio access that will help make us more productive at work, on-the-go, and at home.

- Art King, SpiderCloud Wireless, Director of Enterprise Services & Technologies

Twitter: @EMobilityInside
Visit our Enterprise IT site @ http://SpiderCloud.com/EInsider

Addressing the mobile data explosion with small cells
April 16, 2013

Consumer femtocells and their higher power cousins, enterprise and public access femtocells, provide coverage in hard-to-reach areas. But they do not address the mobile data capacity explosion. Why? Because they cannot be used in places where the demand for mobile data is actually exploding!

Spidercloud’s Amit Jain is speaking today at the LTE LATAM 2013 conference, taking place at the Windsor Barra Hotel, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The demand for mobile data is highest in places where hundreds or thousands of people congregate, such as large shopping centres and large office buildings. Using a single small cell, irrespective of its power or capacity, will not help operators meet the demand for data. All that the operator will get is dissatisfied subscribers, who can see five bars of coverage, but merely get a few hundred kilobits of data.

To address the mobile data explosion, operators need a small cell system that enables them to:

  • Build a dense small cell network inside buildings, with numerous small cells
  • Easily add more small cells as more smart phones and more apps come on the network
  • Provide consistently high throughout, and consistently low call drop rates
  • Deploy this small cell network in hours or days, with technicians who are not cellular gurus

This is a tall order. The indoor RF environment, especially in large multi-storey buildings is very challenging. In a dense deployment, a handset can see several small cells at the same time. Because of fast fading, a handset may handover from one cell to another several times a minute without moving at all.

So, is a dense small deployment not possible?  Yes and no. It depends on the architecture adopted. Broadly, four architectures have been proposed in the industry:

1)    Femtocells connected to a Home Node B Gateway (HNB-GW) with hard handover
2)    Small cells connected to a Home Node B Gateway (HNB-GW) with soft handover using “Iurh”
3)    Pico-cells connected to a traditional 3G Radio Network Controller (RNC)
4)    Small cells connected to a small local controller. Local controller connects to the core network as single HNB.

The first option, hard handover of femtocells, has been trialled by many operators and most agree that it is not practical to deploy more than 5-10 femtocells in a large building.

Many suppliers who initially proposed the first architecture are now moving to the second architecture. They are implementing soft handover using a variation of the Inter-RNC handover protocol called ‘Iurh’. Since soft handover requires synchronization between small cells, some suppliers are building small cells with expensive oven-controller oscillators. All handover signaling goes over the backhaul link and can become a significant expense. And there is no way for an operator to locally offload data traffic without breaking inter-small cell mobility. Products based on this architecture are currently in development.

The third option is using pico-cells connected to a RNC is another way to do soft handover between small cells. This architecture is often offered by macro cellular infrastructure suppliers, who are able to scale down their macro NodeBs and reuse existing RNCs. It can be attractive if an operator requires a small number of small cells, but in the case of high density deployments, the cost of RNC ports can add up. Further, this architecture does place very stringent requirements on backhaul, and it unclear how SON functionality will be implemented.

In the fourth architecture, all small cells in a building connect to a small local controller over Ethernet. This controller is responsible for managing mobility, interference and SON. It aggregates all the traffic and connects to a HNB gateway as a single HNB would using standard Iuh signaling. All inter-small cell mobility events stay inside the building, and do not load the backhaul link or the HNB-gateway. The local controller acts as the master-clock and synchronizes all the small cells, eliminating the need for expensive oscillators in every small cell. If an operator wants to offload data traffic locally or integrate with enterprise applications, it can do so using the local controller. Some innovative operators are working on innovative enterprise applications that use the network intelligence that can be accessed at the local controller.

SpiderCloud’s 3G small cell solution is based on the fourth architecture. Operators have used it to deploy as many as 65 small cells in a 16-storey office building, with thousand of subscribers and hundreds of thousands of inter-small cell handovers daily and the technology is now ready to provide coverage, capacity and new applications in even larger buildings.

- Amit Jain, VP of Product Management

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