GL1800 Refarming, A Cost-effective Way to Win in ... - Light Reading

GL1800 Refarming, a cost-effective way to win in MBB
GSM1800 RF modules do not support multi-mode capabilities and have limited
transmission power, RF modules and antenna feeders are separated to ensure the
quality of coverage. This scheme is characterized by high investment, the
requirement for a site, and difficulties in deployment.
The second is separating RF modules but sharing antenna feeders. This scheme is
suitable for scenarios where RF module’s multi-mode support capabilities or operating
bandwidths are limited. Though requiring new RF modules, the scheme allows for the
sharing of the antenna feeder system through combiners to save on the space where
antenna feeders are mounted. The negative side of this scheme includes the addition
of combiners and, typically, additional 3dB insertion loss, which affects the
transmission power to some extent.
The third is sharing both RF modules and antenna feeders. This scheme fully reuses
the existing antenna feeder system and RF modules with no need to add any
hardware after they come out of the base band’s CRPI. Nonetheless, this scheme
requires RF modules to have multi-mode capabilities and higher operating
bandwidths, guarantee use in discrete frequencies at 1800MHz, and support future
bandwidth increases. Meanwhile, they should accordingly have higher transmission
power. In Huawei’s SingleRAN solution, the RF modules feature multi-mode
capabilities, dual channels, full bandwidth, and high power, helping operators save on
CAPEX and facilitating network deployment. The solution is the best choice for
GL1800 refarming.
The 1800MHz band is one of the main frequency bands commonly used by mobile
operators, and also an effective supplement to the GSM900 network. In the
foreseeable future, with mobile data services leapfrogging, traditional GSM voice
service subscribers will be gradually migrated to UMTS or LTE networks. Given
current spectral resources, the GL1800 Refarming is one of the best solutions for
keeping network competitiveness, reducing investment and rapidly deploying LTE
networks.
2012-10-17 Page 4 of 4