Main Topic Realizing the full potential of SingleRAN
Realizing the full
potential of SingleRAN
Delivering flexible resource usage and reduced OPEX, the SingleRAN solution has been playing a key role in building
an efficient radio network, and its continual improvements can help achieve the full potential of SingleRAN.
O
Bernhard Scholl joined T-Mobile
International (now “DTAG”) in 2006.
He is now Vice President for “Radio
Network System Design” responsible
for the GSM, UMTS and LTE radio
network design in the various
Deutsche Telekom affiliates. Prior to
his current position he worked for
Siemens Communications as Product
Manager for UMTS base stations.
21 SEP 2011 . ISSUE 61
perating in 50 countries,
we have about 150,000
base stations on different
networks, with the
smallest network having about 300 base
stations, while larger countries have
more than 50,000 base stations. We
have nearly 100% 2G coverage in all
our operations, but 3G is less; typically
it is between 60 and 90% in different
countries. We are adding LTE into our
network portfolio by starting limited
deployment.
We also have around 4000 hotspots
covered by WLAN. Additionally, we
have Flash-OFDMM, 3G TDD, and
CDMA systems; however, these three
have been deployed on a smaller scale.
Our major technologies are GSM,
UMTS and LTE for wide coverage and
macro deployment, due to the mature
ecosystem.
We a r e d e p l o y i n g S i n g l e R A N
currently to all GSM sites, which are
subject to the network modernization
in Germany, hence 12,700 sites. The
SingleRAN solution will make our
network flexible and cost-efficient, while
providing the best customer services.
Accommodating
different standards
As an operator, when we deploy
LTE or carry out modernization, we
By Bernhard Scholl
would really want everything we build
to accommodate other technologies
such as GSM and UMTS, or combine
the modernization directly with LTE
deployment.
When building a radio network, we
previously selected a supplier for GSM,
a second one for UMTS, and may be
a third one for LTE. SingleRAN has
enabled us to move away from this
multi-supplier model by using multiple
technologies per site. Huawei’s base
station, for example, can accommodate
900MHz and 1800MHz in one
rack. Being highly integrated, these
installations occupy much less footprint
compared with the previous generations
of RAN equipment.
SingleRAN modules can be reused
for different standards. This helps us
reduce significantly the operational
costs regarding spare parts, logistics,
and training, while providing higher
f l e x i b i l i t y f o r i n c re a s i n g t r a f f i c .
In a d d i t i o n , t h e s i m p l e n e t w o r k
architecture has also protected our
investment, thanks to its single
transport interface for all backhaul
and the capability of handling either
GSM, UMTS, or LTE in the current
application case.
Accommodating multiple standards
in both the RF and transport layers,
however, the current SingleRAN BTS
architecture can be further improved
at the baseband layer, which is still
composed of standard specific modules.

In the future, the baseband should
be capable of handling multiple
technologies and provide redundancy
across the modules.
Enhancing resource
efficiency
Another major benefit brought by
SingleRAN is flexible resource usage,
including spectrum usage and using the
air interface in the most efficient way
with different technologies in parallel.
Today, the most efficient power
amplifier is the small narrowband power
amplifier. On the one hand, we require
increased power amplifier bandwidth
to cover full band or multiple bands,
and cope with fragmented spectrum.
In addition, as we want to prepare
for network sharing and protect our
investment, we need to have a power
amplifier with a full frequency band,
which we can use for the flexible design
of network sharing and have the highest
efficiency in power consumption. We
also need increased output power to
cope with increasing traffic. On the
other hand, we need to reduce power
c o n s u m p t i o n t o d e c re a s e c a r b o n
footprint and OPEX in general.
In order to solve this dilemma and
achieve the optimal balance between the
output power, bandwidth and power
consumption, SingleRAN should evolve
and offer a more flexible power amplifier
solution by which operational state is
changeable via software.
Changing O&M mindset
SingleRAN calls for a change of
mindset. There are separate GSM,
UMTS and LTE standards, and we
usually assign separate expert terms and
operation teams to tackle GSM, UMTS,
and LTE networks. SingleRAN has
enabled us to unify our O&M teams
into one. We are also expected to have
a single operation system, which can
Huawei Communicate
researching the software management
SingleRAN has enabled of SingleRAN, which aims to keep the
us to unify our O&M teams software dependency between the GSM,
UMTS and LTE parts as low as possible
into one. We are also and minimize the downtime due to
software upgrade.
expected to have a single
operation system, which can
Single transmission
flexibly handle SingleRAN.
In this case, every SingleRAN t r aSingleRAN helps to reduce the
nsmission costs and helps the
network element can be network architecture migrate to single
IP-based transmission. Take Deutsche
controlled by one network Telekom for example: we currently have
element manager. more than 500 BSCs in Germany, and
about 22 RNCs. In the future, we will
have only one transport network and a
flexibly handle SingleRAN. In this case, co-location or co-rack solution of BSCs
every SingleRAN network element can and RNCs. We will also introduce the
be controlled by one network element IPSec solution for GSM and LTE traffic,
manager, while a consistency check including UMTS O&M traffic.
can be delivered for multi-standard
configuration management.
Other features are also important, for Enhancing resilience
example, plug and play – when you plug
a network device, e.g. a base station, To a v o i d s i n g l e - p o i n t f a i l u r e ,
it will be configured and network SingleRAN requires additional
integrated in an automatic procedure. redundancy and resilience concepts
This functionality has currently been depending on the site priority and
provided for the LTE as part of the the required network quality. In this
SingleRAN solution, and the same case, a network swap becomes quite
functionality for the GSM and UMTS c o m p l i c a t e d . In a b i g a re a , a s i n
parts should also become available. This Germany, a swap will involve about one
can greatly enhance operation efficiency. million customers on GSM, UMTS and
LTE networks. We need an intelligent
redundancy mechanism. For LTE, we
Decrease software can easily connect two different core
networks; but for GSM and UMTS, it
dependency is not available yet. We are looking into
these challenges and trying to improve
In t o d a y’s t y p i c a l d e p l oy m e n t reliability in order to avoid one single
situation, we would have three fault on a site causing massive loss of
independent software packages, each to communications.
manage GSM, UMTS and LTE system. Delivering flexible resource usage
SingleRAN combines the individual and reduced OPEX, the SingleRAN
packages, and a software upgrade enables solution has been playing a key role
the smooth evolution from GSM and in building an efficient radio network.
UMTS to LTE. The introduction of We have already reaped the SingleRAN
LTE means an upgrade of the GSM benefits and we expect to see more
b a s e s t a t i o n s . So m e t e s t e f f o r t i s improvements to achieve the full
required to ensure the high reliability of potential benefits of this solution.
the SingleRAN radio network. We are Editor: Michael huangzhuojian@huawei.com
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