Professional Documents
Culture Documents
235.10.01
Private Cellular
Networks with
Small Cells
April 2020
www.smallcellforum.org
Credits
Contributors Company
Keyur Brahmbhatt Extenet Systems
Prabhakar Chitrapu AT&T
Balaji Raghothaman Commscope
Cathy Ducker Corning
Hiren Surti Crown Castle
Sundaresh Ericsson
Vedapureeswaran
Peter Love Nokia
Ravi Sinha Reliance Jio
Broad roll-out of small cells will make high-grade mobile connectivity accessible
and affordable for industries, enterprises and for rural and urban communities.
That, in turn, will drive new business opportunities for a widening ecosystem of
service providers.
Those service providers are central to our work program. Our operator
members establish the requirements that drive the activities and outputs of
our technical groups.
The Small Cell Forum Release Program has now established business cases
and market drivers for all the main use cases, clarifying market needs and
addressing barriers to deployment for residential, enterprise, rural & remote,
and urban small cells. It has also established initiatives relating to both public
and private (MNO) coordination. The Small Cell Forum Release Program
website can be found here: www.scf.io
If you would like more information about Small Cell Forum or would
like to be included on our mailing list, please contact:
Email info@smallcellforum.org
Private LTE means new opportunities for telco sector. Private LTE networking
technology is a significant opportunity for the telco sector, enabling new business
models, tailored service offerings and access to new or difficult to reach verticals. It
allows users and customers to integrate diverse sensors, machines, people, vehicles
and more across a wide range of applications and usage scenarios.
We are clear that PCNs are not a use case waiting for 5G to happen. PCNs and
LTE play well together to address user concerns about reliability and service quality as
well as about security and compliance. There are plenty of current commercial
deployments. Private LTE solutions are already available today that can seamlessly
migrate to support private 5G networks when standards and ecosystem support full
commercial deployment. Looking ahead, where enterprises have more demanding
performance requirements – e.g., availability, reliability, latency, device density etc –
5G will bring a significant uplift in the potential of private networks.
Largest adopters: Our survey shows that by 2025, the largest adopter of private
networks will be local government, including networks to support public safety and
smart cities. Other important sectors include manufacturing, retail and transport.
There are two main deployment models for private networks. In the self-
managed model, the customer purchases, owns and manages the private LTE
network. The service-provider-managed model is better suited to organisations
wishing to outsource day-day operations, and particularly for use cases requiring
national coverage or in regions where access to spectrum is not straight forward.
New business models. Private cellular networks can be manged by mobile network
operators (MNOs) or other third-party network providers such as a neutral hosts.
Integrators and third-party providers operating in this space might work in partnership
The need for spectrum. Moving away from proprietary solutions, the trend is for
private networks to be using standard 4G or 5G technology in shared or leased
spectrum. However, there is also a trend for governments to assign licensed spectrum
for enterprise use. Spectrum is being made available in Germany, The Netherlands,
UK, France and Japan, and some enterprise players may bid for licensed CBRS
spectrum in the US auctions in 2020. Making national governments aware of the
socio-economic benefits of this approach must be a priority for our industry and
enterprise.
A critical role for vEPC. A distributed core – that is, an evolved packet core (vEPC) –
is essential in the deployment of private LTE networks. The vEPC can support a RAN-
agnostic network – that is DAS, small cells, Wi-Fi and so on – to enable private LTE
networks in different architectures.
Small cells help deliver cost effective PCN solutions. While private LTE can be
deployed by using either small cells or DAS, small cells have significant economic
advantages over traditional DAS systems. For example, CBRS small cells can be
deployed at $.30 per square foot, compared to DAS at $3 per square foot.1
Small cells help deliver flexible & sustainable PCN solutions. Unlike DAS, small
cells come in an increasingly diverse range of form factors. Each enterprise will have
its own deployment environment and each of these will have its own challenges for the
best installation and management of connectivity, but there will be a small cell to fit
any requirement. Additionally, in the context of 5G, small cells also have a more
flexible and better developed technology roadmap.
PCNs and edge. Edge computing will continue to evolve as an important partner
technology for private cellular networks, delivering access to virtualized resources.
Introducing virtualization into a private cellular network helps deliver a solution for
latency-sensitive and high-bandwidth applications.
1
Joe Madden, Principal Analyst, Mobile Experts, https://bit.ly/2SgS8fT
The paper’s aim is to introduce SCF’s position on the role of small cells in the context
of private networks, to outline market drivers, use cases and recommendations for
LTE-based private networks, and to look at the inevitable evolution of cellular
communications to 5G and what that will mean for future private networks.
The document builds on earlier work on in-building coverage, shared spectrum small
cell architectures, private network deployment case studies and Plugfest activities we
have conducted over a number of years.
Our deployment examples demonstrate how small cells and private networks have a
natural synergy. LTE-based solutions have already been commercially deployed in a
wide-range of settings – from retail and tourism to industrial warehousing and ports,
educational campuses, and transportation and logistics.
In addition, Small Cell Forum has conducted a private evolved packet core (EPC)
Plugfest whose aim was to explore the quickest and most robust way for thousands of
private LTE enterprise networks to connect to a national carrier network operator.
More details on this can be found in various Plugfest report summaries [SCF208],
[SCF209].
Readers may also find [SCF189] Shared spectrum: CBRS small cell network
architecture & operations of interest.
2) help private network service providers (including MNOs, neutral hosts, system
integrators) better understand the benefits which are most valued by the different
types of customer.
Subscriber – person of thing being connected by the private network. Often but not
necessarily a part of the private network customer’s organisation
Service provider – third party organisation managing the private network, could be
an MNO, neutral host, system integrator or other IT provider.
Public cellular networks are designed to serve the broad business needs of mobile
network operators (MNOs). Private networks are custom designed for the specific
needs of an organisational entity such as an enterprise or a local government. Private
cellular networks can provide higher quality mobile connectivity than Wi-Fi, and have a
more extensive ecosystem of technology suppliers, system integrators and service
providers than proprietary solutions. Cellular devices also have the possibility to roam
seamlessly onto global mobile networks.
With LTE technology, new types of spectrum and the emergence of a range of service
providers, commercial conditions are ripe for enterprises and government to leverage
private networks for their business-critical and mission-critical connectivity needs. In
this paper we focus on understanding these early adopters and how they are using
private networks to better achieve their organisation goals.
The paper is organised around the different players and technology components
involved in the private network as illustrated in Figure 1–1.
The key difference between private and public is that the ‘customer’ is an
organisational entity rather than a mobile subscriber. In a private network, the
customer commissions a private network in support of their organisational goals. This
will typically involve providing mobile connectivity to ‘subscribers’. Subscribes may be
‘things’ such as sensor and control networks, or ‘people’ such as an organisation’s
Section 5 considers the role of small cells in private networks and the benefits for
private network providers of tapping into this larger ecosystem.
Section 6 describes the two main deployment models: self-managed and service-
provider-managed, and sections 7 and 8 then describe related standards and
architecture options, including the use of edge compute. Sections 9 and 10 then
consider the timing of the evolution from private LTE to 5GNR, and futureproofing
factors.
By contrast, a public cellular network is one that public users (subscribers of one or
more mobile network operators (MNOs)) can access.
A variation on these themes is a hybrid cellular network. This consists of both types of
model: a private cellular network that only appropriately configured private users can
access and a public cellular network that public users can access.
In a public network regulators set the minimum standards. These normally reflect
license obligations such as coverage, 911 services or number portability.
There are three basic types of private network (known as ‘non-public networks’ in
3GPP terminology):
• Completely isolated
• Integrated with MNO network
• Roaming with MNO network
• Spectrum
• MNO licensed
• Privately licensed
• Shared
• Unlicensed
• Core
• Deployment
• Management/operations
• Enterprise
• Managed services provider (MSP)
• MNO
In addition to these types and characteristics, at present private networks are likely to
be standards-based LTE networks designed to serve specific enterprise, government
and educational purposes. They will offer pervasive connectivity and awareness. They
will also support or enable new and efficient modes of customer interaction and
service delivery.
Private networks that are designed and created for specific enterprises offer
opportunities to optimize performance and service delivery in ways that are
impractical or impossible through generic cellular, wireline or Wi-Fi service provision.
Headline business value to firms includes:
• The provision of bespoke services – i.e., services unique to the customer and
tailored to its business and operational requirements
• Security and privacy – by keeping private user traffic local to the customer’s
private networks
• Improved efficiencies or reduced cost of doing business
• Reduced latency
• Reduced backhaul cost
A neutral host can deploy private cellular networks using local breakout (LBO) to allow
them to interoperate with public cellular networks that use public cloud. This will allow
them to save money on local bandwidth and may improve performance.
Clearly this is a new model that can include some or all of the following players:
Wireless networking in the enterprise domain offers a large, so far untapped growth
opportunity for smart connected systems. It will support a transition from disparate
disconnected networks to smart systems that support new streams of customer-led
value creation.
Private LTE networking technology allows users and customers to integrate diverse
sensors, machines, people, vehicles and more across a wide range of applications and
usage scenarios. It also provides a single, scalable wireless networking solution that
leverages LTE’s technology and ecosystem benefits to address user concerns about
reliability and service quality as well as about security and compliance.
There are many organizations that have wireless networking use cases that cannot be
supported by public networks. These can be split into three broad categories:
Not anymore. Wireless data usage has risen steadily over the past couple of decades.
Wireless data has also reached true broadband speeds. In turn the need for spectrum
has become far greater and the barriers between licensed and unlicensed, and
between public and private, have been lowered.
Which brings us to 5G. One of the most interesting aspects of 5G is the way it will
drive new approaches to deployment and inspire a rebirth of private networking. 5G
will enable many new services and experiences for enterprises and industrial
organizations, notably those that require very low latency, high availability or strong
security.
But in many markets MNOs find it difficult to make a strong business case to the
industrial or IoT sectors. They therefore usually prefer to focus on their familiar
consumer broadband user bases. At the same time, many enterprises would prefer
their cellular networks to be deployed and run by well-established partners that
understand their business and their other technologies. This preference usually
reflects the way such businesses have deployed wireline and wireless LANs and WANs.
In theory then, the door is open for enterprise-focused service providers to offer
mobile services optimized specifically for certain vertical markets. This might be in
partnership with the MNOs – for instance, by leasing their spectrum or by enabling
MNOs to provide services based on a shared network. Alternatively, these networks
might be run independently of MNOs, harnessing enablers such as shared spectrum or
industrial licensed spectrum. Early examples of this could come from Germany, where
car giants BMW, Daimler/Mercedes and Volkswagen have lobbied the regulator
successfully for some mid-band 5G spectrum to be earmarked for industrial purposes.
The SCF view is that the rise of specialized enterprise and industrial mobile services
will, in turn, drive rising investment in neutral host networks and private cellular. This
will be further accelerated by the growing availability of shared spectrum and of
localized, virtualized RAN and core platforms that will help to reduce the cost of
deployment.
So, what sort of players will be involved in this alternative approach to deployment of
networks – in which, it is worth remembering, small cells will play a major role?
With this plethora of different service providers seeking a stake in the enterprise
cellular market, there will be considerable competition and fallout. This, however, will
drive innovation and new business models. It will also result in a far more fragmented
picture of ownership of cellular small cells by mid-decade, as Figure 1–1 shows. This
graph summarizes our forecast for the changing pattern of deployment and
management of small cells.
3.2 Spectrum
The main change is the growth of neutral host and shared network models at the
expense of single-MNO deployments. This is a logical trend. After all, the denser
enterprise networks become, the less practical and affordable it becomes for each
MNO to build its own.
In 2018 most private and enterprise service providers – in public utilities or public
safety networks, for example – were still using proprietary technology and spectrum.
In the 2020s, they will increasingly be using standard 4G or 5G technology in shared
or leased spectrum. However, there is also a trend for governments to allocate some
licensed spectrum for enterprise use. For example, Germany, The Netherlands, and
some enterprise players may bid for licensed CBRS spectrum in the US auctions in
2020 (see also section 7.3).
This changing pattern of network operations will take place against a backdrop of
growth in enterprise small cells. Figure 3–1 indicates our forecast for the growth of
this category to 2025. Enterprise and private network requirements, as well as shared
spectrum, are key drivers.
Figure 3–3 shows the vertical industries which, based on our surveys of enterprises
and their suppliers, will be the biggest adopters of private small cell networks.
Deployments are led by local government, including networks to support public safety
and smart cities. These are followed by manufacturing, retail and transport.
Figure 3–3 Installed base of private small cell networks by vertical sector 2025
Across various market verticals, small cell-based private networks offer tremendous
opportunities to enable enterprise owners to set up scalable, purpose-built networks.
Of course, needs and requirements will vary for each market segment. Network design
and architecture should adapt to those requirements. Service providers need to drive
optimal small-cell-based network designs that meet the unique requirements of each
customer use case.
The availability of lightly licensed CBRS spectrum (see also section 7.3) has opened up
significant opportunities to deploy small cells-based private LTE networks in the
enterprise. Initial commercial deployments involving CBRS were approved by the FCC
in Q3, 2019. This development means that there are now many opportunities for new
entrant service providers to launch private LTE networks.
In this section we describe both the opportunities and the challenges involved in
deploying private LTE services in different market segments. We also look at ways to
address some of the challenges.
This is a key driver for private and local authority-run networks, as the list of potential
benefits below indicates.
• Key issues that are important to cities, most notably providing high quality of
life
• Increasing the tax base
• Ensuring low environmental impact
• Retaining fiscal responsibility
4.1.4 Opportunities
• Private investments
• Financing through commercial stakeholders, service providers, private
investors, and venture capitalists (for example, Amsterdam Smart City
Platform)
• Public private partnerships (PPPs)
• Funding and operation through a partnership of government and one or more
private sector companies, such as the Cisco – Copenhagen partnership
• Special Development Funds
• Federal funding for rural broadband development
4.1.8 Challenges/barriers
Market drivers
In our daily life, we are on the move and goods are on the move, which means that
transportation is at the heart of personal and commercial life. Here are some key
points that explain the socio-economic impact of this sector and the role connectivity
plays in its efficacy and operations.
2
https://www.uitp.org/sites/default/files/cck-focus-papers-files/UITP_Statistic Brief national PT stats.pdf
3
https://stats.unctad.org/handbook/MaritimeTransport/Indicators.html
These data points highlight the importance of connectivity for people, vehicles and
goods. But how do small cells and private LTE help address these needs?
Benefits
Private LTE networks help increase network density and support many requirements
for the transportation sector:
An important benefit of private LTE for the transportation sector is the security of
data. Because it is mission critical, transportation firms need to be able to take
responsibility for the maintenance of their networks. For example, there needs to be
an option for micro targeted redundancy in case one system goes down. Another key
benefit relates to cost: for this sector, the value of the data cannot be counted at a
per bit/monthly charge, which would make the service prohibitive.
Challenges
Like for all industry sectors, a major challenge of private networks for enterprises
relates to the question of ownership: who owns the network deployed? When the
network is to be used in a given enterprise and the enterprise deploys the network
then the question is resolved.
Opportunities
4
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-topic/transport-sector-economic-analysis
5
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan/ecall_en
6
https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/resources/smart-cities-and-mobility/
7
https://www.dmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/INRIX_2017_Traffic_Scorecard_Final_2.pdf
4.3 Ports
4.3.1 Requirements
• 24/7/365 coverage solutions port teams can easily manage, scale, and
monitor
• Automation is now the key use case, alongside mission-critical push-to-talk
(MCPTT), man-down, and lone-worker applications to enhance health and
safety
• Open platforms that integrate with the latest digital applications
• 30 m/s guaranteed latency
• Easy-to-use enterprise dashboard that provides full monitoring and control.
Over 12 million containers are shipped each year across Druid Software’s private
cellular IoT solution in Rotterdam’s container terminals. The company is engaged with
Dutch integrator Koning & Hartman on private LTE projects in a number of harbours,
including Rotterdam. The two firms have recently extended their collaboration across
enterprise telecoms, industrial IoT and healthcare solutions. Their work on private
networks has typically involved 4G small cells from Airspan.
Druid’s Raemis platform, a virtual ePC for management of private networks, takes
cellular radios from any vendor and unifies them into an LTE network that can be
The ways in which 5G private networks might enable the digital transformation of the
most complex industrial environments is demonstrated by a proof of concept project
backed by the European Commission. The Hamburg Port Authority, Deutsche Telekom,
and Nokia partnered to deploy a 5G network as a testbed element of the European
funded research project 5G-MoNArch. In a single 5G network one network slice was
created for each of three use cases:
Two Nokia base stations were deployed with one antenna each using a 10 MHz FDD
carrier at 700 MHz. The antennas were mounted at an elevation of 180 above ground
on the Hamburg TV tower, in order to guarantee a good coverage of the port area.
These base stations were then connected to a local data center of Deutsche Telekom
in Hamburg located about three kilometers from the port, as well as to a regional data
center 500 kms away in Nuremberg. The slices requiring low latency rely on the local
data center, while slices with higher performance but less strict latency requirements
were deployed at the regional data center.
One of the key performance variables the testbed aims at is measuring the level of
latency enabled by 5G network slicing. The lower latency for the edge deployments
results from the separate user plane running at the Hamburg local data center, and
hence shorter distance between data center and terminal. Furthermore, the
simultaneous connection of the terminal to two 5G cells results in less retransmissions
due to the redundant paths used in dual-connectivity. The three scenarios tested
were:
Figure 4–2a below shows some of the main results from the testbed:
• round-trip time from data center to user terminal and return (measured in
milliseconds)
• average latency measured over a period of 12 hours (all latencies have been
measured over the same period of time to ensure comparability).
The blue bars are based on 1ms transmission time intervals (TTI) as it is used in LTE
(and may still be used in 5G for many services); those values have been measured.
The grey bars are estimates based on the 2-symbol TTI numerology introduced in 5G
(dedicated to URLLC services).
The edge deployment with dual connectivity shows remarkably low latency level of
less than 10 milliseconds. It is worth noting that the measurements have been
performed in a very large cell with a distance of about 4 to 8 km between base station
and terminal.
Figure 4–2a Charts showing some of the main results from the testbed
The dual-connectivity feature not only reduces the latency as shown in the figure
above (through less retransmissions), but it also reduces the jitter (represented by the
standard deviation of the latency). The lower jitter is important for
deterministic/predictable services.
This is shown in the figure above where the jitter with single connectivity is three
times higher than with dual connectivity (and an edge deployment does not make a
difference as the jitter on the wired line part is negligible compared to the wireless
part).
• port authority
• terminal operator
• mobile operator
• systems integrator
• solution provider(s)
With automation the key requirement for ports of all sizes, a survey by Navis on port
strategy found that8:
4.4.1 Requirements
Beach Energy is Australia’s largest onshore oil producer. The Adelaide-based energy
exploration and production company’s core operations are spread across 56,000
square kilometers in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins in the northeast of South
Australia and southwest Queensland.
8
https://bit.ly/2uvGJzY
The Beach Energy mining operation has one main 60-meter base station tower that
also co-locates the core network equipment, mostly to cover the main areas of travel
within the mining footprint, and then a network of smaller cells that were added to
supplement the coverage.
Beach Energy has rolled out a private 4G/LTE network in a bid to improve
communications across its Cooper Basin gas fields. The LTE network is privately
owned and operated by Beach Energy, which holds 2100-MHz-spectrum licenses in the
area.
This LTE network allows the firm to use data over the network with coverage distances
of 1–30 km, and is cost-effective to provide broader coverage to the entire mine site.
An average open-pit mine of 20 x 10 km normally requires 5 to 10 access points for
complete mine coverage (compared to 200+ Wi-Fi access points to cover the same
footprint). LTE also ensures security, critical because the convergence of information
and operational technologies brings greater susceptibility to cyber-attacks.
Ericsson partnered with specialist integrator Ambra to deliver the world’s deepest
underground LTE network for the Agnico Eagle mining complex, LaRonde, in Abitibi,
Quebec, Canada.
Located 3.5 kilometers below the surface, the private network provides data and voice
services across the LaRonde mine site and enables several Internet of Things (IoT)
use cases to improve safety and mining operations. Following the initial deployment,
the partnership has enhanced the installation using Ericsson solutions to deliver
automation of ventilation systems, real-time personnel and vehicle tracking and
remote controlling of machinery like scoop diggers, hauler trucks, drillers, and other
mining equipment.
The solution is software upgradable to provide massive IoT capabilities for sensor-
based applications, and supports 5G-ready radio capability.
As with ports, secure and reliable voice and data services are an early driver for
private LTE networks but, as with ports, the driver for future investment is all about
automation:
• The Oil & Gas automation was valued at USD 29.65 billion in 2019 and is
expected to reach USD 51.94 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 9.8% over the
forecast period 2020 - 2025.
• According to Forbes, the dependence of the oil and gas industry on
automation has increased in the last decade, and this is expected further to
double by 2020.9
• The global mining automation market was estimated to value at nearly US$
2.9 Bn in 2019, and is expected to register a CAGR over 5.3%. The first five-
year cumulative revenue (2019-2023) is projected to be more than US$ 16
Bn. 10
9
Mordor Intelligence, https://bit.ly/39wixw5
10
MarketWatch, https://on.mktw.net/31PngpR
4.5.1 Challenges
Commercial deployment
Online only UK retailer Ocado is famous for developing what it claims to be the world’s
first bespoke private LTE network in unlicensed spectrum for factory automation.
Figure 4–5 Roaming the warehouse on a grid above millions of grocery items, Ocado’s robots
can assemble a typical 50-item order in five minutes
Ocado ships more than 260,000 orders a week and recognized the potential to cut
costs, improve efficiency and transform its operations through automation. Working
with Cambridge Consultants it designed a customized fulfilment solution in the form of
a modular robotic grid.
Clearly the robot pickers needed to be connected via a robust and secure network and
the scale of the challenge was significant: reliable and predictable communication, ten
times a second, with every one of thousands of robots across a huge warehouse. The
solution was a private LTE network in the unlicensed 5 GHz band. It uses a redesigned
MAC and resource scheduler on top of the LTE physical layer.
The system enables the warehouse team to receive status messages every time a bot
traverses into a new grid cell, which is critical to support real-time control.
Once again, it’s all about the role LTE private networks have to play in automation of
factories and warehouses.
4.6 Stadiums
Requirements
Stadiums are very challenging environments that experience huge demand peaks for
relatively short periods of time. They also require separate consideration of the
requirements of visitors, staff and emergency services.
• Make voice calls and send or receive all types of data, without limitation, for
the duration of the event
• access online navigation systems for the venue
• use social media and upload video
Meanwhile:
• stewards, repair staff and road crew want to use phones, tablets or two-way
radio to ensure the smooth running of both the venue and the event; and
• emergency services want to communicate with each other to guarantee
safety, whatever the status of the network used by visitors.
Commercial deployments
In November 2018, American Tower partnered with Ruckus to deliver a CBRS private
LTE network deployment at International Speedway Corporation's (ISC)
newly-renovated ISM Raceway in Phoenix. The solution delivers expanded connectivity
to motorsports enthusiasts in the grandstands, camping grounds and Midway.
The availability of the CBRS option provides the opportunity to leverage 3.5 GHz
spectrum to enable organizations to establish their own private, bespoke networks.
This makes it ideal for in-building and public space applications where cellular signals
are weak, or spectrum is limited, but data demand is not.
11
Autumn Research, 2019, https://bit.ly/3bBnfKE
Craig Neeb, Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation and Development Officer, ISC,
has said: ‘We've made significant upgrades and enhancements to modernize ISM
Raceway, and we believe the comprehensive Wi-Fi broadband and CBRS LTE network
solution deployed by American Tower and ARRIS will provide the constant connectivity
our fans need to enjoy and share their experience. It will also improve race-day
communications for our partners and employees.’
At the ISM Raceway, American Tower deployed the Federated Wireless Spectrum
Controller and the Ruckus Q710 and Q910 LTE APs. It also installed the Ruckus T310
series and T610 series outdoor 802.11ac APs.
• Market drivers
• Challenges
• Opportunities
Commercial deployment
American Dream is a new retail and entertainment complex in New Jersey that
projects 40 million visitors annually and includes over 450 shops, services and
amenities.
JMA Wireless partnered with specialist integrator Advanced Network Services to deploy
a private LTE network (Druid’s Raemis platform) using 3.5 GHz Citizen Broadband
Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum for facility operations and guest services. Initially, the
network will service outdoor spaces for comprehensive traffic management, parking
and wayfinding information systems. The set-up will evolve for fixed and mobile
devices including video cameras, digital displays, vehicle connectivity, internal use
communications, and IoT for facility operations.
Figure 4–7 American Dream retail and entertainment complex, New Jersey – CBRS private
LTE network delivering connectivity for facility operations and visitor services
CBRS spectrum surrounding the complex is enabled with JMA’s XRAN, a virtualized,
software baseband running on standard Intel Xeon servers. The solution utilizes JMA’s
Cell Hub CBRS radios working in conjunction with XRAN software.
4.8 Healthcare
Requirements
Healthcare requires highly secure, resilient mobile data for the large-scale critical
communications services accessed daily. Koning and Hartman, Druid’s specialist
ICT partners, introduced the Druid LTE technology to a hospital site in the
Netherlands in 2018.
Figure 4–8 A hospital site in the Netherlands was looking for a secure
alternative to Wi-Fi
The brief was to provide an alternative to Wi-Fi, which the hospital had found to have
serious drawbacks when it comes to carrying business critical mobile communications.
The hospital’s new private LTE network means that several hundred doctors and
nurses are provided with a resilient, quality of service private LTE network across the
hospital campus for mobile voice, messaging and data services.
High quality mobility has always been a challenge for Wi-Fi to deliver on and
interference can also be a serious issue with virtually any smart phone device
available today being capable of acting as a Wi-Fi access point and interfering with the
enterprise’s business critical communications. Wi-Fi also struggles in outdoor
enterprise environments particularly over wide areas of coverage.
Security is also a big issue that private LTE addresses. Doctors and nurses need
instant access to patient records and want this information directly accessible on the
latest mobile devices. This type of patient information cannot be allowed onto the
public mobile operator’s networks, or public clouds. A private LTE solution ensures the
highest levels of mobile encryption and that all information accessed is only ever on
the hospitals own network.
The report says ‘the hospital features a 5G ‘smart’ brain: full, round the clock camera
surveillance identifies and tracks the location and actions of both staff and customers,
delivering smart asset management to optimise wait times and care delivery.
Similarly, this network can help radically accelerate data transfer from ambulances to
hospitals, resulting in accurate care being delivered directly upon arrival.’12
When broadband grew rapidly in the early DSL and cable era, it was fueled by
insatiable demand and a sensible cost model, delivering a return on investment (ROI)
for ISPs of 12-18 months. Fiber failed to match that opportunity, as demand for
gigabit service was low and the cost model did not scale; it tended to be nearly five
years before ROI was realized. Fixed wireless creates the healthy conditions to once
again stimulate broad growth. The opportunity is huge—high-density cities, poorly
connected suburbs, and streaming video are driving incredible demand. In addition,
rural communities are impatient for fiber-fast internet after struggling with
12
Total Telecom, January 2020, https://bit.ly/2UNMt2L
New markets and categories such as home automation, security, and the Internet of
Things (IoT) present further opportunities for fixed wireless.
The fixed wireless sector is growing as LTE and unlicensed wireless technology evolves
and 5G comes online. There are a number of drivers. These platforms are approaching
(and maybe even exceeding in some cases) equivalency with wired networks. They
can be deployed at lower costs. Mobile experts say that fixed wireless will generate
almost $20 billion in equipment revenue from base station access points and customer
premises equipment during the next six years. MNOs are increasingly positioning their
fixed wireless offering as ‘wireless fiber’. Such offerings use unlicensed spectrum and
offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps at a preferred range of five miles.
4.9.2 Challenges
Right of way
Operator agreements
Regulatory compliance
Technical solution
Regulatory updates
• FCC Notice for proposed rulemaking to deal with petitions related to PAL
license issues
• Requests expanding license areas (PEA instead of census tracts), extending
of license terms (about 10 years instead of three)
Operator partnership
• Spectrum and RAN sharing for neutral host CBRS mobile networks
The core network, known as the evolved packet core (EPC), plays a significant role in
the management of the LTE network. The EPC functions as the intelligence and
policing for the network as well as directing communication over the network.
In a typical LTE mobile application, the EPC handles the mobility management and
switching. Traditional LTE vendors offer EPC components that handle these large
carrier networks, specifically to address their mobility requirements. The goal of the
fixed wireless network is to provide broadband service to customers at their homes
and offices – in other words to fixed locations
Mobile EPC solutions become too pricey and complex, with a core functionality
unsuited for a fixed application. Their hefty price tags make them particularly cost-
prohibitive for most small/medium Internet service providers such as those serving
rural or developing markets. Scalability is another challenge: these mobile EPCs
cannot scale down to networks with fewer than 10,000 subscribers, let alone 1,000.
WISP customers – schools, hospitals, enterprises etc. – often need to deploy private
LTE networks. This is not economically viable with mobile EPC.
To succeed in the role for which they are designed, private cellular networks need to
be purpose-built to support unique requirements for the customer organisation. These
requirements include ‘ultra-fast’ service/low latency, scalability, low capex low opex,
local visibility, security and control and, of course, applications tailored to meet
specific business needs. In some scenarios private networks also need to support very
high capacity networks such as stadiums, arenas and airports.
While private LTE can be deployed by using either small cells or DAS, small cells have
some economic advantages over traditional DAS systems. They may, for instance, be
a lot cheaper. Mobile Experts suggests that CBRS small cells can be deployed at $.30
per square foot, compared to DAS at $3 per square foot.13
They also come in an increasingly diverse range of form factors. Each enterprise will
have its own deployment environment – from old buildings with many thick-walled
offices to glass open plan environments; from warehouses to underground factories to
mines. Each of these will have its own challenges for the best installation and
management of connectivity, but there will be a small cell to fit any requirement, with
options ranging from conventional integrated access points to disaggregated systems
whose stripped-down radio units can be deployed easily in almost any location.
By contrast, DAS is complex to deploy and optimize and unsuited either to smaller
locations, where the economics are challenging, or to harsh environments such as
mines and factories.
13
Joe Madden, Principal Analyst, Mobile Experts, https://bit.ly/2SgS8fT
Of course, many private networks are already installed using enterprise Wi-Fi, and
these will often work alongside small cells. However, in the context of service delivery
to the enterprise, an important metric is simply the reduction of cellular access points
required when compared to the use of Wi-Fi – especially in challenging environments.
For example, an average open-pit mine of 20 x 10 km normally requires 5 to 10
access points for complete private LTE mine coverage, compared to 200+ Wi-Fi access
points to cover the same footprint.14
As industries start to assess the potential of 5G to support applications that are more
critical than day-to-day mobile broadband usage, they are coming up against
requirements that are tough for Wi-Fi to deliver optimally. This is especially true
outside the office buildings where Wi-Fi is incumbent.
Figure 5–2 shows recent and forecast growth of different types of small cell out to
2025, with both private and public enterprise dominating. This trend has been
primarily driven by renewed interest from carriers in extending wireless coverage of
mid-sized venues of 600,000-square feet or less.
Figure 5–3 then splits out the relative share of different types of service provider that
are behind the growth in these small cell deployments. Neutral hosts are set to
continue to grow strongly and we expect to be the largest type of small cell deployer
by 2025. Although the relative share of MNO small cell deployment reduces, this
should be viewed against a backdrop of strong growth in the overall market.
14
Cisco, Improving mining efficiency with LTE and automation, https://bit.ly/2weZNmv
Figure 5–3 Deployment and management of non- residential small cells by service provider
type 2016 to 2023 (% of installed base, global)
6.1 Self-managed
In the self-managed model the private network user purchases, owns and manages
the private LTE network. Here we consider an enterprise user, but it is equally
applicable to public sector users. The enterprise purchases a full LTE stack, including
radio, core and home subscriber server (HSS). The enterprise provisions spectrum to
operate the private LTE eNBs and UE devices. IoT applications of private LTE networks
may require the enterprise to establish its own IoT platform or to get one as a service
from a provider such as an MNO or one of many public cloud services.
Availability of CBRS spectrum in the US, specifically GAA, is envisioned to support this
type of deployment model. With CBRS GAA, enterprises may not necessarily have to
rely on mobile network operators to get access to licensed spectrum.
The managed private LTE use case is suitable for enterprises that require a third party
help with their LTE network, in particular where use cases may require wide area
coverage or in markets where access to spectrum is not straightforward.
The service provider may be an MNO, or in markets where innovative shared access
spectrum options – like CBRS in the US – are available, neutral hosts and other
parties may also be able to provide a private network offerings.
The service provider plays a key role in this deployment model. This private LTE
network is connected to a service provider hosted core for the control plane. The
service provider may also provide device provisioning and management, an IoT
platform and, importantly, spectrum. The service provider could offer physical
installation of the LTE gear on-site and ongoing management of the spectrum and
network, including future growth and expansion.
For use cases where the enterprise requires wide area coverage, the service provider
could provide differentiated, SLA-based access to enterprise UEs on Mobile Network
Operators’ public LTE networks.
A neutral host may install common LTE infrastructure and provide a managed private
LTE network to the enterprise, along with public LTE access on the same
infrastructure. To enable neutral hosting on small cells, the neutral host may use
CBRS Alliance-specific neutral hosting mechanisms.
The neutral host could also use 3GPP-compliant methods for shared networks, such as
a multiple operator core network (MOCN) when shared spectrum is possible or a
multiple operator radio network (MORAN) when users of the neutral host small cells do
not want to share spectrum
3GPP standards form the basis of private LTE systems as they are defined today.
Thus, the operation of a private LTE system using licensed spectrum is a deployment
option that can be readily addressed by mobile operators. In addition, various
organizations have identified extensions to the 3GPP standards to handle a broader
range of use cases as well as to support deployment in unlicensed spectrum.
Where unlicensed spectrum is the only spectrum used, the work of two standards
organizations is worth highlighting. The MulteFire Alliance (MFA) has defined
specifications mostly targeted at use in the 5 GHz band. The CBRS Alliance is focused
on the dynamically licensed 3.5GHz CBRS band in the US.
These organizations take into account both fully private LTE networks and neutral host
networks, where a common infrastructure is used to offer a multi-MNO service.
LAA will continue to evolve from 4G LTE to 5G new radio (NR). The NR-U standard in
Release 16 will also enable fully standalone operation.
7.1 3GPP
The 3GPP LTE and NR base technology enables high device density, predictable
latency and reliable connectivity throughout an enterprise. It is highly resistant to
intrusions and attacks. This means that, for business and mission-critical operations, it
meets the most stringent security requirements.
3GPP has identified a range of extensions to support private LTE use cases:
To address next generation services, including support for networks solely for private
entities like an enterprise, 3GPP SA2 has started to outline specifications for non-
public networks. The work has concluded in a set of requirements in Technical
Specification 22.261 and Technical Report 23.734. Normative specifications will be in
The MFA Release 1.0 specification, published in 2016, is based on 3GPP Releases 13
and 14. It defines LTE operation solely in unlicensed and shared spectrum while
ensuring fair sharing of spectrum with other users and technologies. The specification
includes procedures for mobility, paging, initial access and efficient uplink control
channels.
The key MFA standards for NHN are in the MFA TS MF.202, MFA TS 36.413, MFA TS
24.301 documents.
The CBRS-A Release 1 standard, published February 2018, describes the extensions
required to 3GPP standards to enable LTE operation in the US 3.5GHz Citizens
Broadband Radio Service band (referred to in 3GPP as B48).
A portion of the band can be used without a license, but with authorized access. This
is referred to as general authorized access (GAA). By the end of 2019, the remaining
spectrum can be licensed on a countrywide basis. This is referred to as priority access
licensee (PAL). Either mode of operation is applicable to private LTE deployments,
though PAL is particularly well suited to business and mission-critical applications. A
key element of CBRS operation is the use of a centralized database – the spectrum
access system (SAS) – to ensure coexistence with incumbent military radar systems
and fair access to spectrum.
The newly released Release 2 standard adds MSO and fixed wireless use cases, non-
SIM access mode (non-EPS-AKA) and UE profiles. The standard includes new LTE
network identifiers for private or NHN networks, referred to as a shared HNI which will
be administered by the CBRS-A. SAS operation is extended to facilitate coexistence
between GAA devices. Extensions to enable inter-private network roaming are also
being considered, employing diameter signalling controller (DSC)-based solutions from
IP Exchange (IPX) operator(s) ‘authorized’ by CBRS-A.
Release 3 planned for the end of 2019, will include 5G NR operation in the CBRS band.
Edge computing is, potentially, a key enabler for private cellular networks, delivering
access to virtualized resources. Introducing virtualization into a private cellular
network helps deliver a solution for latency-sensitive and high-bandwidth applications.
There is also the promise of network slicing, where delivering network resources to
specific customer requirements could lead to innovative opportunities between
enterprises, infrastructure, and service providers.
Indoor /Outdoor
LTE RAN
4G EPCCor e
Edge
Applications/
Content
4G Networ k
Slicing
New Spectr um
(CBRS)
AI/Automation/
Analytics
Edge Distribution (Apps)
Disaggregated
5G Edge EPCCor e –6 Contr ol
User Plane Plane
COTS
Converged Access Use Cases Applications/
Hardware
(IoT) 5G Networ k
Content
Slicing
Smar t Fabr ic
(SDN, MPLS. IP/
Optical)
High-level architecture
The network architecture of a private cellular network includes RAN components and
the core network built on-premises and/or in the cloud.
The edge infrastructure can be a scaled-down version of the standard 3GPP core
software running on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. In this case, the
Applications
Locations
The edge computing hardware hosting the EPC and the applications could be on-
premises in the enterprise. However, if there are space/power limitations a
decentralized off-premises location could also be ideal. Off-premises locations such as
point of presence (PoP), hub sites, tower, or collocation sites could potentially deliver
edge locations for a private cellular network.
Business perspectives
The challenge in making these localized sub-nets a reality is the question of who will
deploy, manage and monetize them. Some large enterprises may want to deploy for
themselves, with the connectivity element harnessing shared spectrum, spectrum
leased from MNOs, or their own licences (see previous item). But most companies,
and their integrators, will lack the expertise to do both cellular and edge compute. A
more attractive option for most will be to entrust the edge+cellular infrastructure,
security, management and services enablement to a third party, allowing their own
teams, or their specialist service providers, to use the resulting platform to support
their applications.
By now it should be clear that PCNs are not a use case waiting for 5G to happen. PCNs
and LTE play well together to address user concerns about reliability and service
quality as well as about security and compliance.
There are plenty of current commercial deployments. Clearly robust private LTE
solutions are already available today that can seamlessly migrate to support private
5G networks when standards and ecosystem support full commercial deployment. And
as we have seen with the commercial deployments cited above (4), a broad range of
private network requirements can already be delivered using LTE.
However, it’s equally true that 5G specifications hold the promise of additional
opportunities. Where enterprises have more demanding performance requirements –
e.g., availability, reliability, latency, device density etc – 5G implies a significant uplift
in the potential of private networks.
5G air interface enhancement for QoS allows the UE to have different QoS profiles
simultaneously. The UE could be attached to a private network slice while on-premises
in the enterprise with one QoS profile (5CI). When outside the enterprise premises,
the UE could move to a public network slice. Together, 5G network slicing and QoS
mechanisms could enable MNOs to realize richer private network offerings.
The type of network coverage will also be impacted by 5G. Specifically, use cases that
require very high throughputs or very low latency could be best served with mmWave
spectrum bands. Due to larger sub-carrier spacing of mmWave bands – and due also
to 5G-specific air interface optimizations – 5G private networks would be able to
provide extremely low latencies of around 1 ms. Spectrum bands with 100s of MHz or
more spectrum could support very high bit rates in the range of 1 Gbps or higher.
The evolving 5G ecosystem represents both a solution and service factory for each
and every enterprise and connectivity business case. The transition from 4G to 5G has
brought a lot of opportunities for neutral host and private network operators to coexist
in partnership with mobile network operators and, at the same time, seen the
emergence of a completely isolated network. Building a next generation fully cloud
native exchange-to-exchange (E2E) orchestrator is a major challenge.
Major challenges
1. Centralized OSS/ BSS system with legacy architecture and based on reactive
rather than pro-active approach.
2. FCAP data collection and closed looped decisions are too slow for the 5G
network.
3. A big portion of it is manual and needs human intervention.
4. A lot of these process needs automation and a lot of machine and deep
learning support.
5. No guarantee of QoS E2E especially in case of 5G networks which evolved
from MNO based NW to MNO, PNO and NH shared NW.
6. Lack of predictability and prevention before the problem occurs.
Major opportunities
Public private partnerships between PNOs and MNOs provides a hybrid architecture of
coexistence with technologies like MOCN, MORAN, network slicing, unified service
fabric but the major challenge is to provide an end to end orchestration with fully
automated SLA. The following architecture provides a glimpse of light weight fully
cloud native orchestrators with co-existence and automation of E2E SLA.
15
https://inform.tmforum.org/research-reports/5g-monetization-operational-
imperatives/
1. The mobile network operator will own the policy administration as well as
service orchestration.
2. The private network operator may have their own service orchestrator for
their localized services.
3. The SLA broker at both ends can automate the E2E business agreements
between MNO and PNO.
4. Life cycle and infra management can scale up or down, according to cluster
arrangements, workloads, scheduling, traffic and security.
Private LTE allows enterprise across a broad range of verticals to control their own
communications environment and tailor it to meet their business requirements. This is
a solution that represents a significant opportunity for vendors and a broad range of
service providers but for that opportunity to ramp and scale globally, SCF proposes
the following recommendations which we’ve addressed according to the type of
deployment.
• Guidelines required for how small cell networks must be optimized for
deployment and management by Enterprise IT teams
• Common approach to how small cell networks must be configurable for
various types and numbers of access control and privileges.
• Recommendations required to show small cell networks might be enriched, as
needed, with the appropriate network analytics, to enable local management
of PCNs.
• SCNs must be manageable by methods familiar to the enterprise IT
personnel.
• PCNs require significant investment in short term. The business model needs
carefully assessed to determine the economics (who is willing and able to
invest and how money is to be made).
• Suppliers need to carefully price 5G ready solutions to avoid ‘sticker shock’ to
potential enterprise customers.
• A strong case needs to be made to national regulators for the positive socio-
economic impact for the availability of spectrum ‘assigned’ for private cellular
network. It could be shared or exclusive. For international enterprise to be
able to adopt common solutions – regardless of where they are operating – a
universal approach to spectrum allocation with uniform bands is useful and
necessary.
• This allocation should be sufficiently large, to meet the needs of Industry 4.0.
It could preferably include bands in the Sub-6 GHz bands.
• Licensing terms need to be practical and commercially realistic, in terms of
low cost, large spatial granularity, etc.
• Technical Solutions and standards for roaming must be able to scale down to
meet the needs of ‘small’ PCNs.
• Best practises for the various types of MNO integration need to be agreed
and disseminated, along with exemplar use cases and business models.
• Security and service level seamlessness should be studied and best practices
recommended.
• Legal interception matters must be resolved for various levels of
commercially viable integration.
• The intersection of edge computing and PCNs should be studied and mutually
leveraged (technical and standards).
• Open specifications should facilitate a rich ecosystem of multiple vendors,
while allowing for implementing innovative solutions from MNOs &
Enterprises.
SCF Approved
2. [22.951] 3GPP TS 22.951, Service aspects and requirements for network sharing2
7. CBRS: New Shared Spectrum Enables Flexible Indoor and Outdoor Mobile Solutions
and New Business Models7