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HSDPA Enabled Picocell Base Stations to Play Major Role in Extending 3G Services Indoors

6th October , 2004

Above shows outdoor 3G basestation deployment.

Europe : Alan Carr from PA Consulting Group - the leading international management, systems and technology consulting firm - will explain why HSDPA-enabled picocell base stations will play a major role in extending 3G services to indoor users in a paper to be given (10.05am) on Thursday, 21 October at IBC's UMTS Congress 2004 (day 2 of Mobile Infratech) at the London Olympia.

Above shows an artist's sketch of an indoor HSDPA-enabled picocell base stations.

The main added value in a UMTS network is its ability to provide advanced high data rate services to end-users. This facility will be extended when the new HSDPA system is added to networks. HSDPA will substantially enhance the performance of the downlink path from base station to mobile, improving the user experience for services ranging from video downloads to web-style applications.

However, some 70% of users will be located indoors when they want to use these higher rate services and PA's analysis shows it will be impossible to provide sufficient user capacity and coverage using conventional outdoor base station cell sites. An effective solution is to deploy picocells inside buildings.

There are various ways to achieve this, including using the so-called distributed antenna systems connected to conventional base station equipment. Such systems can be expensive in terms of both capital investment and installation costs and PA believes that HSDPA-enabled picocell base stations are less expensive and more flexible.

The paper will explain why picocell base stations are key to ensuring the success of 3G networks in indoor application and will consider:

- why picocells are needed inside buildings
- cost comparisons of different Pico cell provision
- the impact of IP-oriented standards such as WiMAX
- the role of HSDPA-enabled UMTS picocell base stations and the form such base stations can take.

Alan Carr has been working on 3G infrastructure solutions since the mid 90s. Since joining PA in 2000, he has pioneered the development of fully software-defined 3G base stations and in both pico and micro cell form for infrastructure manufacturers and network operators worldwide.

PA Consulting Group's wireless technology expertise includes network and system design and evaluation, radio network dimensioning and planning, cost modelling, technology comparisons, product benchmarking and due diligence, as well as service and product development for wireless operators and equipment suppliers.

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