Mobile CDMA Technologies for Rural WLL

Range and Capacity Trade-offs

Abstract
Operators rolling out mobile CDMA-based networks for rural WLL applications can expect to find that the final network design is far larger, more complex, and more expensive than they would expect, relative to the capacity of the network. This is because CDMA mobile technology (CDMA2000 1XRTT and its derivatives) is optimized for maximum capacity for mobile applications in dense urban environments. However, rural areas are characterized not only by low subscriber density, but also by widely scattered clusters of subscribers. Under these conditions CDMA will not provide economical coverage, and in fact optimized fixed wireless solutions like SR Telecoms SR500 and symmetry systems can be much more cost-effective to deploy in rural areas. Migrating to a lower frequency band (i.e. 450MHz) may at first glance appear to alleviate the limitations of CDMA technology. However, changing frequency will not usually reduce the number of base stations required, since range in CDMA networks is limited by the traffic loading on the cell, not by the propagation characteristics of the radio. Before deciding on a wireless technology for rural areas, operators need to carefully study real-life deployment scenarios, to evaluate the full costs of base stations, core networks, civil infrastructures, and backhaul networks. In short, if all aspects of a solution are considered in the business case, rural operators will often be best served by a selfbackhauling SR500 network. For more dense networks, a dedicated FWA solution like symmetry can provide greater capacity, better flexibility, and a higher quality of service than mobile-based solutions.

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Overview
CDMA 450MHz is often proposed as a rural WLL solution, based on the idea that propagation at 450MHz is superior; therefore coverage using this technology can be achieved very economically in rural areas. Vendors of the technology, who claim and demonstrate 50km range, support this view. However, it is critical for operators evaluating this technology to understand that range in CDMA systems is limited by noise and mutual interference, not by propagation and path loss. CDMA 450MHz can achieve 50km range, but in single-user conditions, or under very light system loading. When the base stations are sufficiently loaded to amortize their cost, the achievable range will be much less. Typically, one base station must be installed in each served community, even if the network operates at 450MHz. Moreover, being a mobile network, CDMA450 requires a complex core network mandated by mobility standards. Operators of fixed rural CDMA networks will find that they have to: Over-invest in the CDMA core network Integrate mobile network nodes into their fixed line networks Build extensive, high-performance backhaul networks Deploy an excessive number of base stations Use dedicated, high-power phones and directional antennas for remote subscribers

The result is that a rural CDMA-450 network can be much more expensive than operators would expect based on the nominal traffic capacity required by the network. Dedicated fixed wireless access (FWA) systems are much more economical to deploy in rural areas, and are particularly more cost-efficient to expand, because of their stable coverage under increasing traffic conditions.

Major Cost Elements of CDMA Networks

The CDMA Core Network
Many core network nodes are required just to get the network CDMA operational and provide a mobility infrastructure. In a mobile network, which consists of hundreds of thousands of users in a single city, the cost of the core network nodes can be amortized over many subscribers and it forms a relatively small part of the price per line. In a rural network, which may consist of 50,000 lines spread over an entire country, the cost of the core network is a significant part of the price per line. In addition, many of these nodes are typically deployed on regional basis, to allow for administrative concerns, failure-tolerance, and to minimize backhaul requirements. Since multiple instances of each node will be required for a national network, even if the capacity is low, the price per line for a rural CDMA network will be even higher.

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Operators planning a CDMA-450 network should budget for the core network when evaluating the costs of such a deployment. The required nodes for standards-compliant CDMA network include: Gateway Mobile Switching Center (GMSC) for connection to the PSTN. Even if the interface to the PSTN is done on a V5.2 interface, a Gateway function will be required. Mobile Switching Center (MSC) and Visitor Location Register (VLR), to route calls to mobile subscribers and maintain location data Home Location Register (HLR) to store basic subscriber information Base Station Controller (BSC), to interface the base stations to the MSC A sophisticated Operations and Maintenance Center (OMC)

In addition, the operator will require new or adapted service network nodes, such as a billing center, and mobile Intelligent Network platform. If the operator wishes to take advantage of CDMA 1XRTTs data capabilities, it will also be necessary to add several data-centric nodes: Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) Accounting, Authorization, Authentication server (AAA) Home Agent (HA)

Its important to note that the data nodes are typically provided by a third parties, such as Cisco or Hewlett-Packard (HP), and are substantial additional cost to the network. These nodes consist of large routers and servers, which require sophisticated IT support. Beyond the CAPEX associated with the CDMA core network, the addition of all these nodes to a fixed network will also have an impact on an operators OPEX, since these nodes require buildings, power, maintenance, and operating personnel. Most importantly, these nodes are extremely software intensive, and operators can expect to pay for yearly network-wide software upgrades.

Backhaul Requirements
Mobile CDMA networks are designed around the availability of very stable, synchronous, optical backhaul networks. Each CDMA mobile base station requires one to four E1 links to connect it to the host BSC. These links have strict synchronization requirements to ensure that all base stations operate synchronously to allow the correlation algorithms required for code division multiplexing to work. Stability requirements on the backhaul links are on the order of 4 x 10-11 parts per million. If a base station loses synchronization with the BSC, it will stop transmitting and all subscribers in that cell will lose service. Thus, a synch loss, due to a microwave fade for example, is a major outage that will require a base

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station restart. For this reason, base stations are typically backhauled using more stable optical links. The fiber optic infrastructure required for the stable backhaul links is relatively easily provided in urban environments, where distances are short, and optical fiber can usually be run in existing conduits. Most urban centers already have existing fiber rings spanning the city. In the rural areas, running fiber to base stations located on hilltops or in small towns will be an expensive proposition due to the distances involved, the costs of digging trenches, laying fiber in new ducts, and terminating the fiber. In remote rural areas, operators will need to rely on microwave links to backhaul the CDMA base stations. Multiple tandem microwave links may be required to reach the most remote areas. However, these microwave links must be of very high quality, such as SDH radio, in order to ensure that the stability requirements of the CDMA network are met. The provision of a long-range, potentially multi-hop, SDH radio link to every base station is major cost in a rural CDMA deployment. The large number of base stations required makes the situation even worse. As explained below, even at 450MHz, the number of base stations required to cover a rural area will be far higher than the nominal number of base stations indicated by a simple capacity calculation.

CDMA Network Planning

Rural Traffic Loading Issues
Experience shows that even rural, low-capacity CDMA networks require one or more base stations at each served community. This is true independent of frequency, because CDMA systems range is determined by traffic loading, not by propagation conditions. Cell range in real-world applications is limited by the mutual interference of the subscribers in a cell, not by the RF propagation. CDMA network planning is based on power control, not frequency coordination as in TDMA network planning. Operators should be concerned that budgetary planning takes into account the loaded range of the cells. Simply dividing the offered traffic load (say 50,000 subscribers at 0.07E each) by the nominal Erlang capacity of a base station will grossly underestimate the number of base stations required, since CDMA must trade off capacity to enhance its range to a useful level for rural applications.

Traffic loading limits range, not propagation.

Cell Breathing
Advocates of CDMA-450 often claim a range of up to 50 km. However, CDMA is an interference limited system, not a propagation limited system. The 50km claimed range is true only under very light loading conditions. As soon as more users begin to connect to the base station, the range will decrease. Implementing CDMA in a lower frequency band

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(i.e. 450MHz) will not usually increase coverage, since range is limited by the loading on the cell, not by the propagation characteristics of the radio. A single-carrier CDMA cell has a traffic capacity of 20 Erlang. However, it cannot provide its full capacity and its full range simultaneously. At 50% cell loading, the range may be reduced by 20%. Range drops quickly over 50% loading a fully loaded cell has radius of 1.5Km, even at 450MHz. Figure 1: Cell breathing Cell radius varies with traffic loading (not to scale)

Unloaded CDMA Cell

50 km radius

Fully Loaded CDMA Cell

1.5 km radius

The Near / Far Problem

CDMA systems must manage two key resources: Erlang capacity, and power. A difficult power management problem (the so-called near/far problem) arises when the base station attempts to service a distant subscriber. The base station may assign the entire available power budget to the distant subscriber, thereby preventing subscribers closer to the base station (the near subscribers) from accessing the network, even if spare Erlang capacity is available. Isolated, distant subscribers play havoc with the CDMA base stations power budget, drastically reducing the base stations traffic carrying capacity. Yet this is the typical problem in rural networks: how to serve isolated, distant locations. With CDMA technology, the solution is typically to install a base station at each served community.

Network Expansion Issues

The maximum cell radius is a configurable parameter at the CDMA base station, which is deliberately restricted to prevent distant subscribers from trying to access the system and causing a near/far situation that would affect the subscribers in the main coverage area. If a subscriber outside the configured radius attempts to access the system, his request will be rejected. Otherwise, the increased power and interference caused by this one subscriber could cause all the other subscribers on the system to

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Expanding coverage is complex and expensive.

drop off. To reach new subscribers outside a cells configured range, it will most likely be necessary to install a new base station and associated backhaul. This can make network expansion extremely costly. Repeaters cannot be used because they will cause more interference in the mother cell; thereby reducing its range and reducing coverage to already served communities. In a rural setting, it may be possible to cover several small villages with a single cell, as long as the loading caused by the villages is similar, and a base station site roughly equidistant to all the villages can be found (to avoid the near/far problem). However, if capacity at the villages increases, it will be impossible to simply add capacity at the base station site, since adding capacity will decrease the range, so that some areas that formerly received service will no longer be covered. Typically, expansion of capacity will require locating a base station in each village, with the associated backhaul. This kind of expansion can dramatically increase the number of cells and drive up network costs after the initial rollout.

CPE Considerations
One of the potential advantages of CDMA is a low-cost, zero-install CPE. However, for rural areas, operators should not imagine that this phone consists of a small handset. A recent article in Wireless Week by a prominent CDMA network-planning consultant explains what kind of terminal is required for rural applications: A fixed terminal typically provides for connecting an ordinary telephone and an external antenna that can be located to make the most of marginal coverage. Because coverage is generally uplinklimited, the fixed terminals transmitter is typically much more powerful than a portable handsets. Power is provided from a plug-in AC supply, generally with battery backup1 Obviously, this CPE requires a more involved installation than a handset or a desktop telephone. Moreover, it is customized, with a high-power amplifier that increases costs and power consumption. The responsibility for power and battery backup is an issue, which can add substantially to operators maintenance expenses and processes. Its also very important to note that a high-power CPE shooting into a distant base station is a classic example of the near/far problem. While this subscriber may have access to this cell, subscribers near the base station may be washed out by the distant subscriber, and may not be able to access the network.

Wireless for Universal Access, by Elliott Drucker, Wireless Week, August 15, 2004 (www.wirelessweek.com)
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Conclusion
The key criteria in deploying a rural network include the deployment of a flexible, economical backhaul network. In addition, since rural networks are small, initial network start up costs must be minimal. The technology selected must be easy to plan, and easily expand to handle isolated pockets of subscribers. To foster economic development, the network must provide adequate Internet access, and should offer an economical migration path to broadband, at least for selected subscribers. CDMA networks do not meet any of the key criteria outlined above for deploying an economical rural universal access network. Using CDMA450 for rural access appears to have natural appeal. After all, lower frequencies propagate better than higher frequencies; every engineer understands this concept. However, the planning aspects of CDMA, such as capacity/range trade-offs and the near/far problem, are less understood by operators, particularly those with no experience in the technology. Before coming to the conclusion that fixed CDMA-450 is an economical technology for rural networks, operators must conduct careful network engineering to understand how many base stations will really be required to serve all of the targeted communities. In addition, CDMA-450, like all mobile technologies requires a complex and expensive core network. Adding data service to the network will make the core network even more complex. Broadband service requires substantial upgrades of both the base stations and the core network. SR Telecoms point-to-multipoint systems have been optimized for 20 years to address the challenges of rural network deployments. They are self-backhauling, offer low initial costs, integrate easily into fixednetworks, and offer carrier-class voice and data performance. In short, if all aspects of a solution are considered in the business case (core network, civil works, backhaul network, installation, maintenance) an optimized rural technology will often prove to be operators most economical solution.

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Acronym Glossary
3G: ADPCM: BTS: EDGE: Third Generation's application Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation Base Terminal Station Enhanced Data Rates for Global Systems for Mobile Communications Evolution FGSM: FWA: GPRS: GSM: PMP: PSTN: R&D: TRU: TRX: WLL: Fixed Global System for Mobile communications Fixed Wireless Access General Packet Radio Service Global System for Mobile communications Point-to-Multipoint Public Switched Telephone Network Research and Development Transceiver Unit Transceiver / Receiver Wireless Local Loop

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