5G network deployment brings both opportunities and challenges

5G (or 5th generation mobile networks) deployments are just beginning to roll out around the world, promising to deliver speeds 10 times faster than 4G and support 10,000 times more network traffic and 100 times more device access, all with just one new 5G deployment providing near real-time data delivery for emerging applications and upgrades to provide consumer coverage to wider areas, but the deployment of small cells (or micro base stations) closer to the data source and users will be key to 5G deployments.

Although still in its early stages, urban small cell deployments now make up the majority of mobile operators’ 5G plans, and the small cell market is expected to grow at an unprecedented rate of more than 50% over the next five years.

While public and private outdoor 5G small cells are needed to bring the 5G experience to consumers and support everything from smart city applications to connected cars, enterprise businesses will also need to leverage indoor small cell solutions and distributed antenna systems (DAS) to bring 5G to office buildings, factories, hotels, hospitals, airports, classrooms, etc. There are challenges and potential opportunities in supporting the infrastructure for 5G, from the macro and micro levels to internal venues.

The gap between macro and micro

5G fundamentally differs from 4G in that it uses higher frequencies to transmit more data over shorter distances. In other words, more towers are needed to cover the same amount of space and number of users. That’s where small cells come in. In the United States, for example, small cells work in tandem with the more than 200,000 macrocell sites that exist across the country (those large, high-powered towers located along highways and in rural areas that provide low-frequency coverage to large areas). While existing challenges to macrocell deployments remain around rights-of-way, weather conditions, lack of skilled labor, and cost (macrocell deployments typically cost about 20 times more than microcells), much of the supporting fiber infrastructure is still in place.

“Backhaul infrastructure is important for macro cells, but much of the fiber to those cell sites is already in place, and advances in optical transmission are enabling more bandwidth to be squeezed out of fiber,” said Baber Abbas, CEO of viaPhoton, a supplier of fiber-optic connectivity products. “The bigger issue at the macro level is power. Every cable that goes up a tower incurs a cost, so rather than adding more cables, operators are increasing the size of the wires to carry more power, which means tower operators have to worry more about weight and wind loads.”

viaPhoton offers a variety of 5G fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA) drop cables and patch cords with OptiTap, OptiTip, and LC connector options for connecting the baseband unit (BBU) and remote radio unit (RRU) of 5G base stations.

While macro cells will remain a major component of 5G networks, with thousands more expected to be built, those numbers pale in comparison to small cell forecasts. Mobile operators such as Verizon and AT&T expect to deploy 10 times more small cells than macro cells over the next five years. At the small cell level, a 10x increase in antenna density presents different challenges and will certainly require more fiber backhaul and infrastructure investments.

"Microcells don't require as much power as macro sites, and that power is often available from local utilities. On the other hand, fiber needs to be brought to the microcell poles, and the amount of fiber is increasing at the same time. Designing and deploying new infrastructure is a lot of work, so providers need to get more creative with how they leverage existing fiber through advances like bidirectional optics and wavelength division multiplexing," Baber said. "Deployment at the micro level also means dealing with local jurisdictions and various requirements about what kind of structure can go where."

To reduce the need for new fiber deployments, many small cells will leverage existing metro FTTX infrastructure originally built for homes and businesses. Many small cell deployments are using legacy connections, such as Corning’s ruggedized OptiTap and OptiTip connectors, which Verizon has long deployed for FTTH deployments.

"While 5G is a global standard, implementations can vary by wireless carrier. Verizon is using the same connections it uses for FTTH, as they are unbundling much of their existing fiber backhaul to support 5G. Others may leverage ODC [outdoor connector] or MPO [multi-fiber push-on] connections," said Nathan Benton, vice president of sales at viaPhoton, which offers LC, MPO, ODC equivalent, OptiTip, and OptiTap connector options for their outdoor fiber cables and connections for 5G. "Regardless of the connectivity, outdoor microcells need to be protected from the elements with weather-resistant connectivity and IP68-rated enclosures."

Outdoor power supply and protection

When powering outdoor small cell solutions, they can leverage existing local power sources when available, such as those used for city light poles, utility poles, and traffic lights. Less power is required than for macro base stations, and some small cells can also harness solar power. Backup power is also a key consideration for any mission-critical deployment.

“Active devices using cellular backhaul require power, and off-grid 5G small cells present unique challenges. That’s where solar is ideal. It could be a remote small base station located in a park to monitor vehicles entering and exiting, or deployed in a field to transmit data from agricultural sensors.” “We’re also seeing solar being used to provide temporary remote mobile solutions for events like golf tournaments, or for emergency response in hurricane or tornado-damaged areas, where power is often not available and cell phones are the only available form of communication.”

The AccelTex standalone solar solution with panels, batteries, charge controller and enclosure will be ideal for supporting outdoor 5G small cell solutions where there is no power source.

For example, the AccelTex Solar Solution for Outdoor Wireless is a self-contained unit with solar panels, batteries, charge controller, and enclosure, with multiple DC output power options sized based on the total current draw of the device, the number of hours per day the device will need to be operational, the ability to mount the solar panel in a southerly orientation, and away from any obstructions. AccelTex also offers the Power-2-Go portable kit solution, which includes an integrated antenna, 10-hour battery pack, cables, and connectivity to create a fully functional standalone 5G hotspot, perfect for temporary and emergency response scenarios.

In addition to power, those deploying outdoor small cells will also face the challenge of protecting active equipment from the elements. Aesthetics, safety, surge protection, and installation are all considerations. Deployments in parks, parking lots, and other public and outdoor areas may require enclosures that protect equipment from environmental elements and tampering, including bollards, post-mounted enclosures, and underground enclosures designed for burial.

“Whenever you place any equipment outdoors, you need to protect it from the elements and provide lightning and surge protection. Safety is also a consideration, and some customers don’t want to be exposed outside,” said Chris Marco, director of brand management at AccelTex. “How the signal needs to propagate, the density it needs to support, and whether it’s a directional or omnidirectional antenna can all dictate how the solution is mounted.”

Bringing coverage indoors

While outdoor small cells are often viewed as a revenue generator, multi-year indoor cellular solutions are needed to support the nearly 80% of mobile traffic that occurs indoors and emerging mission-critical 5G applications. While indoor penetration issues are not new, 5G’s high-frequency radio waves are less able to penetrate building materials than 4G.

“While there is a learning curve to figure out the best way to deploy indoor 5G coverage and integrate it into existing networks, key verticals such as manufacturing and the military are already exploring the realities of machine-to-machine communications and augmented and virtual technologies for industrial automation and training,” said Luigi Tarlazzi, director of product management for CommScope’s DAS and Small Cell business. “Cellular networks versus WiFi also need to be evaluated based on the needs of the application. The key driver is mobility, but it’s also about quality of service and latency. With licensed cellular spectrum, you can guarantee higher service level agreements and enable devices to respond faster without interruption.”

Ideal for emergency response, the AccelTex Power-2-Go Solution is a compact kit that includes antenna, cable and battery that can be used with a cellular router to provide a standalone, fully functional 5G mobile hotspot.

5G is especially top of mind among enterprises that already have indoor cellular solutions, with many wondering what’s required to upgrade existing 3G and 4G LTE systems. While some modular systems can be upgraded to support the new 5G frequencies, it really depends on the system. “Enterprise customers need to determine if their current 4G LTE footprint is suitable for their needs for 5G. Depending on what’s already installed, they may need to replace radios, upgrade software, or overlay the system with new antennas to support the spectrum,” Tarlazzi said. “They may also need to densify to avoid coverage gaps, but that depends on the target coverage and application requirements.”

Those looking to deploy new indoor solutions also face the challenge of choosing between individual small cells and DAS, where many nodes are connected to operate as a single cell. Small cells typically each require their own backhaul connection, while DAS only requires a single backhaul. Generally speaking, small cells are considered more cost-effective for smaller facilities where traffic does not experience large spikes, while DAS can be deployed to support more users and higher capacity.

“It really depends on the use case, and even when deployed together, both small cells and DAS can be ideal solutions for 5G,” Tarlazzi said. “Our ONECELL small cell solution is primarily targeted at small to large enterprises, while our DAS solution is more targeted at large public venues such as stadiums. Both solutions leverage Ethernet transport and copper and fiber structured cabling. We believe it is important for indoor cellular networks to be as IT-friendly as possible.”

Market Opportunities

As 5G small cell deployments begin to roll out, most industry experts expect there will be plenty of opportunities for designers, integrators and installers to get involved – working with municipalities or businesses looking to use the technology for public and private uses, both outdoors and indoors.

“5G will be a huge catalyst for the indoor cellular market as it opens up a variety of new use cases for cellular technology beyond mobile broadband. In order to make network deployments scalable, a strong ecosystem of vendors, partners and solution providers is needed that can deliver these solutions to the end customer,” said CommScope’s Tarlazzi.

CommScope's multi-carrier, multi-channel small cell RP5000 radio point can be converted from LTE band to 5G New Radio (NR) through a software upgrade for use with Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network. It will also support higher 5G frequencies such as C-band globally and CBRS in the U.S. Their single-carrier, single-frequency RP2000 series solutions are software-selectable, enabling operators to change bands without accessing the hardware.

AccelTex’s Marco believes that the deployment of 5G and its complementary evolving WiFi technologies among enterprise customers opens up more opportunities for individuals who will design networks based on coverage profiles, as well as those who will deploy the infrastructure and actually install the solutions. “There are a lot of opportunities for installers from a private 5G perspective for stadiums and campuses, while more public applications and smart city opportunities will flow to high-end service provider contractors,” he said. “With 5G, there will probably also be a lot of opportunities for custom work that will leverage the integration side of our business to provide turnkey solutions for specific use cases.”

AccelTex’s Kierstead also envisions 5G driving complementary WiFi applications and providing even more opportunities. “Carriers want to move as much load as possible onto WiFi, and it doesn’t make sense for every device to connect directly to cellular. With new standards like WiFi 6 and 6E, and long-range, low-power WiFi HaLow, enterprises will build mesh WiFi networks that can then use 5G cellular for backhaul.”

As viaPhoton’s Benton noted, 5G also presents opportunities for data center professionals. “5G presents significant opportunities for OSP designers and installers, especially working with municipalities that are deploying fiber infrastructure to leverage the technology for distance learning and smart city applications. We will eventually see a large number of 5G wirelessly connected devices outside of buildings due to the many benefits of mobility, and it will be much cheaper than connecting all of these devices with wires,”

“Because latency is important for many of the applications that 5G will enable, such as machine-to-machine communications, autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation systems, it will also be about how to get compute closer to the user and enable faster access to the core,” Benton said.