Small Cell Backhaul Performance Assurance

Small Cells – Big Impact

There is no doubt we are attached to our mobile devices, to the point where they now outnumber the global human population. Mobile data will increase 1000-fold between 2014 and 2020, with users expecting service quality to keep in step. RF capacity has its limits, and is unable to keep up with demand unless a new radio access model emerges.

Mobile access networks are strained to maintain quality as more subscribers run bandwidth-intensive applications from a variety of devices. With the annual throughput of mobile traffic expected to increase from 58 Exabytes in 2013 to roughly 335 Exabytes by 2020, brute-force over-provisioning of bandwidth is no longer an economically feasible solution. Operators must implement strategies to meet growing quality of experience (QoE) expectations even in the face of finite spectrum.

Small cells are the answer to dramatic mobile traffic growth, but new challenges in the backhaul accompany them. Small cells allow operators to spatially share precious spectrum, operating inside the macro cell footprint and effectively bringing the network closer to the majority of users indoors and in highly dense urban areas. Unlicensed spectrum, including WiFi, also relieves licensed-band saturation, and small cells typically employ multiple technologies to scale their capacity.

The solution is as effective as it is necessary. Mobile operators will deploy 5 million small cells annually by 2017, where over half of mobile traffic will be carried by more than 62 million small cells worldwide. ABI Research forecasts 125% year-on-year growth of units shipped in roughly the same timeframe for a $3.6 billion market.