Analyzing Small - cells and Distributed Antenna Systems from Techno - economic Perspective

TitleAnalyzing Small - cells and Distributed Antenna Systems from Techno - economic Perspective
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsBouras, C, Kokkinos, V, Kollia, A, Papazois, A
JournalInternational Journal of Wireless Networks and Broadband Technologies (IJWNBT), IGI Global
Volume6
Issue1
Pagination45-64
Abstract

Next-generation of mobile technologies is expected to largely augment the system's peak data rates and cut down on the round-trip delays. The main idea of using ultra-density or DAS (Distributed Antenna Systems) based on their properties, is that they are able to increase efficiency and expand network capacity without the need for more spectrum resources by redistributing the existing ones, depict them as the key solutions for the future mobile networks. Small cells and DAS were launched mainly for addressing the issue of limited connectivity indoors.
There are several other important benefits of these technologies, which constitute them as bases for future generations of mobile networks, such as 5G (5G-PPP, 2014). Femtocells' benefit is that they provide ultra-density, which is expected to be one of the essential features of 5G. Ultra-dense networks coexist with the existing macrocellular ones forming altogether heterogeneous networks and fulfill the requirements and the network's future demands. Scientists and researchers have decided to move towards this direction by conducing several research activity in the area (Networld2020 ETP, 2014; IWPC, 2014).
The future mobile networks are going to demand a large network coverage. DAS would be an ideal solution to deal with the limited spectrum, because it provides repeaters, that are connected to the antenna system. It also serves the augmenting numbers of the smart devices, that in the future will be connected to the Internet or the smart home devices of the owner's home network as we move dynamically to the Internet of Things.
This paper studies the techno-economic aspects of ultra-dense and DAS deployments. It presents the characteristics and advantages for all their parts, as well as a techno-economic modeling of these deployment types. The defined models are used for the investigation of the upper technologies from an economic point of view. They provide an insight in the future financial and pricing aspects of these solutions and consist a useful tool for the definition of financing and pricing policies towards economically viable deployments. The authors define models for selecting the most appropriate network architectural solution for public buildings' indoor coverage. Cost, investment, materials, coverage and capacity are the parameters that are taken into account for the definition of their models. The main scientific contribution of this paper is that it includes multiple case-study examples of the techno-economic models as well as results of conducted experiments. It also analyzes and presents a techno-economic model and summarizes the main research activity in the particular field.
The remaining part of this paper is structured as follows: the second section refers to the related research that has been conducted so far. The third section presents the architectures of ultra-dense and DAS deployments used in the models. In the following section we describe cost models for ultra-dense and DAS deployments. In the next section we define the parameterization of the cost models. In the sixth section we conduce some experimental scenarios and analyze the corresponding results. Finally, in the seventh section we conclude our paper with the most fundamental conclusions realized in the experimental procedure and in the final section we list some ideas for future research work in the field of mobile network technologies.