Small cells

[1]
are low-powered radio access nodes that operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrum
that have a range of 10 meters to 1 or 2 kilometers. They are "small" compared to a mobile
macrocell, which may have a range of a few tens of kilometers. With mobile operators struggling to
support the growth in mobile data traffic,
[2]
many are using Mobile data offloading as a more
efficient use of radio spectrum. Small cells are a vital element to 3G data offloading, and many
mobile network operators see small cells as vital to managing LTE Advanced spectrum more
efficiently compared to using just macrocells.
[3]
ARCchart estimates that by 2017 a total of 5 million
small cells will ship annually.
[4]

Small cells encompass femtocells, picocells, and microcells. Small-cell networks can also be
realized by means of distributed radio technology consisting of centralized baseband units
and remote radio heads. Beamforming technology (focusing a radio signal on a very specific
area) can be utilized to further enhance or focus small cell coverage. A common factor in all
these approaches to small cells is that they are centrally managed by mobile network
operators.
Small cells provide a small radio footprint, which can range from 10 meters within urban and
in-building locations to 2 km for a rural location.
[5]
Picocells and microcells can also have a
range of a few hundred meters to a few kilometers, but they differ from femtocells in that
they do not always have self-organising and self-management capabilities.
[6]

Small cells are available for a wide range of air interfaces including GSM, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, W-
CDMA, LTE and WiMax. In 3GPP terminology, a Home Node B (HNB) is a 3G femtocell. A Home
eNode B (HeNB) is an LTE femtocell. Wi-Fi is a small cell but does not operate in licensed spectrum
therefore cannot be managed as effectively as small cells utilising licensed spectrum. The detail and
best practice associated with the deployment of small cells varies according to use case and radio
technology employed.
[7]

Small cells can be used to provide in-building and outdoor wireless service. Mobile operators
use small cells to extend their service coverage and/or increase network capacity. With small
cells, mobile operators can offload traffic as much as 80% during peak times.
[8]
ABI Research
estimates that by 2015, 48% of mobile data traffic will be offloaded from the macro
network.
[9]
No individual technology will dominate offloading.
[10]

ABI Research also believes that small cells also help service providers discover new revenue
opportunities through their location and presence information, argues ABI Research.
[11]
If a
registered user enters a femtozone, the network is notified of their location. The service
provider, with the user's permission, could share this location information to update user's
social media status, for instance. Opening up small-cell APIs to the wider mobile ecosystem
could enable a long-tail effect.
[12]

Rural coverage is also a key market that has developed as mobile operators have started to
install public access metrocells in remote and rural areas that either have only 2G coverage or
no coverage at all. The cost advantages of small cells compared with macro cells make it
economically feasible to provide coverage of much smaller communities - from a few tens to
a few hundreds. The Small Cell Forum have published a white paper outlining the technology
and business case aspects.
[13]
Mobile operators in both developing and developed world
countries are either trialing or installing such systems. The pioneer in providing rural
coverage using small cells was SoftBank Mobile - the Japanese mobile operator - who have
installed more than 3000 public access small cells on post offices throughout rural Japan. To
overcome the backhaul challenge in remote locations they have used VSAT satellite backhaul
to link sites to their core network. The Informa Telecoms and Media consultancy also have a
paper covering this use of small cells.
[14]