Nokia Solutions and Networks announced six enhancements for its Single RAN (radio access network) Advanced portfolio:
- Single RAN releases will support GSM, WCDMA and LTE deployments. The New Single RAN Advanced will align availability of three separate software releases, making it easy to build, operate and maintain NSN Single RAN Advanced networks.
- Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station 6 x 60W radio frequency module enables a compact three-sector site with LTE MIMO 2×2 using just one radio frequency (RF) hardware unit instead of two 3-pipe modules. It provides 360W total RF output power, the highest in market, for better end user experience. With this, operators can now deploy 1800 MHz LTE/GSM refarming and RF sharing using half the number of modules.
- Expansion sub-module for increasing RF connectivity of the Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station. This new sub-module supports three times more RF ports compared to earlier models, enabling operators to meet their refarming and RF sharing needs with less hardware.
- Smart Dual Beam (SDB) application software for Liquid Radio GSM Software Suite brings an intelligent new way to build three-sector GSM sites. This enables operators to either benefit from 50% more GSM capacity in their existing spectrum and base station sites, or provide 20% more spectrum for HSPA/LTE deployments.
- Common Base Station Operations, Administration and Maintenance entity, supported by NSN’s NetAct 8, for sites with GSM, WCDMA and LTE base stations. It replaces three separate entities with one, making it simpler to build, operate and maintain base station sites.
- Improved common IP backhaul solution with a new single transport function to support single site deployments. On the transport layer, GSM, WCDMA and LTE base station sites can now appear as one IP host, which improves flexibility in IP addressing, QoS and IP security, and simplifies the IP transport backhaul implementation and maintenance process.
“Radio access networks are becoming increasingly complex with LTE services provided alongside GSM and WCDMA services, and new frequency bands, as well as IP-based transport for LTE being added to existing backhaul network,” said Kimmo Virkki, vice president, Single RAN Business Product Management at NSN. “Running three different networks simultaneously often means rising costs, and compromised performance given the increased risk of error. NSN’s Single RAN Advanced cuts through this complexity by running GSM, HSPA and LTE technologies on shared multi-purpose hardware. Our latest features simplify base station sites and their operations, slashing costs and freeing up 55% of the spectrum for HSPA/LTE refarming.”