1. The presentation discusses breaking the perceived "backhaul barrier" to small cell deployment by addressing concerns about availability, capacity, and cost of backhaul solutions. 2. It analyzes various backhaul options and concludes that microwave and millimeter wave technologies can provide sufficient capacity. 3. A total cost of ownership model shows that microwave multipoint solutions offering bandwidth sharing across links can provide significant savings compared to point-to-point approaches which require dedicated equipment for each small cell.

1. www.cbnl.com
Managing OPEX and CAPEX
in small cell backhaul
Dr John Naylon, CTO, CBNL
Small Cells World Summit, 4 June 2013

2. 2
Today’s agenda
1. How to break the
‘backhaul barrier’
2. Choosing from the
backhaul toolbox
3. A simple TCO model
for small cell backhaul
4. Multipoint microwave

3. www.cbnl.com Commercial in confidence 3
How to break the
‘backhaul barrier’

4. The ‘backhaul barrier’: understanding the perception
• Can I even get backhaul at all these
funny locations?
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Conviction

5. The ‘backhaul barrier’: understanding the perception
• Can I even get backhaul at all these
funny locations?
• Most operators will deploy small cells
to increase the QoE for the end user
by increasing network capacity.
Can I get enough backhaul capacity
at all these locations?
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Conviction
Capacity

6. The ‘backhaul barrier’: understanding the perception
• Can I even get backhaul at all these
funny locations?
• Most operators will deploy small cells
to increase the QoE for the end user
by increasing network capacity.
Can I get enough backhaul capacity
at all these locations?
• Will I be able to deploy small cell sites
en masse at 10% the cost of a macro site?
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Conviction
Capacity
Cost

7. How to break the ‘backhaul barrier’: conviction
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Documents use cases, backhaul
requirements and backhaul solutions
(4 wired and 8 wireless)
Key messages:
• Backhaul is NOT a barrier
to small cell deployment
• Many technically feasible solutions
for small cell backhaul exist
• Total cost of ownership
will dictate optimal solution

8. How to break the ‘backhaul barrier’: capacity
How much backhaul capacity do I need for a small cell?
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1 10 100
Backhaul traffic generated, Mbps (log scale)
Source: ngmn.org Small Cell Backhaul Requirements
See cbnl.com/bursty for more details

9. How to break the ‘backhaul barrier’: capacity
Pragmatic backhaul for small cells uses wireless
technology as an “on-ramp” for fibre
81% of operators said wireless was the primary
backhaul option for the last mile to small cells Source: Infonetics
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Wireless
• Great availability at
small cell locations
• Capacity depends on
chosen frequency
Fibre
• Availability at small cell
locations uncertain
• Capacity unlimited to
all intents and purposes

10. How to break the ‘backhaul barrier’: capacity and spectrum
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Source: Frequency Band Review for Fixed Wireless Service, Ofcom
Sub 6GHz:
1.54 GHz for licensed and
unlicensed, fixed & mobile,
access and backhaul
Microwave:
16.4GHz for terrestrial
fixed links
millimetre wave
18.3GHz
Unlicensed
Light licensed
Link licenced (PTP)
Area licensed (PMP)
Area licensed
Unlicensed

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Choosing from the
backhaul toolbox

12. Choosing from the backhaul toolbox
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Solution Spectrum
available
Capacity fit
TV Whitespace ~ 0.2 GHz* Poor
Satellite ~ 0.5 GHz* Poor
Sub-6GHz licensed 0.5 GHz Marginal
Sub-6GHz unlicensed 0.3 GHz Marginal
Microwave multipoint 6.7 GHz Good
Microwave PTP 9.6 GHz Good
60GHz mm-wave PTP 6.8 GHz Good
70-80GHz mm-wave PTP 9.5 GHz Good
* variable

13. Choosing from the backhaul toolbox: capacity screening
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Solution Spectrum
available
Capacity fit
TV Whitespace ~ 0.2 GHz* Poor
Satellite ~ 0.5 GHz* Poor
Sub-6GHz licensed 0.5 GHz Marginal
Sub-6GHz unlicensed 0.3 GHz Marginal
Microwave multipoint 6.7 GHz Good
Microwave PTP 9.6 GHz Good
60GHz mm-wave PTP 6.8 GHz Good
70-80GHz mm-wave PTP 9.5 GHz Good
* variable

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A simple TCO model
for small cell backhaul

15. A simple TCO model for small cell backhaul
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We use this model to compare the microwave
and millimetre-wave PTP and PMP solutions
that pass the ‘capacity’ screening criterion

16. TCO comparison: multipoint v point-to-point
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Multipoint
microwave
Point-to-point
microwave/mm-wave
Bandwidth dynamically
shared between links
Statically provisioned
bandwidth for each link
At hub, shared radio
and antenna for all
links
At hub, dedicated
radios and antennas
for each link

17. Compare TCO to backhaul 5 small cells: equipment
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SC
PoP
SC
SC
SC
SC
Assume hub is 2× price of
small cell end
Each additional small cell
needs only the remote end
of the link
7
cost
Unit of cost = 1 radio transceiver. Assumes PMP and PTP radios are equally priced, which is valid for
microwave comparison. Millimetre wave radios are currently ~2× price of microwave radios.
Source: Maravedis-Rethink, Wireless Backhaul Market from an Intermodal Perspective
SC
SC
PoP
SC
PoP
SC
PoP
PoP
SC
PoP Each additional small cell
needs equipment at both
ends of the link (for star or
chain configurations)
1 link per small cell site
10
cost
Multipoint
microwave
Point-to-point
microwave

18. Compare TCO to backhaul 5 small cells: installation
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SC
PoP
SC
SC
SC
SC
Assume hub is 2× price of
small cell end
Each additional small cell
needs only the remote end
of the link
7
cost
Each new link to a site
needs two teams and
simultaneous access to each
end of the link for alignment.
Assume this is 3× price of
sending one team to one site
15
cost
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Unit of cost = 1 site installation
Multipoint
microwave
Point-to-point
microwave

19. Compare TCO to backhaul 5 small cells: site rental & power
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SC
PoP
SC
SC
SC
SC
Hub site may have higher
rental or power consumption
than small cell site
Single antenna at each
small cell site
7
cost
Unit of cost = 1 year’s site rental and power
SC
SC
PoP
SC
PoP
SC
PoP
PoP
SC
PoP Rent is per antenna, and
power consumption per
radio, so each additional
link incurs another two units
1 link per small cell site
10
cost
Multipoint
microwave
Point-to-point
microwave

20. -
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5yearTCO,NPV
Small cells per backhaul hub
5 Year TCO Comparison
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-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5yearTCO,NPV
Small cells per backhaul hub
Conclusion
— Microwave PMP can offer very significant TCO savings versus
microwave or (especially) millimetre wave PTP for small cell backhaul
— Spectrum rental and coordination costs are decisive
Consensus view is 3-5 small cells
per macro in 5 year timeframe
PTP millimetre wave
PTP microwave
Multipoint microwave

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Multipoint microwave

22. VectaStar Metro – small cell backhaul solution
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Small cell multipoint microwave
backhaul from the market leaders
• 600Mbps throughput
• 600µs mean round-trip latency
• SyncE, 1588v2 support
• 26GHz and 28GHz ETSI
Built on the established VectaStar
platform
• Used by 7 of the 10 largest mobile
operator groups in the world
• Deployed in 37 countries worldwide
for 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi

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Summary
• The backhaul barrier of ‘conviction’, ‘capacity’ & ‘cost’ –
has been broken
• Good end-user quality of experience requires much more
backhaul capacity than there is low frequency backhaul spectrum
• Microwave and millimetre wave (PTP and multipoint),
can all “do the job” for small cell backhaul
• Multipoint microwave for small cell tail links offers significant
TCO savings through higher utilisation of equipment and spectrum

24. Small cell backhaul: the big picture
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Pick up a copy of our new
small cells white paper!
• Market progress
• Deployment drivers
• Styles of deployment
• Backhaul requirements
• Backhaul solution overview
• Backhaul TCO analysis
Available from:
cbnl.com/smallcells