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The continually growing popularity of accessing applications infrastructure is required. As shown in Table 1, there has been a
and associated content located within data centers over steady increase in wireless access speeds as cellular standards
mobile networks continues unabated, with no signs of slowing have evolved, but the theoretical upload and download speeds
in the coming years. This growth is forcing Mobile Network are rarely achieved, and in most cases, are much slower due to
Operators (MNOs) to continually expand their mobile a variety of factors, including large distances from mobile
networks, which creates a significant and timely opportunity devices to macro cell towers, line-of-sight obstructions,
for improvements to the mobile backhaul technology indoor usage, transmission signal interference, and mobile
currently being used. As MNOs update their Long Term device performance limitations. One method of achieving
Evolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) wireless networks faster wireless speeds is to bring the end-users and their
to accommodate the growing demand for packet-based mobile devices closer to the mobile network radios for vastly
mobile data services, a concurrent upgrade to the mobile improved access performance.
backhaul part of their networks is required to handle the
ever-increasing bandwidth demands of mobile end-users,
Standard Download Upload
whether man or machine, with the latter related to the
2.5G GPRS 114 Kb/s 20 Kb/s
burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) and associated Machine-
2.75G EDGE 384 Kb/s 60 Kb/s
to-Machine (M2M) communications over mobile networks.
The proliferation of apps among mobile smartphone users 3G UMTS 384 Kb/s 64 Kb/s

including email, video on demand, gaming, and social W-CDMA 2 Mb/s 153 Kb/s
mediaindicates that increased pressures on mobile HSPA 3.6 3.6 Mb/s 348 Kb/s
networks will only be exacerbated in coming years. MNOs not HSPA 7.2 7.2 Mb/s 2 Mb/s
properly prepared to address these infrastructure challenges Pre-4G HSPA 14 14 Mb/s 5.7 Mb/s
and changes risk falling behind the competition in this HSPA* 56 Mb/s 22 Mb/s
hypercompetitive environment. WiMAX 6 Mb/s 1 Mb/s
LTE 100 Mb/s 50 Mb/s
The Need for (More) Speed
4G WiMAX 2 1 Gb/s 500 Mb/s
As wireless networks are increasingly located between LTE Advanced 1 Gb/s 500 Mb/s
application end-users and associated content, the network
becomes the dominant factor that ultimately dictates the overall Figure 1. Wireless standards evolution and comparison
Quality of Experience (QoE). This means mobile networks, as
well as backhaul networks connecting end-users to data centers,
One viable method is known as small cells, although the
must be fast, reliable, and cost-effective. Traffic from the large
associated business implications are anything but small.
macro towers to the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)
A small cell brings the radios physically closer to end-users
is increasingly carried over Ethernet-based optical networks,
to improve coverage and capacity, and is seen as a viable
where bandwidth increases are easily addressed by upgrading
wireless access technology option, allowing MNOs to retain
from 1GbE today to 10GbE and even higher rates in the future.
and even attract new customers. MNOs around the world
However, increasing available bandwidth on the air interface
are experiencing intense ongoing competition related to
side, via antennas and radios, is more difficult than increasing
retaining and attracting new mobile customers, where
optical backhaul network bandwidth.
winners cost-effectively and reliably expand coverage and
Wireless vendors again are pushing up the Shannon limit, and available capacity to differentiate based on an improved and
are thus having a difficult time in cost-effectively extracting better overall QoE, which is increasingly seen as table stakes
more bits per hertz over available wireless spectrum, meaning to discerning end-users.
a new method of wirelessly accessing the global network

W White Paper
 Small Cells
Enterprise Indoor Public Outdoor Urban
Home Consumer Rural Public Space
Business Space Public Space
Femto Cell Pico Cell Pico Cell Pico Cell
Name Femto Cell
Pico Cell Micro Cell Micro Cell Micro Cell
User Access Closed Closed/Hybrid Open Public Open Public Open Public
End-user
Installed By End-user Network Operator Network Operator Network Operator
Network Operator

Figure 2. Small cell category summary

Cells, Cells, and More Cells backhaul links. This leads to more difficult and costly right-of-
As is typical in emerging technologies, small cells mean way negotiations, especially if protected dual small cell
different things to different people. There is overlap as to backhaul links are employed. The advantage of this
what is classified as femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, WiFi architecture is that deploying small cells will not affect the
cells, and small cells, with the latter often assumed to capacity requirements of the existing macro cell backhaul
encompass some or all of the former terms. Figure 2 provides links. In all likelihood, a combination of these two small cell
a summary view of these terms to help set the reference for backhaul network architectures will be deployed based on
what is to be referred to as small cells discussed in this paper. specific network requirements, deployment constraints
(indoor or outdoor), and optical fiber availability.
Small Cell Mobile Network Fit
There are two ways to deploy small cells within existing
mobile network architectures. Small cells can be homed back
to existing macro cells, as shown in Figure 3, with aggregated
small and macro cell traffic backhauled to the MTSO. This MTSO
results in increased capacity requirements onto the backhaul Outdoor
Installations
links currently feeding the macro cell, especially as more and
more small cells are deployed. This network architecture will
likely be the most popular method of rolling out small cells, as
it results in shorter small cell backhaul links, meaning MNOs
must endure fewer right-of-way negotiations, which are Indoor
typically very time-consuming and very costly to close. Installations

Figure 4. Small cell backhaul traffic homed directly to the MTSO

It should be noted that, regardless of which of the above

MTSO small cell backhaul network architectures is deployed, they
Outdoor
Installations both result in increased capacity for end-users due to
improved overall mobile network coverage and proximity to
the smalls cells. This means more network traffic can be
driven into the MTSO sites and over metro networks toward
the data centers, where applications and content are being
Indoor
Installations accessed. These increased demands placed upon existing
metro networks will continue to drive the adoption of 100G.

Figure 3. Small cell backhaul traffic homed to macro cell tower

Packet Networking
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Alternatively, small cells can be homed directly back to the
MTSO, as shown in Figure 4, which results in longer distance Download now

2
Benefits of Small Cells Small Cell Network
MNOs can derive numerous benefits by deploying small cells. From a coverage
Backhaul
perspective, they may experience improved service extension to targeted rural areas, Packet-based optical networks
indoor locations, and downtown concrete canyon not-spots. There is also a reduced best serve small cell backhaul
while ensuring simple, rapid,
need to deploy more macro cell towers, which are time-consuming, costly to deploy reliable, and cost-effective
and operate, and typically entail deployment issues related to economic, environmental, deployments to facilitate access
regulatory, and time-to-market perspectives. Small cells are far easier and faster to to web-scale data centers
and the application services
deploy compared to macro cells, and typically do not experience the side effects they provide.
associated with deploying the latter. Since small cells will be installed in a wide variety
of physical environments, such as on masts, poles, strands, the sides of buildings, or Business Challenges
within the building itself for indoor applications, small cell equipment must have highly >  nd-users are demanding
E
flexible mechanical mounting options to ensure simple, rapid, reliable, and cost- improved mobile network
coverage, access speeds,
effective field deployments on a wide scale. and overall QoE

Small cells increase service coverage by situating radios physically closer to increasingly >  ireless coverage is lacking
W
powerful mobile devices, which enables significantly increased capacity to end-users, in many areas, thereby limiting
download speeds
be they man or machine. Small cells will also allow for macro cell congestion relief by
offloading wireless capacity, especially as end-user bandwidth demands continue to >  NOs must rapidly and
M
increase. This lengthens the lifespans of deployed macro cells and minimizes the need reliably scale their networks in
a highly cost-effective manner
to deploy more macro towers closer to end-users simply to increase coverage and
capacity. Small cells can also improve the Time To Market (TTM) for new services Technology Solutions
and lower the cost per bit. Increased capacity can be used as a significant service >  mall cells allow MNOs to
S
differentiator and a key enabler of innovative new high-bandwidth services. better utilize available wireless
spectrum by offloading macro
Reliable, packet-based small cell backhaul networks, coupled with improved coverage cell traffic
and associated higher capacity available to end-users, result in an overall improved >  ich packet OAM allows for
R
QoE, leading to higher customer satisfaction and the ability to offer new and proactive and reactive mobile
differentiated services for innovative new revenue streams. Improved QoE facilitates backhaul network health
management
customer retention and can be used to attract new customers away from competitors
saddled with legacy networks starting to show their age. Increasingly, end-users are >  thernet-based optical
E
accessing their applications and content hosted in distant data centers, meaning networks are simpler to own
and operate compared to
demands placed on the mobile network infrastructure will show no signs of abating for competing backhaul options
years, if at all. As small cell deployments proliferate, end-users should experience the
highly coveted side benefit of improved battery life resulting from reduced transmitter-
receiver distances from smart mobile device to more small cells.

Side Effects of Small Cells

The majority of small cell traffic will be homed to existing macrocells and then
aggregated along with the macrocell backhaul traffic itself, meaning backhaul network
from the macrocell to the MTSO must be upgraded to avoid bottlenecks effecting the
end-to-end network performance, and ultimately the overall end-user experience.
Although its not expected that actual small cell traffic will approach a full 1 Gb/s for
quite some time, given the limited number of supported users per small cell coupled
withcurrent4G LTE smartphone performance, the links from small cell to macrocell will
be via cost-effective 1GbE physical interfaces allowing for future growth. This means
that the backhaul network from the macrocell to the MTSO should be upgraded from
existing 1GbE to 10GbE to ensure sufficient aggregate capacity isavailableacross the
entire backhaulnetwork.

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Wholesale Mobile Backhaul Network Demarcation Improved coverage and capacity enables new services that
Most MNOs acquire backhaul network bandwidth from arise in response to the impending wave of traffic soon to be
third-party or internal wholesale providers (the latter from unleashed onto mobile networks is related to the IoT, which is
different business units within the same corporation), meaning expected to expand to tens of billions of deployed traffic-
that a clear network demarcation point between the mobile generating devices in just a few years. Applications and
and wholesale networks is required to ensure rigid SLAs are associated services enabled by the IoT are related to smart
guaranteed at all times (Figure 5). To ensure rigid SLAs can be cities, smart oil fields, networked vehicles, smart parking,
guaranteed in the first place, and over time, a broad set of traffic congestion alleviation, smart lighting, weather
packet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) monitoring, smart electricity grids, alarm systems, and many
tools is required for standards-based traffic monitoring (packet more, most of which have not even been envisioned yet. What
loss, throughput, delay, and jitter) passing between the is known is that, due to convenience and the nature of IoT
demarcated wholesale and mobile networks. Web-based SLA applications themselves, wireless connectivity over mobile
portals allow MNOs to monitor purchased backhaul network networks will lead to growing wireless traffic demands that
services from their wholesale providers for improved peace of are daunting to mobile network planners and architects.
mind. Wholesale providers leverage strong packet OAM Once social media and IoT traffic is transmitted wirelessly over
capabilities and offer SLA Web portals to their customers as the airwaves and reach small cells, it is transmitted over wireline
key services that help differentiate them in the networks to and from data centers. This means the traffic-
hypercompetitive marketplace of backhaul network services. carrying capacity of backhaul networks from small cell to macro
cells and the MTSO must be upgraded. As 4G network
Big New Business Opportunities technologies are inherently packet-based, backhaul networks
Besides the improved customer retention and attraction based on packet-over-optical networks allow for the seamless
benefits afforded by small cells relative to the improved traffic handoff to and from data centers where much of the
capacity, coverage, and overall QoE they offer, there are also content being transmitted resides. Thus, when deploying small
benefits related to innovative new business opportunities. cells, MNOs must incorporate backhaul upgrades that address
Improved capacity allows for new, high-definition video increased wireless capacity to ensure the backhaul does not
streaming services to end-users, leading to new revenue- become a bottleneck leading to poor QoE.
generating opportunities that may not be possible on existing
capacity-constrained mobile networks in certain geographic
locations and markets. The insatiable thirst for multimedia- Learn more about our
based social media apps, some of which have not even been Mobile Backhaul solution
developed yet, will only continue to drive increased mobile
network demands. This will be exacerbated by new
smartphones supporting more powerful processors and more Reliable and Rapid Rollout Is Necessary
pixels on larger screens, which together create the perfect
Besides improved coverage, capacity, and overall associated
storm of increased mobile network bandwidth growth.
QoE, one of the primary advantages of smalls cells is a much
faster TTM than deploying more macro cells and the towers
Network Demarcation they entail. However, to improve coverage on a wide scale,
Mobile Network Operator Wholesale Backhaul Network Provider far more small cellsas much as 20:1must be deployed as
macro cells. This means they must be designed for rapid,
reliable, simple, and low-cost deployments, along with very
Small Cell Mobile Backhaul Network strong troubleshooting via standards-based OAM tools.
Rich packet OAM tools allow MNOs and wholesale mobile
backhaul service providers to remotely and quickly isolate
issues in their backhaul networks, either proactively or
reactively, to resolve problems and maintain a differentiated
Figure 5. Mobile network to wholesale
backhaul network demarcation QoE. Without such tools, operators must deploy field
technicians to troubleshoot issues, often requiring special
equipment needed to access small cells mounted in
dangerous, hard-to-reach locations, such as on the top of a
pole in bad weather. Remote troubleshooting capabilities,

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coupled with secure and encrypted WiFi management ports, Web-scale Wireless Access Coverage
further facilitate the rollout and ongoing maintenance of small The rise of web-scale IT architectures has challenged
cells in a very cost-effective manner. traditional hardware and software architectures and allowed
From CAPEX and OPEX perspectives, the simplicity and for previously unheard-of capacities and processing powers
affordability of Ethernet-based connectivity are major reasons being housed in todays data centers. It has allowed some of
this protocol is quickly becoming the protocol of choice in all the worlds largest content providers to grow to serve billions
parts of the global network; the mobile backhaul network is of end-users in a flexible, reliable, and previously
no exception. Ethernet is a well-understood protocol that unachievable cost-effective manner. Web-scale data centers
offers a rich set of packet OAM tools available that ensure mean that introducing new services to more users have
backhaul services meet or exceed the strong SLAs MNOs become faster and easier than ever before. As open source
have come to expect from traditional TDM-based E1 backhaul software and dynamic bandwidth between data centers
network services. The requirements published by the Metro connect multiple physically distinct data center into an
Ethernet Forum (MEF), along with Carrier Ethernet 2.0 essentially limitless virtual data center without walls, the
certification, increasingly makes Ethernet-over-optical capability of future data centers and services they can
networks the technology pairing of choice for mobile support is essentially limitless. Small cells allow the mobile
backhaul services. network to improve in both coverage and capacity, which
facilitates web-scale architectures even further as wireless
access to these data centers that house applications and
content increasingly becomes the dominant network access
method of choice.

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Ciena may from time to time make changes to the products or specifications contained herein without
notice. Copyright 2015 Ciena Corporation. All rights reserved. WP174 2.2015