Nokia Bell Labs on Monday unveiled a new small cell technology it said will allow for “drop and forget” installations without the need for wired backhaul.
According to Nokia, the architecture of the new “F-Cell” solution is comprised of a closed loop, 64-antenna massive MIMO system. Placed in a centralized location, this architecture forms eight beams to reach eight solar powered F-Cells, eliminating the need for backhaul cabling.
This independence from wired infrastructure means F-Cells will enable drone-based installation tactics on rooftops and other locations.
Nokia Bell Labs President and Nokia CTO Marcus Weldon called the solution a “key breakthrough in massively scalable and massively deployable technology.”
Nokia said the solution supports non-line-of-sight wireless networking in both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) modes. It also supports the parallel operation of up to eight individual 20 MHz channels to allow a system throughput rate of around 1 gbps over existing LTE networks.
Looking ahead, Nokia said the system will be able to scale to support speeds in the tens of gigabits per second using higher spectral bandwidth, new spectral bands and a larger number antenna arrays.
Nokia said the F-Cell solution fits with its Future X Network vision of 100x capacity growth and 100x reduction in latency drive by easier deployments.
The technology won CTIA’s Emerging Technology Award for transforming Wide Area Networks at the group’s Super Mobility conference in September, Nokia said.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
