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TMN 3 1 CURRENT SMALL CELL SITUATION To date small cells have been deployed in mobile networks as point solutions to meet specific deployment scenarios. So for example where indoor coverage has been poor in a residential or enterprise setting, the small cell has been a tactical tool for the operator to extend coverage. Or where a public area like a mall, stadium or transport hub has a capacity crunch, small cells can be deployed to add extra capacity with pinpoint accuracy. Although the trend has been towards more enterprise and public access small cells, according to figures from industry body The Small Cell Forum, in the final quarter of 2015, it was still the case that 60% of all small cells shipped were indoor. These deployment scenarios have meant that small cells have been developed with the technology required to match these defined requirements. So a residential small cell must be as near plug and play as possible, auto- provision itself on the network, establish a connection to the operator core, and carry out some limited interference management with respect to the macro environment. As several enterprise small cells may be deployed in one location, these cells tend to have more sophisticated SON (Self Organising Network) features on board, as they are required to coordinate with other small cells deployed in the same location, as well as cope with any outside-in interference from the macro network. The public access small cell deployed in dense urban spaces will have the same requirements, perhaps with some added SMALL CELL EVOLUTION physical factors like reduced form factor, aesthetic appearance and security. It may also require feature parity with the macrocells the operator has already deployed. Additionally, small cells have mostly to date been deployed in single frequency spectrum bands, enough to meet the use cases of extending voice coverage and providing enhanced capacity for some mobile broadband and data applications. Dual mode small cells that incorporate both WiFi and cellular access in the same box are indeed common, but they serve users who are in one mode or the other, they do not operate in multiple spectrum bands simultaneously. The technology stack within a small cell however, is set to change radically, driven by two key and complementary trends; the requirement for operators to meet an ever growing number of use cases and the developments in network architecture and mobile standards that are under way to address those challenges. These trends will see small cells move from being niche technology within a network to being an integral and strategic part of network planning and design. 2 4.5G FEATURES Although 4.5G has not been adopted by standards bodies as an official definition of technology, it is a common term in the industry. Technology features widely known as 4.5G equate to 3GPP releases from R13 onwards. The 3GPP gave these standards the name LTE-A PRO, to reflect their evolution from LTE-A (Advanced) specifications. THE TECHNOLOGY STACK WITHIN A SMALL CELL IS SET TO CHANGE RADICALLY, DRIVEN BY TWO KEY AND COMPLEMENTARY TRENDS.

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