40% performance improvement at edge of cell; carriers can be distributed across 60 MHz frequency band range
Nokia Siemens Networks has expanded its Liquid Radio architecture by launching a high power radio module for its Flexi Multiradio Base Station family. The higher output power means that the module offers greater GSM coverage and increased 3G data capacity at the edge of cells, providing an overall 40% increase in performance. This provides operators with the ability to efficiently enhance their network. In addition, the ability of the new radio module to allocate carriers frequencies across a broad 60 MHz range reduces the size of hardware required per base station site allowing more flexibility in deployment.
In mobile networks, the radio module is the part of a base station that amplifies each individual radio signal before broadcasting it from an antenna. Due to its higher output power, the new module improves the signal used to transmit voice or data to a mobile phone user. This directly increases how much useful information the signal can carry or the number of people for whom it can provide a connection.
Nokia Siemens Networks’ all in one radio module can be used for all installation types, such as indoor, outdoor, distributed, mast pole and 6-sector sites***, and it can provide up to 240 watts output power per sector, or provide 80 watts output to each of three sectors. It is also capable of allocating carriers within a 60 MHz range, which is particularly useful for operators with fragmented frequency bands. The module supports any combination of GSM, 3G, LTE or LTE-Advanced technologies in a single unit, significantly further reducing the hardware units a site may need.
“Our new radio module is especially suited for refarming GSM frequency bands for HSPA+ and LTE services and network sharing deployments,” said Thorsten Robrecht, head of Network Systems product management at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Moreover, we are the only vendor to combine the capacity to drive three remote radio heads – or sectors – into a single 25-liter unit, offering a smooth evolution for compact multiradio sites with lower power consumption.”
Nokia Siemens Networks’ radio module is also the only three-sector remote radio unit in the industry that can be placed next to an antenna, enabling a light multiradio set-up in limited spaces and sites, which cannot be equipped with traditional base stations.
The first frequency variants of the new radio module – including on the 900, 900 J, 1800 and 2100 frequency bands – will be available for commercial deployment at the beginning of 2012. Further variants will be rolled out during the first half of 2012.