INDOOR DAS 2011 - · PDF fileby introducing leaky cables or RF repeaters inside a building. New systems for indoor DAS combine ... (Powerwave) reported 2009 sales of $52M,

INDOOR DAS 2011STATE OF THE MARKET & OPPORTUNITIES

11951 Freedom Drive 13th Floor, Reston, VA 20190 Tel: (703) 857 4100 or Fax: (703) 991 8476

EXEC SUMMARYThe rising demand for more broadband wireless data services has triggered innovations to increase network capacity. Here, new in-building Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) technologies promise to play a key role at a very attractive price for carriers. The market is ready for an explosion of investment in this area.

There are many options for in-building DAS. Selecting the proper technology and vendor as well as planning the deployment and implementation and optimiza-tion are specialized area of services that are very dif-ferent from traditional cellular Macro engineering.

This paper presents a high-level view of some available options for in-building DAS. It also looks at trends in the market and makes recommendations on how operators can maximize their return on investment.

INTRODUCTION The current explosion in wireless data services has been well documented in the last year. AT&T, in particular, has been all over the press because their success with popular smartphones is exposing capacity bottlenecks in large metropolitan markets. Indoor DAS has a place in the relief of these congestion issues.

The recent FIFA World Cup illustrates another driver for indoor DAS. When 50,000 fans get together in a stadium and all want to send multimedia messages over their phones, or stream playback of the goals, it creates a challenge well beyond the capacity of the macro-cellular network.

In-building solutions have been used for many years to help alleviate coverage problems often by introducing leaky cables or RF repeaters inside a building. New systems for indoor DAS combine more advanced technology with a compelling offer to address both coverage and capacity problems.

MARKET SIZE

TIME

INFLEXION

Mobile Experts LLC claims that the indoor DAS market is at an infl exion point. The mar-ket has been growing slowly over the past few years. The rise of smartphone usage will change that, the forecasts is that de-mand will grow fast over the next few years.

The market for indoor DAS is so small at the moment that public companies hardly report on its size. However, cellular operators currently have growing capacity issues in metropolitan areas due to the explosion of data services and the popularity of smartphones. The market for indoor capacity solutions such as DAS Systems is expected to explode in the coming years. In the U.S. alone, there are billions of square feet of offi ce space in large metropolitan areas. While most of the current indoor DAS investments come from wireless operators, infrastructure owners and third parties are increasingly seeing benefi ts and making their own investments.


DEFINING DASThere are many different types of systems that support the in-building DAS market. Most of these systems are manufactured by small and growing vendors. The selection of a system will involve a review of the requirements.

Some important technical aspects are:

• Size of the building to cover

• Existing cabling and infrastructure in the building

• Transmission of public safety airwaves

• Support for E911 services

• Band transmission – transmit all bands or only a subset

• Transmission restrictions – transmit all bands everywhere or restrict certain bands to certain floors

• Multi-use – use the system for cellular only or for cellular and Wi-Fi both

In general, indoor DAS involves:

• Some form of access between the wireless operator facilities and the building/campus to be covered.

• Installing a main unit or gateway or base station system (BTS) in the building.

• Installing antennas and/or remote units (often connected by Fiber, Coaxial Cable or combination of both to the BTS.) in relevant areas in the building.

• Indoor DAS systems can be classified as passive DAS, active DAS or hybrid DAS.

PASSIVE AND HYBRID SYSTEMS

Radiating Cables or “Leaky Feeders” are becoming archaic. Would suggest concentrating on Passive Systems being antenna distribution systems fed by Coaxial cable and a series of passive components like splitters and uneven power dividers to manage the link budget.

Passive DAS use passive RF components. They distribute a wide range of RF signals over a building. They would typically use coaxial cables and radiating cables to

distribute the signal to an array of antennas distributed in the building. Passive DAS are less expensive and very reliable. These systems work well for multi-operator multi-service systems for smaller installations. Larger installations can be handled by a hybrid DAS,(which is essentially a series of DAS connected together by fiber.

Some use air ducts or cable infrastructure to trans-mit the signal within a building. However, these transmission methods limit the size of the building and the number of bands that can be transmitted.

The Extenet iDuct system over HVAC ducting is limited to size but it can still cover buildings up to 1.5 million square feet or there abouts. Trump Tower in Chicago has one installed as does the T-Mobile head office down in NJ.

Multi-operator passive DAS systems would receive feeds from multiple operators directly from the operators’ base stations. The DAS system would combine these signals and distribute them within the building (on the downlink) and distribute the relevant uplinks back to the base stations.

A very large proportion of indoor DAS today are passive.

ACTIVE SYSTEMSActive DAS systems involve a main unit that converts RF Signals into Optical signal and distributes it to an array of remote unites within the building. Active DAS are limited by the bandwidth of the cabling used to distribute the signal around the building and availability of remote unit placement options. Typical in-building fiber installations are limited in bandwidth and present some challenges.


Indoor DAS can also be classified depending on the method used to propagate the signal within a building.

Analog systems may use one or more of the following:

• Coaxial cables for transmission

• Wave guides

• Air ducts as wave guides

Digital systems may use the following transmission media:

• Coaxial cable

• Multi-mode fiber

• Single-mode fiber

Hybrid systems are a combination of the analog and digital systems above.The novelty in the new indoor system is in the work involved to process and transmit the RF signals in digital form to all the antennas in the building. Zinwave claims some break-throughs and intellectual property rights in this respect.

Network Interface

A third way to characterize in-building DAS systems is to look at the interface to the wireless operator network.

Many options are possible, including:

• Some passive systems involves capturing the RF signal and repeating it inside the building and back

• Some systems involve a dynamic or static IP connection to a small IP BTS within a building

• Some systems involve a dedicated connection to a small BTS within a building

• Some systems involve a direct connection from an operator-hosted BTS to a main unit within the building or nearby Base Station Hotel

Sometimes an operator dedicates a small radio base station for a specific building. Such pico-cells (not to be confused with the femtocells) can be connected to a DAS system to cover a single or multiple buildings.

Figure 1 Schematic of a typical fiber DAS installation

THE VALUE OF IN-BUILDING DASMobile Experts estimates that the North American market for in-building wireless solutions will exceed $500M by 2014. While number for the market size in 2009 is readily available in the public domain, one of the four market leaders (Powerwave) reported 2009 sales of $52M, which would suggest a 2009 total market size in the low hundreds of millions.The business case for indoor DAS is compelling. According to an IBWA study, the aggregate value of in-building wireless (IBW) deployments is estimated at more than $5 per square foot, per building, per year. An investment in an IBW solution of 55 cents to $1.25 translates into at least five times return on the value of a building — with potential public safety savings estimated between $59 to $130 million annually for fire emergencies alone.Extenet iDuct system costs between $0.25 and $0.35 per square foot.

The ROI (Return on Investment) estimates from the IBWA study show that the tenants would benefit the greatest in terms of productivity gains from cellular and Wi-Fi coverage – in

FiberTo Wireless Operator

Main Unit

Remote

Remote

Remote

In B

uild

ing

Fibe

r


the range of $4 per square foot.! This result begs the question: Why Wireless carriers are still driving this market? Wireless carriers are a distant second in terms of benefi ts; namely, $1 per square foot of value coming from new subscribers, increased minutes of use, less dropped calls, and lower churn rates. Given the costs for deploying such a system, the business case could hardly be more compelling. After factoring in the value of public safety and security, the IBWA concluded the return could reach up to 20X the original investment.John Spindler, ADC Telecommunications’ vice president of product management, cited a recent ABI Research report predicting 89,000 indoor DAS deployments worldwide this year. Such volume indicates a market size much larger than the $500M estimate above. Other analysts have been quoted sizing the market at about $15B by 2013. This would still be a small fraction of worldwide capital expenditure by wireless operators. If traffi c grows as expected and congestion in high population is as follows, this number may not be unrealistic.

Table 1: An increasing number of players is developing offerings for operators in the North-American in-building space

TRENDS IN THE VALUE CHAINThere are multiple models for the indoor DAS value chain, including the four models below. And each market maybe a combination of two (or more) of the models below. Regardless, these models provide perspective on overall market trends.

DAS deployment can be driven in four ways:

1 - Driven by operators’ sales to increase coverage on their own of a specifi c building

2 - Driven by owner to increase the value of its properties by conveying the signal to/from multiple operators

3 - Driven by operators’ engineering needs

4 - Driven by third parties to charge the operator when enabling a neutral host system in a large venue (such as a stadium).

These value chain models are represented in the quadrants of Figure 2.

Major infrastructure suppliers (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, and others) have some offering in this space. Very often, the offering combines of the supplier’s equipment and integration with an OEM.

FACILITIES OWNER SUPPLIER

Crown Castle CommScope/Andrews

SBA TYCO Electronics

American Towers MobileAccess

Global Tower Partners Powerwave

TPI ZinWave

Towerco Extenet

Mobilitie RFS

Building Management Companies Shyam Telecom

Delta Node

InnerWireless

Clariton Networks

Communications Components Inc

Bravo Tech Inc

Advanced RF Technologies

Major Infrastructure Suppliers

BuildingOwner Lead

OperatorSales Lead

OperatorEngineering Lead

3rd party ofOperator

Engineering Lead

COVERAGE CAPACITY

SHARED

DEDICATED


Model 1 – Dedicated coverage. The vast majority of in-building investments fall in the first model (the lower left quadrant). Operators are investing some of their capital budget to generate revenue with a direct business case showing a clear return on investment.

Model 2 – Shared coverage. This trend is expected to change in two ways. The second model (the upper left quadrant) corresponds to facilities owners who – on their own or through a third party – are trying to increase the value of their property. In this scenario, operators would be invited by a building owner to feed the building’s indoor DAS system or repeater system. The proposition benefits all, and generally minimizes the involvement or cost to the operator.

Model 3 – Dedicated capacity. More significant is the third model (the lower right quadrant), which reflects the situation many operators now find themselves in the success of smartphones – large urban areas are congested. Operators’ quality of service metrics are showing the strain, and customers are complaining. In many cases, operators can increase capacity in some cells, deploy new cells or deploy in-building cells. The business case is built by comparing such options, and engineering will recommend the solution that would get the most capacity relief on the macro cells for a minimal investment.

The business proposition here is a lot less clear that in the first model. The execution is also a lot more difficult. In the third model, the operator needs to approach building owners or building operators with whom they may not have a prior business relationship. The building may also have already been wired by a competing operator. So although these third-model scenarios are increasing, the complexity of the business arrangements limits its success.

Model 4 – Shared capacity. The fourth model (the upper right quadrant) is the most compelling and the industry seems mature enough to move in this direction. In this arrangement, third parties (often tower operators) are

making the investment to install indoor DAS systems in a building. They then approach all operators in turn to get them to lease bandwidth-on this system and perhaps to lease space for a BTS inside the building. This neutral host arrangement is already common for stadiums and other large sports venues as well as large airports.

In the past, the first model – driven by operators’ sales – represented most of the in-building deployments. This is changing. The last few years have seen a lot of activity in the upper right and lower left quadrant. With the development of high bandwidth data services and smartphones, the upper right quadrant will grow in importance in the near future. Coverage-driven deployment of dedicated infrastructure will represent a smaller proportion of DAS deployments while capacity-driven shared infrastructure will be increasingly common.

This trend towards shared infrastructure is a normal market evolution previously seen in the macro network through the emergence of tower companies and shared infrastructure. In the in-building space, the drivers are not extremely different.

Office and business space is a competitive market place. When shopping for a lease, business owners now pay attention to the quality of indoor coverage for their cell phones.

Developers and managers of large public venues have a vested interest in the quality of service that cellular operators provide within their buildings. In addition, it is critical that all Public Safety wireless systems deliver the service that is required in the event of an emergency. Very often, this is realized by a neutral operator installing a wideband DAS system into which all wireless operators can connect.


NEXIUS CAN HELPNexius Solutions Inc has experience in planning, integrating, installing and operating DAS systems. We have been providing these services for many years, and we understand the need of operators.

Solution Selection: Our team of in-building engineers is very familiar with the technical proposition of in-building DAS vendors. We understand the trade-offs to be made, and we are familiar with the qualities and drawbacks of each solution. Based on the venue characteristics -- e.g., building size, capacity requirements, existing wiring, etc. – we can make a recommendation on the solution that will offer the best value for our customer.

Project Management: Our team of in-building project managers has been working on behalf of tier 1 operators for many years, coordinating, the deployment of in-building solutions. Our PMs are involved from the moment the sales team identifies the need to cover a specific building and remain involved through the time the system is accepted and turned on. Our PMs typically have a lead role in return-on-investment analysis, vendor management, and quality control.

Project Planning: The installation of an in-building system is often a complex proposal, which requires a dedicated project or technical planner. The project planning person gets involved very early in the process and defines phases and milestones of the project as well as the deliverables expected from each stakeholder needed to move to the next phase.

Site Acquisition: When a specific venue is identified, it needs to be properly qualified, jurisdictional requirements need to be examined, permitting processes need to be understood, and everything needs to be well documented. In addition, negotiations are needed with the building managers, site surveys and construction walkthroughs must be conducted, all leases and plans need

to be recorded. Nexius site acquisition specialist employees are familiar with these processes.

RF Design: Nexius can perform RF data collection, generate a preliminary RF design, perform a detailed analysis, and get the design documented, approved and finalized. In this process, our engineers are familiar with the leading, in-building planning tools in the industry.

Construction Management: Our construc-tion managers negotiate with the leaser, co-ordinate and manage construction crews and third party vendors or contractors. Implementation Planning and Bill of Materials: We perform implementation planning in coordi-nation with vendors, installers and construction teams. Nexius is in charge of finalizing the de-sign, reviewing all documentation, scheduling all implementation activities and procuring all nec-essary materials to facilitate timely installation.

Quality Assurance: Following installation, an acceptance test must be performed before the system is turned over to the operator for commissioning. Nexius can perform the quality assurance test, integration and optimization on on behalf of the operator. Our project managers, implementation managers and RF engineers can verify that RF coverage is per commitments and that all functionality is enabled. Proper documentation and sign-off will be done.

Monitoring and Maintenance: Our team of engineers and technicians can perform periodic review of site performance to ensure that the quality of service is maintained or provide long term on-going maintenance support to maintain service level agreements for system functionality.


WHY NEXIUSNexius has been supporting wireless operators on their in-building DAS deployment for many years. We have a dedicated team focused on delivering these opportunities.

This team of in-building experts builds upon our wider experience with:

• Site deployments

• Backhaul systems

• RF engineering

• Core networks engineering

• Relations within the industry

Nexius can accompany your organization through the complete process, from the early planning stages through commissioning and operations of specific systems. We can tackle project management, vendor management, engineering, integration and all other phases of the project.

ABOUT NEXIUS Nexius is the leader in delivering end-to-end wireless services and software solutions to industries worldwide. Nexius applies its strategic insight, proven experience and practical knowledge, to closely collaborate with customers and help transform their business through wireless. The company’s more than 350 dedicated professionals serve as subject-matter experts, providing Technology Strategy, Network Services and Software Solutions to many leading organizations including AT&T, Qualcomm, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Wireless. Nexius is on a steady growth path in the US and globally, ranking as the 103rd fastest-growing business in America by Entrepreneur Magazine and on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and the Inc. 5000 lists. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Nexius has offices in Washington DC, Seattle, Dallas, Dubai, and Argentina. Additional information is available at: Phone: +1 (703) 650-7777 Email: [email protected] Web: www.nexius.comTwitter: @NexiusInc

Documents

INDOOR DAS 2011 - · PDF fileby introducing leaky cables or RF repeaters inside a building. New systems for indoor DAS combine ... (Powerwave) reported 2009 sales of $52M,