The Evolution of Private Networks: Webinar Q&A

If you attended our recent webinar, hopefully you learnt something new about Private Enterprise Networks!

Industry analyst Dean Bubley has given us a clear understanding of the market considerations & challenges when it comes to the evolving roles of 5G & Wi-Fi in Enterprise & the new tendency of ‘semi-private’ networks. Vladan Jevremovic, our Senior Research Director, presented and demoed a use case of a 5G industrial plant design.

Haven’t attended the webinar or want to watch it again? Here is a recording of the Private Networks webinar. We received a lot of live questions but we didn’t have the time to answer them all. So Vladan & Dean took some time to combine those answers for you.

Enjoy!

Do you think investment in enterprise Wi-Fi and (semi)-private LTE/5G will increase or decrease because of the pandemic? (compared to a pre-pandemic outlook)

Dean: Depends a lot on macro-economy trends & any resurgence/mutation of the virus. Small-business Wi-Fi investment will likely fall because of economy / business failures in next 6-12 months.

Private LTE is likely to be relatively unaffected, especially given the continued growth in interest in CBRS in the US. Slight delay to PAL license auctions. Maybe a couple of months delay in some projects private/semi-private 5G will be slowed a bit, because of delays in finalizing R16 & maturing of standalone cores & devices.

Longer term there will be a refocus on some sectors vs others (healthcare, logistics etc. vs leisure & hotels)

What frequencies do you see or expect to make up the private networks? 2.3? CBRS?

Dean: Varies by country a lot (see the chart below)

CBRS in the US, plus niche use of 900MHz
3.7-3.8 GHz in Germany & likely other places in Europe
2.6 GHz in France
1.8 GHz, 2.3 GHz (both small) for private 4G, and 3.8-4.2 GHz for 5G in UK, plus also secondary re-use of
2.6 GHz in some places
26 / 28 GHz mmWave for indoor / local use in various countries – Japan, UK, Malaysia, probably Germany, Nordics etc.
At some point maybe also some 6 GHz for Wi-Fi 6E and NR-U

Who will run these Private networks? Enterprises don’t care for CSPs and have desire for private networks, but do they have skill/stomach to run them? Will there be a rise in MVNO/MVNE to do this or will there be an expansion of MSPs (possibly the guys already managing their Wi-Fi) or do the DAS and installer community move up the stack?

Dean: Huge mix here, varying by country, industry sector, network size and single-site vs. multi-site vs. wide area, use-cases etc.

Some will be CSPs, some industrial companies (Bosch, Siemens, Hitachi etc.), some critical-comms specialists from military & public safety backgrounds, some voice MSPs, some property companies, some towercos, some DAS providers…. Will take a year or two for patterns to emerge.

Does SaaS have a role in delivering private networks?

Dean: Yes, at multiple levels – eg Core-aaS, IoT platform-aaS, eSIM-aaS, IMS/VoLTE-aaS, cloud BSS/OSS and so on. Some may be provided by telcos offering enablers, some by vendors, some by startups.

Although Private LTE deployments have happened outside the US, it hasn’t had much success yet in the US, what are the reasons and how can wireless service providers be successful?

Vladan: There is a lack of private LTE spectrum. CBRS is the spectrum where we think we will see most of private LTE deployments in the USA

What are the benefits of having private 5G than ISP public 5G?

Vladan: The first benefit is that it gives more control over the traffic in private network. Also, Security, Traffic and Interference are better controlled in a separate network.

Where to you see the status and adoption of MOCN in the USA? Is N26 going to enable MNO roaming into Private 5G-SA deployments?

Dean: Slow for now – maybe over the next couple of years but not something I’m 100% certain on at present.

Yes, it’s looking like there *could* be roaming scenarios emerging, but it gets a bit complicated because of issues like lawful-intercept & other regulatory concerns. Expect roaming-aaS to be offered. Also, may need extra numbering resources for the private network, plus various OSS/BSS functions. May also need the private network to use SIM/eSIM for this model – if it’s completely separate, they can use other authentication methods.

For any other questions about Private Networks, feel free to comment this blog and we’ll do our best to answer!

How 4G & 5G Antennas Really Work

If RF Signals Were An Opera

Picture yourself in an open space – a meadow if you will – on a quiet sunny day. In front of you, 30 meters away, is a full opera. They are singing the Canadian national anthem. Their singing is crisp and clear, just as it should be when you’re dead center in front of opera singers.

Then, you start moving to the right. You’re following the path of a semicircle, centered at the platform where opera singers are standing, with a radius of 30 meters. As you’re moving along the semi-circle, the singing becomes quieter. This is normal – you’re moving away from the center, and the sound does not reflect from a nearby wall or ceiling since you’re in an open space.

When you reach the end of the semi-circle you’re in line with the opera singers, but still 30 meters away. The sound is quiet now. This is how a 4G antenna radiates on the horizontal plane. Most of the RF signal is delivered dead center in front of an antenna panel, then gradually becomes lower until it reaches its lowest point when you’re lined up with the antenna.

Flying High with 4G

Now picture yourself and the opera levitating 30 meters above ground. You can still move, but this time only above and below the singers. You are still moving around a semi-circle with a radius of 30 meters, but the semi-circle is now vertical. Again, you will hear the Canadian anthem loud and clear when in front of the singers, but as you move above the sound is gradually going to get quieter. Finally, when you’re levitating 30 meters above the singers, you won’t be able to hear much at all. This is how a 4G antenna radiates on the vertical plane. Again, most of the signal radiation is dead center in front of the antenna panel, then it gradually loses intensity as you move away, above or below the antenna.

Getting Louder with 5G

Now, let’s give each opera singer a bullhorn. The sound is much stronger now. Imagine you are still moving around in a horizontal or vertical semi-circle around the opera. This time, the singers are pointing their bullhorns in your direction as you move. Because the sound is following you, it stays as loud as it was when you were dead center in front of the opera, no matter where you are. This is how 5G antennas work. The bullhorn is 5G Beamforming, and opera singers moving their heads is dynamic Beamforming that tracks the user as they move away from the center of a 5G antenna panel.

How 5G can serve Multiple Users

We have just explained how 5G works with a single user exchanging data with the base station. The opera is a 5G base station, the listener is UE, and the Canadian national anthem is the data exchanged between the base station and the UE. But what happens when there’s more than one UE? Let’s assume there are two listeners. They’re both located on that horizontal semi-circle. One is a bit to the left, and the other is a bit to the right of the opera. Both are still 30 meters away. The one to the left wants to hear the Canadian National Anthem, and the one to the right wants to hear the American National Anthem. This can be done in 3 different ways:

All singers, still carrying bullhorns, turn to the left and sing the first verse of the Canadian anthem toward the first listener. Then, when they finish the first verse, the singers turn to the other listener and sing the first verse of the American national anthem. The listeners record their respective anthems on their smart phones while the opera sings in their direction, and hit the pause button when they don’t. The total duration of the performance is double the time it takes to listen to each anthem. Increasing the number of listeners from one to two slowed down the exchange of information. This is how 5G analog Beamforming works. While the data is exchanged with one UE, all other UEs are in the “pause” mode.
The low register singers (bass, baritone) turn left and sing the Canadian national anthem, while the high register singers turn right to sing the American national anthem. When they are done, the low register singers turn to the right and sing the American national anthem, while the other half turn to the left and sing the Canadian national anthem. Each listener records both the low and high versions on their smartphone, and then use an app to parse the low and high register together. Again, it took twice then what it would take if only one listener was present. This is how digital 5G Beamforming with a beam frequency reuse factor of 2 works. Each beam uses only half of the frequency bandwidth at a time, either the low or high band.
The number of opera singers doubles. Now we have two operas in one location, so it is a bit crowded on stage. Everybody has a bullhorn. The original opera members turn to the left and sing the Canadian national anthem, while the cloned opera members turn to the right and sing the American national anthem. Because they sing in the full register at the same time, both anthems can be sung simultaneously. This is how digital Beamforming with a beam frequency reuse factor of 1 works. Each beam uses full frequency bandwidth to deliver data to the user.

Safe Distances for 4G & 5G

Now let’s go back to the original setup. One listener is 30 meters away, in front of the opera. No bullhorns. Let’s suppose the listener starts moving closer, still dead center in front of the opera. The sound gets louder and louder. At some point the sound becomes too loud, and their ears start hurting. The user backs away until the hurting stops. Let’s say it’s 5 meters away from the opera. This is the minimum safe distance to listen to the opera without damaging your eardrums. Mobile wireless networks work the same way. A governing body determines the maximum electric field intensity in front of the antenna. Engineers can calculate the safe distance from the antenna using the maximum electric field intensity. Coming closer than the calculated safe distance may cause harm to your body. The actual safe distance depends on many factors, and we will cover that in detail in one of our upcoming webinars.

Let’s get back to the scenario at hand. We just mentioned that the safe distance is 5 meters while standing dead center in front of the opera. This is a 4G case, and we learned from that case that moving away from the dead center decreases the intensity of the sound. If we are 5 meters away but are all the way to the side, we hear much less. In that case, even if we come closer than 5 meters, our ears won’t hurt. That’s why it’s safe to stand directly below a 4G panel antenna, even if the distance between you and the panel is less than the recommended minimum safe distance.

Lastly, let’s look at the safe distance for 5G cases. This time, opera singers have bullhorns and the sound is louder. Now, our ears start hurting 10 meters away from the singers. Not only is the safe distance larger, it does not change with the position of the listener, because the opera singers follow the listener as they move around. Thus, the safe distance is 10 meters in any direction relative to the center of the 5G antenna panel, including directly above and below antenna. This is how it works in the RF world in principle, although in reality the safe distance does vary a little with UE position relative to the panel. We will also cover this in one of our upcoming webinars.

iBwave Wi-Fi Mobile: Taking a Tour

Lately I’ve gotten a lot of questions about iBwave Wi-Fi so it seems like a good idea to put together a blog series covering all the different aspects of the iBwave Wi-Fi solution. Today I’ll start with iBwave Wi-Fi Mobile, but first let me describe the overall solution at a really high level.

What is the solution?

iBwave Wi-Fi Mobile
iBwave Wi-Fi (PC)
iBwave Cloud (10 GB)
iBwave Viewer (Free viewer)

Together, they are a connected solution to help streamline the Wi-Fi design life cycle from survey to planning to approval and eventually, maintenance and upgrades. And while each product can be purchased separately, customers see the most value when used all together.

Alright, let’s start the tour.

What is iBwave Wi-Fi Mobile?

Simply put, it’s a mobile app that packs a powerful network survey and design punch. You can use it on-site to do surveys, document your site notes, do simple design work, run heat maps, and run reports. It runs on any Android device – phone or tablet.

When we launched our mobile apps some years ago, the goal was to enable teams to better collaborate and to help simplify the survey and design process to save customers time. We wanted to deliver an app to make surveys more time-efficient, but that could also handle simple designs right on-site. The mobile app has been a big time saver for many of our customers.

Okay, let’s go through the major functionality of the app.

Here’s what I’m going to cover:

Surveying
Gathering Site Documentation
Modeling
Design
Heatmaps
Reports
Cloud Connectivity

Surveying

With the mobile app you can do both passive and active surveys using any Android device. This allows you to see coverage and throughput from LCMI (Least Capable Most Important) device perspective.

Here is what starting a passive survey in the mobile app looks like – in the video you will see me start a passive survey, which will capture SSID, BSSID, RSSI and channel number – and then at the end an interpolation heatmap can be displayed for RSSI and CCI.

Modeling

In the mobile app you can get a floor plan a few ways: you can take a picture of one, you can select a picture from your device, or you can download the project from the cloud with the modeling already done. But if you have no floor plan at all and need to quickly put one together, this allows you to rapidly draw one out .

Here it is in action:

Site Documentation

One of the largest pain points our customers had was documenting and then processing and communicating site documentation. Previously, on-site engineers would have to take a picture, document notes on a paper floor plan or excel spreadsheet, then go back over it all at the end and communicate it to the design team. Or, if doing the design themselves, inefficiently go back through everything.

With digital documentation, that’s all streamlined. Take pictures, videos, or audio notes that are saved to geo-located pins on your floor plan – add in annotations and written notes, and then save the project to the cloud where your team finalizing the design in iBwave Wi-Fi can see your pictures, notes, etc right on the floor plan.

Here is what that looks like:

Network Design

iBwave Wi-Fi Mobile goes beyond just being a survey app – it also lets you do simple design work while you’re on site. This can be so the engineer can do a preliminary design as they walk and see obstructions. It helps you avoid placing an AP where an existing obstruction exists and can also give you an on-the-spot idea of how the network will perform, once you run the heatmaps.

What can you design? You can do manual or automatic AP placement, auto channel assignment, the manual adjustment of power, channel and antenna orientation – and you can also route cabling and place network equipment like switches and routers.

Here is a simple demo showing the placing of two APs, a switch and then routing the cabling. If you model the cable trays in the mobile app as you walk the site, you can also use iBwave WiFi PC to automatically route the cabling for you between cabling trays. Read more about automatic cable routing.

Heatmaps

With APs placed on the floor plan you can run prediction heatmaps while on site to get an idea of how your network will perform. Heatmaps available include: RSSI, Throughput, SNR, Overlap Zone, CCI, Capacity and more.

One question we get – how accurate is it? And the answer is – pretty accurate, but not as much as if you were using our PC version with 3D modeling and Fast Ray Tracing prediction algorithm. Instead, the mobile app uses an iBwave patented direct path model that can run prediction with user-defined RF propagation environments. Define the type of environment (semi-open, light, dense, very dense) and the algorithm uses it to run prediction of your on-site design.

Want to learn more about the different propagation methods in iBwave? Read my blog “No, Not All Prediction Methods Are the Same“.

Here are heatmaps in the mobile app in action:

Reporting

Reports are an important part of any network design project, so we were sure to include reporting in the mobile app. And while it is not as comprehensive as what’s in the PC version, what it does do is tie everything up in a configurable close-out package that comes as one document you can review with your customer, and even get their signature on.

Included in the close-out package report is:

Bill of Materials with cost details
Floor Plans
All annotations (pictures, vidoes, etc) with your notes and location on floor plan
Heat maps
Survey Maps

Each one of those gives you configurable options, and is optional to include in the package. So if you only want a BOM, or you only want reports for specific floors, or heatmaps, or bands etc. you can do that – it’s all customizable. You also have the option to include a Signatures page, in case you have opportunity to get sign-off while on-site.

Cloud Synchronization

The iBwave solution of iBwave WiFi Mobile + iBwave WiFi comes with 10GB of cloud storage so you can easily save your projects to files and work on them interchangeably between mobile app and PC. This enables teams to collaborate across locations on projects and overall has been a big time and pain saver for many of our customers. Use the mobile app onsite to do your survey, documentation and simple design – then save it to the cloud to either work on yourself later or to a teammate to finalize the design.

iBwave also offers a whole other cloud option called iBwave Unity, which I’ll cover in depth in another blog. But basically this is a SaaS based software that allows you oversight of all your projects from a single location. You can manage project workflow, cost reports, equipment lists, etc across all your projects vs. just reporting at the individual project level.

Wrap Up & What’s Next

So there you have it – a tour of iBwave Wi-Fi Mobile that covers all the main functionality. There are a lot more little things it does as well but this blog gives you a pretty good overview of the most key features within it. Admittedly, there are also some things it doesn’t do that our customers have asked us to look at – and while I can’t give away too many spoilers, know that improving the mobile app to be its best mobile app self, is on our list.

What do you think? What else can we do to improve the mobile app? Share your thoughts below.

Wirelessly yours,

Kelly