Webinar: Small cells & Virtualization - Key Enablers of the new RAN

Webinar: Small Cells and
Virtualization – Key Enablers of the
new RAN
20 October 2015

Context: Service Provider Views of Virtualization
Caroline Gabriel, Research Director, Rethink Technology Research
Overview of small cell virtualization and nFAPI
Mark Grayson, SCF Virtualization Champion and Cisco Distinguished Engineer
Emerging use cases and functional splits
Clare Somerville, SCF Virtualization Use Case Lead, Intel
Q&A
Note: Slides will be mailed to attendees after today’s event
Please submit your questions in the chat box provided
Agenda
© Small Cell Forum Ltd 2015

Virtualization and small cells
• Virtualization is happening first
outside the RAN
• Major deployments of conventional
LTE macrocells
• Densification will be first driver of
RAN virtualization – need for new
cost and power levels
• CAGR x4 higher in small cell
deployments
• New network, where benefits are
more immediately clear
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
,000sites
Macrocell Small cell
Rethink operator survey July
2015

Why small cell virtualization?
• Density becomes essential, especially
indoors
• Cost, power and complexity – high
barriers to density
• Scaling up and down
• Reduced cell site cost – the $100 site?
• Support new services and partners
24
21
21
19
15 Efficient use of
resources and power
Reduced opex
Flexible scalability
Density esp indoors
Lower cell site cost
Rethink operator survey July
2015

Business case elements
• Transport is critical element along
with choice of split
• Hardware or service installation cost
for all transport solutions to decrease
between 17% and 58% from 2015 to
2020.
• Decrease in a 5 year TCO can be seen
best for the fibre installation cost and
running cost with 30 – 33% reduction
over the next 5 years.
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
110.0
S1/D-RAN PDCP/RLC MAC/PHY CPRI/ORI
Cost($k)
mmWave Wireless Microwave 6-60 GHz
Sub 6 GHz Dark Fibre
SCF business case elements by Real Wireless

Small Cell Virtualization
Overview
Mark Grayson, SCF Virtualization Champion &
Cisco Distinguished Engineer

Base Station
Densification
Broader set of
use cases
NFV and SDN
Mobile Networking Mega Trends
Indoor coverage,
higher frequencies,
shorter ranges
Not just Mobile
Broadband, but agility
to support verticals and
IoT value chains
Twin focus on
CAPEX/asset utilization
as well as
OPEX/automation

1. An industry transition that is impacting all service provider segments and
will therefore effect the realization of future mobile network operator
networks
2. One of the initial motivators for the forum to examine NFV is the ability to
scale up or down the network functions (including dynamic operation)
3. Provides flexible network function deployment compared with vendor
specific software and hardware solutions
4. Enables decoupling of software from hardware and so removes investments
in hardware-based functionalities compared with software-based
development
5. Enables new deployment models that lower small cell barriers, e.g.,
per-AP licensing, as-a-service consumption
Network Function Virtualization

SCF: Accelerating Adoption of Small Cell
and Small Cell Network Virtualization

SCF: Accelerating Adoption of Small Cell
and Small Cell Network Virtualization
Operator Benefits
• Reduced CAPEX –
hardware costs
reduced by a third
• Enhanced Flexibility –
on demand/auto
resource scaling

SCF Virtualization Activities: Addressing
the historical architectural tension
• Flattening the RAN architecture
• Adding intelligence into the base
station
• Facilitating Small Cell Ecosystem
• Hot Spot Capacity and Indoor
Propositions
• Non-ideal backhaul transport
Distribution

station
Propositions
• Data Centre evolution and
centralization of workloads
• Simplifying the radio access network
• Macro and Hot Spot Capacity
Propositions
• Advanced RF Co-ordination
• ETSI NFV Use Case #6
• Ideal fronthaul transport
CentralizationDistribution

station
Propositions
• Data Centre evolution and
centralization of workloads
• Simplifying the radio access network
• Macro and Hot Spot Capacity
Propositions
• Advanced RF Co-ordination
• ETSI NFV Use Case #6
• Ideal fronthaul transport
CentralizationDistribution
“43% of operators deploying small cells will be
deploying virtualization in part of their RAN” Source:
Maravedis-Rethink © Small Cell Forum Ltd 2015

1. Is there any divergence between how virtualization is viewed from a
macro RAN perspective versus a small cell perspective?
2. What are the real business benefits of virtualization in the RAN? Do
benefits apply equally to macro and small cell deployment use cases?
3. Are current small cell architectures well suited to
virtualization/cloudification?
4. Are there unique attributes of small cell transport that impact
fronthaul considerations?
5. Can virtualization deliver a phased roadmap, e.g., aligned with
longer-term 5G directions?
6. How do we ensure virtualization supports innovation across a multi-
vendor ecosystem?
Key Questions from Forum’s Operator
Group (May 2014)

Decompose small cell functions into
physical and virtual
Small Cell
Small Cell
Gateway
Enterprise
Small Cell
Concentrator

Virtual
Network
Function (VNF)
Small Cell
Small Cell
Gateway
Enterprise
Small Cell
Concentrator
Remote
Small Cell
Physical
Network
Function (PNF)
Centralized
Small Cell
Virtualized
Functions

Virtual
Network
Function (VNF)
Small Cell
Small Cell
Gateway
Enterprise
Small Cell
Concentrator
Remote
Small Cell
Physical
Network
Function (PNF)
Centralized
Small Cell
Virtualized
Functions
Small Cell
“Decomposition Interface”

Business Rationale for Virtualization
(and associated centralization)
PHYRLC/MAC
SON
OAM
APPS
RRC
PDCP
Upper
MAC
Lower
MAC
Upper
PHY
Lower
PHY
RF
Centralization
Benefits
RF
Benefits
Transport
Costs

PHYRLC/MAC
SON
OAM
APPS
RRC
PDCP
Upper
MAC
Lower
MAC
Upper
PHY
Lower
PHY
RF
Centralization
Benefits
RF
Benefits
DRAN PDCP Split MAC MAC/PHY Split PHY CPRI
Transport
Costs

PHYRLC/MAC
SON
OAM
APPS
RRC
PDCP
Upper
MAC
Lower
MAC
Upper
PHY
Lower
PHY
RF
Centralization
Benefits
RF
Benefits
Transport
Costs
Centralization Benefits Independent of Split

PHYRLC/MAC
SON
OAM
APPS
RRC
PDCP
Upper
MAC
Lower
MAC
Upper
PHY
Lower
PHY
RF
Centralization
Benefits
RF
Benefits
Transport
Costs
RF Gains improved with lower splits

PHYRLC/MAC
SON
OAM
APPS
RRC
PDCP
Upper
MAC
Lower
MAC
Upper
PHY
Lower
PHY
RF
Centralization
Benefits
RF
Benefits
Transport
Costs
RF Gains improved with lower splits
Transport costs minimized with higher splits

Management and Automation Aspects
of Virtualized Small Cells
Centralized
Small Cell VNF
NFVI
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Remote
Small
Cell
(PNF)
DM
VNF EMS
(OSS/BSS)
NM: PNF/VNF Co-
ordination
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
NFV-MANO
PNF
EMS
DM

Centralized
Small Cell VNF
NFVI
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Remote
Small
Cell
(PNF)
DM
VNF EMS
(OSS/BSS)
NM: PNF/VNF Co-
ordination
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
NFV-MANO
PNF
EMS
DM
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)

Centralized
Small Cell VNF
NFVI
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Remote
Small
Cell
(PNF)
DM
VNF EMS
(OSS/BSS)
NM: PNF/VNF Co-
ordination
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
NFV-MANO
PNF
EMS
DM
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
• Small Cell Workload
Placement
Transport Network
Management Integration

Centralized
Small Cell VNF
NFVI
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Remote
Small
Cell
(PNF)
DM
VNF EMS
(OSS/BSS)
NM: PNF/VNF Co-
ordination
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
NFV-MANO
PNF
EMS
DM
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Placement
Transport Network
• Hardware Acceleration of
VNF Small Cell Functions
IPSec
Air interface Crypto
RoHC
PTP/Sync

Centralized
Small Cell VNF
NFVI
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Remote
Small
Cell
(PNF)
DM
VNF EMS
(OSS/BSS)
NM: PNF/VNF Co-
ordination
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
NFV-MANO
PNF
EMS
DM
VNF Manager
(VNFM)
Virtualized
Infrastructure
Manager
(VIM)
NFV
Orchestrator
(NFVO)
Hypervisor
Hardware
Resources
(COTS)
Placement
Transport Network
• Hardware Acceleration of
VNF Small Cell Functions
IPSec
Air interface Crypto
RoHC
PTP/Sync
• Real Time Processing
Aspects
VM Pass-through
Containerization
CP/DP separation

Operators driving RAN virtualization over
non-ideal Fronthaul requirements into 5G

Topic Findings
What are the real business benefits of
virtualization in the RAN?
Identified centralization benefits,
transport costs & MANO/Automation
elastic scaling capabilities
Small Cell Virtualization:
Key Takeaways

Topic Findings
Are current small cell architectures
well suited to virtualization?
Yes - FAPI MAC/PHY decomposition well
suited to provide virtualization baseline
Key Takeaways

Topic Findings
Can virtualization deliver a phased
roadmap, e.g., aligned with longer-
term 5G directions?
Yes - Flexible virtualization over non-
ideal transport now emerging as core
5G requirements
Key Takeaways

Topic Findings
Can virtualization deliver a phased
roadmap, e.g., aligned with longer-
term 5G directions?
Yes - Flexible virtualization over non-
ideal transport now emerging as core
5G requirements
How do we ensure virtualization
supports innovation across a multi-
vendor ecosystem?
SCF’s nFAPI work stream set to
accelerate multi-vendor PNF/VNF
interoperability
Key Takeaways

Small Cell Virtualization
Use Cases and Functional Splits
Clare Somerville
SCF Virtualization Use Case Lead

Functional Split Options
PHYMAC
SON
OAM
APPS
RRC
PDCP
RLC
Upper
MAC
Lower
MAC
Upper
PHY
Lower
PHY
RF
Baseline Macro: CPRI based decomposition
Split PHY based decomposition
MAC/PHY based decomposition (FAPI)
Split MAC based decomposition
RLC/MAC based decomposition
PDCP/RRC based VNF
Services
VNF
RRH PNF
PNF
PNF
PNF
PNF
PNF
Distributed eNB

Split PHY
PNF
VNFPDCP
RLC
MAC
QAM+
Antenna
mapping
Resource
Mapping
FEC
MAC-PHY Split I:
Soft Bit
Split II:
Sub-frame
data
User Processing
IFFT +
Cyclic
Prefix
P/S
CPRI
encodeSplit IV:
CPRI
Cell Processing
S1
Backhaul
Split IIIb:
Sub-frame
Symbol
Fronthaul
Split III:
Sub-frame
Symbol

Split MAC
Lower MAC
(PNF)
Upper MAC
(VNF)
MuxDeMux
HARQ
Fronthaul
Scheduler
HARQ

Fronthaul Requirements
Use Case One-Way Latency DL Bandwidth UL Bandwidth
PDCP-RLC < 30ms 150Mbps 50Mbps
Split MAC < 2ms -6ms 150Mbps 50Mbps
MAC-PHY < 2ms -6ms 150Mbps 50Mbps
Split PHY < 250µs 1000Mbps 1000Mbps

MAC-PHY HARQ Interleaving
Uplink

HARQ Interleaving Performance Impact
0
1
2
3
4
0 1 2 3
NumberofUEwithdata
HARQ Interleave Number
Number of UE to achieve full cell throughput

Feature PDCP-RLC Split MAC MAC-PHY Split PHY
Carrier Aggregation ○ ● ● ●
High Order MIMO ○ ○ ○ ●
CoMP – CS/BF ● ● ● ●
CoMP – DPS ○ ● ● ●
CoMP - JT ○ ○ ● ●
CoMP - JR ○ ○ ○ ●
LTE Enhanced Features
● = across different remote small cells (PNF)
○ = in single remote small cell (no performance improvement over standard small
cell

• Deployment
• Fronthaul transport characteristics are key.
• Split points are available which could support residential, enterprise and urban deployments,
avoiding CPRI
• Ecosystem
• The small cell ecosystem has already embraced FAPI based base station decomposition, based
on a MAC/PHY split [SCF082]. This could be built upon, and enable a multi-vendor eco-system.
Key Outputs

nFAPI
PNF Remote Small Cell Radio Unit
VNF
Virtualized
Small Cell
Function
PNF EMS
P2
VNF EMS
P9
P10
Location
Information
Service
Discovery
PNF
Management
PHY / RF
P3
P4
P5
P7
P8
Sync
nFAPI Decomposition
P2 – Service Discovery
P3 – Positioning
P4 – NMM
P5 – RF and PHY Control
P7 – MAC-PHY main SAP
P8 – PHY Diagnostics
P9 – OAM
P10 – Synchronization –
Frequency, Phase and
Time

nFAPI

Webinar: Small cells & Virtualization - Key Enablers of the new RAN

Webinar: Small cells & Virtualization - Key Enablers of the new RAN

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