PRESS RELEASE: China Mobile Hubei strives to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and construct precise networks. To deliver a better user experience and compete with other operators, China Mobile Hubei needed a low-cost, transmission-free, and easy-to-deploy construction solution for complex deep-coverage scenarios, such as in underground parking lots, ground-floor small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and elevators. Recently, China Mobile Hubei and Huawei piloted a specialized signal upgrade plan for such deep coverage scenarios in Wuhan and Yichang. This was the first verification of intelligent Network Controlled Radio (iNCR) for all scenarios in China.
Places that require deep coverage, such as underground parking lots, ground-floor SMEs, and elevators, tend to have low traffic volumes, and on average, fiber transmissions are unreachable in 60% of these places. Due to the high transmission costs, fiber-free solutions such as repeaters are commonly used. Conventional repeaters have three disadvantages: strong interference to macro networks, lack of visualized management (such as for network quality KPIs), and unreliable product quality. Huawei launched iNCR to make breakthroughs in conventional repeaters, achieving better O&M and network optimization as well as expanded coverage. iNCR is easy to deploy, easy to manage, and cost-effective, and it can reduce uplink interference to macro base stations. A single iNCR can cover an underground parking lot with an area of up to 8,000 m2 or two elevators in a building with around 35 floors. iNCR offers better coverage and higher uplink and downlink user-perceived speeds than conventional repeaters. In addition, iNCR uses the industry’s first intelligent interference control (IIC) technology based on macro-micro collaboration and radio frequency fingerprinting (RFF) technology to reduce interference on macro base stations, make KPIs more manageable, and increase product reliability. It also supports 4G+5G dual bands and dual modes and dual-channel MIMO. This makes it particularly cost-effective, and helps operators deliver high-quality E2E coverage.
iNCR Is Better Than PDAS in Performance, TCO, and Power Consumption in Underground Parking Lots
Many people who use the 4,500-m2 parking lot at People’s Square in Qiaokou, Wuhan, complain that the signal in this area is too weak to make phone calls. An onsite survey has shown that the original passive distributed antenna system (PDAS) experiences severe interference from macro base stations, resulting in poor uplink and downlink user speeds. To address this problem, the PDAS device was replaced with an iNCR, and the positions of the host and receive antennas were left unchanged.
The results of onsite tests show that when the iNCR was deployed, the average LTE downlink speed doubled and the uplink speed increased eightfold. The uplink noise floor of LTE/NR macro base stations remained stable. In terms of power consumption, on average, a PDAS device uses 2.5 kWh of electricity a day, while an iNCR device uses just 1.2 kWh a day. This translates into an annual saving of about CNY500 on electricity costs. In addition, iNCR devices are more cost-effective than PDAS devices as they lower 5G construction costs by 38%. Consequently, iNCR devices are highly suitable for use in underground parking lots.
iNCR Improves Deep Flat-Floor Coverage and Drives Traffic Growth in Ground-Floor SMEs
Recently, the patrons of a famous seafood restaurant in Wuhan had started complaining about poor signal quality and dropped calls in the restaurant’s private dining rooms, which cover about 2,300 m2. Onsite tests showed that the macro base stations could only provide coverage for the lobby area, and this explained why the coverage in the private dining rooms was poor. The original XDAS solution (1 AU+1 EU+2 RU) is costly, so the restaurant was urgently looking for low-cost coverage-expansion solutions. They were able to use one iNCR device connected to five antenna points to improve coverage.
Once the iNCR was deployed, the coverage in the private dining rooms improved, and the average 4G and 5G downlink speeds increased significantly. Four consecutive days of observation revealed that the volume of NR traffic increased by 14% and that both the NR traffic volume and the average number of daily users were much higher than they were in the same period before the deployment. In addition, the uplink noise floor of LTE/NR macro cells did not increase and the overall performance of the macro base stations was not affected.
iNCR Eliminates Network Congestion in Elevators in Middle-Rise Buildings During Morning and Evening Peak Hours
In a 17-floor office building in Yichang, where 16 floors are above ground and 1 floor is underground, one iNCR device was used to connect to three elevator-dedicated antennas and provide deep coverage across all three elevators. This effectively alleviated network congestion during peak hours in the morning and evening.
According to the results of onsite tests, after the iNCR device was deployed, the average 5G downlink speed climbed to 219 Mbps. Now, when users travel up and down in the elevator, they can enjoy stable and reliable network connections and seamless video and calling experiences. Background data has also shown that the noise floor of LTE/NR macro cells has not increased. This means that iNCR causes much less interference for macro base stations than conventional repeaters.
iNCR Improves Coverage in Elevators in High-Rise Residential Buildings
Recently, many residents complained about the weak signals in the two elevators of their 34-floor residential building, where 32 floors are above ground and 2 floors are underground, in Wuhan. The RRU+antenna solution was set to be implemented in this area, and the antennas had already been installed. However, RRUs on the live network need to be reused for this solution, and they are not currently available, so the solution cannot be implemented. To improve the experience for residents, one iNCR device was used to connect to two elevator-dedicated antennas and provide deep coverage across both elevators.
According to the results of onsite tests, the 4G and 5G performance indicators notably improved after the iNCR device was deployed. Now, when users travel up and down in the elevators, they can enjoy smooth video and voice services. The uplink noise floor of the LTE/NR macro cells has remained unchanged. In addition, the iNCR device uses an independent power supply. This eliminates the need for reconstruction and makes deployment quicker and easier. The subsequent maintenance costs for an iNCR device are also lower than those for conventional repeaters.
To sum up, iNCR devices deliver better coverage and more stable connections, at a lower cost than conventional repeaters. They are also easier to deploy and manage. Moving forward, China Mobile Hubei will continue to work with Huawei to explore the applications of iNCR in various scenarios and provide users with more intelligent, convenient, and efficient communications experiences. This will also inject new momentum into the large-scale adoption of 5G in a wide variety of industries and drive high-quality network development in all scenarios.