4G/LTE is a mobile user’s dream come true. It means a richer content experience, much faster connection times, and less latency. Now, everyone using 4G can indulge in online gaming or view movies and TV series like Netflix’s House of Cards in ultra-high definition. With upcoming 4.5G/LTE-A, at even greater speeds, and 5G, which promises to break new records, it seems like the sky’s the limit.
Except that behind the scenes, 4G/LTE places constraints on backhaul, requiring frequent upgrades to maintain capacity. You could try to improve the situation by using a standard wireless spectrum and installing a radio with a single carrier. But that’s a band-aid repair. It won’t solve future challenges, when you will need to invest in additional radios, increasing CAPEX; send crews to install and provision equipment at sites, increasing OPEX. Not to mention forcing network downtime for maintenance, and degrading customer experience.
So, how can all these problems be addressed? How can wireless backhaul networks gain capacity affordably, despite stretched resources and customer demands for greater, high-quality access in the fast-changing mobile world?
The use of multi-core technology can solve the pain, enabling you to double capacity on the fly. Unlike multiple-carrier solutions, which pack multiple radio systems into a single box, multi-core technology uses a common, parallel radio processing engine at the kernel of the radio terminal, centralizing resources, multiplying capacity, and increasing system gain (signal strength). These benefits translate into true operational efficiency, providing much greater capacity, reduced power consumption, and smaller, easier-to-install antennas.
For real-time applications, multi-core radios can be activated remotely to fit any backhaul, fronthaul, or another deployment, providing much higher capacities.
It takes only one click to gain twice the capacity of a single-core radio. And you’re done. You enhance your operational efficiency: no additional equipment; no need to dispatch installation crews. And your customers enjoy uninterrupted access to the rich content they want to consume.
Even if you only need one active core, you’ll still gain additional capacity due to the high modulation of 2048 QAM, as well as header compression techniques.
Want to find out more? Read how Ceragon’s Value Byte describes the incorporation of multi-core technology to boost capacity for current and future generations of wireless generation.
