Huawei and NSN look for differentiators in base station market

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Huawei and NSN look for differentiators in base station market

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 13 July, 2009

READ MORE: Huawei | Nokia Siemens Networks

As the base station market hurtles towards commoditization, those vendors that still have the scale to play are always seeking differentiation points, many of them focused on two key operator concerns - support for multiple standards in one infrastructure, and 'green' issues. ZTE and Nokia Siemens have grabbed the highest profile in the former, while Ericsson, Motorola and others are all touting energy saving credentials. The latest breakthroughs come from Huawei, with the first 'convergent base station controller', and NSN, with an innovative battery cooling cabinet.

Huawei's convergent product aims for cost efficiency and flexible performance by integrating the GSM BSC and the UMTS radio network controller (RNC) into one multimode controller. This enables the carrier to support multiple standards with a unified access network.

The SingleRAN offering brings together radio bearers for voice, narrowband data and mobile broadband into one network element, replacing several components to cut capex and opex cost and power. "Convergence and scalability have become ubiquitous links in our value chain and the launch of the world's first multimode BSC is another key step towards a fully converged network evolution for operators," said Wan Biao, president of Huawei wireless products. Among the adopters of SingleRAN products are O2, China Unicom, America Movil and TeliaSonera.

Emulating its fellow Chinese vendor's emphasis on software defined radio (SDR), Huawei also launched two SDR-enabled radio remote units, the first in the industry to boast dual-transmitter capabilities. The first is compliant with European ETSI standards and supports GSM/UMTS/LTE operations in the same bands (1.9GHz, 1.8GHz, 900MHz, 850MHz). The second enables simultaneous UMTS and LTE in 2.1GHz.

Over at NSN, its new SiteStar cabinets are aimed at operators deploying in "extreme climatic conditions". The vendor claims the new cabinets can increase battery life threefold, and reduce the power consumption for cooling batteries at a base station site by up to 95%. Prashant Agnihotri, head of GSM/EDGE product management at NSN, said that SiteStar is can maintain a constant optimal temperature in very hot or cold climates, increasing battery life by three times in operating temperatures of 35°C, compared to a fan based cabinet.