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FUTURE NETWORKS
ISSUE 05 2014
SK Telecom showcased its Virtual One Cell and Inter-site Carrier Aggregation technology at Mobile World Congress in 2013 and 2014
cells. Once this is done, operators can provide users with seamless mobility even in cell edges by supporting a certain level of transmission speed irrespective of the device/terminal location by applying LTE-Advanced CoMP (Coordinated Multi-Point Tx/Rx) along with Inter-Site Carrier Aggregation, a technology that enables carrier aggregation between two different base stations.
The last stage in small cell evolution is when small cells are deployed on a massive scale. At this point, operators may face a drop in transmission efficiency caused by control overhead and frequent handovers in cell boundaries. The cell structure here should separate data and control channels in order to enhance transmission efficiency. Macro cells can then handle important control information – e.g. handover signalling, while small cells located near a terminal/device can transmit data at a rapid pace.
SK Telecom has already completed development of key cell virtualisation technologies such as Virtual One Cell and Inter- site Carrier Aggregation. We showcased the two technologies at Mobile World Congress in 2013 and 2014. Through SUPER Cell, we aim to increase capacity by nearly a hundred times through higher radio resource efficiency plus more cell splitting and frequency bands. We also aim to reduce operational costs by 90 per cent.
Intelligent networks However, expanding network capacity is only half of the story. Mobile operators must also develop technologies that make the network smarter. By applying advanced information technology to base stations, operators can transform fixed, closed, vendor-specific networks into flexible, service-agile, open and virtualised networks. These so-called software- based mobile networks hold the promise of increased processing power, better traffic management, lower costs, and more diverse smart services.
Traditional mobile networks have complex, dedicated hardware architecture where each network element is designed with one specific function. But software-based mobile networks use a simple, general hardware platform where key functionalities are defined by software. Two key techniques, software-defined networks (SDN) and network function virtualisation (NFV), play a crucial role in building software-based mobile networks. SDN increases the flexibility of overall network architecture by separating control functions from network elements and placing them into a central controller. Meanwhile, NFV changes the previously hardware- based network architecture into software-based architecture by virtualising network elements on an industry-standard commercial off-the-shelf hardware platform. Both are expected to drive down costs and increase the speed of innovation.
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