Mobile broadband traffic has surpassed voice and is continuing to grow rapidly. This trend is set to continue, with lobal traffic figures expected to double annually over the next five years. By 2014, the average subscriber will consume about 1GB of data per month compared with today’s average figures that are around some hundred MB per month. This traffic growth,driven by new services and terminal capabilities,is paralleled by user expectations for data rates similar to those of fixed broadband. Actual figures per subscriber can vary greatly depending on geographical market, terminal type and subscription type; some users with mobile devices are already creating traffic in the order of gigabytes and predictions are estimated to be several GB per month for some devices and certain user behavior.
The mobile industry is, therefore, preparing for data rates in the order of tens of Mbps for indoor use as well as outside and gigabyte traffic volumes.
Enhancing and densifying the HSPA/LTE multi-standard macro-cellular network are additional methods of meeting increasing traffic demands and fulfilling users’ high expectations for mobile broadband services.
This article analyzes expansion strategies, covers important design choices for heterogeneous networks – focussing on transmission power differences – and explores how to coordinate low power nodes and macro base stations. Read the Whitepaper further for deeper insights.
