Evolving Mobile base Station Towers design and management

1/15/2021

Hello, my name is Dmitry Bokotey, I worked at Cisco for 12 years where I developed my skill set and expertise in networking protocols and isolating and solving highly complex issues. As a Senior Network Architect, I became a leader in team building and the thought leadership process. Me and my teams contributed to more than one hundred million dollars of worldwide revenue for Cisco and supported close to 200 networks for large enterprise and service provider customers.

For many years, I presented at Cisco Live speaking about Cisco's new technological advancements. I am highly respected amongst the industry peers. I became one of the youngest CCIE's worldwide by having 5 CCIE certifications, also I have written a couple of books. Currently, I am the CTO of Nupsys, where we have created a software that brings my knowledge to reality, a software that consolidates and simplifies management of Data Center, Wireless Cell-Sites, & IoT Automation & Visual Tools, having said that, I would like to share with you my vision of the near future in regards of mobile Cell towers and the new 5G coming services and the benefit that Nupys software platforms provides.

Today, people have already become dependent on their cellphones, as they did in the past with regular phones, then fax machines and so on. These devices have become part of modern daily life and people are becoming more dependent than ever. Before it was used only for voice conversation and now with the appearance of smartphones the information flow has no limits from audio and video to files and data, lots of data.

To deliver these signals to mobile customers, the telecommunication companies had to create a network of tower antennas that can provide such signaling and distribute it where customers exist, even in remote places. Having a constant growth of population will always increase the need for service and demand will follow.



To provide this service, telecommunication companies developed wireless networks, these networks are composed of towers and small stations that contain the devices required to acquire and redistribute the signals, they are called Cell Sites. This network of antennas provides constant signal flow, so customers always have service, making the main focus of companies, to provide the best service they can provide. This infrastructure growth has been the center of discussion for a long time, to provide the customer or consumer with a highly dependable network in which they can thrive.

Currently 3G and 4G are the main signals and technology used for the transfer of this data and the new 5G which will not take long to become the standard, for is already considered by All 4 of the major US wireless carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, who are investing now to test 5G systems in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands authorized by the FCC in 2016.

Although we are still a few years away from commercial and residential deployment of 5G services, it is already clear that implementation of 5G should be a must for Mobile base Station Towers and expected to stimulate revenue growth from 2019 through 2025.

Furthermore, wireless will compete with regular physical cabling service providers so there is no more gap in speeds between these two services, making it clearer than before that companies need to prepare for the future that is already here.

Today, 3G/4G Mobile base Station Towers currently have a range of 50-150km radially spread, and for 5G the distances between the 5g Mobile base Station Towers is about 250-300 meters due to the millimeter waves of 5G frequency, much less than its predecessor, creating the need to create and install a ton of antennas to be able to provide coverage for current customers to use 5G.



There are just over 200,000 Mobile base Station Towers in the U.S., but there may be millions of small cell sites in the 5G future. If siting for a small cell takes as long and costs as much as siting for a Mobile base Station Tower, few communities will ever have the benefits of 5G, this is a major concern and cost should be brought down to ensure that 5G becomes available nationwide, while respecting the vital role that the communities themselves play in the siting process.

Some Companies have already started deploying extra towers to complete coverage, some have installed small Cell sites to reduce costs and to make their network tighter. There are many challenges in these regards, Companies will need to be creative in these deployments while complying with government and communications regulations.

Currently, there's no IT equipment at the bases of the Mobile base Station Towers. What's been deployed there are devices intended for the operation of the antenna and the wireless signal.

Now, with the mobility explosion putting massive compute power in the hands of billions of users, deploying content at the Mobile base Station Tower makes sense. The need to deliver an optimal experience for users streaming movies, music, news content and more and that requires speed. This makes for Mobile base Station Towers to become mini Data Centers to be able to provide these services and cope with the demand.

There are a few considerations to take to migrate from 4G to 5G, let us consider that 5G is not a technology is a revolution and 4G will serve as the foundation for 5G. Mobile bandwidth demand from consumers is increasing fast for video, but the real demand for higher speed and higher bandwidth wireless networks is the "Internet of Things" or commonly known as IoT, which will connect billions of devices of all types to the internet.

Mobile base Station Tower will convert into mini Data Centers, cabling will change for Fiber optics to increase bandwidth capabilities and cost reduction compared to coaxial cable and not to forget security issues, will have edge servers to cache content close to the user, Software defined networking, virtualization and slicing, etc.

In short term, current sites will experience an overhaul and there will be many more Mobile base Station Towers and Cell Sites in less than couple of years.

To keep up with these changes Telecommunication companies need to change the way they work when designing towers, setting them up, putting them online, monitoring them and maintaining them.

The amount of people, days, hours and resources used only in the design process of a Mobile base Station Tower is the first key point we need to take under consideration, then the time invested between teams to transfer the information and knowledge of what is in the Mobile base Station Tower considering as a fact that the information is up to date, and last the team that monitors the Mobile base Station Tower comes into play, considering they have the up to date inventory too.

If we consider all this cost, perhaps it is a clever idea to change this since things will change in a near future into many more Mobile base Station Towers and lots of Cell sites. The Logistics will change Telco companies forever, a plan must be made, actions need to be taken, compromises have to be made for the company to succeed migration into 5G at some point, even if there is no migration all this current management needs improvement, needs to be optimized and made more efficient.



Regardless of all the efforts that companies make to continue designing and inventorying their Mobile base Station Tower, it's growth has become exponential, forcing companies to challenge themselves into how to be able to maintain growth and control of assets inventory and life cycle around their Mobile base Station Towers.



Currently the different teams that participate in the design, setup and maintenance of the Mobile base Station Towers use multiple documents in multiple formats, for drawings, information control, inventory, etc.

The sharing of this information posts a treat to the process, having a high error margin when it comes to outdated documents, multiple version documents all over or worst, documents with partial information, this is an elevated risk in the management of the Mobile base Station Tower project.



Nupsys nuVIZ Wireless can close that gap, saving hundreds of hours of work in the Mobile base Station Tower planning and design, turning days and hours into minutes and seconds, saving thousands of dollars every day, reducing the Mobile base Station Tower inventory outdated documents to 0%, allowing design testing before going live, and many other tasks. It is time to automate those tasks that take time and money.

Having total control of this will benefit the company to comply with Quality standards, risk management, government regulations, etc. Facilitating the information always updated between teams making more efficient the process flow of Mobile base Station Tower management. Unleash the power of your Mobile base Station Tower life cycle form design to delivery.



"Design, validation, deployment and management simplified."

Not only designing for towers and shelters, also design for physical security, nuVIZ handles video cameras, sensors, IoT devices, etc., any device that is connected to the network can be added in the design and go live of your Cell tower.

We are ready for everything anytime, anywhere.

Because of the CCIE skill set and the community that gave me the opportunity that has given me the ability to design an application that will help service providers to improve all, from design to go to market.

Thank you to the CCIE program, #ccie for making this dream come true and thank you specially to my NuPSYS team for helping bring to life this project.