Written by: Stephen Carson, Christer Friberg, Anders Kilegran and Johan Norrby

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Market demands for a more efficient way of building out GSM have given rise to a new model of radio base station in Ericsson's renowned family of RBS 2000 products. RBS 2216 (for indoor deployment) and RBS 2116 (for outdoor deployment) feature a common building practice for combining GSM and WCDMA on the same footprint. The design thus meets operator demands for modernizing radio networks.

Ericsson's objective when designing RBS 2x16 was to bring down the operator costs of establishing and operating radio networks. The authors describe the thinking behind, and outline some of the most important operator benefits of, this new product.

GSM networks still growing strong

The worldwide market for GSM shows significant growth of new subscribers and of total traffic. The latest prognosis indicates that more than three billion people will have a wireless subscription by the end of this decade. The majority of these subscriptions will be based on mainstream GSM and WCDMA access technologies.

These two radio technologies were designed and standardized in such a way that end-users can move between them without experiencing disruptions. The continued evolution of GERAN will enable GSM to provide better service by boosting the speeds of wireless data.1 And greater service transparency is giving operators a golden opportunity to optimize their investments in terms of network build-out.

For operators with GSM and WCDMA licenses, GSM will provide a significant service for many years to come, creating an efficient combination of support for market segments made up of subscribers attracted to

• ultra-low-cost handsets (GSM); and
• the convenience of mobile broadband enabled by WCDMA/HSPA.

GSM operators without a WCDMA license can stay competitive by providing outstanding service. This requires a modern GSM radio access network (RAN) that makes efficient use of spectrum for voice and wireless data offerings.

Ericsson's GSM macro base stations are prepared to meet future operator demands. The RBS 2000 series of RBSs already includes several different models to accommodate a variety of deployment strategies. RBS 2206 and RBS 2106, for example, are 12-transceiver-per-cabinet versions for indoor and outdoor deployment, and Ericsson's new RBS 2216 and RBS 2116 models, also with 12 transceivers (TRX) per cabinet, have been designed to help operators cut costs through a greater degree of integration. For instance, in a footprint of only 0.24m2, operators can

• deploy a 24-TRX radio base station;
• integrate a 12-TRX radio base station together with a site support cabinet with more than six hours of battery backup; or
• mix 12-TRX GSM with six-carrier WCDMA.

The new RBS 2x16 will co-exist with RBS 2x06, which already enjoys wide deployment. This is because many operators want to continue expanding their networks with products they have already begun using (RBS 2x06). Other operators, however, might find the benefits of RBS 2x16 so significant that they will transition to this line for network modernization or expansions. Ericsson's ambition is to satisfy both demands. Therefore, RBS 2x16 should be regarded as a complement to RBS 2x06 within the RBS 2000 series.

Ericsson thoroughly evaluated operator challenges before setting out to design the new macro radio base station. The objective was to help operators modernize their GSM radio networks and introduce cost-effective solutions for

• providing coverage to new areas;
• providing greater capacity to existing networks; and
• combining GSM with WCDMA at one site.