Most observers agree that the cost of access networks has to be reduced in an era where legacy revenue streams are under stress, competition means high stranded asset danger and where profit margins also are challenged.
Open source, wireless, use of unlicensed spectrum, spectrum sharing and millimeter wave assets all are seen as part of a solution.
Facebook’s work on “Terragraph,” a fixed wireless network using millimeter wave spectrum, multiple input, multiple output radios (MIMO), mesh networking and open source licensing now forms the foundation for a new development group called the Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Networks Project Group, co-chaired by Deutsche Telekom and Facebook.
Lead applications include:
- Fixed wireless access
- Mobile backhaul
- Smart city applications
The mmWave group will use data and lessons learned from Facebook’s Terragraph solution, a proof-of-concept system that overcame the signal range and absorption limitations that previously confined the 60GHz frequency to indoor use, Telecom Infra Project says.
The proposed architecture has many similarities to a “fiber to light pole” design, where highly-distributed radio sites (small cells) are the “access” network launch points. Verizon’s deep fiber design calls for extending the fiber trunking network to nearly every light pole, potentially.
The mmWave network architecture being developed by Telecom Infra will not require fiber distribution that extensive, as it is designed to rely on a relative handful of optical nodes, and primarily uses the mesh radio network to distribute signals to most small cells.
That feature is designed to minimize capital expenditure on fiber distribution.
The mmWave group will focus specifically on use of the 60 GHz frequency band, expected to remain unlicensed. That also helps minimize distribution network costs.
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