Ericsson will support KDDI in deploying ‘manhole-shaped’ 5G base stations, supplying sub-terrain antennas
Japanese operator KDDI has selected Ericsson for the deployment of what it claims to be the country’s first underground 5G base stations.
The Swedish vendor said it will support KDDI in deploying ‘manhole-shaped’ 5G base stations, supplying sub-terrain antennas. The vendor said that vault base stations enable service providers and cities to place equipment in existing underground vaults, with fiber and power infrastructure connected to antennas on the ground level. This kind of deployment allows for fast permit process and deployment, while ensuring no visual impact on street environments, Ericsson added.
“In Japan, many base stations have been installed on steel towers and building rooftops to achieve high-speed mobile communication over wide areas. However, there have been challenges, such as restrictions on the installation of base stations in scenic areas due to landscape considerations,” Ericsson explained in a press release. Two years ago, though, In the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) put forth a new system of radio wave protection guidelines for vault base stations, which allowed construction and operation of such infrastructure possible.
Ericsson said its underground 5G base station antennas enable operators to save space and also facilitates the use of existing assets, such as optical fiber and electric power infrastructure.
“Ericsson’s sub-terrain antennas can deliver robust connectivity in a confined space, like manholes, where fiber and power already exists and where the installation of standard sites is not possible. Being installed underground, the antenna provides optimal radiating characteristics upward in built-up environments while being less susceptible to wind load,” the vendor said.
Ericsson claimed that its vault solutions address cities’ needs by “enabling the reuse of existing assets and underground space,” adding that they can be deployed “in streets, squares, shopping areas and whenever site permission for outdoor antennas cannot be obtained in dense urban scenarios.”
In January, KDDI had announced that, in cooperation with Samsung Electronics and Fujitsu, it initiated commercial deployment of O-RAN-compliant 5G Open Virtual Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) sites in Osaka, Japan.
KDDI has been developing O-RAN-compliant 5G Open vRAN sites using Samsung’s virtualized solutions. For these new sites, KDDI updated the software of an O-RAN-compliant 5G Open vRAN site it had successfully turned on in February 2022. Samsung’s 5G virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU) and Fujitsu’s radio units are interconnected with an open interface. Also, wireless controllers are equipped with fully-virtualized RAN software on general-purpose servers to realize network functions, the Japanese telco said.
KDDI also said that core functions are implemented as software to enable flexible and efficient management of network resources. KDDI further updated the software of the new sites to support the 5G NSA solution connected to existing 4G sites and functions that were realized in conventional sites using dedicated equipment including Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO). “As a result, customers with existing 5G NSA smartphones will be able to enjoy the same comfortable communication as before. Moreover, this is the world’s first commercial MU-MIMO implementation with O-RAN compliant multivendor interoperability,” the telco said.
KDDI, Samsung and Fujitsu said they will continue to develop solutions for Open vRAN in Japan and promote nationwide deployment of 5G SA services for KDDI.
