Case Study

Drive-Test Solution Enables Profitable DAS Installs

Distributed antenna systems (DAS) are proliferating as carriers scramble to enhance quality-of-service in densely packed venues such as sports stadiums, shopping malls, and convention centers. In such environments, cell-tower coverage simply cannot handle the dense traffic of tens of thousands of voice calls and the image/video transfers endemic to smartphones. The carrier who does handle the traffic sets itself apart as a provider, and that is why DAS are becoming so popular.

In most cases, cell-tower vendors are marketing DAS installations to carriers, and the business has been brisk. These vendors, faced with an overwhelming demand for highly specialized turn-up and verification skills, in turn rely on smaller companies to fill the gaps. When a major vendor called on Solutelia, a professional-services firm based in Aurora, Colorado, for help, Solutelia knew it needed to upgrade its RF measurement equipment to meet the need. They called Viavi Solutions.

The ChallengeRF measurement plays two very different but equally critical roles in rolling out a DAS. One role is to simply sell the need in the first place. To invest in a DAS base station, a carrier must understand the shortcomings of the default, non-DAS coverage. The carrier needs empirical data showing how their service is failing in different locations within a venue and under different demand conditions.

The second role is to turn-up and verify the installation, performing in-building benchmarking for all the different carriers in different parts of the building or campus. An important complicating factor is the unreliability of GPS signals inside structures. The RF measurement equipment must be sufficiently robust to plot signal data against reliable location data.

2 Drive-Test Solution Enables Profitable DAS Installs

“To sell and install a DAS system, you have to know everything about the signal, where it is, how strong it is, and how it holds up under high demand. That is why the quality of the RF measurement equipment is so vital. You have to not only know exactly what the coverage is, you have to be able to prove it.”

Keith E. Sach | Solutelia Sr. VP

Why Viavi?Previously, Solutelia had rented equipment whenever it came across this sort of work—RF measurement equipment isn’t cheap. In this case, however, Solutelia felt that the demand for DAS work was likely to be ongoing if not increasing. They knew that if they delivered great work on time, their equipment was not going to sit on a shelf.

Globally, the two primary suppliers of RF management solutions were Ascom and Viavi, who had acquired the drive-test segment of Agilent in 2010. Solutelia looked at the strengths of both companies, their equipment, and their support organizations. Solutelia had owned equipment made by both companies, but this investment was on a higher order of magnitude, and the selection process was meticulous and spanned several weeks.

Mobile service providers have long relied on Viavi equipment for its measurement reliability, costeffective flexibility, low-risk upgradeability, and ease-of-use; all backed by an experienced local support staff. And, for this capital investment, Solutelia chose Viavi. The sales engineer understood their needs, the equipment included the exact features they needed, and the Viavi reputation for responsive and thorough service and support sealed the deal.

“Viavi asked the right questions, they had the right answers, they absolutely knew their stuff inside and out. And, many of my colleagues at different companies recommended them.”The Viavi W1314A RF Measurement Receiver lets cell-tower companies and contractors:

y deploy a single platform for phone-based, receiver-based, or simultaneous measurements indoors or out

y scale up and expand capabilities as you win new contracts—covers all frequency bands and network technologies

y get repeatable, worry-free measurements regardless of which technician conducts the work— measurement templates are customizable for each service provider

y rely on experienced, local support—US-based staff of support engineers have decades of RF and cell-phone measurement experience

y update software to keep pace with evolving technologies, chip sets, or industry standards at predictable, economical prices.

The Viavi SolutionSolutelia bought five sets of the Viavi W1314A RF measurement receiver with in-building kits plus licenses for GSM, CDMA, and three other technologies. This portable solution includes a 50-channel, high-sensitivity GPS unit, a 4-port USB interface and, importantly for DAS testing, supports all carrier technologies including LTE, UMTS, GSM, Mobile WiMAX™, 1xEVDO, cdma2000, iDEN, and CW. It collects measurements and performs all analyses within the receiver hardware, minimizing laptop processing requirements. The in-building kits added specialized timing modules with 1PPS signals and integrated batteries to ensure measurement synchronization throughout indoor tests.

3 Drive-Test Solution Enables Profitable DAS Installs

“The Viavi receiver is perfect for DAS jobs because of its in-building GEO-coding abilities and because it generates its own timing signal. It really speeds up verification.”

The ResultsHaving precisely the right tool for the job meant that Solutelia was able to turn-up DAS systems like clockwork, benchmarking carrier performance throughout a site and quickly moving on to subsequent projects. Within a few months, Solutelia added 19 full-time engineers to support the increasing workload. The cell-tower vendor had originally selected Solutelia because of their flexibility, pricing, and post-integration work. This relationship quickly evolved to that of a strategic partner as Solutelia took on growing responsibilities for system designs and long-range planning.

“The Viavi equipment has been an indispensable part of our success. But it’s not just the tools, it’s the whole Viavi team: their support responds immediately, they understand the rush. They’re a great partner.”

Solutelia LLC is a solutions and professional services provider in the wireless voice and data communications industry. They provide state-of-the-art solutions to unique challenges in today’s highly competitive wireless marketplace. With over fifteen-years’ experience delivering services to major operators and vendors worldwide, Solutelia helps clients achieve ambitious goals with the utmost efficiency and the highest possible quality.

www.solutelia.com

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