Pivot 5G Value Proposition
By Steve Ostroff, Product Manager
The Pivot 5G network repeater was developed to extend, redirect, and shape mmWave signals beyond 5G base station (gNB) line-of-sight (LOS). Deploying Pivot 5Gs in conjunction with gNBs allows operators to reach indoor and outdoor coverage objectives more effectively than using gNBs alone. The Pivot value proposition can be summarized as follows:
- Capitalize on initial carrier investment in gNBs.
- Cost-effective and easy deployment of Pivots to augment coverage gaps.
- Create new revenue streams where mmWave deployments mostly favor mobility.
- Compared to gNBs, Pivots have lower C-SWaP (cost, size, weight, and power consumption), require no fiber connection, and take less time to plan, permit and install.
- Repeaters are low cost, quick to deploy, minimal power requirements, and in some areas may not even require a meter.
- Repeaters provide immediate coverage and when capacity improvements are needed, gNBs can be selectively deployed.
Lower Network Deployment Costs
Pivotal developed a network planning platform, WaveScape, which can model greenfield and brownfield networks and recommend locations for Pivots and/or gNBs to increase coverage in the most cost-effective manner. By extending the existing (or supplanting planned) gNB coverage, Pivots can greatly increase the service area while reducing capital spend. Significant savings are achieved when Pivots are included in network planning as early as possible.
The WaveScape analysis in Figure 1 compares the percentage of buildings covered in a 1.5 square-mile area (y-axis) with capital expenditure associated with gNBs and Pivots deployed (x-axis). In this example, 29 gNBs, shown as 29 dots, are deployed at a cost of $2.7 million to provide 35% coverage. Adding more gNBs increases deployment costs without much improvement in coverage.
The operator can improve coverage by adding Pivots, or, to preserve its $2.7 budget, replace some gNBs with Pivots. The most cost-effective option is to reduce the number of gNBs from 29 to 10, while adding 110 Pivots, as shown by the purple curve containing 10 gNB dots. By deploying fewer gNBs and adding Pivots, the same $2.7 million budget now delivers 70% coverage. Using Pivots, operators can have their cake and eat it too by deploying less fiber, which in this analysis gNBs require, but Pivots do not.
Pivots and gNBs: Carbon Footprint and Cost Per Coverage Area
GSMA Intelligence has calculated that, on average, the radio access network (RAN) is responsible for 73% of a mobile operator's total energy consumption, and energy costs are increasing – 2x to 8x in 2022, according to Huawei. gNBs consume 1500W. Pivots consume 30W. In the example above, 29 gNBs alone providing 35% coverage consume 43,500W. Improving coverage to 70% with the same $2.7 million budget requires 10 gNBs and 110 Pivots, as shown by the orange curve in Figure 1. 10 gNBs and 110 Pivots consume 18,300W. That’s 58% less energy, which can be expressed in Figure 2 as fewer kilograms of CO2.
