How to Make mmWave FWA Operationally Feasible
By Brett Mills-Meiner, Head of Product for Cloud Software
Carriers need unit-level FWA qualification to make mmWave FWA operationally feasible. To achieve this, high-resolution data is required to meaningfully predict adequate coverage. Coverage and throughput can vary dramatically among living units, even those adjacent to each other. As such, mmWave characterization depends on precise measurements of foliage, angle of incidence, and line of sight, all of which require high-resolution geodata to accurately quantify.
WaveScape™ is Pivotal’s home grown, cloud-based modelling tool for mmWave FWA address qualification for single family and multiple dwelling units (MDUs). WaveScape uses high resolution geodata, e.g., 15 cm, to characterize performance and coverage down to individual apartment units. Unit Address Qualification (UAQ) in MDUs is important to ensure a positive customer experience by ensuring that customers will achieve the service quality they expect with mmWave FWA.
Pivotal's UAQ module allows carriers to qualify customers for FWA with their address and unit number alone, allowing them to avoid confusing and inaccurate interfaces, such as a “pin”, for identifying where within a building they live. This blog examines the predictive power of WaveScape on a 400-unit MDU in Atlanta, before and after two Pivot 5G repeaters were temporarily installed to extend gNB coverage to additional apartment units.
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| Figure 1: MDU building outline indicates penetration, in green, from two existing gNBs. Red indicates no penetration. |
Building Outline
The analysis started by characterizing outdoor-to-indoor signal penetration using window glass loss, RSRP from the gNB – three gNBs in this case – and angles of incidence to determine where mmWave can penetrate the building. See Figure 1.
Floor Plans
Next, WaveScape ingested floor plans from readily available sources to automatically identify which apartments are qualified for FWA based on where mmWave signals can penetrate inside the MDU. WaveScape leverages AI to align the unit locations, building outlines, clutter, and signal strength predictions so that they are aligned with the physical X, Y, and Z locations in the real world. See Figure 2.
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| Figure 2: Unit Address Qualification from existing gNBs. Note: image shows only one floor slice of the MDU. |
Repeaters
At this point, WaveScape’s predictions allow a carrier to identify optimal places to place repeaters to extend FWA services to new units within the building. It tells the carrier exactly which units will be covered so it can qualify and market to the right prospects.
Figure 3 shows a floor slice of additional apartment units which WaveScape predicted would acquire acceptable FWA service via two Pivot 5G repeaters installed along East Paces Ferry Road.
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| Figure 3: Pivot 5G repeaters providing coverage to more apartments along East Paces Ferry Road. |
Put to the Test
To test WaveScape’s predictions, Pivotal was given access to the 13 vacant units in the apartment to conduct on-site measurements of RSRP, throughput, and other metrics. Among the apartments predicted to acquire coverage from Pivots, Pivotal was given access to two – 4109 and 5411 – to conduct on-site measurements. Apartments 4109 and 5411 are highlighted in Figure 4. Also shown as green P’s are the approximate locations of the Pivot 5G repeaters. Before the repeaters were installed, throughput to 4109 was less than 200 Mbps. 5411 had no throughput. Afterwards, as confirmed by on-site measurements, 4109 got over 450 Mbps, and 5411, over 1 Gbps.
Precise Coverage
Among the predictions in Figure 4 that Pivotal could verify with on-site measurements, two sets were particularly close together. For gNB coverage only, WaveScape correctly predicted 1+ Gbps for 3116 and, just 25 meters away, no coverage for 3109. For gNB+Pivot coverage, WaveScape correctly predicted 1+ Gbps for 5411 and just 13 meters away, no coverage for 5415. See Figures 5 and 6. Acceptable coverage is symbolized by greater than 50% of non-red building penetration outline introduced in Figure 1.
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Conclusion
Figure 4 underscores the predictive strength of WaveScape both before and after Pivots are installed. We’ve seen that coverage and throughput can vary dramatically from apartment to apartment, even those close to each other. Carriers need unit-level FWA qualification to make mmWave FWA operationally feasible. As a high resolution, cloud-based modelling tool for mmWave FWA address qualification, WaveScape offers a unique solution.