Kashif Hussain is a global solutions marketing manager at Viavi Solutions (formerly JDSU) for the wireless business unit. With more than 20 years of wireless industry experience, Kashif’s expertise in RF, DAS, HetNets and LTE comes from developing, managing, supporting, marketing, and consulting on major mobile communications projects. Kashif’s industry experience also includes various senior roles at MobileNet, Tektronix Communications, Ericsson and Nortel. He has also authored a patent for wireless products.
TowerXchange: Please introduce Viavi Solutions to our readers.
Kashif Hussai, Global Solutions Marketing Manager, Viavi Solutions:
Network evolution has significantly increased the complexity of networks, and network operators are looking for cost-effective ways to deploy, manage and maintain networks without increasing their OpEx. Viavi has been working closely with operators to offer a fully-integrated portfolio of cloud-enabled instruments and software to cost-effectively design, build, turn-up, certify, troubleshoot, and optimize networks that are differentiated through superior efficiency, reliable performance, and greater customer satisfaction.
TowerXchange: Please tell us about Viavi’s CellAdvisor Base Station Analyser solutions - how do these solutions enable the effective and safe installation of cell sites?
Kashif Hussai, Global Solutions Marketing Manager, Viavi Solutions:
A major challenge facing mobile service providers is the overall time the installation and commissioning process takes. Operators need to realize service revenues quickly and minimize customer churn. Viavi’s CellAdvisorTM Base-Station Analyzer allows cell technicians to install and commission cell sites with a single instrument. CellAdvisor covers a wide spectrum of tests including coaxial transmission integrity testing, fiber inspection, RFoFiber analysis, interference hunting, and signal quality analysis. CellAdvisor RFoFiber and BBU emulation features enable cell technicians to troubleshoot installation issues from the ground, minimizing the need for risky tower-climbs, and eliminating the need for multiple site visits. CellAdvisor Base Station Analyzer dramatically reduces OpEx and time-to-market whether you are deploying new cell sites or maintaining existing cell sites.
TowerXchange: In particular, how do your solutions accelerate the process of base station installation, from commissioning to testing and acceptance?
Kashif Hussai, Global Solutions Marketing Manager, Viavi Solutions:
Modern day cell sites with Fiber to the Antenna (FTTA) provide excellent coverage and capacity compared to their predecessors, but having a remote radio head (RRH) at the top of the tower also offers some challenges.
Typically installation and commissioning of a cell site is a two-step process: the tower contractor installs fiber, coax, RRH, and antennas at the top of the tower, then later installs the base band unit (BBU) and commissions the cell site. During or after the commissioning, problems are uncovered that could not have been caught in the first phase of installation. This causes delays in cell site installation and higher OpEx, due to the need for multiple site visits, and risky tower climbs. The fundamental challenge to service providers and their partners is the visibility in identifying these problems earlier in the installation and troubleshooting process. Service providers are looking for efficient ways to deploy cell sites and reduce mean time to repair (MTTR).
An industry first, BBU Emulation (featured on our CellAdvisor Base Station analyzer), simplifies the deployment of cell sites by verifying radio installation, configuration, and operation prior to commissioning. It verifies the physical infrastructure based on coax or fiber cables, retrieves a radio’s model, operating band, and configuration parameters, and controls a radio to transmit over-the-air, ensuring there are no interferences or PIM.
TowerXchange: How proven is Viavi’s CellAdvisor Base Station Analyzer in the field - who is using it and what results have they achieved?
Kashif Hussai, Global Solutions Marketing Manager, Viavi Solutions:
Service providers and their contractors were looking for RF test solutions that could help them efficiently deploy new FTTA cell sites, by supporting RFoCPRI, RFoOBSAI, coaxial cable sweep test, optical and RF power tests, and RF analysis. Our comprehensive Base Station Analyzer solution met all the challenges in a single instrument, and came out ahead of the competition.
The strength of our solution helped Tier One operators in the US, EMEA, Asia, and other regions of world to deploy FTTA cell-sites.
Below are some of the examples of the proof of our solution strength and adoption:
- Viavi has converted 60% of the 2,600 cell technicians and system performance engineers to CellAdvisor for Tier One Service providers in North America
- Three European Tier One carriers and a leading German field services provider all selected Viavi over our competitor for testing RF signals over fiber
""We are really impressed with [Viavi’s] products. In particular, the RF over CPRI was the selling point for us, but we are still learning some of the other great functions. CellAdvisor is an all-in-one beast for troubleshooting cell sites and supporting the test lab environment.” - Top tier network equipment manufacturer in Ireland
TowerXchange: How would you differentiate the CellAdvisor Base Station Analyser from alternate solutions on the market?
Kashif Hussai, Global Solutions Marketing Manager, Viavi Solutions:
As service providers continue to grow their RF network footprint, they are under tremendous pressure to reduce deployment time to meet constantly growing network demand and reduce OpEx. Service providers and their contractors demand a comprehensive RF test solution that can not only do coax, fiber, and RF testing but can do it in a simple and consistent manner, delivering the correct results, every time, the first time. Viavi’s CellAdvisor Base Station Analyzer is the only solution that fits the bill. It offers the most comprehensive RF test solution for all stages of cell site lifecycle.
CellAdvisor key benefits can be summarized as follows:
- All-in-one cell-site test solution (RF and Fiber) from 2G to 4G
- Complete RFoCPRI and RFoOBSAI support for all technologies and network vendors
- LTE Advanced support
- Integrated installation workflow
- Simplified and guided testing procedures reduce training and certification costs
- Cloud services for asset and data management and firmware upgrades
- Auto PDF/HTML report generation
- Web-based remote control via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
