Since 5G is becoming a recurring theme of discussion among telecoms executives, TowerXchange analyses some of the implications for base stations and their design with the multinational manufacturer Kleos. In this interview, the company’s CEO George El Aily shares insights into their latest product, PEGASUS base station, and how MNOs and infracos can successfully embrace 5G.
TowerXchange: Please introduce Kleos and the team behind it to our readers.
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
Kleos specialises in designing and building advanced wireless communications systems. The company’s founding members played a key role in the conception of the first end-to-end full IP platform, HC-SDMA, known as iBurst, which was produced back in 2002 by Kyocera.
In the following years, they designed several of the largest iBurst networks and introduced a series of tools towards the deployment of advanced wireless platforms.
In 2007, Kleos designed an innovative public safety platform that was then adopted and utilised by several government agencies.
The increase in demand for higher capacity and throughputs led the Kleos team to develop a new breed of wireless platforms. PEGASUS is an advanced LTE system that is designed to lower the cost of ownership for operators and to ensure their profitability by accommodating a high number of simultaneous users and by providing coverage to large areas, while utilising the smallest possible number of base stations and optimising power consumption.
To date, Kleos is focused on expanding its footprint and our strategy revolves around teaming up with local partners such as Cognitive Corporate Finance (Spain) to cover new territories and introduce our platforms to potential international clients.
Kleos is heavily focused on R&D and on continuously improving their 4G+ platform and its features in its progression towards 5G.
TowerXchange: How will signal propagation change in the 5G era?
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
Generally speaking, 5G is heading towards more personalised communication in terms of transmission and end user connectivity. It is envisaged that a 5G base station would provide a more precise, focused and cleaner RF pattern. This would be achieved via the usage of massive MiMo techniques, highly directional and steerable antennas to point in the best direction of a given user at a particular point in time. All this combined with advanced coding and modulation schemes and advanced signal processing techniques to help achieve higher throughputs, lower latency and larger number of users/sessions per base station.
On the other hand, we see that current implementations of 5G platforms are mainly focused towards higher bands such as the 28GHz spectrum, consequently we would expect 5G cells to have significantly smaller radius when compared to 4G/3G or 2G base stations and consequently to require a larger number of 5G base stations to provide ubiquitous coverage for a given area.
TowerXchange: What does that mean for network topographies – we all know densification is a must, but how should that densification be realised?
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
While densification and increasing capacity can be achieved via several traditional means such as reducing the cell size, using pico and small cells, sectorisation or going to higher frequencies, we strongly believe that there are other ways.
At Kleos, we are looking into new techniques that would allow us to achieve a higher spectral efficiency without dramatically compromising coverage and without having to drastically increase the number of cells. This implies utilising new and higher forms of modulations, innovative coding and signal processing schemes and new modes of transmission that would allow us to get closer and closer to the Shannon limit and even delve deeper to implement faster than Nyquist signalling techniques.
Our aim has been not to only push the envelope by gaining a few Mbps here and there but to introduce a true game changer that allows us to go into new heights. This is the main reason and drive that led us to design our advanced PEGASUS base station.
TowerXchange: What are the implications of 5G for the owners and operators of macro cell sites and how will the equipment load and power load on sites evolve?
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
Irrespective of how 5G progresses, macro cells will always be needed in order to provide the main coverage or the umbrella coverage, even if it meant providing lower speeds when outside the area of coverage of what will eventually be known as 5G spot.
The way 5G is progressing now will eventually force macro cell operators to increase their usage of small and micro cells in their networks and will push them to adopt hybrid models.
In terms of equipment load and power load on sites, the natural trend and progression is to have eNodeBs with smaller physical footprint and lower power consumption, even for macro base stations. Consequently, for small and pico 5G cells, the physical footprint and power consumption will definitely be quite low, however operators will require a larger number of eNodeBs to provide coverage for a particular area and hence will have a larger number of sites to cater for.
TowerXchange: How would you differentiate Kleos PEGASUS from other 5G antennas?
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
To be clear, the current PEGASUS platform that is being commercially sold and deployed is a 4G+ macro base station with 5G ready capabilities and features. Our full-fledged 5G base station is under development and is expected to be released towards end of 2019.
What differentiates our platform, whether it is our 4G+ system or our 5G platform, is the fact that we design these systems with the main aim of reducing the operational expenses of operators and maximising their profitability. Consequently, with our 4G+ platform we have ensured higher capacity per site, larger coverage area, lower power consumption as well as ease in deployment, maintenance and scalability. Furthermore, our product enables various IoT applications and platforms as well as guarantees an effective and scalable virtual core.
Our 5G platform has been designed with the same spirit, where we anticipate preserving our edge in terms of capacity, coverage, power consumption and flexibility. This is achieved by implementing innovative transmission techniques and by introducing intelligent massive MiMo systems and by utilising superior forms of modulations, innovative coding and signal processing schemes.
Our ultimate goal is to introduce a real 5G platform that is flexible, practical and manageable to deploy and more importantly affordable and profitable for MNOs to own and operate.
TowerXchange: What is the current state of public safety networks, and what opportunity does 5G represent to upgrade existing public safety networks, or make new public safety networks viable?
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
Public safety networks require a very specific set of features. Naturally, with 5G introducing higher speeds, lower latency and ad-hoc communication features and capabilities, we will see public safety networks benefiting from powerful real time applications and services that ensure a better response time, powerful capabilities and more effective communication.
Nevertheless, generally speaking governments and security agencies tend to be cautious prior to adopting new technologies and standards and they normally take their time to ensure it has been well tested/used and free of security holes. Therefore, I believe it is a little early for public safety networks to adopt 5G. Instead I think the trend will be to upgrade their existing 2G/3G systems to utilise advanced 4G platforms that have been well tested and used.
From our side, Kleos 4G+ and 5G platforms enjoy a set of unique wireless security characteristics that position it as one of the most advanced solution for public safety and tactical deployment networks.
Kleos’ key features
TowerXchange: Towercos have evolved from the carve out and sale of passive infrastructure from MNOs to specialise infracos – should third party infracos deploy, own and operate active equipment in the 5G era?
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
I strongly believe that the trend is heading more and more towards the adoption of the active sharing concept. We see more MNOs willing and ready to outsource their RAN to be deployed, maintained and operated by third party infracos with the aim of mitigating their costs and focusing on services and applications.
Towercos are ideally positioned to take on these tasks by becoming specialised infracos. From our side as vendors, we have been anticipating this transformation in the business model, and as such we have even designed our 4G+ platform to accommodate active sharing.
Consequently, each of our current 4G+ base stations can be used by several operators at once to independently offer their wireless services.
TowerXchange: Please sum up your vision of 5G, particularly insofar as it applies to the acquisition, deployment and management of cell sites.
George El Aily, CEO, Kleos:
Our vision of 5G slightly differs from the current trend that is being followed by major vendors. While we are on the same wavelength in terms of providing higher capacity, lower latency, more features and applications, we believe we are able to do so without having to compromise coverage and without having to let go of the macro cell concept. 5G is currently being introduced as a fixed wireless access service or in small cells deployment. We believe we can change that.
