Femtocells - The new cellular concept

Femtocells are destined to transform the way mobile operators build their cellular networks and grow their coverage and capacity. Femtocells are small base stations operating in the usual, licensed bands. They are very small, require very low power transmitters and can be even placed in individual homes. This concept is very different from the usual cellular concept.

Advantages
Most important advantage is the improved coverage. Since the target is only a small set of users, providing them reliable coverage and a larger bandwidth is easy. Another advantage is the cost saving involved. The need to upgrade the capacity with increasing subscriber base is easily met with femtocells.

Issues

• New levels of Interference mitigation and management is required, including macro to femto, femto to femto, and femto/handset interference.
• System selection, Integration with the operator’s core network and access control becomes all the more complicated.
• Security related aspects need to be taken care of.
• Network and frequency planning will be more sophisticated.

In the past couple of years, the technical community has been working these issues, and the advances have
been significant.