CDMA PCS architecture considerations for antenna remoting over fiber

Antenna remoting (AR) over wideband facilities such as fiber and coax has been successfully implemented in the cellular radio environment. Among its many advantages is the consolidation and sharing of radio equipment at a centralized site, thus reducing site acquisition and equipment costs. However, transport over fiber or coax is typically more expensive than conventional digital baseband facilities such as leased T1s. Furthermore, AR equipment is sometimes only marginally cheaper than a CDMA frame. These factors and others lead to tradeoffs between conventional hubbing and antenna remoting. In this paper we develop a cost model for an AR deployment architecture, examine the sensitivity to various model parameters, and determine the circumstances under which AR is economically viable