A Femtocellular-Cabled Solution for Broadband Wireless Access: A Qualitative and Comparative Analysis

Broadband Wireless Access is a strategic opportunity for mobile operators which aim to provide connectivity in digital divide areas, in order to accelerate speed of deployment and save in installation costs. This paper presents an innovative approach to access the end user, relying on infrastructural integration of femtocellular technology with existing cabled network. Usually, the adoption of Femtocell Access Points, operating in the licensed cellular bands typically designed to be used in SOHO, improves the radio coverage and the building penetration of the existing mobile networks, based on macrocells. In the proposed solution, the peculiar functionality of femtocells is further improved using a MATV/SMATV cabled infrastructure which facilitates the signal connection inside the building. The potentiality of the solution is even more evident, taking into account the growing interest towards the possible deployment of new mobile technologies, like LTE in both the last portion of the UHF band V and the GSM frequency band, resulting from the re-farming process.