Samsung upgrades C-RAN baseband unit centraliser

Samsung Electronics sent out a timely reminder that it has many more strings to its bow than smartphones with the launch of C-RAN2.0. As the name strongly implies, it’s an updated version of the original C-RAN product, which serves to allow the aggregation of baseband units (BBUs) from base stations to more centralised locations.

C-RAN2.0 features among its enhancements baseband clustering and baseband capacity pooling. These are especially handy, Samsung insists, for coping with data spikes that often result from big events such as gigs or sport, as pooling the BBUs allows a higher degree of capacity pooling.

The C-RAN switch that enables this functionality also promises energy savings by dynamically switching off BBUs at quiet times. The baseband capacity feature also helps out with carrier aggregation by enabling devices to select the best signal from multiple sites.

“Samsung’s C-RAN2.0 is well-suited for city deployments where there are constraints in site procurement despite continuing demand for improved network coverage and performance,” Joonho Park, Senior VP of Samsung Electronics’ networks business.

“In these situations, densification is a high priority, and C-RAN is optimally designed to enable rapid deployment with a significantly smaller footprint that a traditional distributed base station. C-RAN2.0 adds another level to this by introducing significant and competitive capability enhancements to the C-RAN architecture.”