What is a picocell device?
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A picocell is a small cellular base station typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, stock exchanges, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. Picocells provide coverage and capacity in areas difficult or expensive to reach using the more traditional macrocell approach.
How does a picocell work?
A picocell is a small base station meant to be installed within buildings to allow cellular coverage to be provided by radios located within the building. The picocell devices are owned and managed by the cellular carrier, who connects the devices back to their network using Ethernet cables or similar.
Does Verizon offer a femtocells?
Verizon offers the femtocell-like LTE Network Extender (pictured), which it says is “like having your own mini cell tower for your home or office” and which “enhances your existing LTE coverage at no additional cost.” However, the LTE Network Extender costs US$249.99.
What is the difference between femtocell and picocell?
Small cell which has following features and used for small enterprise applications ‘to extend network coverage and data throughput is called Picocell. The key features of picocell are as follows. Small cell which support slightly large number of users compare to femtocell and picocell is known as Microcell.
What is a femtocell?
Femtocells are the smallest type of small cell and operate on licensed frequency bands. They are low-power cellular base stations that require a high-speed broadband connection to improve cell phone signal in homes and small businesses. They look similar to wireless access points (routers), but they work very differently.
What are the network requirements for picocell and femtocell deployment?
The devices typically make a secure IPSec Tunnel to prevent any eavesdropping of calls and SMS messages. That means that a high speed Internet connection is a requirement for any kind of picocell or femtocell deployment. The minimum required bandwidth depends on the type and number of small cells deployed.
What are the disadvantages of a femtocell?
The disadvantage is that femtocells would not normally broadcast a list of nearby neighbouring cells. Mobile phones would thus maintain the connection on the femtocell as much as possible, but risk dropping the call or having an short outage if the call needs to be switched across to an external macro or microcell.