Drive testing remains an important, but laborious, aspect of the operator’s toolkit, even with the rise of more automated inputs to their operations systems. Nokia aims to reduce reliance on the traditional method by integrating spectrum analyzers into base stations to identify and act against RF interference.
The vendor’s rfView project has already been through prototyping and validation in field tests with SK Telecom and KT in the Korean cities of Kwangju and Daejeon. Nokia says the technology “allows for automated RF monitoring and interference detection, remotely and non-intrusively, without performance degradation’, potentially eliminating the need for site visits and drive tests.
The rfView function is supported by Nokia’s flagship RAN product, the Flexi base station range. The integrated module captures a snapshot of the wideband RF signal before it is digitally converted. The captured waveforms are then transferred to external servers running signal processing software for analysis and to detect problems.
“There is no better place to detect interference than in the base station itself,” said Pablo Tacconi, Nokia’s rfView project lead. rfView “sees what the base station sees, utilizing the same antenna, same filters, and same electronics. The next stage will be ‘rfView automation’, which will further automate collection and analysis of RF data and integrate it into network management and self-optimizing network solutions.