Green last mile: how fiber-connected massively distributed antenna systems can save energy

Abstract

We introduce a novel last-mile architecture that integrates the advantages of a distributed antenna system with centralized processing capability, connected through an optical fiber medium. The proposed broadband wireless access with fiber-connected massively distributed antenna system (BWA-FMDA) is capable of enhancing spectral efficiency of the network through coordinated multipoint transmissions at the femtocell scale. Furthermore, by shortening the lastmile communication link and lowering the power consumption, BWA-FMDA represents a viable green wireless access solution. Through our detailed and extensive simulation results, we demonstrate the potentially superior performance of BWA-FMDA in comparison with micro base station and femtocell deployments.