Monday, July 24, 2023

How Many Users for Network Slicing for 5G Fixed Wireless?

Reliance Jio plans a rollout of network slicing capabilities on its 5G network to support fixed wireless access for home broadband users. And while everyone expects capacity to grow over time, there have been questions about the number of “slices” any single radio or cell site might be able to support. 


Assume the number of concurrent network slices that can be supported from any single radio and single radio site with six sectors, using Nokia or Ericsson radios, in general, will support up to six concurrent network slices per sector, for a total of 36 concurrent network slices across all six sectors at any single site. 


Nokia's AirScale base stations are said to support up to 12 concurrent slices per radio site. This is because each AirScale base station has six sectors, and each sector can support up to two slices. 


Ericsson's Radio System 6000 base stations likewise are said to support up to 12 concurrent slices per radio site. This is because each Radio System 6000 base station has six sectors, and each sector can support up to two slices.


Nokia's AirScale Radio 6221 can support up to six  concurrent slices per sector, while Ericsson's 6449 Radio can support up to five concurrent slices per sector. 


The exact number of concurrent slices that can be supported will also depend on the configuration of the network, such as the amount of spectrum that is available and the type of traffic involved. 


Assume concurrent users all are consuming about 100 Mbps of capacity at any one time. Then 10 concurrent users can be supported on a channel supporting 1,000 Mbps of capacity, some point out. 


Some believe Jio might be able to support as many as 100 users for voice sessions but perhaps as few as 10 concurrent users all watching high-definition video streaming. 


Use case

Number of users per slice

VoIP

100

HD video streaming

10

Gaming

50

File sharing

100


That estimate also likely assumes there is no contention for that capacity from other uses and customers. And, as always, the amount of available spectrum shapes performance. If a network allocates just 100 MHz for network slicing, then both bandwidth and the number of users is reduced. 


Number of users

Theoretical maximum download speed per user

6

16.67 Mbps

12

8.33 Mbps

18

5.56 Mbps

24

4.17 Mbps

30

3.33 Mbps


So, as always, having lots of bandwidth matters.


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