6 Different Types of Cell Phone Towers – Where Does 5G Come From?

Have you ever considered how heavily we rely on cell phone towers in our daily lives? Cell phone towers are the antenna that gives us coverage so that our mobile phones can function. There are many different types of cell phone towers. Certainly, 5G technology has highlighted how important cell phone towers are now more than ever.

5G brings with it more data and faster speeds. This means we can now use our phones for more than just phone calls and texting. We can now live stream video, play games, and even use virtual reality applications. However, all these new uses require that we have the latest and best cell phone towers.

So, what are the various types of cell phone towers driving the 5G revolution? There are actually six types. Every single one of them has its own specific role and best use case.

Types of Cell Phone Towers

The first category is Macrocell towers, which are the largest and most visible. These towers have a vast coverage area and we commonly employ them in urban or suburban environments.

Following that are Microcell towers, which are smaller and less noticeable. We can mount these types of cell phone towers atop buildings or utility poles. They offer coverage in regions where Macro cell towers may be ineffective.

A Picocell tower is a small unit that is connected to the user’s broadband internet connection. These boxes provide greater flexibility in antenna installation and can help increase coverage in difficult-to-reach places.

Distributed antenna systems (DAS) are next. These consist of numerous smaller antennas scattered around a building or area. These systems are frequently utilized in large venues, such as stadiums and airports.

Next, Femtocell phone towers are designed to be used in residences or small offices. These little gadgets link to a user’s internet connection and provide limited cellular coverage.

The final type is cell towers that are installed on vehicles or drones, called Cell on Wheels (COW). We can use them in emergency situations or to give coverage in remote locations.

Each of these types of cell phone towers is critical to the 5G revolution, and understanding them is essential in order to realize the full potential of this exciting new technology.

Macrocell Towers

Macrocell towers are tall structures that dot the landscape. They’re big, and they’re designed to cover extensive regions. They can be 50 to 200 feet tall and we often erect them on elevated areas of land to optimize coverage. These towers are an important mobile network feature since they cover entire cities or regions. They are also utilized to provide high-speed data services such as streaming video and huge file downloads.

It has proven difficult to upgrade Macrocell towers for 5G technology. This is because 5G technology uses a higher frequency band. The towers consequently must be closer together in order to offer coverage. This has necessitated the construction of more towers in heavily populated locations, which can be costly and time-consuming. To address this issue, Macrocell towers are being upgraded to handle 5G technology. Installing new technology that allows the towers to support higher frequency bands is part of this process. Small cells are also being put alongside Macrocell towers to help enhance coverage and capacity in regions where it is most required.

Macro towers are also getting new technology like Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), which lets them to transmit and receive multiple signals at the same time. This improves coverage and capacity in regions where many people are using their phones simultaneously.

Microcell Towers 

Microcell towers, also known as small cells, are substantially smaller than Macro towers and may be positioned much closer together. These types of cell phone towers provide coverage in places where macro towers may be ineffective. This can be at such places as highly crowded metropolitan areas, inside buildings, or rural areas with low signal strength.

The primary aim of Microcell towers is to improve coverage and capacity in regions where people use their phones the most. In congested urban locations, for example, increased demand for mobile data services can overwhelm Macro towers. This results in sluggish data speeds and dropped calls. Small cells can assist in relieving this challenge by adding capacity and coverage where it is most required.

Uses

Small cells are being employed in densely populated metropolitan areas to improve coverage and capacity. We can install them on streetlights, building facades, or other buildings and communicate with the macro network via fiber optic cables or wireless connectivity. As a result, they can offload some of the traffic from the Macro towers. This results in quicker data speeds and more reliable service.

Upgrading Small cells for 5G technology requires the addition of new equipment capable of supporting the higher frequency bands required by 5G. Upgrades to antennas, radios, and other components are required to accommodate the new technology. Small cells may also be installed in new areas to provide the denser network required for 5G.

Small cells are also getting new technologies like beamforming and virtualization, which allow them to exploit the existing spectrum more efficiently and give higher coverage and capacity. For example, beamforming allows small cells to focus signals to where they are most required, whereas virtualization allows several small cells to be handled as a single entity, making network optimization easier.

Picocell Towers 

Picocell towers are even smaller than Microcells and cover small indoor spaces such as residences, workplaces, and retail malls. They operate by connecting to a user’s broadband internet connection and then transmitting a cellular signal to their mobile device.

Picocells are being used to provide coverage in areas where standard cell towers may be ineffective. They’re small enough to fit on a shelf or desk and can connect to the internet using Ethernet or Wi-Fi. This enables them to give a powerful cellular signal within the building, even in locations where the Macro network signal may be weak. This is especially critical in places where a high number of people are utilizing mobile devices. These can be places such as office buildings, shopping malls, and airports.

Upgrading Picocells for 5G technology requires the addition of new equipment capable of supporting the higher frequency bands utilized by 5G. Upgrades to antennas, radios, and other components are required to accommodate the new technology. We deploy Picocells in new areas to support the denser network required by 5G.

Picocells are also getting new technologies like virtualization and software-defined networking. These will allow them to exploit the available spectrum more efficiently and give higher coverage and capacity. Virtualization, for example, allows numerous Picocells to be handled as a single unit, making network optimization easier.

Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) 

DAS, or Distributed Antenna Systems, is an innovative way to improve cell phone coverage in specific locations. Instead of depending on a single huge cell phone tower to provide coverage, DAS uses a network of tiny antennas to give coverage in a specific place, such as a large building or school.

One of the primary advantages of DAS is that it can be tailored to meet the exact requirements of a specific location. In a hospital, for example, it may be necessary to provide coverage in every room, whereas in a vast stadium, coverage may need to be centered on the seating areas. We can customize DAS to give coverage precisely where it is required, ensuring everyone receives a strong and dependable signal.

To provide seamless coverage, we frequently used DAS in conjunction with other types of cell phone towers. A Macrocell tower, for example, can provide coverage over an extensive region, whereas DAS can provide coverage in specific spots where the signal may be weaker. This technology combo ensures that users have consistent coverage no matter where they are.

Challenges

A difficulty in updating DAS for 5G technology is that it needs a substantial investment in infrastructure. But we must upgrade DAS to support the higher frequencies needed by 5G networks in order to enable 5G coverage. This requires the construction of new antennas, fiber optic cables, and other hardware.

Despite these obstacles, several businesses are investing in DAS to improve coverage and support 5G technologies. Some experts expect that DAS will be critical in the development of 5G networks since it provides for more exact coverage in specific areas.

DAS, in addition to improving coverage, can lessen the burden on Macrocell towers. It does this by shifting some traffic to DAS. Macrocell towers can then concentrate on providing coverage over a larger area, boosting overall network performance.

Femtocell Towers

Femtocells are miniature cell phone towers that are intended for homes or small enterprises. They operate by connecting to a user’s broadband internet connection and then transmitting a cellular signal to their mobile device. Femtocells are used to improve coverage in regions with weak signal strength. This is in places such as rural areas or buildings, where the signal from the Macro network may be weak. They can also offload data from the Macro network, which helps to reduce congestion and improve overall network performance.

Femtocells are being modified for 5G technology by including new equipment capable of supporting the higher frequency bands utilized by 5G. Upgrades to antennas, radios, and other components are required to accommodate the new technology. One of the primary advantages of Femtocells is their ease of updating to embrace future technologies like as 5G. This is due to the fact that they are built on standard IP technologies that can be quickly updated with new software and hardware.

In addition to hardware advancements, new software and networking technologies let Femtocells efficiently utilize the available spectrum, providing higher coverage and capacity. Further, Femtocells can improve signal quality and capacity by utilizing advanced antenna techniques, such as beamforming and MIMO.

Another major aspect of Femtocells is their support for network slicing, which allows network operators to assign network resources to various types of services based on their needs. This is particularly important for 5G, which will enable a diverse range of services with varying bandwidth and latency requirements.

Cell on Wheels (COW)

Cell on Wheels (COW) is a mobile cell phone tower that may be relocated to offer temporary service in regions where it is required. We often mount them on a trailer or vehicle and we can easily deploy them to offer coverage in rural or disaster-affected areas.

COWs can provide temporary coverage to serve the high volume of mobile users during disasters or large events, such as concerts or sporting events. They can also offer coverage in rural places where constructing a permanent cell tower would be difficult or expensive.

COWs are being modified for 5G technology by including new equipment capable of supporting the higher frequency bands utilized by 5G. Upgrades to antennas, radios, and other components are required to accommodate the new technology.

One of the advantages of employing COWs for 5G is their mobility and flexibility. They can quickly offer coverage in regions where 5G infrastructure is not yet accessible because they we can readily move and set them up in multiple locations. This is also critical for supporting novel use cases that demand high-speed, low-latency connectivity, such as driverless vehicles and remote surgery.

In addition to hardware changes, COWs are getting new software and networking technologies that will allow them to utilize the available spectrum more efficiently and provide higher coverage and capacity. COWs, for example, can improve signal quality and capacity by utilizing modern radio technologies such as beamforming and Massive MIMO.

Final Thoughts

We have explored the six different types of cell phone towers: Macro, Micro, Pico, DAS, Femtocell, and COW. Each type has its unique characteristics and serves a specific purpose in providing coverage for 5G technology.

As cell phone tower operators continue to upgrade their infrastructure for 5G, they face various challenges, such as the need for more fiber optic cable and antenna sites. Moreover, upgrading existing cell phone towers to support 5G technology is quite expensive.

Looking ahead, the future of cell phone towers is bright. We should expect faster and more dependable service in even the most remote regions as 5G technology evolves further. You can expect to see more revolutionary approaches to mobile phone tower design. Such an approach would be the use of drones to deploy miniature cell towers in difficult-to-reach places, which we can also expect.