As wireless networks and their equipment migrate toward 4G, the situation will only become more complex. Manual management of these complexities cannot be sustained for long. For instance, there will certainly be a transitional period when 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies will all be present and interacting with each other in the same networks. This sort of heterogeneous environment exacerbates the complexities.

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The dynamic operating parameters of basestations will change even more rapidly and frequently in such an environment. For example, 2G, 3G, and 4G basestations must handle handoffs from one cell to the next, call camping, load balancing, and other network operations seamlessly.

Marketplace factors are also accelerating the complexity of wireless networks. Many operators are eyeing new form-factor basestations to better serve their subscribers, expand their services, and retain the loyalty of their users. One new small form-factor basestation technology, femtocells, targets interior installation in residences and small businesses.

Without some of the automation elements of a SON such as a new level of plug-and-play provisioning and self-configuration, operational costs relative to a significant deployment of femtocell basestations would likely be massive. Such a rollout of new and much needed technology could be delayed indefinitely without the productivity gains that SON promises. In fact, if 4G technology suppliers were to fail to provide SON solutions to replace manual operations with automation, the vast potential of 4G technology could be placed in jeopardy.

Component Parts

The elements of a SON fall into three fundamental strata: self-configuration, which occurs before a basestation fully joins the network, and self-optimization and self-healing, which occur dynamically and automatically in an operational SON. The aspects or operational characteristics of a SON that are automatically optimized cut across all three of the strata.

These operational aspects include, but are not limited to, energy savings, interference, random access channel (RACH) success, coverage and capacity maximization, and mobility optimizations. In all likelihood, additional optimization factors will be identified as conditions change and technologies advance.

The three fundamental strata of SONs are self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-healing.
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SON basestations will be able to automatically configure themselves from the moment they are first powered up and before they join a wireless network. Once power is supplied, the basestation would configure its physical cell identity, including its Internet Protocol (IP) address, and it would authenticate its software and configuration data. Following the completion of these baseline tasks, the SON basestation would initialize the configuration of its radio by setting up its relationships with its neighboring cells and compiling its neighbor list.