A couple of vendors – Ericsson and Parallel Wireless – are using software-defined networking (SDN) to improve indoor cellular coverage.

Parallel Wireless is offering its HetNet Gateway software within white-box small cells based on Intel chipsets to boost 3G, 4G/LTE, and Wi-Fi within office buildings.

Parallel Wireless CTO Rajesh Mishra says many large buildings today use distributed antennae systems (DASs) within their structures to provide wireless coverage. But DAS requires a lot of different devices such as small-cell gateways, Wi-Fi gateways, security hardware, and other gear to hand-off signals to the macro network. Parallel Wireless’s technology allows all that hardware to be consolidated in cheaper white-box devices.

The white boxes can be made by a number of original device manufacturers (ODMs) as long as they use Intel’s Transcede small-cell chipset.

The functions become virtual network functions (VNFs) hosted in the cloud and orchestrated by Parallel Wireless’s software. VNFs also include such things as interference management and traffic prioritization.

The white-box small cells could save money for new buildings that don’t yet have DAS. The system may also be deployed in older buildings with DAS because it could boost data speeds and offload more wireless traffic from the expensive outdoor macro systems.

Parallel Wireless is selling its system to wireless operators, which, in turn, promote it to building owners.

“It takes capacity from outdoor base stations, which are already congested,” says Mishra. “This system creates brand new capacity rather than stealing from outdoors.”

Ericsson says today that its indoor small-cell system, Radio Dot, which has been available for about one year, is in use by 100 mobile operators, including, most recently, Sichuan Mobile in western China.

The Radio Dot system features Ericsson’s ceiling-mounted antenna device (pictured). The system is upgradable via cloud software.

Ericsson Dots support 3G and LTE, using the same software as operators’ outdoor macrocell networks.