Economical Comparison of Enterprise In-building Wireless Solutions using DAS and Femto

As small cell solutions for efficient in-building wireless deployment, the distributed antenna system (DAS) and Femtocells constitute two major options. In this work, we study the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in combination with system performance in order to reach technology-economical conclusions regarding of these deployment options. Our aim is to identify the most cost economical solution for indoor wireless deployment which meets the indoor capacity need and provides ubiquitous indoor coverage. In the analysis we focus on LTE enhancement in the enterprise buildings. We discuss the unique cost features of DAS and Femto systems and highlight the importance of backhaul visibility in the cost analysis. For enterprise building solutions, we show the cost advantage of low-cost Femtocells over DAS in all scenarios regardless of coverage building size. We also suggest when DAS becomes more economical for large buildings with low data traffic need.