Quick Start Guide

Designed for Operators, by Operators
7 | P a g e
2. Mercury Quantum Base Station Overview
2.1 Introduction – What is a Compact Base Station
At Mercury, we believe that true broadband data networks must roll out in a completely different manner
than the traditional, low-throughput cellular networks of yesterday. The traditional cellular network
paradigm of colossal “macro” Base stations and large cell radii developed from the need for high-coverage
networks to carry low-bandwidth voice and messaging traffic. However, as the demand for data-based
applications has grown, networks have quickly become congested, necessitating new wireless standards
designed specifically for high-speed broadband data. Furthermore, as spectrum is always a scarce and
expensive resource, the need for improved frequency re-use techniques has become more important than
ever.
The clear solution to this is higher-efficiency wireless standards, such as IEEE 802.16e Mobile WiMAX, and
more flexible cell sizes. Where medium and high population density exists, cell sizes should be small to
enable increased spectral re-use, thereby ensuring that each subscriber enjoys a sufficient amount of
throughput. In such cases it may be necessary to deploy Base stations on utility poles, flag poles, rooftops,
small buildings and walls. This necessitates small, pleasant form-factor Base stations that can accept a
variety of antenna types, both omni-directional and directional. Such Base stations are often referred to
as “Pico”. Because wired backhaul may not always be available in some such locations, it also suggests the
need for wireless backhaul options.
On the other hand, in rural areas with lower population densities, it makes more economic sense to deploy
fewer Base stations on higher towers or buildings and usually with higher transmit power. This is closer to
the traditional cellular approach and typically involves large, expensive and power-hungry “macro” or
“micro” Base stations, often with split designs requiring both indoor and tower-top electronics. Wherever
indoor components are required an operator must obtain an air-conditioned shelter, which adds
significantly to the continual operating expenditures of such a deployment and limits the deployment
location.
Mercury has taken a revolutionary approach in the development of exclusively “Compact”
Base stations. A compact Base station shares the similar form-factor and cost of a Pico Base station, but
with the performance of a Macro Base station. It is a zero-footprint device that can be fully co-located
with its antennas. It is the best of all worlds and can be flexibly deployed in Pico, Macro, and Micro type
deployments.
Welcome to the Revolution!
2.2 Mercury Quantum 6600 at a Glance
The Quantum 6600 is Mercury’s 3
rd
generation Base station and is part of the Mercury X4G ecosystem.
Built on a 6x6 design, the Quantum 6600 was made for non-line-of-sight and can handle the toughest of
environments. The 6600 is quite simply the highest performing, most advanced carrier-grade Base station
in the market.
This User’s Guide covers the Mercury Quantum 6600 products, with models differentiated by only the
frequency variant which is represented by the two right digits. For example, the Mercury Quantum 6625
is the 2.5GHz variant, supported 2.5-2.7GHz. Otherwise they are functionally identical. In this guide we
will, without loss of generality, refer primarily to the Mercury Quantum 6600 product, which is