DAS and Small Cell Technologies Distinguished

This white paper written by the HetNet Forum and its members discusses various small cell technologies and how they are different than a DAS network design.

Historically, the term “small cell” has been used to refer to microcells, picocells/metrocells, and femtocells. There are certain similarities between DAS Nodes and small cells that often give rise to some confusion. Like DAS Nodes, small cells transmit at signal power levels that are much lower than macrocells and are physically much smaller. In addition, small cells are typically mounted or installed in the PROW at low elevations when deployed outdoors.
However, DAS Networks and the various types of small cells differ greatly with respect to functionality, capacity, complexity, and cost, among other things. These network architectures and technologies are not interchangeable and each is suitable only for the particular purposes and deployment environments it is designed to address.

You can download the report below.