Indoor Neutral-Host Networks Over Shared Spectrum and Shared Infrastructure: A Comparison Study of Real-World Deployments

2026-01-16

AI Summary

This study addresses the significant performance degradation experienced by mobile network operators (MNOs) in mid-band indoor coverage, primarily due to building penetration loss and uplink power constraints at macro base stations. Through multi-site field measurements, the work systematically compares the real-world performance of Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)-based Neutral Host (NH) networks against public MNO 4G/5G macro networks and Wi-Fi in indoor environments. For the first time in an operational deployment, it quantifies the advantages of NH networks in terms of downlink and uplink throughput, modulation efficiency, and user equipment power consumption. Results show a 30 dB median improvement in indoor RSRP, downlink throughput matching outdoor MNO levels, consistently superior uplink performance, and a 5 dB reduction in terminal transmit power, thereby demonstrating the transformative potential of shared spectrum and neutral host architectures for mid-band indoor coverage.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Mobility, Driving & Flight
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Plan Execution and Monitoring
• Search and Optimization: Applications

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Indoor high-capacity connectivity is frequently constrained by significant building penetration loss and the inherent uplink power limitations of a typical outdoor macro-cell deployment. While Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) must optimize spectrum across low-band (<1 GHz) and mid-band (1-7 GHz) frequencies, uplink performance remains disproportionately degraded due to link budget asymmetry. Neutral-host (NH) networking provides a scalable alternative by transparently offloading MNO subscribers via spectrum sharing and shared infrastructure. We present a multi-site measurement study comparing Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)-enabled NH networks against public MNO 4G/5G macro deployments and Wi-Fi. Our results show: (i) significant building penetration loss with up to 15.5 dB in low-bands and 17.9 dB in mid-bands, resulting in a ~10 dB RSRP deficit for MNO mid-bands compared to low-bands; (ii) NH networks provide a 30 dB higher median indoor RSRP with indoor NH normalized downlink throughput matches MNO outdoor performance, while its uplink performance exceeds MNO levels in both indoor and outdoor settings; (iii) NH proximity enables superior uplink efficiency, utilizing 64-QAM for 56% of transmissions (versus<6% for MNOs) and reducing median UE transmit power by 5 dB; (iv) MNOs rely on low-band spectrum for indoor uplink transmissions, while the NH deployment maintains high-performance mid-band connectivity; and (v) NH outperforms MNOs in end-to-end throughput but trails Wi-Fi in uplink throughput and latency due to packet routing overhead to the MNO core.

Problem

• indoor connectivity
• building penetration loss
• uplink power limitation
• neutral-host networks
• spectrum sharing

Innovation

• Neutral-Host Networks
• Shared Spectrum
• CBRS
• Indoor Connectivity
• Uplink Efficiency