Super Cell
A Super Cell deployment places a Fronthaul Multiplexer between Onyx Edge and the radio units, so that many RUs broadcast as one logical cell under a single DU.
Super Cell is Distributed with an FHM added. Same RUs, same CU and DU on Onyx Edge. The FHM makes several RUs share one cell ID. Without it, each RU is its own cell and devices hand over between them.
What it looks like
Because every RU broadcasts the same cell, a device moving across the whole coverage area never crosses a cell boundary. There is no handover to perform, and therefore no handover gap.
Why this matters
Handover is the failure mode behind most problems in mobile industrial workloads. An AGV that loses its supervisory link stops. A camera feed drops frames. A full-duplex intercom path breaks. Super Cell removes the failure mode rather than tuning around it, because there is no boundary to cross.
Scale
RUs per FHM
up to 8
Cascaded
a primary FHM feeding up to 8 secondary FHMs
Maximum
64 RUs operating as a single Shared Cell
An RU running Multi-Port Attach still counts as one RU against these limits. It presents two 2×2 sectors on one NR Cell, not two RUs, so it occupies a single FHM slot.
Configuration
Within one FHM group, RUs can be grouped into cells to trade mobility against capacity:
1×8
8
1
0
Maximum mobility and coverage
2×4
4
2
1
Balanced capacity and mobility
4×2
2
4
≤3
Maximum density, high-traffic areas
Reconfiguring between these is software-only in Onyx Orchestrator. No hardware change and no redeployment. Start at 1×8 and move toward 4×2 as device density grows.
Choose this when
Devices move continuously and cannot tolerate a connection gap: AGVs and AMRs, live video contribution, wireless intercom, mobile robotics.
One large space needs uniform coverage from several radios: a warehouse, a factory floor, an airport pier, an outside broadcast compound.
The RF environment changes as inventory or structures move, making stable cell planning difficult.
Dense RU deployment would otherwise create inter-cell interference. Sharing one cell removes it.
Choose something else when
The site needs only one or two radios. The FHM has nothing to aggregate. Use Integrated.
Coverage areas are genuinely separate, with no one moving between them mid-session. Separate cells are simpler and give more aggregate capacity.
Peak capacity in one small area matters more than mobility. More cells means more total capacity, so multi-cell may serve better.
What it costs
Hardware
Onyx RUs · FHM (primary, plus secondaries if cascading) · Onyx Edge (Core + CU + DU)
Transport
eCPRI fronthaul, RU to FHM and FHM to Edge
Timing
IEEE 1588v2 PTP and SyncE, distributed through the FHM
The FHM is the addition over Distributed. It aggregates fronthaul from the RUs and holds the timing that keeps them coherent as one cell.
Design considerations
Capacity is shared, not multiplied. Eight RUs in one cell extend coverage; they do not give eight times the capacity. The cell's capacity is divided across everything attached to it. Where density matters more than mobility, use more cells.
Plan RU placement for the workload, not for even coverage. For uplink-heavy workflows, radios belong where the devices transmit from, not spaced evenly.
The FHM is in the fronthaul path. It needs rack space, power and fronthaul to both the Edge and every RU it serves.
Start at 1×8. Mobility is the reason to choose Super Cell. Split into more cells only when measured density requires it, and that change is software-only.
Related
Distributed: the architecture this builds on
Use Case Workflows: the workloads that depend on handover-free mobility
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