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Technical White Paper For The Easyret Antenna Solution: Huawei Technologies Co., LTD
Technical White Paper For The Easyret Antenna Solution: Huawei Technologies Co., LTD
xingzengwu193651
Issue
01
Date
2012-08-27
Notice
The purchased products, services and features are stipulated by the contract made between Huawei and
the customer. All or part of the products, services and features described in this document may not be
within the purchase scope or the usage scope. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, all statements,
information, and recommendations in this document are provided "AS IS" without warranties, guarantees or
representations of any kind, either express or implied.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made in the
preparation of this document to ensure accuracy of the contents, but all statements, information, and
recommendations in this document do not constitute a warranty of any kind, express or implied.
Website:
http://www.huawei.com
Email:
support@huawei.com
Contents
1 Abstract of the EasyRET Antenna Solution ............................................................................. 3
2 Introduction to Traditional RET Antenna Solutions ............................................................. 4
3 Problems Confronted by Traditional RET Antenna Solutions............................................ 7
3.1 Complex Installation ........................................................................................................................................ 7
3.2 Complex Commissioning ................................................................................................................................. 8
3.3 High Fault Rate and Poor Reliability Due to a Large Number of Connections................................................ 8
5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 15
6 Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................... 16
ii
With the coming of the mobile broadband (MBB) Era, radio networks are optimized more and
more frequently, and the antenna optimization cost is higher and higher. Currently, a
traditional remote electrical tilt (RET) antenna is confronted with problems such as frequent
mistakes in manual operations, high installation and maintenance cost, and poor reliability in
long-term operation. The EasyRET antenna solution can effectively resolve these problems.
This solution facilitates installation, maintenance, and usage of the RET antenna; therefore,
the O&M efficiency is improved. The solution has the following features:
Free of configuration
Free of calibration
High reliability
Excellent performance
Manually adjusting the mechanical gauge to pull the internal phase shifter
Installing an external remote control unit (RCU) connected to a portable control unit
(PCU) and adjusting the tilt angle using the PCU
Figure 2-1 Shows the solution for manually adjusting the tilt angle of the MET antenna
Figure 2-2 Shows the solution for adjusting the tilt angle of the MET antenna using the PCU
RET antenna
The network management system (NMS) is adopted to remotely adjust the tilt angle of a
RET antenna. This method allows constant and dynamic adjustment of the tilt angle of
an antenna beam. A site does not need to be powered off during the adjustment, which
enables continuous service provisioning.
A RET antenna is installed vertically. No clearance is required for a tilt angle of the RET
antenna. The installation components are simple and reliable. The monitoring database
stores the current and historical data of antenna beams at each site on the live network to
facilitate remote monitoring and analysis. Currently, RET antennas are preferred, which
improves the operator's operation and maintenance (O&M) efficiency.
Figure 2-3 shows the solution for remotely adjusting the tilt angle of the MET/RET
antenna with an external RCU
Figure 2-3 Solution for remotely adjusting the tilt angle of the MET/RET antenna with an external
RCU
The installation procedure includes operations on and under the tower, which increases the
duration of base station deployment.
The commissioning is conducted manually. Test engineers must confirm the execution status
and participate in the entire configuration process. The configuration of a single site takes
more than 12 minutes.
Short circuit resulted from water ingress caused by incorrect cable connection
If a traditional RET antenna is cascaded, RCU bar codes must be manually and locally
recorded. There is a high probability that incorrect mapping relationship is recorded. As a
result, the tilt angle is incorrectly adjusted, which affects network key performance indicators
(KPIs) and increases maintenance cost.
In addition, the RCU of a traditional RET antenna is exposed for a long time and affected
severely by the environment and climate. Consequently, the antenna has a low reliability.
4.1 Overview
The EasyRET antenna solution effectively resolves problems confronted by traditional RET
antenna solutions. With comparison to the existing RET solution, the EasyRET solution has
the following characteristics:
The antenna integrates with electrical tilt devices such as the RCU and SBT. The One
Box provides all components of an electrical tilt antenna, reducing the connector
quantity and site installation requirements to the minimum.
Figure 4-1 shows the EasyRET solution for remotely adjusting the tilt angle of an electrical
tilt antenna.
Figure 4-1 EasyRET solution for remotely adjusting the tilt angle of an electrical tilt antenna
4.2 Advantages
The EasyRET antenna solution has the following advantages:
The EasyRET antenna solution reduces jumpers and mechanical connections, improves
the installation efficiency, and reduces the error probability.
Figure 4-2 shows the schematic drawing of the traditional antenna solution with an
external RCU. Figure 4-3 shows the schematic drawing of the EasyRET antenna
solution.
Figure 4-2 Schematic drawing of the traditional antenna solution with an external RCU
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Component
s
AISG cable
STMA
RCU
connector
AISG
connector
The EasyRET antenna solution reduces the number of components from 17 in a RET
solution to 4, which facilitates component installation and greatly reduces the number of
connections. A multi-frequency antenna connects to only one ASIG cable with no
mechanical interface exposed. This reduces problems caused by interfaces. Meanwhile,
water ingress problems are greatly reduced owing to the protection provided by the
radome. Onsite operations are reduced and problems or risks caused by mistakes are also
reduced. Figure 4-4 shows the comparison of a traditional RET antenna and an EasyRET
antenna.
Figure 4-4 Comparison of a traditional RET antenna and an EasyRET antenna
The electrical tilt device can be identified remotely without configuration or calibration,
which improves site deployment efficiency.
Before an EasyRET antenna solution is delivered, the electrical tilt components and the
antenna are strictly matched. Meanwhile, related configuration data is loaded and
calibrated. This omits the data configuration and calibration during the installation of a
RET antenna and improves the RET configuration efficiency significantly.
The EasyRET antenna solution adopts the creative Color Coding technology. The RCU
can be identified automatically and remotely and different ports are marked by various
colors and shapes. The EasyRET antenna solution resolves problems caused by multiple
cascaded RCUs in a RET solution, including incorrect configuration, heavy workload
generated from manual bar code recording, and incorrect feeder connections.
The Color Coding technology is defined by the ASIG. Antenna radio frequency (RF)
ports of various frequency bands and types are differentiated by color and shape to
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ensure correct connections of antennas and feeders. Figure 4-5 shows the schematic
drawing of three antenna port types identified using the Color Coding technology.
Figure 4-5 Schematic drawing of three antenna port types identified using the Color Coding
technology
After an EasyRET antenna is powered on, the antenna automatically reports the RCU bar
code to the network management center (MNC). The MNC saves the RCU bar code and
matches the EasyRET antenna with the port and frequency band automatically. If a
frequency band needs to be adjusted, an RCU bar code can be queried from the NMS
directly, which reduces manual recording of RCU bar codes and prevents adjustment
errors caused by incorrect RCU bar codes.
12
The EasyRET antenna resolves reliability problems of a RET antenna. Table 4-1 lists the
comparison between an EasyRET antenna solution and a RET antenna solution from
aspects such as waterproof performance, lightning protection capability, and corrosion
resistance capability.
Table 4-1 Comparison of an EasyRET antenna solution and a RET antenna solution
Traditional RET Antenna
Solution
Waterproof protection is
provided to multiple RCUs
separately.
Lightning protection
capability
Corrosion resistance
capability
Waterproof
performance
Self-lock function
Failure caused by
manual operations
(configuration and
calibration)
Configuration data is
manually loaded and the
antenna is manually
calibrated.
The EasyRET antenna adopts high reliability design and assurance measures to ensure
the product quality and long-term reliability, including:
1.
Reliability is ensured using electric engines that have been deployed in batches on the
network, with passing environment tests and EMS tests:
13
2.
3.
4.
Driving components that have been deployed in batches on the network are adopted to
ensure high reliability during material selection and manufacturing. For example,
The driving screw thread pair that is verified in long-term operation is adopted.
Aluminum alloy components are adopted. Standard fixtures are made of austenitic
stainless steel. Plastic components are produced using long-term verified materials.
The flame spread rating of a plastic enclosure or plastic components of the equipment
must reach V-1 or above.
The solution with the electric engine, gearbox, and driving screw thread pair is
adopted to provide the self-lock function. In the non-working state, the self-lock
torque of the electric engine and gearbox ensures that the antenna tilt angle does not
change due to vibration.
The redundancy design is adopted. Material design and selection must be based on
application scenarios, material hardness (with margin), and reliability.
The interface is widened for protection. The AISG standard interface is used as the
external interface.
Highly reliable components are used to provide end-to-end reliability design. Reliability
tests and verification tests are conducted to ensure highly reliable components of the
control panel. For example,
Shielding design: The AISG connector connects to the control panel, which connects
to the electric engine. The AISG shielding cable is grounded at both ends. The control
panel and electric engine are shielded by the enclosure.
Cable design: An external cable adopts AISG cable components that meet the EMC,
waterproof/lightning protection/corrosion resistance, safety, and environment
requirements.
14
Conclusion
The EasyRET antenna solution resolves problems confronted by traditional RET antenna
solutions such as complex installation, long duration, high cost, frequent problems occurrence,
and poor reliability. The EasyRET solution improves the installation accuracy, the
construction efficiency, and the reliability of the antenna system. The EasyRET solution can
effectively avoid high maintenance costs due to secondary site deployment and help operators
reduce the network optimization investment and maintenance cost.
15
A
AISG
M
MET
MBB
Mobile broadband
P
PCU
R
RET
SBT
Smart Bias-Tee
STMA
16