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CONTEXT
In 2015 alone, over 1.4 billion smartphones were sold worldwide.
Copper/Coax
With the proliferation of smart phones all around the world, mobile Top to Bottom
bandwidth demands are increasing at an exponential rate. On top
of the never ending demand for bandwidth, the fierce competition
between mobile network operators (MNOs) is forcing them to
constantly upgrade and improve their mobile networks.
D-ROF
RRU
As more and more mobile cell sites are being installed and
commissioned, the need to reduce operating expenditures to maintain RRU BBU
profitability remains a top priority for MNOs. Cell site location rental RRU
and power are two of the most important operational cost for MNOs.
Therefore, MNOs are continually seeking possibilities to reduce these Cell-site cabinet
costs by modernizing their mobile networks. This is where fiber to the
antenna (FTTA) comes into play. Figure 1. Traditional coaxial-based systems on cell towers with large overhead
(copper cabling, large footprint, power, A/C and high power consumption)
IP/MPLS
Central office/ network RRH
Data center
(BBU stacking)
D-RoF
l
h au
ck
RRH Ba Figure 5. Point to point passive fronthaul C-RAN
RRH Optical
RRH D-RoF
distribution
network RI
CP )
RRH
a ul: km
RRH th 20
on o
RRH Fr up t
(
Central
office
There are many C-RAN architectures that are being evaluated in the RRH RRH
RRH
lab and tested in the field. The two main categories are active and
RRH
passive Fronthaul C-RAN networks. RRH
Single
fiber
RRH
Active Fronthaul C-RAN Networks
In the active Fronthaul network, the CPRI / OBSAI traffic is
encapsulated and transported by an Optical Transport Network
(OTN). Active Fronthaul networks usually include an automatic fiber
protection system and provides network scalability. However, these
added features tend to increase the system cost and complexity by Figure 6. CWDM or DWDM networks with passive optical Mux and Demux
requiring traffic engineering to improve latency and jitter – key metrics
that need to be controlled in mobile networks.
Central
office
Active
equipment
e
bil or
RRH Moerat
RRH
RRH
Working op
RRH
RRH
r
Protection ide
ov
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RRH Fibe
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op
Building the foundation - The Road to 5G To realize this objective, the MNO RAN team worked with EXFO to
support them during this C-RAN field trial installation and validation.
A major factor driving the development of 5G is the exponential growth
We will discuss the different challenges encountered during the field
for mobile bandwidth. The expected performance objectives of 5G
trial and present the test solutions that facilitated the troubleshooting
networks are impressive, as shown in the diagram.
and accelerated the installation process.
USER EXPERIEN
CE CO
NTIN
UIT RRH
Y
20
15 km
Mobile data volume
10 Tb/s/km2 BBU hotel
E2E latency Peak data rate
5 ms 10 Gbit/s
25 ms
DEMUX
MUX
10 Gbit/s/km2
100 Mbit/s
L SERVICES
5G
SION
MIS
FIP-400B Wireless
Fiber Inspection Probe
Solution 1 - Fiber Connector Inspection With any fiber optic based network installation, a critical first step
is to ensure proper cleanliness of fiber optic end face connectors.
Before starting the fiber characterization from the BBU hotel site,
This ensures minimal optical loss along the fiber path and optimal
EXFO recommended the inspection of the fiber connectors. During
system performance. This is especially important in passive C-RAN
this first step of the C-RAN network validation, the team noticed that
installations since no optical signal regeneration is performed along
most fiber connectors did not pass the automated Fiber Inspection
the optical path.
Probe (FIP) test based on the IEC standard.
Today, RAN installations may be operating at 1.2 Gbit/s or 2.4 Gbit/s
but in the near future, the data rate running on the same optical network
will increase to 9.8 Gbit/s, 12.1 Gbit/s or even 24.3 Gbit/s, providing
higher mobile bandwidth. As with any optical communication, optical
impairments such Chromatic Dispersion (CD), Polarization Mode
Dispersion (PMD) and Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) become more
important as the optical transmission rate increases. It is therefore
critical to minimize optical loss in the optical network by properly
inspecting each interconnection along the fiber span. This will ensure
proper operation today but also guarantees a solid foundation for
tomorrow’s higher optical data rates.
From the BBU hotel site, the team connected EXFO’s FTB-720Gv2 Once the second missing fiber interconnection was found and
to the common link and performed the OTDR test to characterize resolved, the fiber span in each direction was fully characterized.
the fiber span. The results obtained from the OTDR test indicated a Furthermore, the MNO RAN team reduced their testing time by 50%
missing fiber interconnection. By using the FTB-720Gv2 OTDR test, by using EXFO’s iLoop feature. Using iLoop and placing a loopback
the missing interconnection was identified at exactly 102 meters from fiber at the far end RRH site between the two fibers, the team was able
the BBU hotel site, as shown in the figure below. to test the two fibers (transmit and receive) with one single OTDR test.
Figure 12. First OTDR Test Result - Fiber span only 102 meters
After further investigation, the MNO RAN team was able to determine
that a fiber mislabeling was the root cause of the missing fiber
interconnection. Using EXFO’s FTB-720Gv2 with the VFL (Visual
Fault Locator) which is a highly visible laser light source, the team
was able to identify the correct fiber missing in the interconnection.
Figure 15. FTTA testing with the FTB-1 Pro platform and iOLM application
Original Measurement
FIBER 1 LOOP FIBER 2
Pos. –0.1580 0.0000 0.0562 0.0763 0.1325 0.2876 km
LAUNCH RECEIVE
A B
and allows the user to see instant changes in the fiber span. In this LAUNCH RECEIVE
situation, once the correct fiber interconnection was completed by
A B
Solution 3 - BBU Optical Interface Validation Once the SFP optical transceiver was inserted in the correct port,
the primary port, the CPRI validation test was performed successfully
During this field trial, the team wanted to validate the optical interfaces
on the 3G RRH at 1.2 Gbps. The 4G RRH CPRI validation test was
of the base stations. This meant validating that the optical interfaces
performed successfully without any issues (at 2.4 Gbps).
of the BBUs, and the SFPs in the BBUs, were operational at the
expected CPRI rate. By configuring EXFO’s CPRI Test application in 3G RRH CPRI Ports are
RRH emulation mode, the MNO RAN team was able to validate these located at the bottom
optical interfaces on the BBUs. of the RRH
For MNOs that want to deliver bandwidth and coverage today and
tomorrow with 5G on the horizon, the move to C-RAN is a necessary
step. However, as seen in this field trial, Fronthaul C-RAN networks
come with its share of challenges. It is imperative to note that the
issues observed during this field trial are commonly seen during optical
and Fronthaul network installations.
Without the right test and measurement tools, field technicians could
RRH spend hours or even days troubleshooting many of the common optical
fiber and RAN network installation issues. Throughout this field trial,
the MNO RAN team utilized all the functionalities of EXFO’s FTB-
720Gv2 solution. Having the right solution such as the automated
fiber inspection probe, iOLM, VFL, real-time OTDR and the CPRI
test application, greatly improved the efficiency when it came to
troubleshooting and validating the complete Fronthaul network.
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CASESTUDY060.1AN © 2016 EXFO Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in Canada 16/11