RAN-OVERVIEW

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 Cellular Network Basics
• Cellular network/telephony is a radio-based technology; radio waves
are electromagnetic waves that antennas propagate
• Most signals are in the 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 and 2100
MHz frequency bands

Cell phones operate in this frequency

range (note the logarithmic scale)
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Cellular Network Generations
• cellular Network/telephony in terms of
generations:
• 2G: Digital cellular telephony
• 3G: High-speed digital cellular telephony
(including video telephony)
• LTE (4G): IP-based “anytime, anywhere” voice,
data, and multimedia telephony at faster data
rates than 3G

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Evolution of Cellular Networks

1G 2G 2.5G 3G 4G
Multiple Access Schemes

3 orthogonal Schemes:
• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
 Global System For Mobile Communication (GSM)

• Time division multiple access (8 users per 200KHz)

• 900 MHz band and 1800MHz band

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 3G - UMTS
• Uses WCDMA
• Universal global roaming Multimedia (voice, data & video)
• Increased data rates
• 384 kbps while moving, 2 Mbps when stationary. (3G )
• HSPA system offer speed upto14.4/21.1 Mbps (3.5G)
• HSPA + offer data rates up to 42 Mbit/s in the downlink & 11
Mbit/s in the uplink (3.75G)
• Increased capacity (more spectrally efficient)

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3G Network Architecture

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 4G - LTE
• Long Term Evolution (LTE) has been designed to support only packet switched
services
• Voice traffic will be supported mainly as Voice over IP (VoIP)
• LTE has been set aggressive performance requirements that rely on physical
layer technologies, such as
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM),
Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems,
Smart Antennas to achieve these targets.
• Packet data rate (for 20Mhz spectrum)
• DL : 100Mbps
• UL : 50Mbps

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 Nokia - SRAN

AirScale System Module

• The AirScale System Module is the next generation System Module that follows
on from the Flexi-family System Module releases provides control and baseband
functions for the 5G RAN solutions.

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Nokia AirScale subracks accommodate the common and capacity plug-in
units and provide:
• Power distribution through the backplane
• Interconnections between the plug-in units through the backplane
• Cooling systems
• Heaters for cold start from -40°C (-40°F) in outdoor subracks.

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AirScale Common Plug-in Unit (ASIK)
• The ASIK is the common indoor plug in unit and there may be 1 or 2 per
AirScale System Module.

The functions of the ASIK are:

Layer 2 non-Real Time Processing
Transport Interfacing (Ethernet)
Local Operations and Maintenance
Synchronization
Power feed

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Functional Specification

The AirScale System Module has all the needed control and baseband functions
for the supported Radio Access Technologies (RATs). The basic functionalities
are:

 Baseband processing and decentralized control

 Transport control, integrated Ethernet ports and IPv4/v6 IPSec transport
 BTS clock, timing generation and distribution
 BTS OAM
 OBSAI, CPRI or eCPRI compatible interfaces to the Radio Units

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