
High capacity E-Band system exceeds expectations
Intracom Telecom has successfully completed an extended field test of its high capacity E-Band radio system, UltraLink™-GX80, in China Mobile’s network, China’s largest mobile operator. The field test took place during the 2020 China Mobile Emergency Skills Competition Finals, that was held in Changsha, Hunan province, China.
The field test was driven by China Mobile’s strategic requirement to achieve significant savings on site related works and the last mile Radio Access Network (RAN), replacing the fibre cable connection between the analogue and the digital part of a 4G / 5G base station wirelessly, while ensuring the same standards of services.
More specifically, the field test implemented a fronthaul application in CPRI option 7 where the digital part of the 4G base station BBU (Baseband Broadband Unit) was connected and synchronised with the RRU (Remote Radio Unit) via the UltraLink™-GX80 platform. The setup delivered 10 Gbps capacity with the maximum modulation scheme of 512-QAM at 1500 MHz. Two CPRI configurations have been tested: Star (one BBU – one RRU) and Cascade (one BBU – two RRUs).
In this event Intracom Telecom demonstrated the interoperability, the capacity and the stability of the UltraLink™–GX80 platform to serve multiple 4G / 5G cellular networks. As, in both configurations, all the performed tests were completed successfully, proving that UltraLink™-GX80 fully supports all the required functionalities for C-RAN applications.
Mr. Li Yuejun, the Chief Manager of Hunan’s Mobile Emergency Center, and organizer of the China Mobile 2020 emergency communication competition, noted, “Utilizing E-Band radios to realize the transmission from BBU to RRU is an additional tool for 4G / 5G fronthaul and expands the application of mmWave technology.”
Mr. Panos Dallas, Global Sales Coordinator at Intracom Telecom, said: “UltraLink™-GX80, is a next-generation ultra-high capacity FDD radio, which has been developed to deliver fiber-like services cost efficiently.”
UltraLink™–GX80 is a compact all-outdoor Ethernet radio operating in the entire E-Band (71-76 and 81-86 GHz), ideally suited for use in 4G/4G+/5G RAN backhaul and C-RAN fronthaul applications requiring ultra-high capacity and extended range. It achieves throughputs of up to 10 Gbit/s full duplex, while offering software selectable protocol support for operating in Ethernet bridge or CPRI transport mode. As an Ethernet bridge, the radio unit offers a complete set of networking and packet synchronization features through 1 x Gigabit Ethernet plus 2 x 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet data interfaces, enabling deployment in complex network topologies without the need of external switches. When operating in CPRI transport mode, three of the unit’s interfaces can be used concurrently for CPRI transport, up to Option 7. It also supports multiple RRU cascading.
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