5G Network Synchronization

September 2018

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Boonton CommAgility Microlab Noisecom

Danielle Pesta
Content Marketing Producer
North Coast Media

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Boonton CommAgility Microlab Noisecom

 Before We Begin
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at gpsworld.com/webinars.

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Luke Getto
Director of Product Management
Microlab

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Boonton CommAgility Microlab Noisecom

Jaime Jaramillo
Business Development Manager
Trimble

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Agenda
About Us

What is a Network Synchronization?

Technology Comparisons

GPS Synchronization

PTP Synchronization

Microlab Synchronization Solutions

 Microlab designs and manufactures high-performance RF components, integrated
systems, and network time synchronization solutions.

Our products are used in Commercial Wireless, Public Safety, and Military applications
around the world.

Mission - To provide our customers with products that deliver superior performance time after
time. At Microlab our commitment to performance, quality, exceptional reliability with timely
delivery is a key ingredient in establishing and maintaining successful customer relationships.
 a Wireless Telecom Group Company
RF & Microwave Passive Components
Couplers, Tappers, Combiners, Splitters
Filters, Terminations, Attenuators, Cables
Guaranteed Low PIM

Custom Integrated Solutions

Custom integrated passive components
Point-of-Interface (POI) signal combining
Guaranteed end to end performance

Advanced Solutions for Network Synchronization

5G Ready Digital GPS fiber repeater
Lossless GPS splitters
Patent Pending Digital SkyTiming™ Technology
Introduction to Network Synchronization
Types of Network Synchronization
Definitions
§ Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is the standard generic term for satellite
navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global
coverage. This term includes e.g. the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and other
regional systems
§ Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based radio-navigation system owned
by the United States government and operated by the United States Air Force
§ Precision Time Protocol (PTP), also referred to as IEEE 1588, is a protocol used to
synchronize clocks throughout a computer network. On a local area network, it
achieves clock accuracy in the sub-microsecond range, making it suitable for
measurement and control systems
§ Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) is an ITU-T standard for computer networking that
facilitates the transference of clock signals over the Ethernet physical layer. This signal
can then be made traceable to an external clock
§ Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the basis for civil time today. This 24-hour time
standard is kept using highly precise atomic clocks combined with the Earth's rotation
What is Network Synchronization in Communication Networks?
§ Enables service providers to
transport bits of information within
and across network boundaries
without losing any bits of
information.
§ All transmitted signals (analog and
digital) must be synchronized to a
common stable source.
§ Poor synchronization can result in
§ Missed call handovers
§ Capacity reductions
§ Network down time
Poor synchronization severely affects coverage and throughput
4G/5G Network Synchronization Requirements

Application Frequency Requirement (Network/Air*) Phase Requirement

LTE - FDD 16ppb / 50ppb ---
LTE - TDD 16ppb / 50ppb +/1.5uS

LTE - MBMS 16ppb / 50ppb +/-1uS

Tighter
LTE - MBSFN 16ppb / 50ppb +/500nS requirements
LTE - Advanced 16ppb / 50ppb +/500nS
OTDOA for e911 --- +/100nS
5G Not yet ratified +/-65ns
(MIMO & Tx Diversity at each
Carrier Frequency)

*Network = backhaul/fronthaul, Air = Antenna to UE (RF)

13
Clock Stratum
§ 0 – Atomic Clocks, Reference Clocks
Stratum
0 § 1 – system time synchronized to Stratum
0 clocks, sanity checks with other
Stratum 1 servers

§ 2 - synchronized to 1 or more Stratum 0

clocks, sanity checks to 2

§ 3 – synchronized to 1 or more Stratum 0

clocks, sanity checks to 3

§ 4 – 15 more levels,
§ 16 – “unsynchronized”
Technology Comparison
Parameter GPS PTP SyncE
Connection RF Ethernet Ethernet
Frequency Synch Yes Yes No
Phase Synch Yes Yes (Note 1) Yes (Note 1)
UTC Time Sync Yes Yes No
Frequency Accuracy .00116ppb .00116ppb (Note 4) .00116ppb (Note 2)

Time/Phase Accuracy <15ns <15ns No

Holdover No Yes Yes

Distance to GPS source 100m (Note 2) 100m (Note 3) 100m (Note 3)
Location (X,Y,Z) Yes No No

Note 1: PTP uses Ethernet Layer 3 or 4, can be impacted by network traffic, SyncE uses the physical layer
Note 2: Without a repeater, dependent on antenna gain and RF link budget
Note 3: Without compliant switches, limited to Ethernet distance limits
Note 4: Using a Trimble GM200

GPS can provide all synch requirements except holdover

GPS/GNSS Synchronization
GPS Time
§ GPS satellites include atomic clocks
§ GPS satellite clocks are
synchronized to UTC at the US
National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST)

§ GNSS Constellations
§ GPS
§ GLONASS
§ BeiDou
§ Galileo
Translation of Time from GPS
§ Satellites transmit
signals that are
received by the
antenna and receiver

GPS Antenna § GPS Disciplined

§ GPS Receiver aligns Oscillators (GPSDO)
(disciplines) an
oscillator to GPS § Typically embedded
time GPS Receiver § Base Station
§ PTP Grandmasters
GPS Disciplined Synch output
Oscillator § User Equipment
GPS Signal Concerns
§ Interference § Jamming § Spoofing
GPS Interference solutions available from Microlab/Trimble
1. External over the air “out of band” RF
signals
• This can come from RF sources close to the GNSS
receiver that are either not suppressed correctly or
are faulty
• Powerful RF sources like radar or satellite
transmitters are typical systems that can create out
of band jammers
• Microlab/Trimble antennas use high quality filters
and other RF components to combat any potential
out of band jamming
• Microlab & Trimble take great care in component
layout and PCB trace design to avoid susceptibility
to external RF signals
2. External over the air “in band” RF signals
• Transmitting on the same frequency as the GNSS
receivers is illegal in most countries and can lead to
heavy penalties
• There are limits to what can be done in hardware to
combat this
- Keep in mind that the GPS receiver is trying
to acquire and track signals of the order of -
130dBm from a satellite 22Km up in the sky
- The module needs to be extremely sensitive
• Microlab/Trimble filters use certain software
techniques which can discriminate between an in
band jammer and a satellite transmission.
Anti-Jamming/spoofing Technology
§ The receiver inside of Microlab/Trimble products has this built-in Anti-Jamming & spoofing feature
§ This technology is called TRAIM (Time-Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring) :
§ TRAIM is used in Over Determined (OD) mode using more stringent thresholds than when the features is disabled
§ TRAIM discards inconsistent information that would degrade the combined OD solution
§ TRAIM requires at least 3 satellites
§ Employs multiple satellite integrity checks
§ Doppler measurements are examined for consistency with each other
§ Satellites with Dopplers that are far away from the median Doppler measurement are not used in the fix

§ Pseudo range measurements are examined for consistency with each other
§ Satellites with pseudo range measurements that are far away from the median
pseudo range measurement are not used in the fix
§ Filter for Satellite Vehicle (SV) noise and pseudo range offsets
§ Trimble measures from median pseudo range value instead of last value
§ If the receiver drops all the satellites (SV count is 0), Trimble's timing receivers
require >= 3 satellites for reacquisition to ensure timing accuracy
§ Trimble GNSS receivers can continue to track down to two SVs

§ Without Anti Jamming:

§ If receiver drops all the satellites (SV count is 0), Trimble needs >= 2 satellites for reacquisition (only 1 other reference is less reliable)
§ If receiver drops to one SV, we will continue tracking (no accuracy check with only 1 SV reference)
PTP Network Synchronization
PTP Grandmaster – Use Case
CORE AGG ACCESS

PE RAN1
Sw Access
Satellite

Microwave High PDV / 3rd Party

Multiple small cells
on every floor in building
PON
OLT ONU

DSL modem
DSLAM
Macro eNB
Cable
CMTS modem

TDM Networks Sw Access

Trimble GM200
Small Cells
Macros on multiple high rises with PTP

PTP for timing can be distributed to

other buildings leveraging GM clock
deployment

GPS Antenna

Ethernet
Notes on PTP reference clock
CORE AGG ACCESS
§ PTP Grandmaster
(GM)and Boundary
Clocks (BC) PE RAN1
require a Sw Access
Satellite
GPS/GNSS input
Microwave High PDV / 3rd Party
§ Requires a coaxial Multiple small cells
on every floor in building
cable to a GPS OLT
PON
ONU
antenna with a sky DSL
view DSLAM modem
Macro eNB
Cable
§ Coaxial cable CMTS modem

length limits TDM Networks Sw Access

deployment
locations
Small Cells
Digital GPS Fiber Repeater
Digital GPS Repeater Implementation
§ GPS fiber repeater required when GPS antenna > GPSR400
100m from end location outdoor remote

§ GPS400 co-located with GPS antennas (within

100m)

§ GPSR116 connected via fiber

(up to 20km away)

§ System reports phase delay from RF in to RF out

GPSR116 indoor head end

Outputs to BBU Ethernet ports

NOC
Redundant fiber
Debug
CRAN Hub (BBU hotel) deployment with many co-located BBU
§ Can support GPSR400
over 100 GPS outdoor unit
RF outputs
GPSS216 splitter
§ Reduced TCO
§ Smallest
Footprint
§ Redundant at
multiple levels
for high reliability Additional Outputs to
BBU/eNB
GPSR116 indoor head end

Outputs to BBU/eNB Ethernet ports

NOC
Redundant fiber
Debug
Benefits of the Microlab Digital GPS Repeater
§ GPS Everywhere!
§ Range of products to support any distance requirement, 1m – 15km
§ Support any number of outputs from 2 – 200+
§ Can support PTP or SyncE products without sky view
§ Simple to use
§ Plug and play, No complex setup required!
§ GPS RF in, GPS RF out
§ 2 LED’s (GPS and Fiber), when they are green you are good!
§ 5G ready!
§ Proven to provide 25ns (typical) accuracy, <100ns guaranteed
Benefits of the Microlab Digital GPS Repeater
§ Scalability at low cost and size
§ GPS Repeater has 16 outputs in 1RU
§ 16 additional outputs per addition 1RU with GPS Splitters
§ Remote monitoring, control, and alarms via HTTP and SNMP
§ Redundancy features
§ Antenna Redundancy (4 port unit) – If the system detects an antenna problem
or GPS signal degradation, it automatically switches the stream to another
antenna with a good reading
§ Fiber redundancy – The CPRI is streamed down the primary fiber. If the fiber
connection fails, it automatically switches over to the backup fiber connection.
§ Power Supply Redundancy – There are 2 DC/DC converters inside the unit. If
one fails, the other takes over automatically.
Success Stories
§ Crown Plaza, NYC

§ Baltimore, MD C-RAN Hub

§ World Trade Center, Tower 4, NYC

§ Phoenix, AZ Children’s Hospital

§ San Diego Convention Center, CA

Baltimore C-RAN Hub Case Study

GPS Antenna
GPS Antenna

CRAN
Hub

Fiber link

Rooftop
V-Config: For deployments without roof access
§ Remote unit is placed at any
feasible location with roof
access between two CRAN
hubs.
GPS Antenna(s)
GPSR400

§ Head End units are located in

CRAN hubs to distribute GPS
RF signals to multiple BBUs.
§ Each receive a fiber from the
remote unit.
§ There is no fiber redundancy
in this configuration
GPSR116
Point to Multi-Point to support distributed radios
GPS Satellite

§ 1 Remote unit (GPSR400) is

GPSR400 placed on the roof.
§ The fiber is routed to the
GPS Digital Hub
Floor Plan
(GPSH116).
§ Multiple Head End units
(GPSR116) are connected
Redundancy
to the hub.
§ The GPS hub can be
GPSH116 deployed to provide fiber
connections to 15 hubs
GPSR116
without fiber redundancy or
7 hubs with fiber
redundancy.
Combined Use Cases
GPSR + PTP
Why is a combined system desirable?
§ 5G Phase synchronization
§ For PTP to provide accurate phase
synch, the delay from the GPS
antenna must be known
§ GPSR provides delay measurement
§ Multi-level Redundancy
§ The digital GPS repeater can provide
GPS signals as primary synch
reference, with PTP GM or BC as a
backup for holdover
Redundant
Antennas
Coax

GPSR400
GPSR400
Redundant
Time Fiber
Delay

GPSR116
GPSR116
Coax

GM or
GM or BC BBU
BBU
BBU
BC BBU
Phase offset Ethernet
 Delay Measurement Test Setup
= Fiber Delay = tdevice
= Coax
= Ethernet Cable compensation field =
trepeater tcable-in + tcable-out
GPS antenna

GPSR400 GPSR116
tcable-out GM200 - B
tcable-in
Splitter

Same length cable 1PPS 1PPS

GM200 - A
Same length cable
Viavi

Cable compensation field = tcable-in Time(A) – Time(B) = trepeater

Combined Specifications

Parameter GPS PTP GM Digital GPS Repeater + PTP GM

Connection RF Ethernet RF + Ethernet
Frequency Synch Yes Yes Yes
Phase Synch Yes Yes Yes
UTC Time Sync Yes Yes Yes
Frequency Accuracy .00116ppb .00116ppb .00116ppb

Time/Phase Accuracy <15ns <15ns <25ns

Holdover No Yes Yes (via GM)
Distance to GPS source 100m 100m Up to 20km (Note 1)
Location (X,Y,Z) Yes No Yes

Note 1: Depends on SFP+ module

Macro base station solution for difficult antenna deployment location

Redundant GPS Antennas • GPS Repeater provides

Coax for GPS GPS RF signal in
Outdoor remote
challenging location
• Grandmaster (GM) clock
provides timing
Ethernet
PTP w/ extended holdover redundancy and holdover
GPS RF
PTP GM
• Redundant fibers provide
backup link
Coax
• Time delay provided by
Indoor
Redundant fibers
Up to 20 km
Head End GPSR for phase offset in
PTP GM
High rise deployment, PTP scenario small cells
Small cells

Ethernet
§ Digital Repeater provides
GPS signals for PTP GM
§ No need for GPS signal in
customer offices since
timing comes from the
GM clock over Ethernet.
SYNCH PRODUCTS
Microlab Digital GPS Repeater
§ The ONLY fully digital GPS fiber
repeating solution available
§ Uses patent-pending Digital SkyTiming
Technology™ for industry leading
performance
§ Smallest footprint solution
§ Future proof (5G ready)
§ Only fiber GPS repeater that measures
delay for phase compensation
Microlab Digital GPS Repeater Competitive Matrix
Parameter Microlab Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor 3
Antenna Inputs Min 1, Max 4 Min 4 Min 1, Max 2* Max 1

RF Outputs – standard 16 4 2 1

Head End Size (16 output) 1RU 2RU 5RU rail mount modules

External splitter required for 16 outputs? No Yes Yes Yes

Signal Transport Digital CPRI Analog RF over Fiber (RFoF) Analog RFoF Analog RFoF

Noise Figure 4dB typ 12dB typ 18dB typ 14dB typ
5dB max

Local Setup, Control, and Diagnostics Web none none none

Remote Monitoring/Alarm Interface Dry contact SNMP Dry contact none

SNMP
Web
LED

NMS Certifications C-Squared Site Portal none none none

Asentria Site Boss
Phase delay measurement accuracy 25ns typ N/A N/A N/A
< 100ns max
GPS Signal measurement YES! NO NO NO

Remote troubleshooting YES! NO NO NO

GPS RF Splitters
§ Passive Splitters
§ DC Pass to antenna
§ Other paths DC terminated

§ Active Splitters
§ Components
§ Amplified
§ DC pass to antenna
§ Rack Mount
§ Redundant inputs
§ GPS signal monitoring
Small Cell Implementation

Antennas (LTE & GPS)

SCC Series (passive components)

GPS Splitter(s)
Remote radios
ThunderBolt™ PTP Grandmaster

§ Grandmaster Clock designed for small cell

projects
§ Features:
§ Multi-Constellation (GPS L1, GLONASS,
BeiDou & Galileo, QZSS)
§ Accuracy of <15 ns to UTC
§ Outputs: PTP, SyncE, NTP, PPS, 10 Mhz
§ Supports -40 to +85 C temp range
§ PTP input for backup to GNSS § Multiple installation options, including
§ Supports 16 PTP telecom profile clients redundancy in 1RU
@ 128 tps § SNMP management
§ Anti-Spoofing § Excellent holdover to meet LTE
requirements
Questions?

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 Contact Us

Luke Getto: lgetto@wtcom.com

Jaime Jaramillo: jaime_jaramillo@trimble.com
Danielle Pesta: dpesta@northcoastmedia.net

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Boonton CommAgility Microlab Noisecom