Introduction

Traditional Base Station architectures have been centred around Base Band Units and the Remote
Radio Heads. The Base Band Units had its major functional roles of network interfacing and base
band signal processing whereas the Radio head managed the high-speed data conversion, power
amplification, low noise amplification and other filtering and mixing required for cellular
transmission and reception. 5G network topologies are evolving. There are significant changes in the
connectivity between the functions of base band processing and radio as well as radio technology
itself. While the functionality splits and improved radio access technologies are being standardised,
the following block diagram depicts a generic overview of the 5G cellular base station and associated
networks.

5G Architectures

The synchronisation requirements in 5G networks are also evolving. The synchronisation

architectures have been evolving as well. One architectural difference between the traditional base
stations and the new generation have been the decoupling of the Radio Heads from the Base Band
Unit and evolution of the front-haul networks. The physical layer connectivity based on CPRI/OBSAI
of BBU and RRU is giving way to flexible Ethernet or eCPRI based connectivity. Such connectivity not
only gives the flexibility in interconnecting the Base Band and Radio Units, but also the higher data
transfer speeds demanded by the 5G architectures.

Packet Synchronisation in Radio Heads

There are strict timing requirements between the air interfaces of the base stations as well as the
Base Band Units and the Radio Heads of the base stations to support advanced applications features
supported by 5G. The new BBU/RRU connectivity necessitates packet-based synchronisation
techniques between the BBU and the RRU. With the inherent low packet rate and the possible
packet delay variation requires the clock recovering servo systems to have low bandwidth filtering
and support from a compensated oscillator.

Rakons 5G radio head solutions include high stability TCXOs with industry leading performances.
The 50ppb temperature stability TCXO is first of its kind with industry standard footprint options
with existing TCXOs (100-250ppb) and low power. The harsh environmental performances
demanded by the outdoor radios include higher temperature ranges of operation (up to 105 degC)
and low g-sensitivity. Rakon TCXOs are also equipped with low temperature sensitivity (10ppb/degC)
to address superior servo performances at quick temperature changes. For applications that require
still higher temperature sensitivity performances, (~1ppb/degC) Rakons low profile OCXOs at 9mm x
7mm footprint are optimised for power, profile and price.
GHz VCXOs for Higher Spectral Frequencies

5G spectral frequencies range from <1GHz to ~100GHz. Depending on the geographic location of the
Mobile Network Operator, common initial trials are focussing frequencies below 6GHz. Such
frequencies are demanding low phase noise reference clocks to support higher data rates based on
higher QAM rates. The contribution to Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) from the phase noise of the
reference clocks are to be minimised to support higher QAM rates. The traditional Voltage-
Controlled XOs used to filter close in phase noise in RF synthesizers are generate high phase noise
when multiplied to higher orders.

Rakons GHz VCXOs (1GHz 2.5GHz) offer very low phase noise (~30fs in 12k-20M range) as a
reference clocks to generate high frequency clocks to drive the high-speed data converters. They
offer superior close in phase noise and temperature stability performances compared to other
technologies. With options for selectable output types like sine, differential sine or LVPECL, the
device has flexible design options.

Base Station Synchronisation

The CU/DU synchronisation replaces the traditional BBU synchronisation options. With the
development of packet-based technologies, there are multiple synchronisation options like GNSS,
IEEE 1588, SyncE and other external references. Reference Oscillators to support the various servo
technologies and medium holdover (1-8 hours) capabilities.

The requirements of 5G front-haul transport are still being defined. There are proposals to support
+/-130ns time error for the entire front-haul from the Time Server to the Base Station with up to 20
transport element nodes in between. Assuming a 20ns error at the GNS based Time Server and 10ns
error at the Base Station, the individual node error is suggested to be 5ns. To support such low time
error, along with other system design requirements, a stable reference clock is required.

Rakon offers OCXOs with various technologies (Discrete, ASIC based and Hybrid) and stabilities at
this range of oscillators. Temperature stabilities of 50-10ppb and ageing performances of 0.2-
1ppb/day are supported.
Long Holdover OCXOs for Telecom Grand Master Clocks

Traditionally the core of the network has high-end long holdover Grand Master clocks supported by
atomic reference clocks. With the flattening synchronisation hierarchy, the Grand Master clocks are
moving towards the access of the network. There are edge,mini and integrated grand masters
offering GNSS connectivity backed up by PTP/SyncE and limited holdover capabilities.

Rakons high-end SMART OCXOs and standalone 1-PPS modules offer long holdover (12 hours to 48
hours for 1.5uS) to support such Grand Master designs. The 1PPS input into the solution is used to
compensate for ageing thus guaranteeing phase error on defined temperature excursions, when
used with an industry standard GNSS module.

1 pps IN
(GPS
module)
Stand alone Module SMART OCXO Filtering

Ageing learning
5V Power sequence
Supply
1 pps OUT
Management
pps Synth.

Frequency Double Oven

DAC
control OCXO 10 MHz OUT
input
IC
Interface Thermal
bus
Management compensation

Rakon offers entire range of solutions for the synchronisation requirements of 5G including XOs, GHz
VCXOs, HS-TCXOs and wide category of OCXOs.