www.cbnl.

com

Next generation thinking

VST-ENG-RC
Gachanja Njoroge
Index Day 1

Section 1 - Introduction and Welcome

Section 2 - Customer Support

Section 3 - VectaStar Hardware and Training Networks

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 www.cbnl.com

Introduction and Welcome

VST-ENG-RC
Your trainer for the week
Your trainer for this week is

Gachanja Njoroge
Customer Support Engineer

Background in Telecoms and data networks

Varied background across wide range of sectors, 2G, 3G

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Fire procedure
1. Do not assume it is just a drill or alarm system test (you will have been informed in advance if it is a system test)

2. Dont panic

3. Go to the nearest fire exit and leave the building. Do not run. Tell any visitors to follow you

4. Dont stop to collect personal belongings

5. If it is safe to do so, shut any open windows or doors

6. Use the stairs only not the lifts

7. Do not attempt to fight the fire

8. Do not open any doors which feel hot to the touch (the fire may be on the other side)

9. Move to and wait at the designated assembly point. For Byron House, this is the car park at the Reception end of
the building. For Sawston, this is the car park to the rear of Unit 9

10. Keep well away from the windows if there is an explosion this may blow broken glass outwards

11. Remain at the assembly point until you are told by a Fire Marshal that you can leave it. Do not leave the assembly
point before this time.

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VectaStar Training: Housekeeping UK
Facilities
In reception

Smoking area
Outside, at rear of building. Please use ash trays provided

Fire alarm
Exit calmly and safely, via fire exits at each end of the building,
report to assemble point in car park

Timing of sessions
Typically 9.00 17:30, but can adjust to suit your requirements
Tea breaks morning and afternoon
i. Stop me if you want a break
Prayer time Please tell me what arrangements you need
Lunch around 13:00 to fit in with practical work, earlier on Friday

Phones and E-Mail

Access to internet is available to read mail in the small meeting room
i. DHCP address etc, limited firewall. Use your own mail server
Please turn your phones and e-mail off during sessions.

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VST-ENG- RC : Topics
VST-ENG-RC
Prerequisites
Knowledge of IP, Linux/Unix
Understanding of Telecoms networks
Overview
Provides an overview and introduction to VectaStar ZFH, ZFT and the VNMS. At the end of the course the student will be able to implement
given network designs using VectaStar Gigabit components, locate and resolve common faults and work with the CBNL support team to
identify more complex issues.
Course content
Introduction to CBNL and Customer Support
Basic Linux Concepts
VSG overview
i. Key Features
ii. APs, RTs and Redundancy
iii. Services and QoS overview
iv. RF Planning overview
The upgrade process
Introduction to Radio and VectaStar-specfifc Radio aspects
Installing and configuring the Outdoor Units - AP and RT
Creating Services
i. vbridge services
VectaStar QoS
Introduction toithe VNMS server
Basic fault-finding
i. Reviewing alarms
ii. Generating information for support calls
RMA process
Backup and recovery of configuration information

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VectaStar Training: agenda VST-ENG-VSG

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VectaStar Training: Assessment
Assessment is divided into two parts

Continuous Assessment
The 5 day course is continually assessed by your trainer
Ongoing question and answer sessions
Practical and theory examination
Friday Morning,
Practical test of what you will learn during the week
Theory, based on the sessions during the week

Dont worry, We want you to pass !

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VectaStar Training: Introduction
That was me

Who are you

Where are you from ?
What one thing do you most want to learn this week?

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 www.cbnl.com

Customer Support

VST-ENG-RC
Customer Support

Cambridge Broadband Networks Customer Services offers high-quality

comprehensive support services for Cambridge Broadband Networks radio
transmission equipment

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Customer Support
Technical Support

Field installation, Trials, initial deployments

Help Desk (email, telephone support and second line enquiries)
Direct access to entire development team.
Repairs: RMAs Returns in conjunction with Manufacturing

Training of Customers in

Cambridge
Johannesburg
Nigeria (mid 2011)
Kenya (early 2012)

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Customer Support: First point of contact
Assistance to customers from Trial to Deployment and beyond
Help Desk (24/7 for platinum customers)
Email
Onsite

First point of contact for Customers

Identifying bugs that have escaped the system
Working with Customers to resolve technical issues
Managing Software Upgrades with Customers
Trials of all shapes and sizes

Working with Local partners and VARs

Provide Training

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Customer Support: First point of contact

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Training staff

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Online Customer Support
The Support Website

Web site is designed specifically for

customer support

The secure area contains

Software
Library
FAQ
Download area

This area needs a registered User ID

To get or update your password, contact the

support team

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Worldwide Support Contacts:
Global website: http://www.cbnl.com/support

UK Head Office South Africa

email: support@cbnl.com email: support@cbnl.com
tel: +44 (0)1223 703030 tel: +27 (0)11 673 0306
fax:+44 (0)1223 703001 fax:+27 (0)11 673 0302

Byron House Constantia View Office Estate Block 04

Cambridge Business Park 2 Hogsback Road
Cowley Road Quellerina Ext. 4
Cambridge Roodepoort
CB4 0WZ Gauteng
England South Africa

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Who we support

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Regional Support
Regional Centres

Johannesburg (South Africa)

Office opened in early 2007 to provide a regional centre for South Africa
Local training facility

Lagos (Nigeria)
Centre of Excellence opened mid-2011 to provide a regional centre for West Africa

Kenya
Office opened early-2012 to provide a regional centre for East Africa
Local training facility

Potential to provide 24/7 Support

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Worldwide Support locations

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Training
Standardised Certified Training Programmes started in 2005
People certified not companies (transferable skill)
Train both VARs and Customers
Mostly carried out in UK and SA by Training and Support Staff
Full range of courses
Training Calendars published on Corporate website
Courses
VST-INST-RC at customer premises
VST-INST-APC at customer premises
VST-ENG-RC in all training centres
VST-ENG-APC in all training centres
VST-ENG-ZFS in all training centres
VST-SPEC currently in the UK and SA only
VST-NMS-ADM in all training centres
VST-NMS-OP in all training centres
VST-LIN currently in the UK only

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VectaStar around the world

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Mumbai 2005: 900mm of Rain in 24 hours (3ft!)

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Outdoor Cabinet in The Caribbean

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February in the Arctic Circle!

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Site in Latvia

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Site in Poland
More complicated !!!!

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India: Mumbai Roof top

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Access in China

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Late Nights in Malaysia
Even Engineering cant keep up !

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Its not all bad.....................

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 Linux Conventions
APs and RTs running embedded Linux -require basic understanding

Symbol Meaning
. The literal translation of this is here. It is the current working directory.

The parent of here.

.. cd .. will move you to the parent of your current working directory

Standard Output This is the output device the command you have run will normally output to. Typically
stdout this is the screen or shell window

You use this to redirect the output of the command to, typically, a file. This redirect will replace an
> existing file. An example (which uses the grep command to find a pattern of characters) would be;
grep pattern file > newfile.txt

You use this to redirect the output of the command to, typically, a file. This redirect will append text to
>> an existing file (rather than replacing the file). An example would be;
grep pattern file >> oldfile.txt

This allows you to pipe the stdout of a command and use it as the input to another command. An
| example would be
grep pattern file | grep pattern2

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Linux Theory and some basic commands
Familiarity with some Linux commands and theory will make VectaStar easier to
understand

Standard commands like, ls, pwd, cp, scp, ssh etc are used

Help can be obtained by typing <command> --help

Standard concepts like the file system, file processing and theories are used

Linux knowledge is NOT necessary to design and use a VectaStar network

Your handout book contains more commands and concepts, the important commands
are shown in next slide

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 Linux Theory and some basic commands

Command What does it do

ls lists the contents of the current directory

pwd shows the path of the current directory

cd <operand> changes directory to that specified.

cp <path1/file1> <path2/file2> copies a file to a different directory path (and optionally gives it a new name).

mv <path1/file1> <path2/file2> moves a file to a different directory path (and optionally gives it a new name).

rm <path/file> removes a specified file

mkdir <path/name> makes a directory

rmdir <path/name> removes a directory

ssh <user@machine> starts a secure shell on a remote host

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 Linux Theory and some basic commands

Command What does it do

scp <user@machine:/path/file1>
secure copy allows you to copy files between machines.
<user@machine:/path/file2>

more </path/file> lists the contents of a file

less </path/file> a more complex text viewer

vi </path/file> complex text editor

xedit </path/file> simple GUI-based text editor

grep <pattern> </path/file> a useful pattern-matching tool

tar tape archive utility; try man tar on your VNMS for more details

<tab> Using the tab key, completes shell command

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Users and permission levels

Read VS
Set Users Change O S Set VS Parameters;
Parameters;
parameters;
VectaStar creating / deleting
view alarms,
Permissions IP addresses etc. services
vsstatus etc.

root

Operator (CBNL)

Monitor (Software)

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Accessing Linux from Windows poor method
In this simple network, the telnet protocol may be used. This is an insecure protocol,
which is open to hacking and abuse

The main reason for this lack of security is telnet is not encrypted, passes server, log in
and password details in clear text which would allow anyone monitoring the network
to see the username and password

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Accessing Linux from Windows a better way
A better method is to use the ssh protocol, which enhances security by building an
encrypted tunnel between the two machines

This allows the usernames and passwords to be passed without using clear text. The
encryption used varies, but is typically 128 bit strong, which requires in the order of
10,000 machine hours to break

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PuTTY - Introduction
In order to communicate between Windows and Linux machines it is
necessary to use PuTTY, an X server and WINSCP
This input allows you to configure the
username and host ID

For ssh, TCP port 22 is normally used, it

may be changed however.

Here we identify the connection type,

ssh is the recommended method.

When you want to save a session, name

it here, then click Save

This box lists all of your saved sessions

to make them easy to find.

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PuTTY - Introduction
As you use PuTTY more, youll find there are more options, including the Default Settings
The main areas you will probably find useful are -
Ensure you use a sensible entry in the Connection / Data menu under Auto-login
username.
Under SSH / X11 you can ensure the X11 forwarding is enabled
Under SSH / Auth you can configure sensible policies on the use of public and private
key pairs
If you find the current default colours are difficult to use, you can modify them under
Window / Colours

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X servers and WINSCP - An introduction
X server, is the name of the process we run on windows machine in order to display
the GUI from remote utilities such as the VectaStar EMS Tools
Usually displays small icon in the Task Bar or System Tray
WINSCP is used to copy files from a windows machine to a Linux machine.
It has an interface much like windows explorer and is a drag and drop GUI

Local Linux
system system

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 www.cbnl.com

VectaStar Hardware and Training Networks

VST-ENG-RC
Training Room networks
VSG Remote Terminals VSG Access Points

Gigabit Power Injectors

Radio Controller

.192
3Com switch
Test laptop Test laptop VNMS Server

Management

.160
Cisco switch
Test Server

.168
Internet

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Indoor equipment rack, in detail

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Outdoor equipment rack, in detail
VSG Access Points

2-core power to -48v PSU

Fibre to Radio Controller
(Copper to switch for ZFS)

2:1 RF Combiner

4:1 RF Combiner

VSG RTs

GPIs

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Configtool, more information
Configtool is a VectaStar specific utility used to configure some initial low level
parameters
The aspects of configtool, which you will be working on this week are highlighted
below

access Remote access configuration

eth0 Primary interface configuration
syslog Syslog configuration
snmp Network Management configuration
vectastar VectaStar configuration
write Write modified configuration
quit Quit

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Configtool, more information
Configtool is a VectaStar specific utility used to configure some initial low level
parameters
The aspects of configtool, which you will be working on this week are highlighted
below

access Remote access configuration

eth0 Primary interface configuration
syslog Syslog configuration
snmp Network Management configuration
vectastar VectaStar configuration
write Write modified configuration
quit Quit

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configtool commands
Command Action

showall When run within a sub-menu, it shows the value of the configurable variables

Combined with the name of a variable, allows you to change the value of a variable
set
For example ipaddress set 192.168.0.64

Combined with the name of a variable, allows you to add another value to the variable.
add
For example, host add 192.168.192.34

Combined with the name of a variable, allows you to remove a value from a variable
del
For example, host del 192.168.192.34

up Allows you move "up" to the main menu from a sub-menu

Writes your changes to disk (compact flash) and enables the changes
write
Making changes in configtool, then writing them, can cause service outages

In the main menu, this shows the menu options

- in a sub-menu this shows the variables available for configuration
- in a sub-menu, in the form help <variable> it will give the options available,
? or help vs:main:host> help hostname (Display and modify host name)
hostname - display current value
hostname set - set host name interactively
hostname set <name> - set host name to given value

Quit Exits configtool; it will prompt you if you have un-written changes

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 www.cbnl.com

VectaStar Gigabit Overview

VST-ENG-RC
VectaStar Gigabit Overview
Highly flexible carrier-class Point-to-Multipoint transmission platform
Competitive solution for high capacity business access and backhaul
Operating in 10.5 GHz, 26 GHz, 28GHz bands with a throughput > 150 Mb/s

Key features -
Over 150Mb/s Ethernet throughput (300 Mb/s full duplex) per sector in a 28MHz
channel
Class-leading spectral efficiency of 6.2bits/second/Hz (Gross)
7-state Hitless Adaptive Modulation (ACM) from QPSK up to 256QAM with Trellis Code
Modulation (TCM)
Full Quality of Service (QoS) support
Sub-millisecond latency for delay-sensitive applications
Built-in Statistical Multiplexing and Traffic Aggregation
Flexible synchronisation schemes
Fully redundant Hub (1+1 and 2+0 )
Fully symmetric radio links (power, modulation & bandwidth)

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System Overview
Specifically designed for backhaul of high capacity services

Cost-effective for Cellular, WiMax and LTE backhaul

VSG deployments include

Single sector outdoor only (ZFS)

Fully redundant multi-sector hubs (includes Radio Controller)

Traffic from Network edge (nodeB, WiMAX BS etc) backhauled by RT to sector

AP

Bandwidth in sector is statistically multiplexed for multiple RTs according to

defined QoS parameters

For multi-sector hub installations, traffic is aggregated in Radio Controller

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VSG Terminology
Zero Footprint Sector (ZFS) -VSG AP installed standalone
Supports up to 8 Remote Terminals

Hub - Multiple VSG Aps aggregated at a single location

For a hub with 3rd party switch, Aps still operate as separate ZFS entities
When used with a Radio Controller, RC becomes a single entity

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Zero footprint sector
Primary component of VSG hub is the sector radio outdoor unit Access Point
Single externally mounted sector antenna
Combined all-outdoor radio, modem and network interface unit

Outdoor Unit (ODU) mates directly with antenna using a slip-fit waveguide

AP designed for Carrier Ethernet and overlay backhaul networks

Backhaul traffic from up to 8 RTs, terminating traffic on single GbE interface

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Fully scalable hub
Larger networks (multiple sectors/more RTs per sector) require Radio Controller

Radio Controller can connect up to 8 sectors (APs)

RC enables -
More RTs per sector
Traffic aggregation
Services terminated on a single interface to customer Core Network

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VSG Access Points
Standalone sector radio comprising -
Antenna, radio, modem, MAC, baseband board, interfaces for power and data

Standalone AP supports up to 8 RTS, with an RC supports up to 30 RTs

Available capacities -
10.5 GHz over 75 Mb/s Ethernet (using a 14 MHz channel)
26 /28 GHz over 150 Mb/s Ethernet (using 28 MHz channel)

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VSG Access Points
Slip-fit coupler allows use with vertically- or horizontally-polarised antenna
Different coupler available for parabolic antennas

Allows APs to be used for Point-to-Point connections

BNC connector provides voltage output for Point-to-Point alignment

Two types of installation -

Single-mode fibre for data with separate 2-core cable for power
Single CAT-5 cable carrying both data and power (aka POE+)

Cat-5E installations use a Power Injector (e.g. GPI) to couple power and data

Single-mode fibre can provide 10km extended-reach capability

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VSG Radio Terminals
VSG RT comprises -
Outdoor Unit (ODU) -radio, modem, MAC Baseband board, interfaces for data and
power
Associated indoor equipment
High gain radio link to AP at the hub
Available capacities -
10.5 GHz up to 75 Mb/s for any packet size
26 /28 GHz up to150 Mb/s for any packet size

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VSG Radio Terminals
Antennae are linearly polarised

Polarisation can be changed by rotating slip-fit coupler

Only Point-to-Point solution supplying outdoor only RT variant

All intelligence in ODU
GbE connection for local interface

Power and data over a single CAT-5E cable

Cat-5E installations use a Power Injector (e.g. GPI) to couple power and data

BNC connector provides voltage output for Point-to-Point alignment

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Power Injectors
All VSG RTs installed with single cable providing power and data

VSG APs also support power and data over a single cable

Power Injector required to combine power and data -

sites with 110/220v AC supply use IDU-PI-60W

sites with -48v DC supply use GPI

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Gigabit Power Injector
Small form factor unit designed to use in standard 19-inch rack

Also designed to be wall-mounted using supplied bracket

Includes LED indicators for ODU status and -48V DC power

Allows cable installation of up to 100m from the 3rd party equipment

Cable should be Foil Twisted Pair (FTP) CAT-5E with 24 SWG solid copper core

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IDU-PI-60W POE adapter
Allows up to 80m cable to 3rd party equipment

Wall mountable - only suitable for indoor installation

Cable should be Foil Twisted Pair (FTP) CAT-5E with 24 SWG solid copper core

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Lightning Surge Protection
ODUs mounted as high as possible on mast/building and are susceptible to
lightning strikes

Correct installation diverts lightning to ground, NOT VectaStar equipment

CBNL recommends the following levels of protection

Deploy the outdoor equipment to avoid a direct strike (typically means mounting the
ODU inside the cone of protection)
Ground the mounting structure
Ground the ODU
Ground the cables on the mounting structure (using a lightning surge protection unit)
Ground the cables on entry to the indoor enclosure (using a lightning surge protection
unit)
Ground the indoor equipment

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Lightning Surge Protection

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Lightning Surge Protection for 2-core Power (e.g. AP)
For a VSG hub AP using 2-core power and fibre, only 2-core power cable
requires surge protection

Fibre does not conduct lightning and does not require any protection

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Lightning Surge Protection for CAT-5 RT
For all RTs and for APs installed using twisted pair cable, surge protection is
implemented using the LP-GE module

The LP-CPE unit used for VectaStar2 CPEs is NOT compatible with VSG ODUs

Unit can be installed on either a 2 to 10 pole or on a wall

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Radio Controller
The Radio Controller (RC) is a 19-inch rack-mounted 1U indoor unit

Serves as a flexible hub for multiple VSG Access Points (VSG APs)

Traffic from RTs in multiple sectors is aggregated in the RC onto GbE or 10 GbE
interfaces

RC is a flexible, high capacity platform incorporating programmable high speed

logic allowing software upgradability

All traffic interfaces are SFP-based providing maximum flexibility

8 GbE ports connect to VSG APs and 2 GbE ports can connect to Core Network
2 10GbE ports are also available to connect to Core Network

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Radio Controller
RC is easily managed by means of -
two RJ45 10/100Base-T ports
A DB9 serial port
a USB port

In-band management on the GbE or 10GbE core network connections is also

supported

RC backplane supports up to 10 Gb/s sustained operation between any set of

GbE and 10GbE ports

Up to 8 VSG AP sectors can be controlled by a single RC

A VSG AP on its own supports up to 8 RTs per sector

Use of the RC increases this capacity up to 30 RTs per sector

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Radio Controller
For networks requiring highest availability, number of protection features exist -

1:1 port redundancy with ports optionally spread across a pair of RC devices

Redundant RCs to provide resiliency at the hub with up to 8 VSG AP sectors supported
per RC

If only outdoor unit (AP) redundancy is required, then a single RC supports up to 4

redundant pairs of VSG APs.

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Radio Controller

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Redundancy
Number of Redundancy options

Full hub redundancy including APs

Outdoor redundancy (APs only)

Gigabit and Fast Ethernet port redundancy (proprietary link-down protection)

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Full Hub Redundancy
Two hubs are installed with all hardware paired

A pair of Radio Controllers connected together using either GbE or 10 GbE interfaces

Up to 6 APs are supported per RC unit, permitting 6 fully redundant sectors

Redundancy mechanism uses two nodes (separate, physical RCs with their associated
APs) in a cluster

Each node has a unique hostname and management IP address

Cluster has a single IP address aliased to the node currently running the VectaStar
resource

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Full Hub Redundancy
If Primary RC fails, entire hub fails over to Secondary hub

All the RTs will fail over to their allocated Secondary AP

Inherently provides backhaul Ethernet interface redundancy

Backhaul port redundancy can also be provided via a single RC

Fail over time is under five seconds

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Outdoor Redundancy
Uses AP pairs connected to a single set of indoor equipment

AP pairs (primary and secondary) are allocated in the VNMS

Fail over time is under five seconds

RC can support a total number of 8 APs (four redundant sectors)

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GbE Port Redundancy
Uses a proprietary link-down protection

Fail over is under 50ms

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Management Traffic
In-Band Management

Management and customer traffic can be configured over a single connection to

an RCs GbE or 10 GbE interface

Dedicated VLAN is used to filter management traffic from data traffic

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Management Traffic
Out-Band Management

Used for customers with a separate management network

Customer data and management traffic leave the RC on separate interfaces

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Management Traffic
AP Management

With no RC, APs are typically managed individually using In-Band management

Out-band management possible using a VLAN-aware switch

Management traffic is filtered based on VLAN ID

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Services
At the VSG AP, each service may be terminated -
Directly on the AP GbE interface
On the Radio Controller (in the case of a hub)
On another RT registered with the same sector
On another RT registered in a different sector (in an RC-based hub)

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Modulation per Service
Modulation is per service, independently set on the Downlink and Uplink

Different modulations on a single RT as well as different RTs within a sector

VectaStar supports both static modulation and adaptive modulation

vbridge service
Ethernet service carrying frames from an AP/Radio Controller to the RTs GbE
interface supporting the following options -
IEEE 802.1D (MAC switching)
IEEE 802.1Q (VLAN Tagging)
IEEE 802.1p (Class of Service)
IEEE 802.1ad (QinQ)

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vbridge service
At the RT behaves like an Ethernet hub rather than a bridge

Copies Ethernet frames, with the matching VLAN tag (or no VLAN tag), between
the Ethernet interface and the air interface

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VLAN Trunking using the vbridge service (QinQ)
An untagged vbridge service forwards all frames received on the specified RT
port, except the following -

Those filtered off by other services

Frames with reserved VLAN IDs 4091 to 4094

This functionality is called VLAN trunking

Unique traffic streams within the radio network that egress the same port at the
AP/RC must be separated by adding an outer VLAN tag (QinQ)

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Quality of Service (QoS)
QoS defined on a per-service basis and can be applied at
the transport layer (over the air)
at either end (e.g. with layer 2 / layer 3 filtering available for IP/Ethernet services)

QoS Support in the MAC

Four priority classes in the MAC (0 -highest, 3 -lowest)
Each service allocated to one class
Bandwidth offered to the highest priority class and the remaining unallocated bandwidth is then
offered to the next priority class
Priority 0 reserved for management traffic, remaining classes for other services

Each service is queued independently and limited at input by Peak Information Rate (PIR)
If no Committed Information Rate (CIR) defined, round robin scheduler used in each priority class
If CIR values defined, round robin scheduler is weighted and services sending data below their CIR
setting are scheduled before services which have sent data above their CIR (on average)
Services above their CIR are allocated additional throughput based on their CIR

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QoS
QoS Scheduling in MAC uses formula -

TST = CIRT + BW NAC x (CIRS / of all CIRS)

TST= Total Service Throughput

CIRT= Total CIR targets
BW NAC= Sector Bandwidth not Allocated to CIR
CIRS= CIR of this Service

Downstream uses TDMA and AP MAC scheduler

creates dynamic frame based on service demand
and QoS

Services prioritised and scheduled bandwidth

according to relative and absolute QoS within each
sector

RT can perform filtering of IP / Ethernet data onto

individual services based on QoS

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Security
Number of security features available to prevent an RT registering on a sector where it is
not permitted e.g. two operators using VectaStar in one town

Useful to know that both systems can see each other and to be aware of any attempted
cross-registrations -
frequency planning
configuration management

RT detects from which network data is received by reading the broadcast operator
descriptor field sent to it by an AP

If an RT attempts and fails to register on another network, SNMP trap generated

Virtual services provide service separation

MAC layer is complex and proprietary

Reproduction requires access to
VectaStar AP and RT hardware
VectaStar development software.

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Encrypted Management
VectaStar uses SNMP for management and supports

SNMP v1, v2c and v3

SNMP v3 supports encryption and authentication

Authentication and privacy are bi-directional

SNMPv3 entity asking for the information is authenticated by the SNMPv3 entity
providing the information

When the SNMPv3 entity receives the information, it authenticates the provider
of the information

No SNMPv3 entity trusts another SNMPv3 entity

VectaStar uses SNMP v3 for authenticating users at registration

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End to End Encryption
All security conscious operators should use end-to-end data encryption across
their entire transport network - ONLY secure model for encryption

Do NOT rely on transport network for encryption often weakest link in a

network

End-to-End encryption ensures transport network no longer vulnerable

VectaStar security analagous to wired telephone system

Complete security is provided by encryption of the data by both parties

With IP connections, standard crypto VPN technology can be used to provide a

secure IP tunnel across the transport network

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Security against Misconfiguration and Hacking
All VectaStar RTs and hubs are managed by IP connections

Use of a secure SSH2 connection guarantees authentication and encryption of

every remote management connection

SSH access combined with layer 3 firewalls (iptables and TCP wrappers under
Linux) ensures that strict access control can be enforced across the network

Combined with good network design greatly reduces the possibility of hacking

If RT is compromised (captured) user will be unable to alter their configuration

or hack into the control network to change their connection (unless that unit is
already authorised to do so)

Use of an obfuscated password and regularly changing the access passwords

will ensure that even if a unit is compromised, without knowledge of the keys
over time, its usefulness will be temporally constrained

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Radio Frequency Planning
Every radio link should be planned to ensure the desired availability is achieved

Availability choice may be determined by an SLA (Service Level Agreement) or

compromise between cost and range

CBNL provides an Excel-based Link Planning tool

Enables the operator to specify the VectaStar equipment

Ensures that network achieves the desired availability for any given LOS path

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Radio Frequency Planning
There are two aspects to link planning

Customer specific requirements -

Desired link availability (e.g. 99.995% per annum)
Frequency (e.g. 10.5GHz or 26GHz)
Link range, which determines Free Space Loss
Path inclination (i.e. relative height of RT to AP)
Geographic area (i.e. Latitude and Longitude)
Type of polarisation (e.g. vertical or horizontal)
Fade margin, (function of link reliability, frequency, range, path inclination, polarisation and geographic region)

Parameters that affect the available link budget -

Channel size (narrower channels have lower noise than wider channels)
Antenna gains at each radio (AP and RT)
Transmit power, which depends on frequency variant and modulation
Losses in the radio system (Rx Noise figure, Tx filter losses, etc.)
Modulation required - determines the minimum level of Carrier to Noise Ratio (e.g. 64 QAM requires a higher CNR
than 16 QAM)

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Radio Frequency Planning
Link ranges determined on -
99.995% reliability
1E-9 BER
Vertical polarised 60cm RT antennas
14 MHz channel
AP at 100m asl
RT at 20m asl

Typical link ranges

Frequency Cambridge, UK Johannesburg, RSA Kuala Lumpur, ML

10.5 GHz 22.2km 17.4km 12.8km

26 GHz 6.1km 3.9km 2.6km

28GHz 5.6km 3.6km 2.4km

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Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)
VS is an FDD system - separate U/S and D/S radio channels used simultaneously

PMP systems broadcast downstream

all RTs listen to the same transmission from the Access Point

Broadcast contains information that all RTs are expected to use e.g. -
Operation and Maintenance information
Synchronisation information
Downlink and uplink frame description

Each D/S frame may contain data using any modulation BUT not all RTs will be able to
demodulate this data. e.g.
RT at long range using QPSK may not have CNR to demodulate 64 QAM cells

Each RT uses downlink frame descriptor to identify its data in the downstream and also
determine when it is scheduled to transmit upstream

Frame description is always sent at QPSK - all RTs MUST be able to demodulate

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Modulation Schemes
VectaStar supports two methods of defining the modulation -

Static
Hitless Adaptive Modulation

Both schemes are able to use any/all of the supported modulations states
Modulation is per service - each RT can simultaneously support services on any
available modulation

Static and Adaptive modulation can be mixed within a sector and on an RT

The wide range of modulation states allows a trade-off between spectral

efficiency and link budget

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Choosing a Modulation Scheme
Default modulation is QPSK

Before changing to another setting must understand implication

Higher modulation allows more data per radio symbol

Spectral Efficiency per channel size (b/s/Hz)

Modulation 7 MHz channel 14 MHz channel 28 MHz channel

256QAM+T 5.00 5.36 5.36

128QAM+T 4.71 4.64 4.82
64QAM 4.29 4.29 4.29
64QAM+T 3.57 3.57 3.57
16QAM 2.86 2.86 2.86
16QAM+T 2.14 2.14 2.50
QPSK 1.43 1.43 1.43

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Choosing a Modulation Scheme
Ethernet Efficiency per channel size (Mb/s)

Modulation 7 MHz channel 14 MHz channel 28 MHz channel

256QAM+T 35 75 150
128QAM+T 33 65 135
64QAM 30 60 120
64QAM+T 25 50 100
16QAM 20 40 80
16QAM+T 15 30 70
QPSK 10 20 40

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Choosing a Modulation Scheme
Ideally, all services would use highest modulation available -
most spectrally efficient

Choice of modulation cannot be made on capacity alone since it affects

the Transmit power
minimum Receive Carrier to Noise Ratio
as modulation type is increased, the transmit power is reduced
BUT higher modulation schemes require higher CNR levels

Link budgets of higher modulations are always lower than those at lower ones

For a given SLA reliability, higher modulations have a shorter range than lower
modulations

In most deployments there are RTs where range does not permit the use of
highest modulation scheme and a lower modulation is used instead

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Adaptive Modulation
With a service configured to adaptive modulation, VectaStar will start the service at the
highest modulation supported and, if necessary, reduce the modulation until a stable
service can be established

The RT transmit power is fixed to that which is required for the highest modulation
scheme, regardless of the actual modulation in use

Change to a lower modulation is hitless

Change to a higher modulation is also hitless but takes longer to change

Careful link planning must consider -

different traffic flows (OAM, voice, data)
link availability to ensure that each sector operates within the desired parameters

May be defined as -
no overbooking
limit a sector overbooking by a desired factor.

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Adaptive Modulation and Fading
All radio links will suffer from fading - the longer the link and the higher the frequency, the
more severe and frequent, fading will be

Radio links are planned to take account of fading to ensure reliable operation
Allows for a Fade Margin in the link budget i.e. spare power is kept in reserve until
needed to maintain the link in a severe fade

When link is not fading, link appears to run conservatively and may be able to use a
higher modulation
Link could operate at a higher modulation, but only during the fade-free period

Using a simplistic example of a link -

99.999% availability may be achievable at QPSK,
99.99% at 16 QAM
99.9% at 64 QAM

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Adaptive Modulation and Fading
Likely cause of fading at higher frequencies is rain - probably affect several links in sector
at same time

Fading will not be uncorrelated and many links may simultaneously drop down to a lower
modulation
Plan capacity to take account of modulation recommended by the link planning
process not best case modulation
Severe overbooking caused by fading can be avoided

Even with good planning if severe fading occurs, Adaptive modulation may preserve
service although capacity may be reduced

If fade is so severe that QPSK links cannot be sustained, service will be lost with both
modulation types

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Planning a Link in advance
Many factors can affect the link budget and therefore the available modulation

Care should be taken to maximise spectral efficiency i.e. ensure as many RTs
as possible use a high order modulation

RT choices that affect link budget are

Antenna choice e.g. using a different size antenna
System choices which affect link budget are -
Frequency of deployment e.g. 10.5 GHz or 26 GHz
Channel bandwidth
Link reliability

CBNL has an Excel link planner tool, which can be used to plan each link to
ensure that the required modulation and link-reliability can be achieved

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Selecting the best modulation for a deployed RT
Once RT is deployed, the CNR should be checked to ensure that it can operate
correctly at the desired modulation

Be aware, that the CNR may change over time due to the following causes
An obstruction e.g. foliage growth or new buildings
Atmospheric fading/multi-path which affects propagation when it is not raining
Rain fade (noticeable at 10.5GHz and particularly prevalent at 26 and 28 GHz)
Interference (either from another VectaStar radio using the same frequency within
range or another radio system).

This may only be noticed later

e.g. after another VectaStar Base hub has been installed

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Rain fades, atmospheric fades and availability
Typically operator will have target link reliability, often in range 99.9% to
99.999%

Fade Margin affects link reliability the most

Fade margin determined by link reliability, frequency, range, path inclination,

polarisation and geographic region
High link availability will increase the fade margin
Higher frequencies require more fade margin (all other parameters being kept
constant)
Shallower path inclinations require higher fade margins
With rain fades, vertical polarisation has lower loss than horizontal polarisation, but
with paths over water, the converse may be true
Both atmospheric fading and rain fading vary around the world by region

To determine link margin, the ITU provides a statistical prediction method

(detailed in ITU-R P.530) - basis for the VectaStar Link Planner Excel Tool
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Power Control
Power control on the downstream is fixed (set in the VNMS)

RTs use automatic gain control (AGC) to adjust receiver gain to compensate for pathloss

RTs will automatically adjust receiver gain to compensate for any power variations

AP runs without AGC (since upstream frame contains transmissions from a number of RTs and AP
cannot predict which RT is in which contention slot
Upstream AGC is RT adjusting its power and AP providing feedback

Performance-degrading interference is generally RT upstream interference, it is important to ensure

that each RT only transmits at the minimum power necessary to maintain a good radio link with the AP

When pathloss changes, RT can adjust its transmit power accordingly

Each modulation has a set point at the AP for Rx power from RTs

Upstream Closed Loop power control cannot react instantly, so there is a nominal 5dB built-in fade
margin (configurable per sector)
RT can increase transmit power before data is lost.

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Power Control
5dB default fade margin means standard Upstream CNR targets, at the AP, are -

Target CNR at AP 10.5, 26 and 28 GHz

256QAM+T 30 dB

128QAM+T 28.5 dB

64QAM 26 dB

64QAM+T 22 dB

16QAM 18.3 dB

16QAM+T 15 dB

QPSK 14 dB

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Downstream fading
RT can accurately measure the downstream path loss by comparing the
received downstream power with the APs Tx power

AP transmits at constant power and the RTs use AGC to adjust for their pathloss

Implicit fade margin which is the delta between the minimum required signal
power for the modulation in use and the actual received power from the AP
6dB of instantaneous headroom
5dB of margin (default)

Fade rates of 100 dB/sec can be tolerated within this range

Outside range, AGC is required and RT can independently adjust its AGC at
approximately 6Hz

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Upstream fading
For small fades, the digital demodulator in AP can cope without requiring RT to adjust Tx power

3dB to 15dB (3dB for 64QAM, 9dB for 16 QAM, 15dB for QPSK) of instantaneous headroom

Power control has 5dB of fade margin (default)

Outside this range, Automatic Transmit Power Control (ATPC) is required

For ATPC to operate, RT must know upstream path loss

RT waits for AP to poll and measure Rx power
AP Rx Power reported back to RT
RT can adjust its Tx power

Upstream polling for power control is approximately 0.2Hz to 8Hz

Difficult to accurately predict U/S pathloss over time with Dynamic channels

Exact calculation can only be guaranteed once every 5 seconds

May be periods when the RT does not know about changes in the upstream path loss

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Upstream fading
To get around this, the RT has two power control modes

Correlation mode
The RT constantly correlates upstream and downstream path losses
If the correlation is high, RT will use the downstream path loss to predict the upstream
path loss in between polls from the RT
Allows upstream power control algorithm to track large changes in the order of
20dB/sec in correlated channels with negligible performance penalty

Back-off mode -
If upstream and downstream path losses are poorly correlated, the RT uses a safe
mode where the Tx power is backed off to ensure that the AP Rx power does not
exceed the target power

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Asymmetric CNR
An RT quite close to the AP, running a QPSK service would show
a high downstream CNR, e.g. 30dB +
but only 18dB CNR on the upstream

For example, the following screen capture from vsstatus shows RT Damian with
30.6dB CNR downstream and18.7dB CNR upstream.

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Asymmetric CNR
This is because the RT has set its transmit power such that it meets the QPSK upstream
target power at the AP (i.e. 18dB CNR). Right-clicking on the RT name shows the Tx
power 16.6dBm, significantly below the maximum possible for this RT (which is 34dBm)

If the RT is reconfigured for a 64 QAM service, the upstream Rx power and CNR will
increase accordingly as the RT increases its transmit power to meet the 64 QAM CNR
target. In this case, the RT can increase its Tx power by up to 17.4dB, which should
increase the US CNR from 18.7dB to in excess of 30dB (i.e. good enough for 64 QAM
operation)
.
Note: If an RT is configured to use a high order modulation, then it will adjust its Tx power
accordingly. However, the RT only finds out which modulation to use once it has
downloaded its service configurations from the APC, which takes place after registration.
So a step change may be seen in the uplink Rx power and CNR shortly after registration

In the event that the US and DS path losses differ by more than 8dB (which is unusual
and indicative of poor deployment or damaged radio or antenna) then an SNMP
trap/alarm is generated automatically to alert the user to the potential problem

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Interpreting Power and CNR figures
The different modulation schemes have different PA linearity requirements and
cannot all be transmitted at the same power level through the PAs. Therefore an
RT or AP receiving for example QPSK, 16 QAM and 64 QAM data will see three
distinct receive power levels with relative levels of 0dB, -2.5dB and -4.5dB for
QPSK, 16 QAM and 64 QAM respectively

To simplify the diagnostics and monitoring all power and CNR figures displayed
by VectaStar are referenced to QPSK regardless of the modulations in use.
Therefore a CNR figure of 30dB is only 30dB for QPSK which is equivalent to
27.5dB for 16 QAM and 25.5dB for 64 QAM

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Running out of Power
If an RT is transmitting at maximum power an SNMP trap/alarm is generated to inform the
operator that the RT is potentially power limited. AN RT will transmit at maximum power if
the uplink power control mechanism determines that a transmit power at or above its
maximum power is required to meet the target upstream power at the AP

In the case where the path loss is very gradually increasing between the RT and the AP
(e.g. due to foliage growth), then at the point where the RT first reaches maximum
transmit power there is still a 5dB fade margin available the service has not been
compromised

However, as the path loss increases further, the ability of the RT to cope with fading will
be diminished and, after a 5dB extra path loss, the link may become unreliable

There are several methods of increasing the uplink link budget -

Use a lower order modulation
Use a narrower channel bandwidth
Use a larger antenna (e.g. parabolic dish)
Re-site the antenna to reduce any obstruction or diffraction

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Error Correction
VectaStar uses Automatic Repeat ReQuest (ARQ) for on-air error correction rather than Forward Error
Correction (FEC)

ARQ has several major advantages over FEC for Point to Multi Point (PMP) radio systems
ARQ can achieve a higher code rate than FEC
ARQ can operate much closer to sensitivity than FEC
ARQ dynamically changes the code rate to match the channel error rate
ARQ achieves an individual code rate for each radio link

ARQ operates by sending un-coded data in packets over the air, with each packet containing a CRC. If
the packet is received in error, (as determined by the CRC), then the packet is either Negatively
Acknowledged (NACK) or simply not acknowledged at all (if it is so corrupted as to be unrecognisable)

In either event, the sender will re-transmit that packet until it is positively Acknowledged (ACK) or the
packet lifetime has expired (e.g. if an RT suddenly turns off then there is no point in endlessly sending
the same packet hoping for an ACK)

VectaStars ARQ implementation been designed to achieve Quasi-error free end-to-end BER (< 10-9)
with an on-air BER of 10-4. If the on-air BER is greater than 10-4 then the system may not be able to
provide error free transmission.

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ARQ vs FEC
With Forward Error Correction the code rate is fixed and the Rx signal level can be
adjusted to affect CNR and for each CNR level there will be a corresponding post FEC
BER

As already mentioned, VectaStar uses Automated Repeat Query (ARQ) as it offers

significant spectral efficiency savings in a PMP environment. This is because with PMP
the downlink is broadcast but the radio link to each RT is over an independent radio path.
At any moment in time, each link requires a unique code rate, for optimum performance
(highest code rate (most efficient) for the required target BER)

ARQ offers a better solution as the code rate is dynamically adjusted on the fly to each RT
to achieve a target post ARQ BER which is defined for all links. ARQ operates by sending
each packet across the air interface with a small CRC. The RT uses the CRC to
determine if the packet was received with errors or not. If the packet is received error free
it is acknowledged and no more data is sent regarding that packet. If it was received in
error (or not at all), a Negative Acknowledgement is sent and the packet resent until it is
received error free or times out. This method always achieves the optimum code rate for
each link at any moment in time.

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ARQ vs FEC
VectaStar also uses ARQ over FEC due to its superior security advantages.
ARQ is fundamentally much harder to passively eavesdrop compared with FEC
as with FEC all the error correction information is sent with the data, so the end
unit can independently reconstruct the original data sequence.

With ARQ, the on-air error correction relies on the unique interaction between
the RT and AP for the appropriate data to be resent on demand

The passive eavesdropper cannot request data to be resent and as it will

undoubtedly receive different packets in error to the valid RT the eavesdropping
RT cannot gain any benefit from error correction

In addition to traditional error detection and correction techniques, VectaStar

also has additional error detection and correction by using Trellis encoding.
Trellis coding uses defined encoding data paths in order to allow error detection
and correction without re-transmission

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ARQ vs FEC
In addition to traditional error detection and correction techniques, VectaStar
also has additional error detection and correction by using Trellis encoding.
Trellis coding uses defined encoding data paths in order to allow error detection
and correction without re-transmission

In order to use Trellis Code Modulation (TCM) there is a slight decrease

(approximately 0.5 b/s/Hz) in spectral efficiency however this is amply
compensated for by a large decrease in retransmissions. The use of TCM allows
a lower CNR to be used as a higher radio BER can be accommodated.

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Duplexer Spacing
VectaStar is a FDD PMP system and uses separate frequency domains to transmit and
receive radio signals in full duplex

ODUs have RF duplexer to isolate transmitter and receiver with common antenna

Number of duplexers used dependent on the frequency band being deployed -

10.5 Ghz single duplexer
26 / 28 GHz two duplexers

With two duplexers, pass bands of high band and low band duplexers overlap

Check frequency allocations to select the correct VectaStar equipment for use !!

Downlink ALWAYS refers to AP to RT, Uplink is vice versa

This duplexer configuration is referred to as Downlink High (DH)

ODUs can also be supplied as Downlink Low (DL) if required

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Duplexer Spacing
Duplexer order codes aim to simplify the ordering process such that the same
duplexer code is used for AP and RT as shown below

10.5 GHz
DH Downlink High
DL Downlink Low

26 / 28 GHz
LBDH Lowband Downlink High
LBDL Lowband Downlink Low
HBDH Highband Downlink High
HBDL Highband Downlink Low

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Duplexer Spacing - 10.5 GHz

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Duplexer Spacing - 26 GHz

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Duplexer Spacing - 28 GHz

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Your turn!
Set up the VNMS server

Configure the Radio Controllers as a redundant pair

Configure the Access Points using the vsinstall java applet

Set up Outdoor redundancy

Add the Hub site to the VNMS server

Make a backup of the configuration

Check that alarms are working and being received by the VNMS server

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Copyright and Contact Details

Copyright Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited 4th February 2013

Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited reserves the right to make

changes to the specifications of the products detailed in this document
at any time without notice and obligation to notify any person of such
changes.

Vectastar, Cambridge Broadband Networks and the Cambridge

Broadband Networks logo are trademarks of Cambridge Broadband
Networks Limited. All other trademarks are acknowledged and observed.
Mention of third party products does not constitute an endorsement or a
recommendation.

All figures, data and specifications contained in this document are Cambridge Broadband Networks Ltd.
typical and must be specifically confirmed in writing by Cambridge Selwyn House
Broadband Networks Limited before they apply to any tender, order or Cowley Road
contract. Cambridge Broadband Networks takes every precaution to Cambridge CB4 0WZ
ensure that all information contained in this publication is factually England
correct tel: +44 (0)1223 703000
fax: +44 (0)1223 703001
but accepts no liability for any error or omission. No freedom to use email: info@cbnl.com
patents or other property rights is implied by this document. web: www.cbnl.com
Support contacts
tel: +44 (0)1223 703030
fax: +44 (0)1223 703050
email: support@cbnl.com
web: www.cnbl.com/support

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