Fiber Optic Transceivers

in Basestation Applications

White Paper

Introduction
The enormous increase in cellular telephone usage
has created demand, additional network capacity and
bandwidth. Cellular network capacity growth is driven by
new cell phone functions and services such as cameras,
personal organizers, web browsing, e-mail and text
messaging.
Base station transceivers with greater bandwidth are
in demand. Fiber optic links give cost eective, high
bandwidth new capacity with more exibility than copper
links. Fiber links make system modications and future
upgrades simpler than would be possible with traditional copper links. In addition, ber features inherent data
security and superior reliability in hostile environments.

DRX
DRX

BTS

BTS

DRX
Fiber Optics
or
Copper Cable

BTS

What is a Base Transceiver Station?

The Base Transceiver Station (BTS) is part of a cellular
system that transmits and receives wireless signals to cell
phones or other wireless telecommunications devices, and
forwards data to the central network. This component is
the part of the cellular system that has the driver receiver
(DRX). (The DRX does the sending and receiving of the
wireless signals.) The other primary function of the BTS
is to transfer these signals to the Base Station Controller (BSC), which can be some distance away and might
service multiple BTS units.
The BTS includes ampliers that supply the appropriate
broadcast RF power levels as well as boost the incoming
RF signal power so that it is suitable for transmission to
the BSC.
Another function of the BTS is to convert between the appropriate protocols for broadcast to the wireless portion
of the network or to convert the protocols for transmission to the BSC. Some BTS units also connect to other
BTS units in more complicated system architectures and
protocols for transmission between them must allow
for appropriate multiplexing and routing so that data is
directed to the appropriate destination. Similarly, the BSC
serves as a switch but with the additional task of converting to appropriate protocols, switching, and routing from
the BTS and wireless network and into the public telecommunications network.

BSC

Public
Network

Figure 1. BTS Block Diagram

BTSs can be grouped into three types: masts or cell-sites,

microcells and other base stations.
Masts and cell-sites are the primary cellular telephone
system connection points and are responsible for general
area coverage
Microcells are smaller installations that ll in gaps left by
the higher power primary cell-sites.
Finally, the other category is for even smaller installations,
possibly within buildings or malls, that provide reliable
service to specic locations. This category allows the
system designer to adapt the cellular system structure to
a wide variety of geographic and architectural situations.
When designing components for base station systems,
component exibility and options are valuable features

To Public
Network

BTS
Fiber Link

BSC

BTS

BTS

Fiber Link
BSC
Fiber Link
Figure 2. Basestation Wireless Network

Where Does Fiber Fit In?

OBSAI and CPRI

The BTS is typically located in a high location, on top of a

building or on a free standing mast, so the antenna has
a clear view of the widest possible area for maximum
radio coverage. Exact placement of the BTS and associated antennas should be dictated by maximum signal
coverage and optimum signal integrity. The BSC can then
be located at an accessible location, on the ground or in
the basement of the building; such locations allow the
BSC to easily access the public network already in place
and provides access for maintenance and upgrades of the
connection to the public networks

Two public standards have been developed to formalize

ad hoc proprietary protocols developed by cellular
equipment manufacturers.

Historically, the BSC has been within a few hundred meters

of the BTS and often in a one-to-one relationship. The data
rates for communicating between the two have been relatively low. As the need for higher densities of BTS develop
and as wireless network use increases, the need for higher
data rates and higher data bandwidth between the BTS
and the BSC has become apparent.
With ber connections, the locations can be selected that
optimize the connections of a single BSC with several
BTSs; this capability is especially useful with the extra
distance made possible by ber connections as compared
to legacy copper connections. Furthermore, the BSC can
be located in a more environmentally friendly environment as well as allowing more security for the node that is
attaching to the public telecommunications system. Fiber
works well as a connection between the BTS and the BSC.
Fiber connections can also be used for the connection
from one BTS to another, giving the Base station system
engineer greater design exibility. Fiber leads to a more
exible and scalable infrastructure.
2

These are OBSAI, Open Base Station Architecture Initiative, associated primarily with Hyundai, LGE, Nokia,
Samsung and ZTE; and CPRI, Common Public Radio
Interface, which is associated with systems from Ericsson
AB, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, NEC Corporation, Nortel
Networks SA, Alcatel Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks
GmbH & Co. KG .

Table 1. Base station common data rates

Base rate multiplier

CPRI

OBSAI

1x

0.614 Gb/s

0.768 Gb/s

2x

1.229 Gb/s

1.536 Gb/s

4x

2.457 Gb/s

3.072 Gb/s

5x

3.072 Gb/s

8x

4.9152 Gb/s*

6.144 Gb/s*

10x

6.144 Gb/s*

12x

7.3728 Gb/s*

* Higher data rates are under development and not yet specied in any standard,

The lowest data rate specied for OBSAI/CPRI transmission was 0.6144 Gbps, and as systems have been re-engineered for higher bandwidths, higher data rates have
been integral multiples of this legacy rate.

The standards are written to allow freedom to select the

data rate. Data rates are important in distinguishing the
manufacturer of a particular system. The most recent data
rates found in installed systems, at the time of this writing,
are at
3.072 Gbps and 2.4576 Gbps. Systems are currently under
development with data rates of 6.144 Gbps and 7.3728
Gbps.
The standards are written so each link is frequency agile,
including an auto negotiation capability. Fiber is the best
technology to execute frequency agile congurations
because of its inherent wide bandwidth. As higher data
rates become standard, ber easily maintains frequency
agility over increasingly wider frequency ranges.
The basic architecture comprises a single BSC connected
directly to one or more BTSs. The CPRI standard specically mentions a more complicated system topology that
includes a high data rate link to a BTS. This BTS is a slave
on the link with the BSC but, additionally, has multiple
master links with lower data rates to additional BTS units;
fundamentally, all of the BTSs are controlled by the same
BSC, including those connected to the BSC via the higher
data rate BTS. The OBSAI standard has also included this
conguration; it has been referred to as a daisy-chain.

What is a Fiber Optic Transceiver?

The word transceiver is a generic term. The ber optic
transceiver is a component that transmits and receives
a digital optical signal that travels along optical bers.
Optical ber is essentially an optical waveguide.
The transceiver converters digital electrical signals to
digital optical signals and vice versa.

What are Fibers Advantages?

The most obvious advantage of a ber connection over a
copper-based solution is the elimination of a potentially
conductive path between the BTS and the BSC. Lighting
is commonly drawn to high, conducting antenna structures; with ber, lightning strike induced system eects
are minimized.
In addition, potential damage from Electro Static
Discharge, ESD, is also minimized with ber.

Figure 4. Lightning is attracted to a high BTS antenna. Copper cable can both
radiate and receive noise from adjacent cables

Furthermore, the electromagnetic properties of ber dier

greatly from those of copper. As a result, using ber for
this link reduces the incidence of EMI, Electromagnetic Interference. Similarly, the data transmitted along the ber
will not emit any extraneous electromagnetic, RF energy.
An additional side benet of these properties is that ber
is inherently dicult to tap thereby increasing the security
of data being transferred along ber.

Table 2. Electromagnetic Comparison of Copper Cabling vs Fiber

Copper Cable

Fiber Cable

Lightning Immunity

No

Yes

ESD Immunity

No

Yes

Radiated Emissions
Generation

Higher at higher
data rates

None

Bandwidth-Distance
Product

Lower

Higher

Fiber cabling is more lightweight and takes less space to

run, especially when compared to copper links at high
data rates.

Figure 3. Fiber Optic Transceiver - SFP+ Form Factor

Table 3. Systems Comparison of Copper Cabling vs Fiber Connections

Copper

Fiber

Weight

Higher

Lower

Maximum
Distance
Needs

Driven signals, compen- Much lower power

sation, higher power
loss for transmission
loss during transmission

System
Cost

Higher with added

electronics needed

Lower at higher data

rates and higher
distances

Electrical Considerations
Fundamentally, the ber transceiver is an electrical device.
The power supply to the module must be stable and noise
free in order to maintain error free performance for the
data passing through the module. The power supply
driving the transceiver must be appropriately ltered.
Typical lters can be found in the Multisource Agreements
(MSAs) which have guided the original designs for these
transceivers, such MSAs for Fibre Channel and Gigabit
Ethernet. One such design, given in the SFF-8431 specication, is shown in Figure 5.

Finally, as data rates increase, system upgrades are

generally easier with ber than with copper cabling. As
copper cabling distances for reliable data transmission
become too short, ber links can easily handle higher data
rates over long distances.
For data rate increases from under 1 Gbps to 8 Gbps, the
same ber can be used; the distance may be limited at the
highest data rate but it is still considerably farther than
what copper can achieve at the same rate. Furthermore,
at the higher data rates, increased losses in copper require
more power to drive signals. The result is a notable power
savings is achieved with ber optic connections.

Point X

SFP Connector

4.7uH

VccT

0.1
0.1 uF

22 uF

0.1 uF

0.5

Host
+3.3V

Veet
4.7uH

0.1 uF

22 uF

VccR

SFP
Module

0.1 uF

0.5
Veer

Environmental Considerations

Figure 5. Typical input power supply lter from SFF-8431

One challenge, from the perspective of the ber transceiver supplier, is the location of the radio head, the BTS, is
typically exposed to weather especially severe weather
at elevated, exposed heights. The components must
operate over extreme environmental conditions, over a
wider temperature range than parts that operate in data
communications systems which reside in controlled colocation huts. The typical BTS application requires a ber
transceiver that operates over a range of 40 C to 85 C
case temperature.

As the data rates get progressively higher, greater care is

needed in the design of the RF circuits that generate and
propagate the digital electrical signal applied to the transmitter of the ber transceiver. Some useful guidance for
the high speed design can be found in the white paper,
Considerations for High Speed PCB Track Design in 10Gb/s
Serial Data Transmission , Avago Technologies document
AV02-1490EN.

A second environmental issue related to optical transceiver system design, particularly the host board environment, involves the system power dissipation and thermal
dissipation characteristics.
A major advantage of SFP ber optic transceivers is the
relatively low electrical power requirements, less than 1
Watt. However, this low power does not mean thermal
design can be ignored when assembling a host conguration. Sucient ventilation or airow should be included
to help dissipate thermal energy that is drawn o of the
module. Part of this requirement is addressed by the standardized SFP cage which is mounted on the host board
and also serves as a conduit for thermal energy.
Case temperature reported by the Digital Monitor
Interface (DMI), when the host operates at its maximum
design temperature, is the ultimate test of the eectiveness of the overall system thermal design.

Optical Performance
Ultimately, performance is measured as Bit Error Rate,
BER. The challenge for the designer of the optical transceiver is that the optical parameters for the transmitter
and receiver have to be controlled so that any anticipated
degradation of the optical signal while traveling along the
worst case optical ber will not lead to poor BER performance. The primary parameter of relevance is the BER of
the complete link. That is, the start of the link is the source
of the electrical signals which drive the transmitter of the
ber optic transceiver; the end is the electrical signal as
received and interpreted by the circuitry in the host from
the ber optic transceiver receive side.

Input factors to the calculators include: data rate, wavelength, optical source line width, ber type (for the attenuation and dispersion characteristics), ber core size,
TX output optical power, TX extinction ratio, minimum TX
OMA, TX Rise and Fall times, RIN level, jitters, connector
loss assumption, RX lter bandwidth, and RX sensitivity.
All inputs are worst case for the component or design in
question. The eects of these parameters on the over all
link budget are calculated from equations modeling the
theoretical understanding of how each parameter inuences the several physical mechanisms that degrade
system performance.

For many communication links which use optical transceivers there are detailed specications for optical performance that have been dened through extensive scientic work in standards committees or by multi-source
agreements. Regardless of the communication standard,
the primary goal is to guarantee BER over a range of
ber distances with a range of diering ber quality and
to ensure broad interoperability with transceivers from
dierent vendors.

Our experience over the years is used to compare these

theoretical results with experimental data, and the comparison is favorable. Of particular interest is the relative
inuence of the various parameters on the overall link
budget; that is, to identify which parameters close the
budget more eectively and thus have the greatest
inuence on minimizing the distance that Avago can
guarantee from its module performance.

Base Station SFP module design has historically been

leveraged from higher data rate ber optic transceivers, designs tailored to either Ethernet or Fibre Channel
network applications. This has several benets. In designs
for higher data rates, any additional cost associated with
testing at the lower BTS data rates can be kept small, and
the optical performance of the module design is proven
stable and inherently guard banded for the BTS data rate.

A common assumption about the limitations to link

distance in multimode ber is that the power of the
optical source and the attenuation of the ber determine
the link distance. However, this intuitive assumption is
not correct. The limitation for maximum ber distance
over multimode ber is set primarily by modal dispersion
considerations.

An important point to understand about ber optic transceivers is the specication for allowable link length. Performance of a module must be understood and analyzed
over the bandwidth characteristics of all ber types likely
to be used with that module.

The maximum link distance limitations given in Table

4 have been derived from this analysis and uses assumptions that start with modal dispersion limitations
but balance a variety of eects. One key point is such a
spreadsheet analysis tends to add power penalties for the
worst case behaviors on top of each other, whereas real
systems rarely work this way.

The process of estimating the maximum distance that

can be guaranteed with Avago Technologies parts is
derived from the experience, history, and understanding
developed over several decades of working with optical
sources and ber. Avago has long been a strong contributor to the development of the MSAs and standards that
dene our primary products. For example, one Avago
contribution to the IEEE standards committee was a ber
optic link model calculator (publicly available) that has
been accepted in the industry as a basis for modeling
link behavior and developing optical link budgets. Avago
uses similar models to dene the link lengths of its BTS
transceiver products.

The link model spreadsheets are also used to model single

mode ber links. When a similar analysis is done for the
single mode products, it becomes apparent quickly that,
for these data rates, the primary limiting factor for link
length is attenuation in the ber. Modal dispersion is not
as signicant a factor for single mode propagation, and
although chromatic dispersion does cause some degradation at these data rates, the attenuation during transmission of the optical signal down the single mode ber
usually dominates the link budget. That is, the overall
signal level after a long propagation distance is too low
before the pulse has spread signicantly due to chromatic
dispersion.

These spreadsheet calculators are simply a tool to

evaluate the relative power penalties that aect the total
link budget for a ber connection over diering propagation distances.

It should be noted that the main limitation to the amount

of optical power that can be coupled into the ber is the
desire to minimize the electrical power dissipation of
the module and to maintain compliance to industry eye
safety requirements.

Avago Technologies and BTS

Avago Technologies designers have successfully adapted
SFP and SFP+ module designs that were originally
intended for Fibre Channel and Ethernet applications to
systems that satisfy the CPRI and OBSAI base station link
requirements.

Short Reach and Multimode Fiber

Avago oers base station ber optic transceivers that are
optimized for several reaches of both CPRI and OBSAI
links.

The lower data rate products are based on Fibre Channel

modules designed to operate at 4.25 Gbps data rates.
These designs are eective for base station operation at
data rates of 3.072 Gb/s, 2.457 Gb/s, 1.536 Gb/s, 1.229
Gb/s and 0.6144 Gb/s. The variety of data rates arises from
the two standards, OBSAI and CPRI, as well as the fact that
dierent base station designers have developed systems
that use a variety of data rates, both for competitive and
technical reasons.
Currently, systems and standards are under development which use the next generation of data rates. The
consensus choice appears to be 6.144 Gb/s but mention
has been made of data rates as high as 7.3728 Gb/s. For
these high data rates, Avago oers products leveraged
from its 8.5 Gb/s Fibre Channel products.

Table 4. Avago Technologies Multimode Fiber Base Station Products

Avago Technologies Part Number

Optical Source

Maximum Link Distance

Standard

Standard and Data Rate

AFBR-57J5APZ - 3G multirate

850 nm VCSEL

Up to 500 m OM3 at 2.457 Gb/s

CPRI

2.457Gb/s
1.229 Gb/s
0.614 Gb/s

Up to 400 m OM3 at 3.072 Gb/s

OBSAI

3.072 Gb/s
1.536 Gb/s
0.768 Gb/s

AFBR-57J7APZ 6/7G multirate

850 nm VCSEL

Up to 200 m OM3 at 7.3728 Gb/s

CPRI

7.3728 Gb/s
4.9152 Gb/s
2.457Gb/s
1.229 Gb/s

Up to 300 m OM3 at 6.144 Gb/s

OBSAI

6.144 Gb/s
3.072 Gb/s
1.536 Gb/s

Longer Reach with Single Mode Fiber

Avago Technologies has also adapted its single mode
Fibre Channel and Sonet products for long reach base
station applications. Generally, fewer of these long links
are expected to be installed between the BTSs and the
BSCs.

Fiber that connects a BSC to the general telecommunications network is usually governed by telecommunication
system standards that have been in place for a long time.

Table 5. Avago Technologies Single Mode Fiber Base Station Products

Avago Technologies Part Number

Optical Source

Maximum Link Distance

Standard

Standard and Data Rate

AFCT-57J5APZ - 3G multirate

1310 nm
Fabry-Perot Laser

Up to 8 km at 2.457 Gb/s

CPRI

2.457 Gb/s
1.229 Gb/s
0.614 Gb/s

Up to 7 km at 3.072 Gb/s

OBSAI

3.072 Gb/s
1.536 Gb/s
0.768 Gb/s

AFCT-57J5ATPZ - 3G multirate

1310 nm
DFB Laser

Up to 20 km at 3.072 Gb/s

OBSAI

3.072 Gb/s
1.536 Gb/s
0.768 Gb/s

AFCT-57J7ATPZ 6/7G multirate

1310 nm
DFB Laser

Up to 20 km at 7.3728 Gb/s

CPRI

7.3728 Gb/s
4.9152 Gb/s
2.457 Gb/s
1.229 Gb/s

Up to 20 km at 6.144 Gb/s

OBSAI

6.144 Gb/s
3.072 Gb/s
1.536 Gb/s

AFCT-57J7ATPZ 6/7G multirate

1310 nm
DFB Laser

Up to 40 km at 2.457 Gb/s

CPRI

2.457 Gb/s
3.072 Gb/s

Conclusion

Notes:

The rapid expansion of wireless telecommunications

networks, including cellular phone and data services,
measured either by data volume or bandwidth, means
ber optic transmission technology will be a signicant
part of future systems. Engineers are becoming more
familiar and comfortable with ber solutions. In addition
to lling a niche for more exible network architecture
and usage, several additional advantages arise from the
use of ber connections within Base Station systems, such
as EMI resilience and data security

1. Common Public Radio Interface web: http://cpri.org/

2. Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) :

http://www.obsai.com/obsai

Avago Technologies has a long history of supporting

and enabling data transmission with optical technology.
Compared to copper based solutions, ber technology
is more secure, more exible, lower power and higher
bandwidth.

For product information and a complete list of distributors, please go to our web site:

www.avagotech.com

Avago, Avago Technologies, and the A logo are trademarks of Avago Technologies in the United States and other countries.
Data subject to change. Copyright 2005-2009 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.
AV02-2123EN - October 1, 2009