Mar 21, 2019

Editor’s Note: This content is contributed by Faisal Dada, Principal Architect & Director Strategic Marketing, Transport & Access Communications

The past few weeks have been very busy for the Xilinx Wired and Wireless Communications Group with demonstrations at both Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC). The solutions covered all three major components of the 5G network infrastructure, including RAN, baseband acceleration, and the converged access network. For the latter component, which is key to a cost-effective 5G build out and services delivery, Xilinx presented its adaptable, intelligent vision for the design of converged xHaul gateways.

Due to the programmability of Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGAs, these gateways can serve multiple functions and enable several services to be carried across a single interface such as Ethernet, FlexE, and Optical Transport Network (OTN). They can also support high-speed interfaces like 100GE, for example, using 100GE LR4 optics that have been commoditized by web-scale data centers to optimize transport costs.

Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGAs provide the path to a single converged gateway function for service providers looking to save cost and add significant flexibility to their evolving 4G and 5G access networks.

• RoE (Radio over Ethernet) for structure-agnostic common public radio interface (CPRI) transport with LCA mode saving 20% bandwidth compared to others
• TSN (Time Sensitive Networking) with pre-emption for express traffic
• High precision sub-ns accurate timestamp for IEEE Std 1588

Xilinx also provides the path to virtualize baseband processing for existing radios.

• Virtual broadband base unit (vBBU) for LTE with an optional 7.2x split as defined by Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) – O-DU for 4G LTE
• LO PHY processing in the transport box closer to the 4G LTE radios
• Reduced network capacity while maintaining existing radio infrastructure

For more information about the Xilinx converged xHaul gateway solution, watch the demonstration video below. This demo shows 4G and 5G coexisting with both CPRI and eCPRI/RoE transport on the converged access network, while highlighting controlled latency utilizing TSN with IEEE Std 802.1CM for optimal network design. Network slicing is also highlighted in this demonstration with hard demarcation of services and fixed latency transport.