Nokia AirScale BTS System Module Overview

This course describes the Nokia AirScale BTS System Modules in Release 23R1-SR.

LEAD IN

Before We Start

Learning Objectives

OVER VIEW

Nokia AirScale System Module Overview

PLUG- IN UN ITS

AirScale System Module Common Plug-in Unit

AirScale System Module Capacity Plug-in Unit

COR E UN IT

AirScale System Module Core Unit

SUB - R ACKS AN D CAB IN ETS

 AirScale System Module Sub-rack

LET'S WR AP UP

Knowledge Check

Main Takeaways
Lesson 1 of 9

Before We Start

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C O NT I NU E
Lesson 2 of 9

Learning Objectives

Welcome to the Nokia AirScale LTE BTS Commissioning, Integration and OAM course.

This is the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module Overview module.

After completing this learning module, you will be able to:

1 List the types of Plug-in Units of the AirScale BTS System Module.

2 Describe the main function of each Plug-in Unit type in the AirScale BTS System Module.

3 Describe the hardware variants of each Plug-in Unit type in the AirScale BTS System Module.

4 Describe the Core unit of the AirScale BTS System Module.

5 Describe the sub-racks and cabinets in the AirScale BTS solution.

C O NT I NU E
Lesson 3 of 9

Nokia AirScale System Module Overview

An AirScale BTS LTE consists of a System Module and several Radio Modules.

In this lesson, we will describe the "System Module" of the Nokia AirScale BTS through these topics:

1 Role of the System Module

2 Generic Specification

3 System Module Components

4 Half and Full Sub-rack Configuration

5 AirScale System Module Naming Convention

6 Changes in AirScale Product Naming

Role of the System Module

An AirScale BTS LTE consists of a System Module and several Radio Modules.
What's the role of a "system Module" in an eNodeB?

The System Module basically provides all the needed control and baseband functions for an LTE BTS, as
listed in the figure below.

The role of the system module in Nokia AirScale BTS LTE

 AirScale BTS System Module is a multi-RAT capable HW: 5G, LTE-A pro, FDD LTE, TD-LTE, and
SRAN including WCDMA & GSM.

Generic Specication
How does a System Module look? Please refer to the data given below:

Dimension of AirScale BTS System Module Indoor

3U sub-rack with fans

Ingress Protection = IP 20

Temperature range = -5…+55 °C

Airflow direction interchangeable: front to back, or back to front

W × D × H = 447mm × 400mm × 128mm

Weight:

Minimum 10.1kg ( 1 common PIU + 1 capacity PIU)

Maximum 23.5kg ( 2 common PIUs + 6 capacity PIUs)

PIU = Plug-in Unit

Installation Depth: 400mm + cooling air space 50mm.

 3

System Module Components

What does a System Module consist of?

Nokia AirScale System Module takes a modular approach to building a site to achieve scalable capacity
and superb connectivity. One Nokia AirScale System Module Indoor (AirScale SM Indoor) comprises three
components:

The Common Unit for Control Plane processing

The Capacity Unit for baseband traffic processing, and

The sub-rack to hold the Plug-in Units

Please tap the "+" buttons in the figure below for the function and dimension of each component:


 

Capacity PiU

Each BTS will need one to six AirScale Capacity Plug-in-Units.

These Capacity PiUs provide the BTS capacity of baseband processing. That's why this type is also widely referred
to as the "baseband module".
Besides, the Capacity Unit also provides RF fronthaul connections to the Radio Modules.
 

Common PiU

Each BTS has one or two AirScale Common Plug-in-Unit(s).

The Common Plug-in-Unit is in charge of control processing. It also takes care of the integrated ethernet transport
and interfaces.

Later in this course, we may shortly call this type "Common Unit" or "Common Module".
 

Subrack

Most of the Plug-in Units (PiUs) need to be inserted in a sub-rack or cabinet.

An AirScale indoor sub-rack is 3U high and fits into the standard 19-inch racks.

Each BTS sits in a half or a full sub-rack.

A minimum BTS configuration consists of a half sub-rack, one Common Unit, and one Capacity Unit.

On the other hand, a maximum BTS configuration consists of a full sub-rack, two Common Units, and
six Capacity Units.

 A new variant, the Core Unit, is introduced into the AirScale System Module solution. It is an
integrated unit with the function of both the Common and Capacity PiUs. And it is natively for
the outdoor environment. We will introduce it in a lesson after those for the Common and
Capacity PiUs.
 4

Half and Full Sub-rack Conguration

How is a System Module built up?

As we mentioned, each BTS sits in a half or a full sub-rack. Please find the comparison below for the
explanation of the dimension of the "half sub-rack" and "full sub-rack".

HA L F SU B - RA C K F U L L SU B - RA C K

If we look at an AirScale sub-rack, we can see that each sub-rack has two parallel halves, one left and one
right. We call them the "half sub-racks". Each half sub-rack consists of one slot at the bottom for a
Common Unit and three at the top for one to three Capacity Units.

The backplane connects the Capacity Units with the Common Unit in the same half sub-rack.
So, if a BTS consists of one, two, or three Capacity Units, it will use only one Common Unit, and all these
Plug-in Units will sit in the same half-sub-rack.
In this case, we say that the BTS sits in a half sub-rack.
 HA L F SU B - RA C K F U L L SU B - RA C K

On the other hand, if a BTS needs four, five, or six Capacity Units, it will need the whole sub-rack to hold
these units and two Common Modules, one in each half, to manage the Capacity Units on the same half.

The backplane connects the two Common Units so that they can share transport and synchronization and
manage the site as one single BTS.
In this case, we say that the BTS sits in a full sub-rack.
To summarize:

We can leave one half of the sub-rack empty and use the other half to hold one BTS.

Or we can use the two halves for two separate sites. The two sites may share transport and or
synchronization via the backplane, or they can work independently.

Or, we can use the full sub-rack for a larger capacity. The whole sub-rack is one single site.

Please click the cards below for the illustration of the different configurations supported in one sub-rack:

Half subrack

Two Halves
as two individual SBTSs
 as two individual SBTSs

Full subrack
as one single SBTS

 The pictures show it as fully loaded, but the number of capacity PIUs in each half sub-rack could
be down to one.

AirScale System Module Naming Convention

The naming of the AirScale product family has the following format: A-X-Y-Z.
The example below shows the naming convention of the Nokia AirScale System Module. Please tap the "+"
for the description of each part of the name.



 

First Letter

The first letter indicates the Nokia AirScale product family:

A for AirScale

F for Flexi

U for fALU RRH

 

Second Letter

The second letter indicates the unit type:

B for Baseband Extension Modules

C for Cabinet and Cabinet Accessories

S for System Modules

 

Third Letter

The third letter indicates subrack usage:

I for indoor use

O for outdoor use

 

Fourth Letter

The fourth letter indicates the hardware version, A being the first, B is the second, and so on.
 

Fifth Letter

In some special cases, a fifth letter is added to the name. The fifth letter denotes a market or customer-specific
variant.

Changes in AirScale Product Naming

Nokia has introduced product names for its new generation AirScale Plug-in Units and radio units.

Product Name v.s. Product Specific ID

Each new type of common or capacity Plug-in Unit is named after a wind, for example:

AirScale "Wind"

In this lesson, we described the "System Module" of the Nokia AirScale BTS.

The next lesson will describe the Common Plug-in Unit in the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module.

C O NT I NU E
Lesson 4 of 9

AirScale System Module Common Plug-in Unit

There are two types of Plug-in Units (PiU) in the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module: Common PiU and
Capacity PiU.
In this lesson, we will describe the Common PiU through these topics:

1 Common Plug-in Unit Overview

2 Transport of Common PIU

3 Clock Function / Synchronization of Common PiU

4 Common PiU Variants

5 Reset and Service Buttons

6 AirScale Common PiU Compatibility

Common Plug-in Unit Overview

The Common units provide transport and synchronization, central antenna data routing, and centralized
control for supported radio access technologies (RATs).
An AirScale Common Plug-in Unit occupies the bottom slot of the half sub-rack. A BTS using the "full sub-
rack configuration" will have two Common Units occupying both bottom slots of the two half sub-racks.

AirScale Common PiU

 Till the current release, there are three variants of the Common Unit in Airscale BTS for LTE:

ASIA, introduced in Release LTE16A and SRAN 17A

ASIB, introduced in Release LTE19 and SRAN 19A, and

ASIL, introduced in Release SRAN 21B

2
Transport of Common PIU
The transport interfaces of Common PIU can be used for:

Backhaul connectivity (tail sites)

Aggregation (chain or tree sites)

Redundancy (link load sharing, fast IP rerouting)

Centralized RAN site solutions

Ethernet-based chaining and switching across up to five interfaces.

The layout of the ports on the PiUs will be described respectively.

The table below summarizes the expected transport processing capacity: IPsec Throughput (DL+UL)
(IPv4/IPv6 with multiple SAs) [Gbps].

Configuration ASIA [Gbps] ASIB [Gbps] ASIL [Gbps]

1 x common unit
5.0 7.5 15
Half-rack

2 x common unit
Full-rack, one 5.0 7.5 15
logical BTS

2 x common unit
10 total, 5.0 for 15 total, 7.5 for 30 total, 15 for
Full-rack, two
each BTS each BTS each BTS
separate BTSs

3
Clock Function / Synchronization of Common PIU

To ensure proper operation, accurate synchronization within a single AirScale BTS and between different
AirScale BTSs is implemented. The "control and timing block" in the BTS is responsible for implementing
these functions.

The AirScale System Module supports the following synchronization sources listed in the illustration.

AirScale System Module synchronization sources

Nokia AirScale System Module Holdover Performance

Nokia AirScale System Module provides internal synchronization for a limited time in case external
synchronization is lost. The holdover capabilities are:

Typical holdover performance of +/– 50 ppb for 60 days

Typical holdover performance of +/– 3 μs for 24 hours

 Typical holdover performance of +/– 10 μs for > 24 hours

Here let's pay attention to the conditions of the holdover capabilities.

The BTS has been powered on and supplied with accurate phase synchronization sources for a period of
no less than seven days. During the overall period (including holdover), BTS has been subject to stable
conditions.

Synchronization Hub Function

Synchronization of BTS Ethernet and PDH line interfaces or signals at the SYNCOUT interface
(2.048MHz / 1PPS) can be derived from any synchronization source.

Highly precise OCXO stabilizes synchronization in the presence and absence of selected
synchronization sources.

Synchronization Hub Function

 4

Common PiU Variants

There are several variants of Common Plug-in Units available now in the
SRAN/LTE solution (pure 5G variants are not listed here): ASIA, ASIB, and ASIL.

Let's take a look at their general characteristics, and introduce each variant respectively.

Property ASIA ASIB ASIL

Nokia product
473095A 473764A 474767A
code

Ingress protection
IP20
class

Dimensions
48 mm x 219 mm x 377 mm
(height x width x
(1.89 x 8.62 x 14.84 in.)
depth)

Weight (without
3.1 kg (6.83 lb) 2.9 kg (6.39 lb) 3.1 kg (6.83 lb)
packaging)

Typical power
consumption at 65W 73W 112W
25°C (77°F)

Nominal supply
-48 V DC
voltage
 Property ASIA ASIB ASIL

Nominal input
–40.5 V DC to –57.0 V DC
voltage range

ASIA
Please switch among the tabs to find its details.

G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

High Capacity Common Unit for multi RATs: GSM, WCDMA, LTE FDD, and TD-LTE

Compatible with indoor and outdoor sub-rack

Enabler for full Resiliency dual common units operation

SM chaining supported

G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

 Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow:
–5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F) for ASIA A.101 unit variant
–5°C to 60°C (23°F to 140°F) for ASIA A.202 or newer unit variant

Back-to-front airflow:
–5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

ASIA Module provides Connectivity to:

Transport (EIF)

External System Module Extension: AirScale SM Subrack (SEI)

ASIB
ASIB is prepared to support next-generation capacity extension cards (e.g. ABIC, ABIO/N).
Please switch among the tabs to find more details.

G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

High Capacity Common Unit for 5RATs: GSM, WCDMA, LTE FDD, TD-LTE, and 5G

Increased processing power ( >50% more than ASIA) to enable high performance from the
hardware point of view
 G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow: –5°C to 60°C (23°F to 140°F)

Back-to-front airflow: –5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

ASIB Module provides Connectivity to:

Transport (EIF)

External System Module Extension: AirScale SM Subrack (SEI)

ASIL
ASIL is the 3rd generation of AirScale Common Card, providing high capacity for AirScale gNB and SBTS.

G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

High Capacity Multi RAT Common Unit: GSM, WCDMA, LTE, and 5G
 G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow: –5°C to 60°C (23°F to 140°F)

Back-to-front airflow: –5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

 G E NE RA L I DE A PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L

ASIL Module provides Connectivity to:

3x SFP28 (1/10/25GE) EIF

1x RJ45 (1/2.5/5/10GE) EIF

2x QSFP+ (4x10GE) for System Extension Interface

3x HDMI (Sync IN/OUT, Ext. Alarms & Controls)

RJ45 (LMP – Local Management Port)

Reset and Service Buttons

How to Use the Reset & Service Buttons?
 The reset button can be used to restart the unit, to clear local account and configuration data.

The service button can be used to reboot the unit into the diagnostic and recovery partition
(D&RSW) that implements the failsafe boot concept.

Please tap the "+" in the picture below for more details.

 
 

RESET

Quick press to hard reset system module

With "Quick press" of reset button system module performs full hard reset which is restarting ASIA and
baseband modules entirely. BTS configuration is not cleared.

Long press (>5s) to remove configuration data

The "Long press" of reset button can recover the system module by clearing the configuration files.
Commissioning data is cleared also on the passive partition. BTS local account settings (such as
‘Nemuadmin’) and service account settings (toor4nsn) are not changed by the reset procedure.
 

SERVICE

To enable SW upgrade to RAT SW and to put it in non-commissioned state

To verify if system module is completely faulty
Once the service button is pressed and released:

Common PIU performs a soft restart with partial boot sequence;

Status LED is turned RED momentarily;

Module will boot up from failsafe partition running D&RSW (Diagnostic and Recovery SW);

Customer certificates are not available in failsafe partition;

Configuration data is not cleared in normal partitions.

The photo above shows the buttons on ASIA. For the buttons on ASIB and ASIL, please see the carousel
below:
 ASIB Reset and Service buttons (Wipe to see them for ASIL.)

ASIL Reset and Service buttons (Wipe to see them for ASIB.)

AirScale Common PiU Compatibility

Compatible common Plug-in Units can operate in the same sub-rack. The possible combinations are listed
in the table below.
 AirScale Common PiU Compatibility

In this lesson, we described the Common Plug-in Units in Nokia AirScale BTS System Module.

The next lesson will describe the Capacity Plug-in Units.

C O NT I NU E
Lesson 5 of 9

AirScale System Module Capacity Plug-in Unit

We know there are two types of Plug-in Units in the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module: Common Plug-in
Unit and Capacity Plug-in Unit.

In this lesson, we will describe the Capacity Plug-in Unit in Nokia AirScale BTS System Module through these
topics:

1 AirScale Capacity PiU Overview

2 ABIA

3 ABIC

4 ABIO

5 ABIN

6 AirScale Capacity PiU Compatibility

AirScale Capacity PiU Overview

Nokia AirScale System Module Capacity Plug-in Unit (PiU) provides the function of

Cell-specific baseband processing, and

Optical interfaces to radio units

An AirScale BTS may have:

One to three Capacity Plug-in Units in a half sub-rack

configuration, or

Four to six units in a full sub-rack configuration

General Characteristics
There are several variants of Capacity Plug-in Units available now in the
SRAN/LTE solution (those for pure 5G not listed):

ABIA, since LTE16A / SRAN17A;

ABIC, since LTE19B;

ABIO/ABIN, since SRAN21A.

We will take a look at their general characteristics, and introduce each variant respectively.
 Property ABIA ABIC ABIO ABIN

475266A, 474824A,
Nokia product code 473096A 474723A
475266B 474824B

Ingress protection
IP20
class

Dimensions
25 mm x 219 mm x 364 mm
(height x width x
(0.98 in. x 8.62 in. x 14.33 in.)
depth)

Weight (without 2.1 kg (4.6 2.65 kg (5.84 2.65 kg (5.84 2.1 kg (4.6
packaging) lb) lb) lb) lb)

Typical power 100 W (CPRI)

consumption at 96W 130 W 149 W 107W
25°C (77°F) (eCPRI)

Nominal supply
-48 V DC
voltage

Nominal input
–40.5 V DC to –57.0 V DC
voltage range

ABIA
The ABIA Capacity Plug-in Unit supports the Radio Access Technologies (RATs) of GSM, WCDMA, and LTE.
Please switch among the tabs to find more details on the ABIA Capacity Plug-in Unit.

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L C A PA C I TY

Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow: –5°C to 60°C (23°F to 140°F)

Back-to-front airflow: –5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L C A PA C I TY

RF Module connectivity provides 6 × OBSAI/CPRI up to 9.8 Gbps.

The first three of the six CPRI interfaces support IQ compression.

 PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S C O NNE C TO RS O N F RO NT PA NE L C A PA C I TY

Baseband capacity for ABIA:

ABIC
ABIC Capacity Plug-in Unit handles 4G TDD mMIMO cells.

Please switch among the tabs to find more details on the ABIC Capacity Plug-in Unit.
 PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow: –5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

Back-to-front airflow: –5°C to 50°C (23°F to 122°F)

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

Since the SRAN20C release, the connection of SFP+/SFP28 fronthaul transceivers to any of RF1-RF9
ports allows using the following protocols:

eCPRI: 25GE (only by SFP28 transceiver) or 10GE

CPRI: 9.8, 4.9, or 2.5 Gbps

 PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

Baseband capacity of ABIC:

 4

ABIO
The Capacity PiUs ABIO operates with LTE, NR, and LTE-NR concurrent mode.

Please switch among the tabs to find more details on the ABIO Capacity Plug-in Unit.

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

 Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow: –5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

Back-to-front airflow: –5°C to 50°C (23°F to 122°F)

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

ABIO provides nine SPF28 fronthaul interfaces supporting eCPRI 10/25GE (10/25G BASE-SR/LR/ER). Of
these nine ports, eight are capable of

CPRI line rates 2.4G/4.9G/9.8G with IQ compression

OBSAI 6.14 Gbps

In ABIO BB PIU, the two SoCs (represented by BB Pool #1 and #2) are equal in terms of baseband
resources.
However, they have different numbers of fronthaul RF ports associated.

Radio Units connected to ABIO's RF 1-6 ports are served by SoC #1, and

Radio Units connected to ports RF 7-9 are served by SoC #2.

 PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

Baseband capacity of ABIO:

ABIO Concurrent Mode
From the 22R1 release, 4G and 5G technologies can be deployed in a single ABIO card. This is called ABIO
concurrent mode.

Since 22R3-SR, the following RAT combinations are supported with ABIO concurrent mode:

ABIO Concurrent mode

ABIN
The Capacity PiUs ABIN operates with LTE, NR, and LTE-NR concurrent mode.

 The Capacity PiUs ABIO and ABIN have the same physical dimension and front pane layout.
Their major physical difference may be:

ABIO BB PIU has 2 × ReefShark ® Technology System on Chips (SoCs).

ABIN BB PIU has 1 × ReefShark ® Technology System on Chip (SoC).

Please switch among the tabs to find more details on the ABIN Capacity Plug-in Unit.

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

Operational Temperature Range:

Front-to-back airflow: –5°C to 55°C (23°F to 131°F)

Back-to-front airflow: –5°C to 50°C (23°F to 122°F)

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

ABIN provides nine SPF28 fronthaul interfaces supporting eCPRI 10/25GE (10/25G BASE-SR/LR/ER). Of
these nine ports, eight are capable of

CPRI line rates 2.4G/4.9G/9.8G with IQ compression

 OBSAI 6.14 Gbps

PHY SI C A L ATTRI B U TE S RF PO RTS C A PA C I TY

Baseband capacity of ABIN:

ABIN Concurrent Mode
In 23R1-SR, the following RAT combination is supported with ABIN concurrent mode:

ABIN concurrent mode

ABIN is recognized as BB PiU with one BB Pool. This BB Pool of ABIN can process cells from two RAT.

AirScale Capacity PiU Compatibility

The possible interworking (for LTE) between a Common PiU and a Capacity PiU is listed below.
 Compability among AirScale Common and Capacity PiUs

In this lesson, we described the Capacity Plug-in Unit in Nokia AirScale BTS System Module.

The next lesson will introduce a new variant, the Core unit, of the AirScale System Module solution.

C O NT I NU E
Lesson 6 of 9

AirScale System Module Core Unit

In addition to the Common and Capaticy Plug-in Units, a new variant, the Core Unit, is introduced with
common and capacity functions.

This lesson will describe the Core Unit, ASOE, with the following topics:

1 Integrated Function

2 Location and Installation

3 ASOE Interfaces

4 ASOE CapacityASOE Capacity

5 ASOE Concurrent Mode

6 ASOE Reset and Service Buttons

Integrated Function
ASOE is a fully integrated, dual RAT (LTE/NR) Core Unit with common and capacity functions. It covers all
the system module functions, including:

Baseband processing and decentralized control

Transport control, integrated Ethernet ports, and IPv4/IPv6 and IPSec transport

BTS clock and timing generation and distribution

BTS operation and maintenance

Central radio interface control

OBSAI, CPRI, or eCPRI-compatible interfaces to Radio Units

ASOE covers all System Module functions for both Common and Capacity processing

2
Location and Installation
ASOE is natively an outdoor unit for challenging sites when equipped with AMJA outdoor cable entry, but
can also be used in indoor environments. Its compact size and light weight make ASOE easy to carry,
handle, and install.

A SO E C O RE U NI T W I TH A MJA C A B L E E NTRY

W x H x D= 482.5mm (19” rack) x 43.5mm x 365.0mm

(482.5 mm including brackets installation in 19’’ rack, 440.0 mm body width without brackets)

Weight: 7.5Kg

Ingress protection: IP20

Operational Temperature Range:

-40°C to +55°C (front-to-back airflow, default)

-40°C to +50°C (back-to-front airflow)

Supply Voltage / Voltage Range:

Nominal -48VDC (start-up from -40.5 and extended operation from 36 VDC to 60VDC)

Power consumption:

Maximum power consumption 339W

Typical power consumption 200W at +25°C

(With NR FR1 eCPRI TDD 100MHz 8DL/4UL x 6 cells, 6x SFP28 for fronthaul, 1x SFP28 for
backhaul, no power to GPS, front to back airflow, linear fan profile)

Mounting options and compatibility:

In 3U Casing

19’’ rack or cabinet

Wall (Additional support kits might be needed to support the installation. Wall installation can
only be supported in 3U casing)
 A SO E C O RE U NI T W I TH A MJA C A B L E E NTRY

W x H x D= 482.5mm (19” rack) x 50.0 mm x 463.0mm with outdoor cable entry AMJA (98mm in
depth)
(482.5 mm including brackets installation in 19’’ rack, 440.0 mm body width without brackets)
(50.0 mm including the outdoor cable entry height)

Weight: 9.5 Kg with outdoor cable entry AMJA (98 mm in depth)

Ingress protection: IP55

Operational Temperature Range:

-40°C to +55°C (front-to-back airflow, default, without solar load)

-40°C to +50°C (back-to-front airflow, without solar load)

Temperature range = -40 to +45 °C (with solar load)

 Mounting options and compatibility:

In 3U Casing

19’’ rack or cabinet

Wall (Additional support kits might be needed to support the installation. Wall installation can
only be supported in 3U casing)

ASOE Interfaces
Please refer to the figure and table below for the external connectors of ASOE.
 ASOE interfaces

 Second Core Unit can be added and connected for increased capacity. ASOE capacity might be
increased by chaining with a second ASOE unit. Chaining is available with the following
interfaces:

OBSAI (3 Gbit/s or 6 Gbit/s), CPRI (4.9 or 9.8 Gbit/s) or eCPRI (10GE or 25GE)

25GE or 10GE System Extension Interface (SEI)

Synchronization input/output (SIN, SOUT)

ASOE Capacity
How much is the ASOE capacity for LTE FDD and TDD? Please find the answer below:
 F DD TDD

Up to 12 wideband cells are supported per BB pool (1/2 ASOE).

The following wideband cell configurations are supported on AirScale Core ASOE within a Cell Set
(1/2 of ASOE resources).

Note:

Lower carrier bandwidths are supported with the same BB cell sets.

Carrier bandwidth can be mixed freely in the same baseband cell set. The maximum cell amount is
based on the biggest band with cell dimensioning rules.

Different cells with different Rx and Tx ports cell setups can be mixed freely in the same base block.

F DD TDD

Up to 6 wideband cells are supported per BB pool (1/2 ASOE).

The following wideband cell configurations are supported on AirScale core ASOE within a Cell Set
(1/2 of ASOE resources).

Note:
 1* 4Tx4Rx 10/15/20MHz cell can be replaced by 1* 2Tx2R 10/15/20MHz.

ASOE Concurrent Mode

ASOE BB PiU is equipped with two BB Pools. One BB Pool of ASOE can process cells from one RAT. Those
cells have to be of one type of duplex (TDD, FDD) and one FH protocol type.

ASOE concurrent mode

Since 22R3-SR, one RAT combination is supported with ASOE concurrent mode:

LTE-FDD + NR-FDD
 6

ASOE Reset and Service Buttons

Similar to the Common and Capacity PiUs, ASOE carries the buttons "Reset" and "Service":

The "Reset" button can be used to restart the unit, to clear local account and configuration data.

The "Service" button can be used to reboot the unit into the diagnostic and recovery partition
(D&RSW) that implements the failsafe boot concept.

Please tap the "+" in the picture below for more details.


 

Reset

Reboot to active partition software (nominal software)

Pressing the reset button for less than five seconds takes no changes in configuration.

Pressing the reset button for more than five seconds:

Commissioning data is cleared,

Security certificates are maintained,

Recommissioning is needed.
 

Service

Pressing the service button results in a reset of ASOE and therefore of the base station. ASOE reboots to a
fail-safe software (fail-safe boot).

The fail-safe boot mode allows ASOE to boot when the nominal SW of the unit is corrupted.

This lesson introduced the Core Unit, ASOE, of the AirScale System Module solution.

The next lesson will describe the sub-racks of the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module.

C O NT I NU E
Lesson 7 of 9

AirScale System Module Sub-rack

This lesson will describe the sub-racks of the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module through these topics:

1 Sub-rack Overview

2 Structure of Sub-racks

3 Data via the Backplane Connection

4 AirScale Subrack Variants

Sub-rack Overview
AirScale sub-racks accommodate the Common and Capacity Plug-in-Units and provide the following
function:

Power distribution through the backplane

Interconnections between the plug-in units through the backplane

Cooling systems

Heaters for cold start from -40°C (-40°F) in outdoor sub-racks

Indoor and Outdoor installations share common SW and BTS configurations with full feature and
configuration parity.

Indoor and Outdoor Sub-racks

Structure of Sub-racks
 Slots in a sub-rack

Common and Capacity Plug-in Units are accommodated in the specific slots and in the specific order:

C-slots for Common plug-in units

B-slots for Capacity plug-in units

Slots are used in a specific order from bottom to top.

Two half sub-racks may be one single BTS or two separate entities, for example, LTE eNB and 5G gNB in
each sub-rack half.
 3

Data via Backplane Connection

The "Backplane Interfaces for Subrack Sharing" function supports backhaul and synchronization data
through the backplane. It provides the following benefits:

More interfaces are available for backhaul traffic aggregation.

No backhaul interface and synchronization cabling are needed between the left and the right side of
the AirScale sub-rack.

Only one synchronization source is needed for both halves of the sub-rack.

The details of the two data types over the backplane are described below:

SY NC HRO NI ZATI O N B A C KHA U L

Synchronization Over the Backplane

Nokia AirScale System Module Common Plug-in Units can communicate through the control and timing
block, then through the backplane synch links - pulse per second/Time-of-Day (pps/ToD). Common PiU
configurations require that synchronization signals are propagated from one half to the second half.

Depending on the synchronization mode and the availability of sync sources, the BTS can generate an
output of 1pps/ToD per chain from the following synchronization inputs:

1PPS and ToD Sync from Sync Hub Master

1PPS and ToD Sync from External GNSS receiver

Timing over Packet (ToP) with Frequency Synchronization

ToP with Phase Synchronization

Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE)

BTS clock during holdover/free run

 SY NC HRO NI ZATI O N B A C KHA U L

Backhaul Support Over the Backplane

For backhaul, Nokia AirScale System Module Common Plug-in Units can communicate through the
integrated Ethernet switch, then through 10GE transmission links over the backplane.
Traffic that may go through the backplane:

C/M-plane

U-plane

S-plane

X2 interface

Any other traffic subject to chaining

The backhaul bandwidth is shared amongst two BTSs when connected through the backplane.
 4

AirScale Subrack Variants

There are several variants available now in SRAN/LTE solution:

AMIA, since LTE16A/SRAN17A

AMOB, since LTE17A/SRAN17A

AMOD, since LTE19/SRAN19

ACOC, since SRAN21A

Let's take a look at each respectively.

A MI A A MO B A MO D A COC

Ingress protection: IP20

 H × W × D = 129 mm × 447 mm × 400 mm (5.08 × 17.60 × 15.75 in.)

Height: 3U

Weight: empty 5.1 kg (11.2 lb), full 23.9 kg (52.7 lb)

Installation options: Pole, wall, floor, stack, 19-inch rack/cabinet

Airflow direction: Front to back (default), Back to front

A MI A A MO B A MO D A COC

AMOB enables installing the Indoor Plug-In-Units in similar outdoor locations.

Ingress protection: IP55

H × W × D = 355 mm × 487 mm × 605 mm (13.98 × 19.17 × 23.82 in.)

Height: 8U

Weight: empty 23 kg (50.7 lb), full 41.8 kg (92.2 lb)

Installation options: Pole, wall, floor, stack, 19-inch rack/cabinet

Airflow direction: Back to front (default), Front to back

A MI A A MO B A MO D A COC

Ingress protection: IP55

H × W × D = 488 mm × 487 mm × 665 mm (19.21 × 19.17 × 26.18 in.)

Height: 11U

Weight: empty 37.5 kg (82.7 lb), full 56.3 kg (124.1 lb)

Installation options: Pole, wall, floor, stack

Airflow direction: bottom to back

A MI A A MO B A MO D A COC

H × W × D = 425.5 mm × 620 mm × 598 mm

Weight: 35kg (~42Kg with AMIA)

Ingress Protection: IP55

Temperature:

Operation: -40℃ to 50℃

Installation: -20℃ to 55℃

Airflow Direction: Front to Back

Supply voltage range

Nominal: -40.5 to -57 V DC

Extended: -36 to -60 V DC

Power consumption

Theoretical power consumption: ~100 W

Cold start: ~600 W (with heater)

Installation options: Pole, Wall, Floor stand and stack, 19-inch rack, Specific customer rack
In this lesson, we described the sub-racks of the Nokia AirScale BTS System Module.

Please move on to take the knowledge Check.

C O NT I NU E
Lesson 8 of 9

Knowledge Check
Question

01/06

Please pick out three types of components to build up an AirScale BTS System Module.
They are ( ).

Common Plug-in Unit

Timing & Control Block

Capacity Plug-in Unit

Mounting Kit

Transport Terminator Block

Question

02/06

Please pick out the functions of an AirScale Common Plug-in Unit.

Ethernet transport Termination

Clock and control functions

Centralized control processing

LTE and NR user plane traffic processing

Centralized antenna data routing

Question

03/06

Since 23R1-SR, the ABIN Capacity PiU supports the concurrent mode of ( ).

LTE FDD + LTE TDD

LTE FDD + NR FDD

LTE TDD + NR TDD

NR FDD + NR FDD
Question

04/06

The AMIA backplane is capable to exchange ( ) between the two halves of the sub-rack.

power

backhaul traffic

fronthaul traffic

synchronization signals
Question

05/06

Suppose a BTS is using the Common Unit ASIB. What could be its Capacity Units? (Please
pick all that apply.)

ABIA

ABIC

ABIO

ABIN
Question

06/06

The ASOE Core Unit can be used in an outdoor enviroment when equipped with( )
outdoor cable entry

AMIA

AMOD

AMJA

AMOD
Lesson 9 of 9

Main Takeaways

What are the key takeaways of this course?

The System Module basically provides all the needed control and baseband functions for an
LTE BTS.

The Common Plug-in Unit(PiU) provides transport and synchronization, central antenna data
routing, and centralized control for supported radio access technologies (RATs).

The Capacity Plug-in-Unit (PiU) provides the function of cell-specific baseband processing
and optical interfaces to radio units.

ASOE, the Core Unit, is a low-power consumption, fully integrated, dual RAT (LTE/NR) core
unit with common and capacity functions.

Indoor and outdoor sub-racks accommodate plug-in units and provide interconnectivity,
power distribution, and temperature management.

Find attached a printable of the content covered in this course.

This concludes your current training module.

Thank you for attending this course.

Check out [Link] for more.