Problem:

Every cell site needs a reliable routed connection back to the core network, along with accurate timing for TDD 5G to work properly. With proprietary cell site routers, operators are often tied to one vendor for both the hardware and routing software. This makes network upgrades more difficult because changing one can require replacing the other across thousands of sites.

Solution:

This solution provides temperature-hardened cell site routing on open hardware, allowing the network operating system and hardware to be purchased and upgraded separately. Built-in SyncE and IEEE 1588v2 provide accurate timing directly from the silicon, while grandmaster clocks can support multiple PTP profiles at the same time. This makes it easier to modernize the network gradually without replacing the entire cell site infrastructure at once.

Description:

The Cell Site Transport & Timing Solution is built for mobile operators modernizing their cell sites who need two things at every location a routed path back to the core, and an accurate time reference without locking themselves to a single vendor for both the hardware and the routing software. Designed for TDD 5G, where the network simply will not operate correctly without precise phase synchronization, this Solution delivers temperature-hardened cell site routing on open hardware with the network operating system procured separately, so the box and the software can be refreshed on independent cycles across thousands of sites.

Built around the Edgecore CSR300 open cell site router, the Solution carries subscriber backhaul to the core while doubling as the site's timing hub. Built on open hardware with 300G of capacity and 25G to the radio, the CSR300 runs the operator's chosen network OS rather than a locked, vendor-proprietary stack so a refresh of the routing software no longer forces a refresh of the hardware, or vice versa. Because timing is handled in silicon with SyncE and IEEE 1588v2, the same box that routes traffic also distributes frequency and phase down to the radio, acting as a PTP boundary clock at the edge of the site.

Time itself is generated by a Meinberg LANTIME M1000 grandmaster clock. With a built-in GNSS receiver, it locks to satellite UTC and produces both PTP (IEEE 1588v2) phase and SyncE frequency, running multiple PTP profiles G.8275.1 and G.8275.2 concurrently. That multi-profile capability is what makes it suited to a part-modernized network, where some paths have full timing support and others only partial, and both must be served from one source at the same time. The grandmaster feeds the cell site router, and the router re-stamps and passes timing onward to the radio.

The reason both devices are needed is that they do different jobs: the grandmaster creates time from GNSS, and the router carries it and carries the data. Without accurate phase, adjacent TDD 5G cells transmit and receive at slightly different moments and interfere with each other at their boundaries, degrading capacity and user experience. The GNSS antenna ships with the grandmaster; the radio and the mobile core remain the operator's, as does the network OS licensed onto the open router. The result is a clean, vendor-neutral cell site edge: open routing hardware refreshed independently of its software, and a multi-profile timing source accurate enough to keep TDD 5G running across a network that is only partly modernized.

Features

• Routing and timing in one path the CSR300 carry backhaul to the core and distributes SyncE + PTP to the radio from the same box
• Open cell site router network OS procured separately, so hardware and routing software refresh on independent cycles
• No vendor lock-in open hardware breaks the proprietary tie between cell site router hardware and its routing stack
• Timing in silicon SyncE for frequency and IEEE 1588v2 (PTP) for phase, handled in hardware, not software emulation
• Multi-profile grandmaster LANTIME M1000 runs G.8275.1 and G.8275.2 concurrently for part-modernized networks
• GNSS-locked time source built-in GNSS receiver derives UTC directly from satellite, antenna supplied with the grandmaster
• PTP boundary clock at the edge the router re-stamps and forwards phase and frequency down to the radio
• Built for TDD 5G delivers the sub-microsecond phase accuracy that prevents adjacent-cell interference
• Temperature-hardened cell site router rated for uncontrolled outdoor cabinets and site enclosures
• Clean layer separation Solution supplies the router and grandmaster; radio, mobile core and NOS remain the operator's

Specifications

Ideal For

Mobile operators rolling out or modernizing TDD 5G cell sites that require precise phase synchronization, networks moving away from proprietary cell site routers toward open hardware with a separately-licensed NOS, part-modernized transport networks that must serve multiple PTP profiles from one timing source, aggregating cell sites needing both high-capacity backhaul and an on-site grandmaster, and any operator seeking to refresh cell site routing hardware and routing software on independent cycles rather than being tied to a single vendor for both.