As 5G services develop and 5G is deeply applied in B2B scenarios, traditional base station cannot meet the requirements of flexible movement, low delay, and flexible deployment in special scenarios. In response to these requirements, ZTE has reconstructed and upgraded the traditional base stations from three aspects: base station backhaul, traffic offloading, and auxiliary system, and has developed CampSite with high network, cloud and service integration, low cost and flexible deployment.
Application Scenarios
The main application scenarios of CampSite include emergency communication, e-sports competition, mine communication, B2B service demo and smart construction site.
—Emergency communication: After natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, typhoons and landslides, the original power supply, backhaul and wireless communication equipment are damaged and communications are broken down. CampSite can quickly restore the mobile communications system. In addition, while meeting the needs of public network communication, NodeEngine can be chosen to connect the local emergency commard system and send large-capacity images and videos to it. This not only ensures the security of emergency command data, but also saves backhaul bandwidth of the Donor gNB.
—E-sports competition: CampSite can be temporarily deployed at the competition venue, and NodeEngine is connected to the server used for competition. This can meet the requirements of large capacity and low latency in the e-sports competition.
—Mine communication: Geographical environments and services of the mine are diverse. The data related to vehicle scheduling, equipment data collection and video monitoring can be transmitted to the local server via NodeEngine. This reduces time delay and the requirement for backhaul bandwidth. Moreover, B2C users can access the internet via CampSite.
—B2B service demo: CampSite can be deployed in the enterprise for exploring 5G private services, and NodeEngine can be used to connect to the application server to study the specific 5G B2B application via a 5G live network.
—Smart construction site: CampSite is deployed at the construction site, and NodeEngine is connected to the local video monitoring system and remote control platform. The video monitoring system can detect dust, noise and running status of engineering vehicles in real time and identify violations such as not wearing helmets. Unmanned vehicles can be operated remotely to ensure the safety of personnel.
CampSite Solution
CampSite reconstructs traditional base stations in terms of backhaul, local offloading and auxiliary system. The CampSite solution has a flexible backhaul solution and local offloading capability to meet the needs of users for low latency and no data out of the campus. CampSite also has flexible auxiliary system and is easy to move and deploy.
CampSite can provide services for both B2C and B2B users. B2C users can access the Internet via CampSite and the core network, while B2B users access the local server via CampSite and NodeEngine. The data flow of B2B users is locally offloaded, which reduces the latency while ensuring data security.
CampSite consists of four parts: wireless module, backhaul module, local offloading module and auxiliary system, as shown in Fig. 1.
Wireless Solution
Wireless module include baseband and RF units. The baseband unit is a general-purpose device. The RF unit can be flexibly configured with iMacro or Qcell according to the status of donor gNB and the location of CampSite deployment. It should be noted that when CPE relay is used for backhaul, the donor gNB and CampSite need to adopt inter-frequency networking to avoid serious interference.
Backhaul Solution
CampSite can adopt multiple backhaul solutions, such as fiber backhaul, Internet backhaul, CPE relay backhaul and satellite backhaul. Fiber backhaul and satellite backhaul are general backhaul solutions.
The 3GPP defines integrated access and backhaul (IAB) in R16. However, IAB is based on the physical separation of centralized unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) and provides wireless backhaul between CU and DU via the F1 interface. This involves software changes and addtional new hardware, and the industrial chain is not yet mature. Currently, the CPE relay backhaul solution is adopted, with outdoor CPE used as backhaul equipment and a relay gateway (GW) deployed at the network side. A virtual private network (VPN) tunnel with the relay gateway is established at the CampSite side. The data among CPE, donor gNB and relay gateway is encapsulated in the VPN tunnel for transmission. The equipment that initiates the VPN tunnel establishment at the CampSite side can be CPE, CampSite or dedicated router. They build VPN tunnels on the same principle, and each has its own advantages.
The Internet backhaul solution is the same as CPE relay in backhaul principle. The establishment of VPN tunnels can be initiated via CampSite or dedicated router. When CampSite is deployed, different backhaul solutions are selected according to the actual scenario and onsite backhaul conditions. The wired backhaul is a preferred choice.
Local Offloading Solution
The NodeEngine solution means inserting a computing board into the baseband unit (BBU) slot, and moving the local offloading function to CampSite to meet user needs for low latency and no data out of the campuse. At the same time, the computing and cloud platforms can also be integrated to meet the needs of capability developmen and local application deployment. NodeEngine has the advantages of low latency, local traffic offloading, plug-and-play, fast deployment, and on-demand expansion and co-sited O&M.
The computing power is moved to CampSite, and CampSite becomes the anchor point of data transmission. NodeEngine communicates with the application UE via the air interface, and interacts with the application server via the private network. With its unique ultra-low latency feature, NodeEngine can meet the service needs of low-latency interaction, remote control and video transmission. It can also provide B2B users with portal-level applications and differentiated 5G network QoS guarantee for different applications through visual management.
Auxiliary Solution
The traditional auxiliary system cannot meet the requirements of CampSite mobility and flexible deployment, so it needs to be reconstructed. The CampSite auxiliary solution highly integrates the outdoor cabinet, backhaul equipment, mobile vehicle and lifter, which saves space and is flexible to be applied and deployed.
Both main communication equipment and batteries can be installed in the outdoor cabinet, which can meet the need of power supply without alternating current (AC). In addition to its own moving wheels, the mobile vehicle also has its own stable legs. It can resist level-5 wind without fixing the foundation ground. The lifter is made of aluminum alloy and supports the automatic/manual lifting system. The maximum lifting height can be six meters to ensure the antenna is high enough to meet the requirements of network coverage and CPE backhaul.
CampSite with high network, cloud and service integration has a wide range of application scenarios. With the combination of 5G and B2B services, CampSite will be used in more fields.
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