Presentation held by Mr. Maciej Muzalewski-VECTOR Company as a part of the WINS ICT Call7 Session at the 8th SEEITA and 7th MASIT Open Days Conference, 14th-15th October, 2010

1. Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks
ReDeSign – FP7 Project for Cable Industry
Maciej Muzalewski
Business Development Director

2. Project Consortium
• Research project funded by the European Commission under
the 7th Framework Program (FP7)
• Partnership between
– Manufacturers:
• Alcatel-Lucent (B)
• VECTOR (PL)
• BLANKOM Digital (D)
– Operators
• Zon TV Cabo (P)
• Telenet (B) (2008 only)
• ANGA (D)
– Research institutes
• TU Braunschweig (D)
• TNO (NL)
• Timing: January 2008 – June 2010
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

3. Cooperation and Liaison Partners
• Close cooperation with European Cable operators
– Detailed questionnaire on future development of services
and technical requirements with responses from 1/3
operators
– 5 Operators’ Forum meetings with MSOs representing
more than 50% of subscribers in Europe participating
• Close alignment with standardisation processes
– Formal liaisons with DVB, CENELEC and SCTE Europe
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

4. 6 Reference architectures describe the
European cable landscape
• In terms of subscribers, the cable landscape in Europe is
dominated by networks with relatively large fibre nodes and
tree-and-branch or hybrid access networks
Reference architectures by # operators Reference architectures by # subscribers
Larger nodes, tree-and-branch Larger nodes, star Smaller nodes, hybrid
Larger nodes, hybrid Smaller nodes, tree-and-branch Smaller nodes, star
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

5. Capacity shortages will occur earlier in
networks with larger fibre nodes
Average DS Bandwidth evolution: Large fibre nodes
8000
Bandwidth / coax segment [Mbps]
7000
6000 Internet
VoIP
5000 DS Bandwidth till 862 MHz VOD HD
VOD SD
4000 DS Bandwidth till 650 MHz SDV HDTV
SDV SD TV
3000 DS Bandwidth till 550 MHz
Digital HD TV
Digital SD TV
2000
Analogue TV
1000
0
2008 2009 - 2010 2011 - 2013 2014 - 2018
Time
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

6. Looking at the short term, new modulation
technologies are generally preferred
Not relevant Highly relevant
Network segmentation
DVB-C2
Statistical multiplexing
QAM sharing
Analogue switch off Relatively
Switching (SDV) expensive and
Extensions to1 GHz longer term
Extensions beyond1 GHz upgrading
process
More bandwidth per user
More efficient usage of available bandwidth
More efficient usage of available channels
Increasing the available bandwidth in the network
Operator preferences with respect to upgrading technologies
(emerging from reseach carried out by ReDeSign among European cable operators)
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

7. Higher modulation level requires better C/N
Source : Christoph Schaaf, KDG New Technologies,
Chairman DVB TM-C2
2nd ReDeSign Operator Forum, Status DVB-C2 project
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

8. Higher output level to allow for more
efficient modulation schemes
• To reach required better C/N ratio
+ 12dB
+ 6dB PAL
Backoff system
0dB level
65536
QAM
-12dB - 6dB - 6dB 16348
DVB-C2
4096 QAM
QAM DVB-C2
256 1024 DVB-C2
64 QAM QAM
QAM DVB-C DVB-C2
DVB-C
Noise and intermodulation floor
Source : Christoph Schaaf, KDG New Technologies,
Chairman DVB TM-C2
2nd ReDeSign Operator Forum, Status DVB-C2 project
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

9. Advantages of new Gallium Nitride technology
• New generation of semiconductor device technology
• Daylight LED’s, Blue-ray lasers and high power RF amplifiers
• Wide band gap: GaN-3.4 eV, GaAs-1.4 eV, Si-1.2 eV
• Higher operational temperatures without degradation
• Higher operating voltages than GaAs FETs
• 10 times higher power density @ wide bandwidth (up to 4GHz)
• 2 x better thermal conductivity than GaAs
• Higher output level + Robustness + Thermal stability
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

10. Next Generation of RF amplifiers
• New Distribution Amplifier for Next Generation Cable Networks
• Optimized for full digital or mixed digital/analog load
• Very high operational RF output level
• Increased frequency range in DS/US
• Electronic non signal-interrupting adjustment
• Remote regulation and monitoring capabilities
• Ingress robustness
• Power efficiency
• Cost effectiveness ( CapEx & OpEx )
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

11. BETA PRO 33G - Product definition
Electronic 2 active GaN high
adjustment power outputs
ingress
controll
1 GHz / DS
Up to 100 Network Managenent Transponder
MHz / US
Power Factor Corrector
Current passing per port 10A
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

12. Composite Intermodulation Noise Ratio
96 x
QAM A A P(f)
256
Notch Bandpass Spectrum
DUT
filter filter analyser
System signal level
( flat or tilted )
CIN (dB)
96 QAM 256
Noise and intermodulation floor (produced by QAM signals)
1 GHz
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

13. CINR comparison of GaN amplifier vs. best
available GaAs amplifier
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

14. Comparison of GaN amplifier vs. GaAs amplifier
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

15. BETA PRO 33G benefits
• 3 dB higher output level / same power consumption
GaN GaAs GaAs
≈
• GaN – 115 dBµV, GaAs – 112 dBµV ( flat output)
• 43 dB Gain ( 3 dB higher ) @ 1 GHz in DS
• 23 dB Gain in US
• Improved quality of Diplex Filters
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

16. BETA PRO 33G benefits
• GaN technology
• 1 GHz in DS / up to 100 MHz in US
• Two active outputs
• Electronic adjustment
• Optional NMS transponder
• Efficient surge protection
• Power Factor Corrector
• 10 A power passing
• IP 67 compact housing
• Same technology to be implemented into Optical Node for
Fiber Deep applications
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

17. Case study for Fiber Deep and N+1 upgrade
• Fiber Deep and Node+1 network up-grade
• Cost estimation for active network components
• Different architectures high/low-medium density
• Nodes with 1 or 2 active outputs
• Increasing output levels from 114 to 116 dBµV
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

18. Case study conclusions
For green field networks :
• Node+1 architecture – 8% to 23% reduction of
number of distribution amplifiers
• Fiber Deep (Node+0) – 9% to 11 % reduction
of number of the optical nodes
• CapEx and OpEx reduction
For brown field networks :
• Fixed locations for active components (street
cabinets, powering, cables)
• No reduction of number of active components
• Unproblematic up-grade to 1 GHz (higher gain
and output level)
• 100% no re-spacing of active devices
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

19. Conclusions
• Implementation of Gallium Nitride technology in output
stages of RF amplifiers and Optical Nodes gives
significant benefits to the cable industry
• New GaN semiconductor provides higher robustness and
thermal stability over existing GaAs technology
• The highest available RF output signal level allows Cable
Operators to reduce CapEx and OpEx up to 20% while
implementing Fiber Deep or fiber extensive ( Node + 1 )
architectures
• In brown field networks GaN technology supports 1GHz
bandwidth extensions and/or implementation of more
advanced modulation techniques in the network. Like
DVB-C2
„Extending Lifetime of HFC Networks”, 14-15 October 2010, Ohrid

20. Thank you for your attention!
M.Muzalewski@vector.com.pl
www.vector.com.pl
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