Analysis of the Performance of Different DWDM FilterTechnologies for Mobile Fronthaul Applications

Abstract: In recent years, several studies and simulations have been made on changing the current Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture into a more centralized access network where the base band processing is done in a central oce (CO) instead of out by the antenna site. This new architecture is denoted as the mobile fronthaul and is planned to be in use for the coming 5G network. The studies that have been made so far suggest that the new architecture can reduce cost, power usage and latency which are important factors regarding environmental, economical and data transmission issues. Furthermore, the new architecture allows a smarter distribution of data for each sector covered by the antennas, reducing redundant data transmission and thus increases the data eciency. The disadvantage or challenge however is that some of the optical components will be transferred from the currently controlled environment in the CO to an uncontrolled outdoor environment at the antenna site, which may generate risks as these components may be sensitive to especially changes in temperature. In this master thesis, the optical performance of four di erent passive lter setups, using a thin lm lter (TFF), an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) and an interleaver, has been studied and compared in order to nd the most suitable lter setup for the mobile fronthaul. These optical parameters include insertion loss, isolation, crosstalk, 3 dB passband, center wavelength drift and also bit error-rate (BER) which have all been measured over a temperature interval of -40-85oC. Moreover, the measurement results have been compared with results from simulations done with VPItransmissionmaker. From the measurement results, the TFF had a better optical performance and reliability compared to the AWG mainly due to a higher isolation and a lower BER penalty of 0.2 dB compared to 0.5-1.5 dB for the AWG. Considering data capacity and economical aspects for a more realistic mobile fronthaul scenario with 80 channels using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) however, the AWG connected to the interleaver is more benecial without risking negative a ects on trac performance.