Mobile operators are deploying LTE small cells in traffic hotspots and coverage holes. This occurs in a variety of locations such as in urban canyons and indoors, where GNSS signals are weak or intermittent. Qulsar’s Qg 2, a Multi-Sync Gateway and PTP Grandmaster addresses this challenge of providing reliable and precise synchronization everywhere by using multiple sync references.
Qg 2 is designed for deployment in distributed cluster sync architectures. This involves moving timing resources close to the edge of the network in order to meet the phase and frequency precision requirements at the small cell or remote radio head (RRH). Deploying a centralized Grand Master with full on-path support to deliver high precision synchronization involves higher cost. Next generation networks need to handle rapidly growing traffic and require a more decentralized approach. The Assisted Partial Timing Support (ATPS) architecture is designed for these networks to deliver precise phase and frequency to the small cell. To support the increasing scale in such rapidly growing networks, Qg 2 is highly field-scalable to 256 PTP slaves in unicast mode at 128 packets per second.
Product Summary
Qg 2 is a small form factor, highly accurate Multi-Sync Gateway that provides IEEE 1588 PTP Grand Master and Boundary Clock functionality at low total cost of ownership. It leverages industry leading PTP algorithms to deliver stringent timing for LTE, including LTE-A and LTE-TDD architectures and supports ITU-T G.8265 and G.8275 frequency and phase profiles. Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) is featured to simplify installations. The product features multiple oscillator options to deliver a range of holdover performance at different cost points. LEDs on the box indicate Power, the GPS acquisition state and Sync status. The Qg 2 has an elegant and simple management interface.
Qg 2 utilizes GNSS (GPS, Beidou & GLONASS), IEEE 1588 PTP and Synchronous Ethernet as input references and generates IEEE 1588 PTP, SyncE and timing signals (frequency, 1PPS and ToD) as outputs. The Multi-Sync Gateway features dual gigabit Ethernet ports and a small form-factor pluggable (SFP) module port for optical connections. It provides all the relevant timing interfaces such as GNSS, 1 Pulse Per Second (PPS) and Time of Day (ToD) input/output.
The true innovation in this product lies in its simplicity, high performance, scalability and cost effectiveness. The Qg 2 has some unique features designed to make it easily manageable and provide resilient performance when reference sources are lost.
