A Practical Approach to Upstream RF signal

Management in HFC Networks

SCTE Autumn Lecture Meeting
27 September 2005, IEE, London

Janhein van Brienen

Principal Engineer Telewest Broadband

Historical Context
Evolution of Telewest Broadband HFC networks
Today's Telewest Broadband is the result of a series of
mergers and acquisitions.

Consequences of this process

Some 10 distinctly different architectures can be identified in
the Telewest Broadband HFC networks.
Most vendors equipment is represented somewhere within
the Telewest Broadband network.
The regionalised character of Telewest Broadband has
resulted in different practises and approaches in the
operational environment.
27/09/2005

Slide 2

Historical Context
Pre 2000 upstream network usage and status
RF IPPV - simple and robust BPSK modulation scheme
transferring very small amounts of data.
Upstream calibration and data collection process best
described as organised chaos.
Network monitoring - Upstream FSK data carrier with
transponders answering a poll request.
First use of 2-way sweep and network alignment equipment.
Most networks reverse path capable, but some not
maintained or equipment not commissioned.

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Slide 3

Historical Context
Post 2000 upstream network
Preparation for DTV and DOCSIS started in 1999
Complete rework of return path combining in Hub sites and
Headends.
Testing and removal of non digital-ready passives from the
network. (mainly splitters and isolators)
Assessment of return path network performance required to
ensure meeting DOCSIS demands.
Re-commissioning of return path and verification of
upstream network performance.

27/09/2005

Slide 4

Historical Context
RPM installation in Hubsites
Optical Receiver
Platform

RPM-S
RPM Patch Field

Narrowcast Service
Receiver Platform

C
S8D
S8
E
I/P TP

O/P TP

F
G

B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Optical
Receivers

27/09/2005

RPM Input
Amplifiers

8-way Narrowcast
Services Splitters

From Network
Nodes 2 - 4

1
1

To Narrowcast Services B - H

2
3
4
5
6
7

fU1

fU2

fU3

C8
5
C
8

S8

fU2

6
I/P TP

O/P TP

fU3

Rx2
Rx3
Rx4
Rx5
Rx6

Cisco UBR
platform
with
MC-16

8-way Node
Combiners
(Service "A")

fU1

Rx1

RPM Output
Amplifiers

Narrowcast Service
Channel Splitters

Narrowcast
Service "A"
Receivers

Slide 5

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Downstream Network Performance Assessment

;
Hub site
O
E

27/09/2005

;
Fibre Node
O
E

Intermediate
Amplifier

Distribution
Amplifier

Star Taps
With Drop Cables

Slide 6

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Upstream Network Performance Assessment

:
Hub site
O
E

27/09/2005

:
Fibre Node
O
E

Intermediate
Amplifier

Distribution
Amplifier

Star Taps
With Drop Cables

Slide 7

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Network Performance Assessment
Amplifiers generally not a problem - wide dynamic range and
noise performance ensures trouble free operation.
Legacy Fibre Optic equipment poorly specified or not at all
documented - undesirable interoperability issues noted.
Upstream HFC network set-up different in most networks,
even between identical equipment.
Conclusion: not possible to implement a uniform DOCSIS
service in such an environment.

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Slide 8

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Testing Requirements
Common test standard required to assess performance of all
optical equipment combinations.
Referencing all test results against a common standard
which meets DOCSIS requirements with acceptable margin.
Translation of test results into spectrum utilisation to future
proof against changes in service requirements.
Common standard required for commissioning equipment
across all regions to ensure uniform DOCSIS performance.

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Slide 9

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Noise in the Notch test adopted
G
White Noise
Generator

dB
Bandpass and
22.5Mhz Notch Filter

O
O

P(f)

System Under Test (SUT)

Precision Step
Opt.
Transmitter,
20Km Fibre and Opt. Receiver
Attenuator

Bandpass
Filter

Spectrum
Analyser

Uses a 32 MHz wide noise signal with a notch at 22.5 MHz

Measures the DUT noise input power in dBmV/Hz vs. the
noise floor to noise envelope in dB at the DUT output.
Is repeated at 5 different temperatures to assess
performance over the operational temperature range.
Is measured at the optical transmitter input
27/09/2005

Slide 10

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Noise in the Notch Bandpass and Notch Measurement Filter
5
0
-5

Mkr 2
0. 2dB Mkr 3
- 3. 0dB

Mkr 1
- 3. 0dB

-10

Filter response
Marker 1, 4.0Mhz
Marker 2, 17.5Mhz
Marker 3, 20.2Mhz
Marker 4, 22.5Mhz
Marker 5, 25.3Mhz
Marker 6, 42.1Mhz

Mkr 6
- 3. 0dB

Mkr 5
- 3. 0dB

Insertion loss (dB)

-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
-50
-55

Mkr 4
- 54. 5dB

-60
1.0

7.0

13.0

19.0

25.0

31.0

37.0

43.0

49.0

55.0

61.0

Frequency (MHz)

27/09/2005

Slide 11

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Noise in the Notch Spectum Analyser Filter
5
0
Mkr 2
- 0. 3dB

-5

Marker 1, 15.1Mhz

Mkr 4
- 5. 0dB

Mkr 1
- 5. 5dB

-10

Filter response

Mkr 3
- 0. 3dB

Marker 2, 17.5Mhz
Marker 3, 22.5Mhz

Insertion loss (dB)

-15

Marker 4, 25.3Mhz

-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
-50
-55
-60
1.0

7.0

13.0

19.0

25.0

31.0

37.0

43.0

49.0

55.0

61.0

Frequency (MHz)

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Slide 12

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Noise in the slot test set-up system response
5
0

-10

Mkr 5
- 7. 7dB

-15
Insertion loss (dB)

Overall response
Marker 1, 15.5Mhz
Marker 2, 17.5Mhz
Marker 3, 20.2Mhz
Marker 4, 22.5Mhz
Marker 5, 25.3Mhz
Marker 6, 42.1Mhz

Mkr 2
- 0. 5dB Mkr 3
- 3. 6dB

-5

-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
Mkr 6
- 41. 1dB

-45
-50
-55

Mkr 1
- 54. 2dB

-60
1.0

7.0

Mkr 4
- 54. 8dB

13.0

19.0

25.0

31.0

37.0

43.0

49.0

55.0

61.0

Frequency (MHz)

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Slide 13

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Theoretical NPR curve
Noise Power
Ratio (dB)

Minimum
required noise
performance

Dynamic
Range

RF Laser Input
power
(dBmV/Hz)

27/09/2005

Slide 14

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Actual NPR curve
Noise Power Ratio vs RF Input SA RT-1 TX - HL 2220 RX @ 8dB OLB
45.0
Temp -10C/05C
Temp 00C/17C

40.0

Temp 20C/36C
Temp 40C/57C
Temp 60C/77C

35.0
NPR(dB)

Temp 75C/92C

30.0

25.0

20.0
-51

-50

-49

-48

-47

-46

-45

-44

-43

-42

-41

-40

-39

-38

-37

-36

-35

-34

-33

-32

TX Input level (dBmV/Hz)

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Slide 15

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Application of results
Measurement results expressed in Power per Hertz enable
easy translation to signals of different bandwidths.
Current 3.2MHz upstream DOCSIS carrier operating point in
previous example is found by considering the measured
result of -45dBmV/Hz + 10*LOG(3200000)Hz = 20dBmV.
To find the RF input level to the fibre node station ports the
recommended gain or attenuation setting of the node must
be considered. This is labelled Node Return Gain (NRG)

27/09/2005

Slide 16

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Application of results
NRG is calculated to achieve the most beneficial upstream
CPE transmit power when considering cable and passive
attenuation between the final distribution node and the
home in the HFC network.
The upstream network gain (input of distribution node to
input of fibre node) is normally 0.
NRG is documented for all nodes in use in Telewest in the
RPM calculator.

27/09/2005

Slide 17

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Example of Fibre Node alignment
40 dBmV
@ Injection
Point
SA 6920 RT-1

Test
Probe
-3 dB

SA
Probe

17 dBmV

Test Point

25 dBmV
@ Station Port

Passive
Combining
Loss

32 dBmV
Amplifier Module

PAD

20dB

20dB

Reverse O/P
T.P.

Main O/P T.P

-0.7dB

-6.3dB

Test Point

-1dB

+19dB

-3dB

-1dB

For Alignment, Adjust O/P Pad to Achieve NRG of +7dB.

27/09/2005

Slide 18

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

Upstream alignment
RPM calculator tool allows independent calculation of DOCSIS
data carriers and CW alignment carriers - long established
practises may remain unchanged.
RPM calculator input data can be selected from 6 simple drop
down menus.
Undesirable equipment combinations will not calculate
results.
Calculator tool is updated whenever new equipment is
introduced in the network.

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Slide 19

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

RPM calculator

Enter optical node

Type

Alignment Level
(dBmV) on laser IP
32

SA 6920

Enter Rx Type

Enter Normalised
O/P on RX (dBmV)

Enter Bandwidth
of Carrier (MHz)

HLW 2220 or 2110

27

3.2

Enter return laser make and type

SA RT-1 (-7dBm)

Node Return Gain

7 dB

input Amplifier
gain =

output Amplifier
gain =

6 dB

14 dB

UBr
MC-16
8-way
input splitter

Node RF mother board

Rev TX IP

Node IP Alignment CW
(dBmV)

Level presented to laser

TP* (dBmV)

Alignment CW
(dBmV)

Alignment CW
(dBmV)

Alignment CW
(dBmV)

Alignment CW
(dBmV)

25
Digital signal Level
(dBmV)

32
Digital signal Level
(dBmV)

27
Digital signal Level
(dBmV)

33
Digital signal Level
(dBmV)

27
Digital signal Level
(dBmV)

17
Digital signal Level
(dBmV)

13

20

21

15

Optical node type:

Optical laser type:

15
Optical receiver model
and type

SA 6920

SA RT-1 (-7dBm)

RPM
Patchfield

RX

HLW 2220 or 2110

5.0 dBmV

27/09/2005

Note: Set Expected Ubr level to:

for a bandwidth of

3.2

Slide 20

Upstream Network and Equipment Performance

NPR test only part of fibre node tests.
Temperature stability further tested by sweeping the full
upstream path at temperature points with a network
analyser.
Optical transmitter modules monitored for optical power
output, temperature and laser bias voltage test point.
Test data forms part of full downstream testing and power
supply testing, which is performed on every fibre node.

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Slide 21

1.6MHz to 3.2MHz upstream carrier upgrade

3.2 MHz DOCSIS carriers included in original design.
Upgrade required an extra 3dB of Upstream transmit power
form all CPE devices.
In practise larger transmit power swings may be seen due to
the default adjustment threshold of 1dB on the Cisco UBR
RPM calculator showed that 1 fibre node type had
insufficient Node Return Gain to accommodate this.
Optical transmitters in these nodes were upgraded to higher
gain types enabling upgrade rollout without further
problems.

27/09/2005

Slide 22

3.2 QPSK to 16QAM upgrade

Problems with DOCSIS specification.
CPE upstream transmit power
+8 to +58 dBmV (QPSK) but +8 to +55 dBmV (16QAM).

Most legacy Cable Modems follow DOCSIS specification,

DHTs generally dont.
RPM calculator shows that 1 fibre node type (ANTEC 1FTD)
has insufficient Node Return Gain to compensate for this
drop by providing an extra 5 or 6dB Gain.
Therefore Carrier to Ingress will decrease by 3dB, as will
noise performance over the optical system.

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Slide 23

3.2 QPSK to 16QAM upgrade

Theoretical 1FTD area CPE TX power calculation
With subscriber tap values and max number of CPE per drop
cable, min and maximum attenuation levels can be calculated.
The 1FTD requires 21dBmV for 3.2MHz carriers on each
station port. The maximum passive attenuation is 39dB, the
minimum is 12dB. Therefore the CPE TX power will
theoretically range between 33 and 60dBmV.
Theoretical average upstream level therefore is 46.5dBmV.
The Cisco UBR default continuation threshold of 2dB
enables Cable Modems transmitting at 58dBmV to register.

27/09/2005

Slide 24

3.2 QPSK to 16QAM upgrade

1FTD area UBR poll
CPE Upstream Transmit levels UBR01 Edinburgh 12th of July
450

400

350

Number of devices

300

250
Edinburgh totals
200

150

100

50

0
20

25

30

35

40

45

47.5

50

55

60

Upstream Transmit level (dBmV)

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Slide 25

3.2 QPSK to 16QAM upgrade

1FTD area UBR poll
Theoretical calculation matches the UBR poll almost exactly.
CPE upstream TX curve sits too high in the power range of
the CPE equipment.
If no action was taken and the QPSK to 16QAM switch was
made some 7% of Cable modems would no longer be able to
register on this UBR
Further analysis by CPE type reveals that the upturn in the
curve at 58dBmV is due to devices at their maximum TX
level, but not achieving requested UBR receive level.

27/09/2005

Slide 26

3.2 QPSK to 16QAM upgrade

1FTD upgrade solution
A replacement fibre optic transmitter with a minimum of 6dB
extra gain has been developed by one of Telewests current
suppliers and is currently under evaluation as a replacement
of the original RDL-2 transmitter.
When approved this should remove one of the main
equipment obstacles preventing an upgrade to 16QAM

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Slide 27

Questions

Thank you for your attention

27/09/2005

Slide 28