The Value of Digital Transport in

Distributed Antenna Systems

Distributed antenna systems (DAS) come in two basic flavors: digital and analog.
DAS vendors are positioning digital DAS as the wave of the future, but many
deployments continue to use analog DAS for its familiarity and perceived cost
savings. When does it make sense to use digital DAS? In this article, well look at
the technical and fiscal aspects of digital and analog DAS and examine key
applications where digital DAS is preferable.
Analog vs. Digital DAS Basics
The goal of a DAS is to enable mobile operator signals to be strongly and uniformly
distributed through a structure or urban area. DAS attributes that designers look for
include reach (the distance a signal can be carried), performance (the signal
strength at each antenna), and ease of deployment.
Analog DAS has been around for more than 20 years. Essentially, an analog DAS
uses radio frequency (RF) input the carrier base station (BTS) signal goes through
power attenuators and a radio head to convert the BTS digital output to RF, and the
DAS distributes the RF signal to antennas over either coaxial cable or fiber. Since
the RF signal attenuates over distance, analog DAS antennas may have variable
output power at the antenna locations if they are different distances from the headend. Some analog DAS systems may use repeaters to regenerate the RF signal on
the way to antennas, but repeaters impact the system EVM performance.
A digital DAS can interact with carrier BTS in two ways: It can take the RF signal
from a radio head and convert it to digital signaling for transport over fiber to
antennas, or it can use a direct digital base band interface with a BTS to eliminate
the need for radio heads and power attenuators. Using a direct digital interface
saves up to 50 percent on the cost of the DAS head-end because of equipment, real
estate, cooling, and power savings. Moreover, because the signal is digital, power is
uniform at every antenna point, regardless of how far that antenna is from the DAS
head-end and BTS. A digital DAS can distribute its signal as far as the maximum
distance allowed by the protocol. Each protocol is distance limited by the round trip
delay of the signal.
Because the digital signal is a 1 or a 0, the signal is much more robust, allowing for
operators to use existing fiber network backbones which include flat polished/UPC
connectors. Due to limitation of the analog fiber architecture, standard connectors
must with replaced with angled/APC connectors or have the fiber fusion spliced to
bypass patch panels. This could potentially void fiber plant warranties.
Now, lets look at some specific characteristics of digital DAS versus analog DAS.

Optical Budget
The optical budget of a DAS is important because signals are often transported
through patch panels and splices in existing fiber networks. An analog DAS typically
has a 3-10 dBm optical budget, while a digital DAS has a 26 dBm optical budget.
The higher optical budget of a digital DAS means it can more easily traverse
problematic networks older networks that can be a rats nest of patch panels and
splices, for example.
Because a digital DAS has a more robust optical budget, the operators signals can
travel further through problematic (dirty fiber, multiple patch panels, multiple
splices, etc) networks to reach endpoints at greater distances from the DAS headend. Analog DAS are generally not considered for widely distributed applications like
urban corridors. In fact, analog DAS installers typically splice around existing patch
panels in the network because going through each patch panel causes a -dB loss
in the signal.
Fiber Muxing Options
When deploying a DAS over an existing fiber network, the key is to get as much
leverage out of each fiber as possible because unused fibers are scarce.
Multiplexing technologies such as Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM), Coarse Wave
Division Multiplexing (CWDM), and Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) allow
operators to divide each fibers light into as many as 32 or 64 individual
wavelengths, each of which can transport a signal.
A digital DAS can use any of the multiplexing options (WDM, CWDM, or DWDM),
while analog DAS can only use WDM or CWDM. Digital DAS thus offers better
leverage for maximizing the usage of existing fiber. One application where a digital
DAS has an advantage is the ability to leverage an existing PON or FTTH network,
where there are a few spare dark fibers available to use for transporting DAS
signals in a neighborhood. When you talk about buried fiber in a city, its hard
enough to get bandwidth on a pair of fibers. Its a tremendous sacrifice to use
multiple fiber pairs in a situation like that, so analog DAS wouldnt even be
considered for such deployments.
Using DWDM also gives operators the ability to use base station hoteling in a city
environment. In a base station hotel, you have a centralized group of BTSs in one
location in a city. Using DWDM, the operator can multiplex 64 wavelengths over
several kilometers, and then break the wavelengths out to cover a number of
specific areas such as neighborhoods, campus, sporting venues or business parks.
Another use for DWDM is for using existing trunking fiber to transport DAS signals
from central office (CO) to central office before they are distributed out into the
network. By trunking bulk RF from CO to CO, the operators can leverage existing
wireline assets and allow the operator to access existing distribution fiber.
Delay Timing

In a DAS that is simulcasting the signal to many antenna units, it is necessary to

normalize the delay in signal transmission so that the farthest antenna and the
nearest antenna receive the signal at the same time. For some analog DAS,
inserting delay may require installers to physically place excess fiber in the way. For
example, if the farthest antenna node is five miles away and the nearest node is
one mile away, installers would have to have four miles of fiber spooled to
normalize the delay.
In a digital DAS, delay can be managed through software, so its not necessary to
deploy extra fiber to normalize timing between near and far antenna units.
Simulcasting
In many DAS installations, its useful to be able to simulcast the signal to
distribute the same signal to many antenna points at exactly the same time.
Simulcasting is useful as it strongly and uniformly distributes a common RF signal.
In addition, it allows for the capacity of the BTS/BBU to be shared among multiple
node locations, which allows for more efficient use of a BTS/BBUs capacity.) With a
digital DAS, you can digitally simulcast a signal up to eight times for point-to-point
antenna designs or 16 times for cascaded antenna designs. With an analog system,
youd have to use splitting hardware to achieve simulcasting, and this adds noise
and loss to the system.
Deployment Costs
A fiber-based analog network requires angle-polished connectors and fusion splices.
These require highly skilled technicians for the deployment, so costs are higher and
deployment times are longer. A digital DAS can use push-on connectors that can be
deployed more quickly by less skilled and less expensive personnel.
Fiber cascading also reduces fiber installation costs because you need only run fiber
from one antenna unit to the next. Digital DAS allows for fiber cascading, while
analog DAS requires home run cabling from each antenna back to the DAS headend.
And as mentioned before, using the digital interface to a digital DAS eliminates the
need for power attenuators and radio heads in the DAS head-end. This simplifies
the deployment, eliminates the need for skilled RF technicians, and reduces
equipment, power, and cooling costs.
Applications
Given the different technical characteristics of analog and digital DAS, its not
surprising that they are suited for different sets of applications. Analog DAS is
particularly useful in new buildings, where the network can be designed to minimize
patch panels and other gear that attenuate the DAS signal. Digital DAS, thanks to
its high link budget and ability to distribute signals over long distances, are suited

for large buildings, metro areas, and campuses with existing fiber. Digital DAS is
also best for any application where theres an existing fiber network and the
deployment requires going through multiple patch panels.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, digital DAS can support any application, while analog
DAS is more limited in its use. Digital DAS offers high performance, long reach, and
simpler deployment than analog DAS. Many network planners still opt for analog
DAS because it is familiar and is offered by a larger number of vendors, but as the
networks become denser, utilize multiple frequencies and more protocols, digital
DAS is the better solution in most cases.