What is a 5G base station and what is the difference between it and a 4G base station?

What is a 5G base station and what is the difference between it and a 4G base station? In the 5G network, the access network is no longer composed of BBUs, RRUs, and antennas. Instead, it is reconstructed into the following three functional entities: CU (Centralized Unit, centralized unit) DU (Distribute Unit, distributed unit) AAU (Active Antenna Unit, active antenna unit) What is a 5G base station, and what is the difference between a 4G base station ?

In the 5G network, the access network is no longer composed of BBUs, RRUs, and antennas. Instead, it is reconstructed into the following three functional entities: CU (Centralized Unit, centralized unit) DU (Distribute Unit, distributed unit) AAU (Active Antenna Unit, active antenna unit) The difference between 4G and 5G base stations CU: original BBU The non-real-time part will be split out and redefined as CU, responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services. DU: The remaining functions of the BBU are redefined as DUs, which are responsible for handling physical layer protocols and real-time services. AAU: Some of the physical layer processing functions of the BBU are combined with the original RRU and passive antenna to form an AAU.

5G base station is the core equipment of 5G network, which provides wireless coverage and realizes wireless signal transmission between wired communication network and wireless terminals. The architecture and form of the base station directly affect how the 5G network is deployed. Since the higher the frequency, the greater the attenuation during signal propagation, the density of base stations in the 5G network will be higher.

The Difference:

Since the radio frequency unit of the base station has a long feeder connected to the antenna on the tower, in the 3G era, the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit began to separate, and the baseband=BBU+RRU+antenna feeder system began. In the early days, the RRU was also hung on the wall of the computer room, and was connected to the port of the antenna on the tower through a long feeder. Later, in order to save space in the computer room, the RRU began to be installed on the tower, and there was an RRU remote base station. , this kind of RRU is called D-RAN (Distributed Radio Access Network).
In the 4G era, some BBUs are centrally deployed in a certain equipment room, while the RRU is on the tower, and the BBU and the RRU are remotely deployed through optical fibers. This kind of centralized deployment of BBUs is called a BBU pool. This kind of centralized deployment of BBUs It is the concept of the earliest C-RAN (Centralized Radio Access Network), the advantage of this is that it can save a lot of computer room space, and it is also very power-saving. You must know that the largest power consumption in the computer room is not the equipment, but the computer room. Air conditioning in.
The 5G base station is different from the 4G baseband. The first difference of the 5G baseband is that there is a device called AAU. This device is actually not very complicated. It is equivalent to RRU+antenna, and a 5G The base station is the deployment of BBU+AAU. Now the 5G minimalist site proposed by Huawei can use a BBU compatible with 2/3/4/5G/NB-IOT to replace the original 2G BBU/3G BBU/4G BBU and unify into one BBU. This deployment belongs to the most advanced 5G deployment. In the early deployment of CU+DU, there may be other changes in the future.

5G base station cable

4G base station cable