Introduction

As BCE moves about 20 Antennas to its Junglinster site in Luxembourg, it embarks on a journey to expand, modernize and enhance its services for its customers. This case study looks at the outdoor-indoor fiber-connection of the successively growing antenna park at Junglinster.

Challenge

While the site provides space, location and an infrastructure, it didn’t provide the connectivity needed to operate a modern antenna park. DEV helped designing the electro-optical signal management, end-to-end from the antennas to the center, as well as its implementation, which is still growing as more antennas are being moved.

Solution

DEV delivers a professional solution for professional operations. Hot swappable components, redundant power supplies, outdoor-/indoor-operations that grow with the business requirements. The modular concept easily allows to mix up- and down-links, as well as to choose special functionalities per link by selecting corresponding link-modules.

BCE DEV Signal Transmission 1   BCE DEV Signal Transmission 2

Schematic of the Application e.g.

  • Two antennas per DEV 7152 Outdoor-Chassis;
  • Twin-Modules (DEV7241/7341) at the Rx- as well as the Tx-side;
  • High density aggregation of the links at the indoor-side with DEV 7113-chassis;
  • Outdoor steel-structures, each hosting two antennas, the DEV7152-chassis etc;

Each DEV 7152 outdoor chassis (currently 5x) is configured to connect two antennas with 4 polarizations each by utilization of Twin Tx-Modules.

  • DEV 7152 outdoor chassis per two Antennas;
  • Twin Tx-Modules for high link density;
  • The actual application determines whether it’s an Up- or Down-link and what type of Tx- and/or Rx-Modules are needed;
  • Furthermore DEV7285/7385 “Desktop”-modules are being utilized where cabinet space exists, but a 19” form factor is not favorable.

DEV 7113 indoor chassis (currently 4X) are configured to receive and/or transmit up to 80x optical links, utilizing Twin-Rx-Modules.

  • DEV 7113 indoor chassis in the center;
  • Twin Rx-Modules for high link density;
  • The actual application determines whether it is an Up- or Down-link and what type of Tx- and/or Rx-Modules are needed

BCE Solution

Altogether does DEV provide its expertise to help supporting the overall RF-design, as well as its modular solutions to flexibly address the requirements on site.

Benefits for the Customer

BCE now not only delivers and expands professional Broadcasting services, it also benefits from scalability and modularity to manage its Capex- and Opex-Budgets:

  • Scalability on several levels as you growth:
    • Replicate chassis as the demand grows on either side;
    • Use slots within chassis individually and independently by adding optical link-modules on a link by link basis;
  • Modularity to address individual link characteristics within the same overall design:
    • Use slots within chassis by choosing optical link-modules accordingly;
    • Freedom to mix types of modules and Tx- and Rx-links within the chassis;
  • Ability to add links any time as requirements change
  • Operate field proven professional equipment and be automatically covered by DEV’s
  • TripleC Services
  • Benefit from DEV’s ongoing evolution of its solutions which maintains interoperability
  • and secure a futureproof investment
  • Benefit from DEV’s commitment to supply professional equipment and support.

What our customer says:

As we moved the teleport to Junglinster (Luxembourg) we needed to expand and upgrade our infrastructure with the latest connectivity technology to operate a modern antenna park. DEVs RF transmission portfolio was exactly what we needed to realize our plans. They supported us to design the electro-optical RF Signal Management end to end. It was a real pleasure to cooperate with the DEV team. They are professionals working supportive and timely.
Eugene Muller, Head of TV & Radio Transmission, Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE)

Conclusion

DEV acts as consultant, partner and supplier to help making a good and effective solution for BCE. It helped designing and implementing the electro-optical connectivity at BCE’s Junglinster site. Nevertheless, DEV’s expertise does not stop there. The subsequent RF-Distribution in the center is an integral part of DEV’s end-to-end approach and portfolio as well. This attaches seamlessly to the electro-optical part that we looked at within this study.