TECH INSIGHTS:Power Supplies for Outdoor 5G Base Station Application

With the advent of the 5G era, mainstream applications of the IoT (Internet of Things) are developing towards following directions, such as Home and office automation, Smart meter and smart grid, Health care and eHealth, Tracking system and Intelligent transport system, Autonomous car and Industry 4.0 applications. The three key technologies of 5G communication are millimeter wave (mmWave), Massive Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology, and Small Cell. (1) Millimeter-wave technology has three major characteristics, large bandwidth, low latency, and high transmission rate. Large bandwidth means that more devices can be connected at the same time, facilitating the realization of the IoT and smart cities. (2) Low latency means the response time of information transmission is very short, and message responses are real-time, which helps to realize self-driving and reduce road traffic risks. (3) The high transmission rate is helpful to promote the development of big data and AI cloud computing, as well as the cloud audiovisual industry. Since the band frequency of 5G is higher than 4G, its signals are prone to suffer from interference or shielding, especially the high-frequency millimeter wave (mmWave), and the transmission distance will be far less than that of the low-frequency band. Therefore, when planning to increase the coverage of 5G high-frequency signals, it is necessary to deploy more base stations, which is why small base stations have attracted much attention. Figure 2 shows the concept of the 5G base station application. To meet the demand of bandwidth consumption in urban areas for voice, video, and data, telecom companies are forced to build more small base stations to meet the user’s needs. All in all, small base station infrastructure is expected to be another large-scale market in 5G terminal devices. Small base stations require power supplies just like the rest of electronic devices, and because they are normally installed in outdoor environments, it is recommended to choose MEAN WELL HEP series to enhance the reliability of the entire base station. The power demand of base stations is proportional to the number of users. When the power requirements are greater than 1000W, the UHP-1500/2500 series are highly recognized for the base station. Base station manufacturers only need to install power supplied in a waterproof, dust-proof, and heat dissipation working environment. The heat generated by the power supply can be dissipated through the structure of the base station by conduction cooling. To provide a complete solution for a harsh environment, MEAN WELL launched the HEP-1000-W series. The appearance difference is shown in Figure 4. The main difference between this series and the previous HEP-1000 series is the input and output cables. HEP-1000-W series adopts outdoor waterproof cables instead of the terminal block. Yet, both series comply with IP67. With such a high standard, HEP-1000 series is an ideal choice in a humid, dusty environment for 4G/5G base station, laser machines, and charging related applications. The HEP-1000 series adopts MEAN WELL's unique fully potting design and filled with top-grade silicone gel. Full potted design not only helps the heat dissipate effectively but also decreases the chances of failure caused by the high dust and high humidity environment. As the stability of power supplies are ensured, the overall maintenance costs can be reduced simultaneously.