Open 5G cell site routers with carrier timing built in.
IP Infusion delivers the complete cell site router mobile operators put at the tower: a disaggregated cell site gateway (DCSG) running OcNOS-SP on a temperature-hardened, validated open box, pre-loaded and supported under one contract. It terminates 4G and 5G xHaul at the tower and carries it to the backhaul, and it holds IEEE 1588v2 PTP and SyncE timing so phase and frequency reach every radio and the cell stays on the air.
Mobile operators running open transport.
Mobile operators across Asia and Africa run open cell site routers in production today.
A 5G Cell Site Router deployment at national scale
Asia Pacific Telecom selected IP Infusion for its 5G Cell Site Router deployment, running OcNOS on UfiSpace white-box hardware integrated by FHnet and Foxconn, to accelerate its 5G network transformation.
"By adopting open and disaggregated networking, we're able to enhance the flexibility and efficiency of our network infrastructure. This approach not only drives innovation but also allows us to better serve our customers by improving service delivery and expanding access to the latest digital solutions. Our goal is to ensure that the connectivity we provide continues to meet the evolving needs of the communities we serve." Lloyd Mphahlele, General Manager of Group Technology at MTN Group
IP Infusion supports more than 600 operators across 60 countries, backed by 26 years of protocol engineering.
Fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul on one open router.
The cell site router carries eCPRI-class packet fronthaul, SR-MPLS midhaul, and SR-MPLS backhaul, with IEEE 1588v2 PTP and SyncE timing running across every tier.
Open the vector view to hover each node for role and protocol details.
The same router image carries each xHaul tier, licensed and sized per role. Fronthaul runs as low-latency Ethernet, midhaul and backhaul run over SR-MPLS, and PTP and SyncE timing spans all three.
Low-latency packet fronthaul
The router carries eCPRI-class packet fronthaul between the radio unit and the distributed unit as low-latency Ethernet with precise timing, not an SR-MPLS domain. The CPRI and eCPRI radio interface is supplied by the RAN vendor; the router transports the packets.
Midhaul in a split RAN
In a split RAN, the router carries SR-MPLS midhaul between the distributed unit and the centralized unit, so the RAN can distribute its functions across sites.
Backhaul to the mobile core
The router carries SR-MPLS backhaul from the cell site to the mobile core, with Flex-Algo and TI-LFA fast reroute. The RAN and core vendors supply the 5G core.
L3 switch with timing
The router is the timing-qualified L3 router and switch that carries PTP and SyncE in the same box. This is what operators mean by an L3 switch with timing at the cell site.
Which PTP profile for the path in front of you.
The cell site router runs as a PTP boundary clock and a SyncE node on every xHaul tier. The one decision that changes site to site is the PTP telecom profile: G.8275.1 full timing where every hop is timing-aware, or G.8275.2 partial timing across a brownfield path. Pick a profile below to see the design.
Choose G.8275.1 full timing where every node in the path is a PTP-aware boundary clock. It runs over Ethernet with multicast and carries phase, time, and frequency end to end, which is the design for a greenfield timing-aware transport path.
| Aspect | G.8275.1 full timing | G.8275.2 partial timing |
|---|---|---|
| Delivers | Phase, time, and frequency | Phase and time, with frequency from SyncE |
| Network requirement | Every node is a PTP-aware boundary clock | Some hops are not timing-aware (brownfield) |
| Transport | Ethernet, multicast | IP, unicast |
| Typical use | Greenfield, fully timing-aware path | Overlay across an installed transport path |
Last verified: Jul 2026. The exact clock class, holdover, and G.8273.2 clock specification depend on the platform, release, and network design. Contactez-nous to confirm the class binding for your deployment. Go deeper on the protocol: PTP and SyncE explained →
The cell site router as one complete system.
The disaggregated cell site gateway is one box that carries L3 routing and switching, IEEE 1588v2 PTP and SyncE timing, SR-MPLS access, EVPN Carrier Ethernet, and hierarchical QoS. IP Infusion delivers it complete, and it follows the pattern the Telecom Infra Project standardized as the TIP DCSG stream.
SR-MPLS access and EVPN Carrier Ethernet
The router carries SR-MPLS access from the tower and delivers EVPN Carrier Ethernet services over it. Carrier Ethernet service design and MEF 3.0 detail live on the metro Ethernet page; see also EVPN.
Hierarchical QoS at the cell site
QoS hiérarchique shapes and schedules traffic by service and by tenant at the tower, so timing-sensitive and best-effort xHaul share the uplink under a defined policy.
Router, switch, and timing in one box
One open platform carries PTP and SyncE, IP and MPLS with SR-MPLS access, EVPN Carrier Ethernet, and HQoS together, so the cell site runs on a single box, under one contract, as the L3 switch with timing.
A temperature-hardened box for the cell site.
The cell site sits in a cabinet or at a tower base, so the cell site router runs on a temperature-hardened, compact box with native timing. Pre-aggregation and aggregation, which live in a controlled site, scale up on a data-center-class box.
UfiSpace S9501-28SMT
Cell site router · temperature-hardened · Qumran UX (BCM88270)A temperature-hardened, compact, fanless-class box on Broadcom Qumran UX merchant silicon with roughly 120 Gbps of switching capacity, built for the environmental range of a cabinet or tower base. It carries IEEE 1588v2 PTP and SyncE natively as a boundary or ordinary clock, with SR-MPLS access, EVPN Carrier Ethernet, and hierarchical QoS. SFP and SFP+ cages, breakout per platform, optics with proven interoperability per deployment.
UfiSpace S9510-30XC
Pre-aggregation and aggregation · Qumran (BCM88280)The pre-aggregation and aggregation box on Broadcom Qumran silicon with roughly 360 Gbps of switching capacity, sited in a controlled cabinet rather than at the tower. It carries native timing along with SR-MPLS and EVPN Carrier Ethernet upstream from the cell sites, with hierarchical QoS toward the core. QSFP28 and SFP+ cages, breakout per platform, optics with proven interoperability per deployment.
Every validated platform, ASIC, and release is in the hardware compatibility list → Fixed-wireless uplinks route to broadband access.
Onboard and run thousands of sites from day one.
A cell-site refresh repeats across thousands of sites, so open hardware from more than one validated vendor compounds into procurement leverage, and Zero Touch Provisioning brings each new box up with a validated Day 0 baseline.
Zero Touch Provisioning onboarding
Provisionnement zéro contact brings each new cell site router up with a validated Day 0 baseline over IPv4 or IPv6, so a technician racks the box and it onboards itself across the fleet.
Open automation and telemetry
The router speaks NETCONF and YANG, OpenConfig, and gNMI dial-in and dial-out with streaming telemetry, so the fleet integrates with your own automation and observability stack. NETCONF and YANG →
IP Maestro to run the fleet
IP Maestro monitors, configures, and troubleshoots the fleet from one server, NETCONF south and REST north, so operators run thousands of sites from a single management surface. IP Maestro →
One support contract
Software and validated hardware ship together, so the fleet has one escalation path and one RMA, and one team owns the fix. Support →
Convert the fleet site by site.
Open cell site routers interoperate with the installed Cisco, Juniper, and Nokia network, so you convert the fleet one site at a time. Each site cuts over on your own timeline once its capability match is validated.
Run one open site alongside the installed network
Bring up one open cell site router so OcNOS-SP runs alongside the installed Cisco, Juniper, and Nokia equipment, forming standard IS-IS, OSPF, and BGP adjacencies, so the site joins the transport without a redesign.
Convert a cluster of sites on capability match
Confirm the capability match, SR-MPLS backhaul, PTP and SyncE timing, and Carrier Ethernet, then cut over a cluster of sites on the operator's own timeline, validating each site before it carries production traffic.
Roll out across the fleet with ZTP
Zero Touch Provisioning brings each new site up with a validated Day 0 baseline, so the refresh repeats across thousands of sites while procurement stays multi-vendor. IP Infusion supports the router at every step.
The commercial model is open: temperature-hardened hardware from validated vendors under one support contract, with software and hardware on independent refresh cycles.
Open cell site router vs a proprietary chassis.
A cell site router lives or dies on timing, and that is where operators expect a proprietary box to win. It does not. The open router holds PTP and SyncE across every xHaul tier, carries SR-MPLS and Carrier Ethernet, and lets the fleet refresh on its own cycle across more than one vendor, all under one support contract.
| Capacité | Open cell site router (OcNOS-SP) | Proprietary chassis (Cisco / Juniper / Nokia) |
|---|---|---|
| IEEE 1588v2 PTP G.8275.1/.2 and SyncE | ✓ details → | ✓ |
| SR-MPLS with Flex-Algo and TI-LFA | ✓ details → | ✓ |
| EVPN MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet | ✓ details → | ✓ |
| Temperature-hardened cell-site form factor | ✓ | ✓ |
| Independent hardware and software refresh cycles | ✓ refresh each on its own cadence | ✓ vendor-bundled cadence |
| Multi-vendor hardware sourcing across the fleet | ✓ source from validated vendors | ✓ single-vendor chassis |
| One support contract for software and validated hardware | ✓ one escalation path and RMA | ✓ vendor-bundled |
Cisco, NCS 540, Juniper, ACX, Nokia, and 7250 IXR are trademarks of their respective owners. IP Infusion is not affiliated with and does not endorse these vendors; the comparison reflects OcNOS-SP capabilities verifiable in the matrice de fonctionnalités.
Datasheet and solution briefs.
The OcNOS-SP datasheet and two solution briefs to share with your team. Quick form, and the PDF downloads immediately.
Datasheet OcNOS-SP
The full OcNOS-SP overview: roles, protocols, timing, and the validated hardware, in one PDF.
Obtenir la fiche techniqueMise à niveau SR-MPLS avec OcNOS
A migration path from installed SR-MPLS to OcNOS on open hardware, the transport under the xHaul backhaul.
Obtenir le briefCloud and Service Provider WAN
Open transport for the cloud and service provider WAN, the backhaul that carries mobile traffic to the core.
Obtenir le briefQuestions about the cell site router and carrier timing.
Put an open cell site router on your own hardware.
See how IP Infusion delivers the complete cell site router with carrier timing and SR-MPLS xHaul, or contact us to map your sites to the right validated platforms and licensing.
Datasheet OcNOS-SP
Formulaire court. votre PDF se télécharge immédiatement après l'envoi.
✓ Opening your PDF in a new tab.
If it did not open, use the link below.
OcNOS-SP-Datasheet-2026.pdfMise à niveau SR-MPLS avec OcNOS
Formulaire court. votre PDF se télécharge immédiatement après l'envoi.
✓ Opening your PDF in a new tab.
If it did not open, use the link below.
solution-brief-sr-mpls-upgrade-cisco-alternative.pdfCloud and Service Provider WAN
Formulaire court. votre PDF se télécharge immédiatement après l'envoi.
✓ Opening your PDF in a new tab.
If it did not open, use the link below.
solution-brief-cloud-sp-wan-transport.pdfÀ lire aussi sur le blog
Précision d'horloge à la nanoseconde pour les réseaux 4G/5G : PTP et SyncE avec OcNOS
IEEE 1588 PTP and SyncE carrier timing for 5G xHaul at the cell site
Lire l'article →Cell Site Routers sans ventilateur pour le backhaul 5G en environnements difficiles
Temperature-hardened cell site routers for 5G xHaul access in rugged deployments
Lire l'article →