A conversation about fronthaul with Jim Guillet, Product Marketing, Nokia
The below is only a summary. Download a transcript of the complete interview and the complete in depth report “C-RAN and 5G take transport to new capacity and latency levels. Trends in backhaul, fronthaul, xhaul and mmW”.
Small cells, C-RAN and, eventually, 5G set new requirements on transport – and in turn they drive the adoption of new technologies and solutions. In this discussion with Jim Guillet, Product Marketing at Nokia we discussed how fronthaul is evolving and the emergence of midhaul.
Jim said “fronthaul isn’t new. It’s been around for many years. What’s changed is its primary purpose. Traditionally the baseband units have been distributed at the cell sites, and now fronthaul is being used primarily to have them centralized – all located in central locations – so now they can control multiple radio heads.”
As we move to 5G, “we see the emergence of a transport fabric that interconnects everyone and everything. This fabric comprises multiple layers of optical wavelengths, microwave links, and packetization on top of that, with Ethernet and IP on top of that. Wide area networks have long been multi-layered. That will continue. It gives the option to carry the traffic and switch or route the traffic at the appropriate level using whichever medium you need. The trick in all this is to manage that with a unified environment,” Jim added.
As we move forward, Jim expects that CPRI, the interface that is prevalent in fronthaul today, will be replaced by Ethernet: “The beautiful thing about Ethernet is that it not only opens up the possibility of mobile operators doing the backhaul or the midhaul themselves, but you can now take advantage of Ethernet transport providers and other capabilities.”
We will discuss this topic further in an exclusive webinar in December 13. Register for the webinar.
