Chapter 4 Transport Network Aspects 1
Chapter 4 Transport Network Aspects 1 Yaakov (J) Stein Yuri Gittik Ron Insler RAD Data Communications, Ltd (Tel Aviv) In this chapter we discuss various transport network technologies used for backhaul (i.e. connection the NG-RAN to the 5GC), fronthaul (i.e. connecting NG-RAN to RRG) and midhaul (connecting network nodes in split NG-RAN architecture). This is illustrated in Figure 4.1 below. Figure 4.1: Backhaul, midhaul, and fronthaul (xHaul) transport networks The figure above showing an xHaul as a straight line connecting network nodes, is a bit misleading as in practice an xHaul can have a complex network topology and many links, using many different technologies. This aspect is often overlooked in technical specifications (e.g. in 3GPP) and architecture documents. In the present section we discuss this in more detail. 4.1 Key ideas The transition from 4G to 5G will strongly impact the transport network, due to requirements for higher data-rates, lower latency, enhanced reliability, energy efficiency, and heightened dynamicity. Choice of 5G RAN segment defined by functional split (fronthaul through midhaul to backhaul) and RAN planning factors (density, distances, placement of Points of Presence (PoPs), etc.) deeply influence the requirements for transport. In addition, delivery of disparate services (eMBB, URLLC, and mMTC) requires different transport attributes. Distributed edge computing, whether for enabling vRAN/cRAN operation, serving the disaggregated transport network, or hosting end-user applications, drives yet more sophisticated transport network designs with compute resources and connectivity of distributed physical and virtual components 1 In 5G RAN architecture, Sasha Sirotkin (ed.), John Wiley and Sons, to be published 2020.
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