5G C-RAN with optical fronthaul: An analysis from a deployment perspective

© 1983-2012 IEEE. The fifth generation (5G) wireless technology is designed to provide significantly faster Internet access, with lower latency, and ubiquitous mobile coverage compared to its predecessors. However, as there will be hundreds and thousands of wireless cells deployed in the 5G network, transporting the enormous volume of data instigated from high capacity 5G wireless cells to the core network in a cost-effective and greener manner with a low latency still remains one of the major hurdles. Therefore, in this paper, we exploit different optical transport network architectures and technologies that can be used to build an efficient fronthaul network for 5G, in order to carry data between wireless cells and the central office. Particularly, we equitably compare multiple fronthaul architectures in terms of major requirements of 5G fronthaul network such as bandwidth requirements, delay budgets, deployment costs, complexity of radio remote head, and the ability to support advanced wireless functions. In order to analyze the deployment cost of entire 5G transport and wireless networks, we develop a joint optimization framework to optimally deploy fiber-based fronthaul network and 5G wireless network simultaneously. Our framework is also capable of setting limits on the required network coverage and capacity. We analyze the optimal deployment costs under different deployment scenarios and different fronthaul technologies. Our analyses provide insights into modeling future-proof optical transport networks to realize 5G network deployment.