The fronthaul portion of a

C-RAN C-RAN (Cloud-RAN), also referred to as Centralized-RAN, is an architecture for cellular networks. C-RAN is a centralized, cloud computing-based architecture for radio access networks that supports 2G, 3G, 4G and future wireless communication stan ...

( Cloud Radio Access Network) telecommunications architecture comprises the intermediate links between the centralized radio controllers and the radio heads (or masts) at the "edge" of a

cellular network A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called "cells", each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (typically thre ...

. In recent years fronthaul is becoming more essential as 5G becomes more mainstream. In general it is coincident with the backhaul network, but subtly different. Technically in a C-RAN the backhaul data is only decoded from the fronthaul network at the centralised controllers, from where it is then transferred to the core network. It comprises dedicated fibers carrying data in the CPRI or

OBSAI The Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) was a trade association created by Hyundai, LG Electronics, Nokia, Samsung and ZTE in September 2002 with the aim of creating an open market for cellular network base stations. The hope was tha ...

format. This fiber network is either owned or leased by the mobile network operator. In the UK for example

BT Openworld BT Group plc (trading as Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. An ...

owns a majority of the fiber network to radio masts. There are proposals to modify Ethernet to make it more suitable for the Fronthaul network.http://www.ieee1904.org/3/meeting_archive/2015/02/tf3_1502_ashwood_1a.pdf Recently, a novel wireless fronthaul solution has been proposed for ultra-dense

small cell Small cells are low-powered cellular radio access nodes that operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrum that have a range of 10 meters to a few kilometers. In other words, they are base stations with low power consumption and cheap cost that ...

deployment where networked flying platforms (NFPs) such

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

s, drones,

tethered balloon A tethered, moored or captive balloon is a balloon that is restrained by one or more tethers attached to the ground and so it cannot float freely. The base of the tether is wound around the drum of a winch, which may be fixed or mounted on a vehic ...

and high-altitude/medium-altitude/low-altitude platforms carrying FSO transceivers have been introduced as aerial hubs to aggregate the

traffic and offer connectivity to the core network.

References

{{reflist * Telecommunications infrastructure Network architecture Wireless networking

Further reading

References