An Efficient Fronthaul Scheme Based on Coaxial Cables for 5G Centralized Radio Access Networks

• Published in: IEEE transactions on communications Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 1343 - 1357
• Main Authors: Acatauassu, Diogo, Lica, Moyses, Ohashi, Aline, Fernandes, Andre Lucas Pinho, Freitas, Marx, Costa, Joao C. W. A., Medeiros, Eduardo, Almeida, Igor, Cavalcante, Andre Mendes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.02.2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: 5G mobile communication; Antennas; Beamforming; C-RAN; Coaxial cables; Communication cables; fronthaul; Mobile antennas; Network latency; Physical layer; Radio access networks; Radio equipment; radio-over-coaxial; small cells; Transmitting antennas; Urban areas
• ISSN: 0090-6778; 1558-0857
• DOI: 10.1109/TCOMM.2020.3039860

The 5G mobile communication systems introduce multiples functional splits between base station elements, new transmission bands and a large number of antennas supporting beamforming. In this scenario, a viable strategy to avoid building penetration losses is to deploy the antenna elements indoor and use a fronthaul link to establish the connection between them and the rest of the radio access network. This work explores a 5G fronthaul scheme based on analog radio over coaxial cables, leveraging this existing fixed access infrastructure to facilitate 5G deployments. Results indicate that the fronthaul solution discussed here is able to support the high capacity requirement of 5G, with the additional benefits of low transmit power, low latency and low cost. The main novelty of this paper is to investigate the potential of this kind of fronthaul architecture considering both the physical layer and economic aspects.