Design Principles of 5G NR RoF-Based Fiber-Wireless Access Network

Abstract

For today, much attention in the upcoming 5G New Radio (NR) mobile networks is paid to radically expanding the available spectral bands up to millimeter wavelengths (MMW). Following this tendency, currently, the local telecommunication commissions of various countries are proposing and harmonizing the plans of frequency allocation in MMW band, which will be reviewed this year at the World Radio Conference (WRC-2019). Another milestone of great importance is the development of access networks. Here, well-known radio-over-fiber (RoF) technology is considered as the most promising approach, which is implemented based on fiber-wireless (FiWi) architecture. Elaborating the direction, in this chapter we review the worldwide progress of RoF-architected 5G NR access networks and highlight our last simulation results on design and optimization of millimeter-photonic-based FiWi interface. All schemes are modeled using VPIphotonics Design Suite software tool. In the result of simulation experiments, optimal design principles of optical distribution network (ODN), fiber-wireless interface (FWI), and fiber-wireless fronthaul network (FWFN) as a whole have been proposed, described, and validated.