High-capacity 5G fronthaul networks based on optical space division multiplexing

\u3cp\u3eThe introduction of 5G mobile networks, bringing multi-Gbit/s user data rates and reduced latency, opens new opportunities for media generation, transport and distribution, as well as for new immersive media applications. The expected use of millimeter-wave carriers and the strong network densification resulting from a much reduced cell size--which enable the expected performance of 5G--pose major challenges to the fronthaul network. Space division multiplexing (SDM) in the optical domain has been suggested for ultra-high capacity fronthaul networks that naturally support different classes of fronthaul traffic and further enable the use of analog radio-over-fiber and advanced technologies, such as optical beamforming. This paper discusses the introduction of SDM with multi-core fibers in the fronthaul network as suggested by the blueSPACE project, regarding both digitized and analog radio-over-fiber fronthaul transport as well as the introduction of optical beamforming for high-capacity millimeter-wave radio access. Analog and digitized radio-over-fiber are discussed in a scenario featuring parallel fronthaul for different radio access technologies, showcasing their differences and potential when combined with SDM.\u3c/p\u3

Characterization of Multi-Core Fiber Group Delay with Correlation OTDR and Modulation Phase Shift Methods

Using a Correlation-OTDR and a modulation phase shift method we characterized four multi-core fibers. The results show that the differential delay depends on the position of the core in the fiber and varies with temperature.Comment: This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 762055 (BlueSpace Project

Network slicing architecture for SDM and analog-radio-over-fiber-based 5G fronthaul networks

\u3cp\u3eThe blueSPACE project focuses on the study of innovative technologies to overcome the limitations of current fronthaul networks. The key technology proposed is space-division multiplexing, which makes it possible to increase the capacity available in conventional single-mode fibers, effectively encompassing this capacity to the forecasted bandwidth demands imposed by 5G mobile communications. In this paper, we present the innovative optical fronthaul infrastructure proposed in the project and the tailored extensions to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute network function virtualization management and orchestration architecture for this enhanced infrastructure together with practical implementation considerations.\u3c/p\u3

Experimental Demonstration of Extended 5G Digital Fronthaul Over a Partially-Disaggregated WDM/SDM Network

© 2021 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.[EN] We experimentally demonstrate a 5G digital fronthaul network that relies on multi-adaptive bandwidth/bitrate variable transceivers (BVTs) and an autonomic software-defined networking (SDN) control system for partially-disaggregated wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)/space division multiplexing (SDM). Transmission of 256-QAM 760.32 MHz orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) radio signal is performed, with a total radio transmission capacity of 5.667 Gb/s. Digitized signal samples are carried as a 22.25 Gb/s digitized radio-over-fiber (DRoF) data stream and transmitted over a WDM/SDM infrastructure including 40-wavelength 100-GHz arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) and 19-core fiber. The autonomic SDN controller deploys a control loop for the multi-adaptive OFDM-based BVTs that monitors the per-subcarrier signal to noise ratio (SNR) and assigns the optimal constellation based on the actual signal degradation. An error vector magnitude (EVM) below the targeted 2.1% is achieved while setting up connections in less than 5 s.This work was supported in part by the EC H2020 BLUESPACE Project under Grant 762055 and in part by the Spanish MICINN AURORAS Project under Grant RTI2018-099178.Fabrega, JM.; Múñoz, R.; Nadal, L.; Manso, C.; Svaluto Moreolo, M.; Vilalta, R.; Martínez, R.... (2021). Experimental Demonstration of Extended 5G Digital Fronthaul Over a Partially-Disaggregated WDM/SDM Network. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. 39(9):2804-2815. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSAC.2021.3064645S2804281539

Multi-Tb/s photonic transceivers for metro optical network connectivity evolution

Metro area network (MAN) connectivity is rapidly evolving towards a much more dense, complex and diverse scenario to be dynamically addressed with flexible cost-efficient and high-capacity technology and architecture solutions, dealing with an even more open and disaggregated paradigm. In this work, sliceable bandwidth/bitrate variable transceiver (SBVT) architectures adopting modular approach and suitable photonic technologies (such as VCSEL), enabling to efficiently and dynamically exploit both spectral and spatial dimensions, are discussed, considering design, implementation, cost and flexibility aspects. Recent numerical and experimental results are reported, showing how to enable scalability towards supporting multi-Tb/s connectivity in flexible and dynamic large MAN.Grant numbers : AURORAS - Autonomic and disaggregated optical networks leveraging edge computing and photonic technologies (RTI2018-099178-B-I00) project

High-capacity 5G fronthaul networks based on optical space division multiplexing

The introduction of 5G mobile networks, bringing multi-Gbit/s user data rates and reduced latency, opens new opportunities for media generation, transport and distribution, as well as for new immersive media applications. The expected use of millimeter-wave carriers and the strong network densification resulting from a much reduced cell size--which enable the expected performance of 5G--pose major challenges to the fronthaul network. Space division multiplexing (SDM) in the optical domain has been suggested for ultra-high capacity fronthaul networks that naturally support different classes of fronthaul traffic and further enable the use of analog radio-over-fiber and advanced technologies, such as optical beamforming. This paper discusses the introduction of SDM with multi-core fibers in the fronthaul network as suggested by the blueSPACE project, regarding both digitized and analog radio-over-fiber fronthaul transport as well as the introduction of optical beamforming for high-capacity millimeter-wave radio access. Analog and digitized radio-over-fiber are discussed in a scenario featuring parallel fronthaul for different radio access technologies, showcasing their differences and potential when combined with SDM