Infinera and EBlink deliver fiber and wireless based mobile fronthaul architecture to Orange
In the live field trial, the combined Infinera TM-Series and EBlink FrontLink combination demonstrated on Orange’s network how it can deliver a unique end-to-end performance combining fiber and wireless for mobile fronthaul for today’s mobile infrastructure and for future advanced 4G and 5G mobile networks. Where fiber exists, the Infinera TM-Series delivers bandwidth using high capacity wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology. Where there is no fiber, EBlink’s wireless fronthaul is complementary to the WDM fronthaul system, enabling mobile operators to bridge the “very last mile” which can, in certain locations, be difficult to reach with fiber connections. In the live field trial, the combined systems worked together seamlessly without disruption in the network.
Mobile fronthaul is a market opportunity that is emerging as mobile operators move to centralized and cloud-based radio access networks (C-RAN) and plan for deployment of high bandwidth 4G, 5G and small cell architectures.
The Infinera TM-Series, enabling mobile fronthaul, allows mobile operators like Orange to deploy WDM-based optical fronthaul in a wide range of network applications. The system covers a range of options including passive WDM for low cost fiber relief, semi-passive WDM for added management capabilities and active WDM options where additional networking capabilities are required. Infinera’s active mobile fronthaul options include transponder and muxponder applications allowing the capability of multiplexing multiple Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) and Ethernet services onto the same wavelength.
EBlink’s innovative wireless fronthaul system represents a major technological advance for base station deployment, eliminating the last few hundred meters of fiber that can be difficult to deploy and costly for operators. Wireless fronthaul is a key technology used today by leading mobile operators around the world for network densification/optimization, and to address traffic congestion in dense urban areas. EBlink’s wireless fronthaul allows mobile operators to leverage their existing macro sites, and facilitates their deployment of remote macro and micro sectors.
“Mobile fronthaul is a challenging environment with tough requirements on latency and synchronisation for optical solutions,” said Sten Nordell, CTO of Infinera’s Metro Business Group. “As one of the few suppliers capable of achieving these requirements, we are very pleased to partner with EBlink and Orange to demonstrate that the combination of fiber and wireless is the right alchemy for mobile fronthaul.”
“Combining fiber and wireless is key to a successful mobile fronthaul implementation,” said Philippe Chanclou at Orange Labs. “Infinera and EBlink have shown the feasibility of integration of mobile fronthaul with Orange RAN vendors and have demonstrated end-to-end performance, and we are pleased with the trial results,” added Sebastien Randazzo, project leader of fronthaul trials at Orange France.
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