As wireless technology improves, the entire network infrastructure needs an upgrade to be able to effectively and efficiently take advantage of more capacity and bandwidth capabilities. The increasing needs for connectivity and mobile usage are compelling operators to further densify, centralize, and cloudify networks to keep up with capacity demand from streaming services, immersive communications, cloud services, and connectivity for IoT/M2M devices.
What Is Nokia Optical Anyhaul?
While the former term of choice for carrying network traffic from the cell site to the mobile core was “backhaul,” in a 5G world, it’s now referred to as IP transport or anyhaul because it includes backhaul, fronthaul and even midhaul (which are all used for transporting traffic amid various network configurations).
While anyhaul is independent of 5G standards, it’s still a critical element of maintaining a 5G network because if this portion of the network isn’t upgraded, operators may experience bandwidth and latency issues in their 5G networks.
Nokia’s Optical Anyhaul, specifically, allows the IP transport network to scale cost-effectively and reach more endpoints so that networks can be densified with more cells for greater capacity and coverage. With 5G’s ability to expand RAN networks across a geographical area, anyhaul will look different based on each RAN architecture and interface.
Supporting a flexible mix of distributed and centralized radio access network (C-RAN) architectures, Optical Anyhaul delivers the capacity, ultra-low latency, and highly accurate synchronization distribution needed to boost RAN performance and take advantage of virtualized network resources.
How Does Nokia Optical Anyhaul Work?
After experiencing network and user experience difficulties with the Apple iPhone 3GS launch, many operators have taken steps to upgrade their networks prior to rolling out their full suite of 5G capable devices. By ensuring that they have “excess backhaul capacity,” they can avoid traffic bottlenecks as specific devices or use cases grow in popularity.
As 5G increases the opportunities and availability of new services, networks are required to increase the capabilities to ensure continuity across a wide variety of services. Transport networks must address this service diversity by cost-effectively delivering the required performance for each application.
Nokia packet-optical switches provide transport slices connecting the RAN and core slices as part of the end-to-end network slices. These slices maximize transport resources using logical network instances over a shared network.
Traffic flows are mapped into transport slices supporting performance objectives, including capacity, latency, reliability, security, etc. A combination of hard and soft traffic isolation allows you to ensure proper traffic separation with the ability to maximize resources by enabling multi-tier, dynamic elastic bandwidth adjustment.
Benefits and Features
Optical Anyhaul enables you to cost-effectively deliver all services over a converged optical network. The solution’s portfolio elements provide the high capacity and low latency needed to enable 5G connectivity across different RAN architectures. With Optical Anyhaul, you can keep pace with growing mobile broadband demand and deliver new revenue-generating services.
Traffic Convergence And Aggregation
Flexible, cost-effective access and aggregation of all services with bandwidth-efficient packet, OTN, and WDM switching
Precise Timing And Synchronization
Best-in-class nanosecond synchronization with flexible in-band/out-of-band timing channel options and advanced synchronization OAM
Deterministic, Low-Latency Transport
Ultra-low-latency TSN switching and frame pre-emption enabling transport of fronthaul and other traffic streams over Ethernet
Operational Simplicity Via Automation
SDN-enabled, smart programmable fabric enabling secure, dynamically interconnected services
Infinity Technology Solutions
With Nokia’s complete portfolio of private wireless networking solutions at our fingertips, Infinity Technology Solutions has decades of experience obtaining and installing network solutions for various industries.
