Preparing Fixed Network Operators for the 5G Era 

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With every new generation of mobile technology, the question of whether this is the end for
fixed networks is posed. As the industry continues to work on 5G, this is no doubt preying on
operators’ minds — but, as with 3G and 4G, the answer to the question is a resounding No! In
fact, in particular for 5G, the opposite is true, and fixed networks will be needed more than ever.

Fixed network operators must echo this need by addressing how they can make their role in 5G
more prominent, and how they must adapt their networks within this shift. Delivering flawless
5G mobile services demands nothing less than a world-class fixed network that can support
massive connectivity, super-high data rates, and ultra-low latency. 

Introducing new architectures and new interfaces, 5G networks brings a new set of requirements
that challenge transport networks to deliver more capacity with lower delays. To meet this
demand, high-capacity, high-density fiber broadband networks, which are already being
deployed and used for residential services, are proving to be an effective solution for carrying
mobile traffic.

Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks tick the box for the key requirements of efficient mobile
transport: economics, scale, and performance. They deliver 50% transport cost savings, perfectly
matching the footprint of mobile cells, and have the high performance needed for the 5G world. 

Transport networks that interconnect mobile sites are referred to as mobile anyhaul. By using
broadband networks for anyhaul, operators can gain the greatest benefit from converging fixed
and mobile transport networks. The enhanced bandwidth of next-generation fiber technologies,
based on Passive Optical Network (PON) technologies, and network slicing enabled by SDAN,
make converged residential broadband, business broadband, and mobile anyhaul, even more
attractive to operators.

 The need for flexible backhaul/fronthaul/midhaul/fronthaul has been apparent across previous
generations of mobile technologies, such as 3G and 4G — and the technology continues to
advance to support the 5G world. 

Matching Footprints
As mobile networks evolve to deliver higher speeds, the number of small cells continues to
increase. Fixed networks are progressing alongside this to provide small cells with the backhaul
connectivity that will scale in line with mobile network growth.

FTTx networks are, by design, ten times denser than the number of radio cells — even in a 5G
mmWave deployment — and can offer a strategic, long-term solution for any bandwidth-
intensive service. This density supports mobile operators in efficiently covering new cell sites
and keeping up with the demands of their network as it expands. 
If this is to be achieved, mobile traffic must be prioritized — meaning scheduling and shaping of
traffic must become flexible to deliver enhanced Quality of Service (QoS). Advanced
mechanisms also play a part in enabling this, ensuring the protection, availability, and resilience,
of mission-critical services. 

One example of how a strategy such as this can facilitate mobile network upgrades was
highlighted in a project we carried out with a North American Tier 1 converged operator, that
required a solution to increase capacity and coverage of its mobile network to cope with user
requirements and competition. The approach the operator took enabled it to reduce the time of
deploying and provisioning mobile cells backhaul from several weeks to 1 day, and reduce
operational cost by factor 10. 

Its strategy was to connect small cells to the existing GPON network, and configure each site as
a VIP customer with very strict service levels agreement and prioritization of small cell traffic.
As fixed networks are generally built for massive and easy provisioning, the operator could pre-
provision both small cells and fiber modems to connect those cells, in plug-and-play mode with
fewer experts on site.

For operators that have previously experienced long completion times when deploying and
provisioning individual macro sites, a solution such as this is gold — drastically cutting the time
to market. In this instance, it now takes the operator just a single day, and a single technician, to
deploy each small cell site. 

Cloudification Strategies Help

By increasing the synergies between fixed and mobile networks, a responsive network will be
created that can adapt to the bandwidth and latency needs of different services as they arise and
change over time. And with advances in next-generation fiber technologies, this is not restricted
to mobile backhaul and midhaul — latency and synchronization-sensitive fronthaul can also be
supported. 

One of the main areas of synergy will be in the cloudification of fixed and mobile access
networks. This innovation is opening doors for operators, enabling them to get network assets up
and running to monetize them, quicker than ever before — which are crucial factors to the 5G
business case. 

And with a little help from virtualization technologies, mobile cells can be provisioned so that
they can become automated, allowing easier and faster deployments. 

Cloudification of the network layers means non-real-time applications and management

functionality can be hosted in the data center, while more time-critical functions can be hosted in
a Cloud facility closer to end users, known as the Edge Cloud. This requires a new way of
working, where vendors and service providers collaborate in open software frameworks and
optimize end-to-end behavior across the network via programmable interfaces. This is where one
of the key advantages of Software Defined Networking (SDN) comes in. 
The introduction of virtualized functions, centralized intelligence in the Cloud, and SDN-
programmable interfaces enables the rapid creation, optimization, and termination, of services
needed in the 5G era. The Edge Cloud uniquely allows software applications to tap into local
content and real-time information about access network conditions. 

With centralized intelligence, the fixed access network can be provisioned and optimized for
mobile transport by coordinating with mobile network elements. The central units of the fixed
access domain run virtualized OLT (vOLT) functions and the central units of the mobile access
domain run virtualized BBU (vBBU) functions, are all hosted in the same multi-level Cloud
infrastructure. The Cloud infrastructure can eventually be shared, which improves the business
case for both fixed and mobile operations. 

Similar principles apply to both fixed and mobile access network technologies. An example is
bandwidth management. In a mobile access network, the central BBU functions are responsible
for the scheduling of the RAN. They allocate physical resource blocks (frequency and time) to
determine communication channels for the end terminals. Similarly, in a fixed network, the OLT
manages the bandwidth usage on the optical distribution network by employing dynamic time-
slot and wavelength assignments. There is a clear advantage to coordinating this throughput
scheduling between the air interface and the passive optical transport.

Thanks to the programmable interfaces and centralized intelligence of Cloud-based Software

Defined Access Networks (SDANs), fixed access networks can coordinate with the mobile
network to be provisioned and optimized for mobile transport. For example, the cloudification of
networks enables operators to slice the fixed network infrastructure, partitioning it for different
services or traffic types. This allows 5G traffic to be managed independently and served with
ultra-low latency and high throughput. This level of centralized intelligence will empower
seamless, flexible, and efficient operation of the transport network, allowing access to resources
as and when they are needed. 

The anyhaul concept supports advances in next-generation PON technologies and prepares
networks for the density and capacity 5G will require. Therefore, fixed network operators can be
assured their role in 5G is secured — and that they can deliver the infrastructure that is required
reliably, cost-effectively, and flexibly.

This article is adapted from the Nokia whitepaper Sharing PON networks for mobile anyhaul.
For more information, and to download the complete whitepaper, please visit
https://pages.nokia.com/T00273.5G.BB.white.paper.html.