Nokia has expanded its mobile fronthaul solution with new optical platforms designed to support large-scale centralized RAN architectures.
In centralized RAN architectures, baseband processing is separated from RF (radio frequency) equipment such as remote radio heads (RRHs) and run in a single location, allowing faster mobile broadband, increased capacity and lower operating costs. In addition to increased distance, the centralized RAN must designed to support massive bandwidth increases and much tighter latency requirements of future 5G networks.
Nokia's fronthaul rollout includes five new 1830 Versatile WDM Module (VWM) optical platforms optimized for latency/jitter requirements and designed to address a range of deployment scenarios:
- 1830 VWM Photonic Managed Unit (PMU), an optical multiplexing unit for combining multiple wavelengths over a single fiber with management capabilities for Service Level Agreement (SLA) and demarcation.
- 1830 VWM Translation Line Unit (TLU), a wavelength translation unit for colorizing non-WDM optical signals.
- 1830 VWM Optical Supervisory Unit (OSU), an OAM unit for end-to-end network monitoring.
- 1830 VWM TLU/PMU-4, a fully outdoor hardened unit combining multiplexing, colorizing and management functions for small cells.
- Site Monitoring Module, provides proactive monitoring of alarms based on user-defined inputs at cell site locations with the ability to turn on/off appliances and devices.
Nokia said its solution increases fiber capacity by combining multiple wavelengths onto a single, reducing capital expenditures (CAPEX) by up to 32% compared to using dark fiber alone. The solutions support CPRI/OBSAI rates (CPRI 1-8 and OBSAI 1,2,4,8).
"Recognizing the need of mobile operators to move to centralized RAN architectures, we have been collaborating with some of the largest operators in the world to expand the 1830 VWM portfolio. Through 30-plus customer engagements, we've been able to develop a toolkit that will successfully tailor our fronthaul solution to fit any number of deployment scenarios. With this expansion of the 1830 family of optical products, Nokia further solidifies its Mobile Transport leadership with the industry's most comprehensive fronthaul and backhaul solutions," stated Sam Bucci, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Optical Networking at Nokia.
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