The fifth generation of mobile networks represents the next major development step for mobile communications.
Compared to the currently available 4G LTE technology, 5G is expected to fulfil the following requirements in particular:
Due to the enormous increase in network capacities and the simultaneously shorter delay times of the networks, a significantly larger number of users can be supplied with considerably higher data rates per user. Furthermore, 5G technology also provides the technical basis for the realisation of the “Internet of Things”, i.e. the networking of computers, machines, sensors and vehicles.
Within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 research project iCIRRUS (intelligent Converged network consolidating Radio and optical access aRound USer equipment), we are addressing the topic of Ethernet-based optical fibre fronthaul for the fifth generation of mobile networks (5G). This architecture is intended to achieve significant performance gains for the realisation of new 5G services, such as device-to-device communication (D2D) and Mobile Cloud Networking.