Enabling Converged 4G and 5G Mobile Fronthaul

Mobile data traffic continues to increase exponentially. In the November 2016 issue of the Ericsson Mobility Report [1], Ericsson reported that data traffic on the world’s mobile networks increased 50% year over year between Q3 2015 and Q4 2016. Ericsson forecasts this trend to continue, as mobile traffic grows at a 45% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between 2016 and 2022, reaching 8x current traffic levels.

While the initial LTE rollout for coverage purposes has largely completed, operators are now focused on two primary activities:

• Adding capacity to their 4G network with LTE-A and cell-site densification
• Preparing for 5G

Yet the key question for mobile network operators is: “What is the best possible way for to connect radios to base-band with technology that meets the requirements for fronthaul today and scales to 5G?” This white paper will answer this question.