X-Ethemet: Enabling integrated fronthaul/backhaul architecture in 5G networks
Rixin Li, Renlei Wang, Nir Halachmi, Qiwen Zhong, Weiqiang Cheng, Lei Wang, Jiao Wang · 2017
The Xhaul architecture presented in this article has a goal of developing a 5G integrated backhaul and fronthaul transport network enabling flexible and software-defined reconfiguration of all networking elements in a multi-tenant and service-oriented unified management environment. The Xhaul transport network is required to have the capability of carrying multiple traffic, such as CPRI and Ethernet, and satisfy the stringent requirement of those newly emerging application in 5G era. To this purpose, this article present an innovative network technology - X-Ethernet. Several foundation technologies of X-Ethernet are described, including interface technology and switch technology. In this paper, an X-Ethernet prototype is proposed and its capability of deterministic ultra-low latency is also demonstrated.