Nokia adds 25-Gbps capabilities for 5G mobile to Anyhaul line

Nokia has revamped its Anyhaul transport line with 25-Gbps capabilities designed to better meet the expected needs of 5G mobile deployments. The enhancements cover the Anyhaul family’s optical, IP, and microwave elements. The company says it will use next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to highlight the new capabilities and products, as well as its participation in proof of concept demonstrations of 25G PON technology that also could be applied to 5G requirements.

As its name implies, the Anyhaul family comprises a range of transmission technologies under uniform software control that can be used independently or in combination to meet network operator needs (see "Nokia unveils 'Mobile Anyhaul' concept and upgraded optical transport capabilities"). The upgrades include:

• The Nokia 1830 Versatile WDM Module (VWM) Translation Line Unit (TLU)-200 offers high density wavelength translation at 10 Gbps and 25 Gbps speeds for cloud radio access network (RAN) and edge cloud requirements. Nokia says the unit simplifies operations and improves the fronthaul connectivity reliability for 4G Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI)/Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) and 5G eCPRI data.
• The Nokia 7250 IXR-e interconnect router for 5G and edge cloud requirements at or near base stations offers 1/10/25/100 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. Its compact design, which Nokia says promotes efficient cooling and space efficiency, helps minimize installation costs. It is positioned as a complement to the previously released 7250 IXR-R6 router.
• A revampedNokia Wavence microwave portfolio, which supports throughput up to 20 Gbps, rather than 25 Gbps. The portfolio elements enable carriers to combine frequency bands in the traditional microwave or millimeter-wave frequencies, including those generated by existing third-party microwave systems, to achieve 5G-ready microwave throughput beyond 10 Gbps. The 2+0 E-Band systems ensure 20 Gbps throughput, Nokia says, because a single radio can provide 10 Gbps with the new 2-GHz channel bandwidth. Nokia describes the E-Band radios as ready for deployment in small form factor hardware variants for small cell backhaul. The Wavence family additions also include the UBT-C 5G-ready transceiver for last-mile applications.

Meanwhile, Nokia reports that it has conducted proof-of-concept demonstrations of Broadband Anyhaul 25G PON technology with Tier 1 operators in North America and Japan last month. The technology is compatible with existing 2.5G and 10G PON technologies, according to the company.

Jimmy Yu, vice president at Dell'Oro Group, was quoted in a Nokia press release as suggesting operators will indeed base their 5G deployments on multiple support technologies. "Mobile backhaul has always been done with a variety of transport technologies to balance the needs of performance, time, and economics. This will continue with 5G, and for this reason, operators will need an assortment of transport technologies – microwave, optical, IP and PON-that suit their unique requirements in 5G fronthaul and backhaul,” he said. “The rollout of 5G has just started this year and if our predictions are correct, demand for 5G backhaul transport systems (not including fiber) will begin ramping in a year's time and surpass $1 billion of annual sales in the following two years."

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