Perspectives for Coherent Optical Transmission in Radio Access Networks

Innovation in coherent optical technology greatly improves energy efficiency and footprint, thus enabling the use of high-speed cost-effective pluggable optical transceivers in new network segments, e.g., the metro-access edge of the transport network. This article reviews technology advances, research effort, and standardization activities in coherent optical transmission, with focus on the requirements that a "lite" version of coherent pluggable transceivers should meet to serve the transport connectivity needs of mobile networks on the brink of 6G, such as network simplification, latency, and support of dynamic traffic.