Optimization in fronthaul and backhaul network for cloud RAN (C-RAN): Design and deployment challenges

Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is consider to be most promising technology for the next generation mobile and wireless communication. C-RAN split the different functionalities of the traditional base station (BTS) in to simplified Base Band Unit (BBU) and Remote Radio Head (RRH) unit. The efficiency and throughput of the C-RAN system is depend on the fronthaul and backhaul link capabilities, at present scenario network link bandwidth is not scalable to accommodate the large growing traffic and required more modification in the network link structure. In this paper, we give an overview of the main challenges of the current fronthaul and backhaul network, and discuss about different possible network configuration for C-RAN. As the transmission capabilities of a network link depend on the bandwidth of the transmission medium, optical network along with WDM technology consider to be best option for C-RAN. The advance optical modulation technique, hybrid transmission technology along with the fault tolerance mechanism are discuss and compared interm of their performance and capabilities.