Point-to-Multipoint Coherent Architecture with Joint Resource Allocation for B5G/6G Fronthaul

With the increasing wireless data and massive interconnections in B5G/6G, demands for an intelligent, flexible, and cost-effective fronthaul network have emerged to provide services for a ubiquitous mobile society. This calls for disruptive innovations in both the architecture and transmission technology. In this article, we introduce a point-to-multipoint coherent architecture as a promising solution, and analyze its advantages and challenges compared to other fronthaul solutions. Based on this architecture, we propose a novel joint resource allocation framework that enables the fronthaul to intelligently self-manage and self-optimize in real time. In addition, we propose a low-complexity joint resource allocation algorithm for different scenarios in this framework. Simulations show that the proposed framework and algorithm can effectively utilize the limited resources and improve the performance of the fronthaul.