Robust X-haul Failure Mitigation for 6G Networks: Adding More Self-Healing Antennas to Small Cells

6G networks aim to achieve terabits per second throughput per square kilometer by 2030, leveraging technologies such as massive MIMO, distributed radio access networks, AI-powered network management (self-organizing network), ultra-dense multi-layer network structures, and terahertz spectrum. However, these networks are prone to failures, particularly in the fronthaul/backhaul (FH/BH) links, i.e., X-haul links, leading to significant data loss. Self-healing radios are radios dedicated to failure mitigation which are an essential solution for maintaining the network’s operation continuity during failures. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of equipping Small Cells (SCs) with additional antennas to assess the degree of failure recovery. We conduct an extensive simulation using MATLAB to assess the recovery of failed SCs equipped with additional antennas in the presence of multiple failures. Our results indicate that adding more antennas to SCs improves the network’s spectral efficiency, especially in scenarios with fewer failed SCs. However, in the presence of multiple failures in a dense network, the additional antennas may negatively affect the recovery of other failed SCs, ultimately impacting the overall network performance.