FSO-Based Vertical Backhaul/Fronthaul Framework for 5G+ Wireless Networks

By Mohamed Alzenad, M. Z. Shakir, Halim Yanikomeroglu, Mohamed-Slim Alouini. IEEE Communications Magazine, 2016

454 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The presence of a super high rate, but also cost-efficient, easy-to-deploy, and scalable, backhaul/ fronthaul framework, is essential in the upcoming 5G wireless networks and beyond. Motivated by the mounting interest in unmanned flying platforms of various types, including UAVs, drones, balloons, and HAPs/MAPs/LAPs, which we refer to as networked flying platforms (NFPs), for providing communications services, and by the recent advances in free space optics (FSO), this article investigates the feasibility of a novel vertical backhaul/fronthaul framework where the NFPs transport the backhaul/fronthaul traffic between the access and core networks via pointto- point FSO links. The performance of the proposed innovative approach is investigated under different weather conditions and a broad range of system parameters. Simulation results demonstrate that the FSO-based vertical backhaul/ fronthaul framework can offer data rates higher than the baseline alternatives, and thus can be considered a promising solution to the emerging backhaul/fronthaul requirements of the 5G+ wireless networks, particularly in the presence of ultra-dense heterogeneous small cells. This article also presents the challenges that accompany such a novel framework and provides some key ideas toward overcoming these challenges.

Subfields: Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1078fee9fa40fd09e4898edc92cd8ae59fe01bb2

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Citations in the corpus

A Key 6G Challenge and Opportunity—Connecting the Base of the Pyramid: A Survey on Rural Connectivity (2020, methodology): “However, they cost around $50 000 per platform, and their operational costs are estimated to $859 per flying hour [232].”
What should 6G be? (2019, background): “The service intelligence mainly benefit from high-performance core networks implemented in 6G [74], [75].”
A Tutorial on UAVs for Wireless Networks: Applications, Challenges, and Open Problems (2018, background): “Other promising solutions for wireless backhauling are millimeter wave and free space optical communications (FSO) with ground stations [15], [149]–[151].”
A Survey on Green 6G Network: Architecture and Technologies (2019, background): “Free space optics (FSO) is introduced into backhaul framework where UAVs transmit information via point-point FSO links, enabling UAV network to offer high data rates in different weather condition [31].”
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): A Survey on Civil Applications and Key Research Challenges (2018, unknown): “, using millimeter wave band [213] and free space optics [214] for high capacity UAV-UAV wireless backhaul [8].”
A Vision and Framework for the High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) Networks of the Future (2020, methodology): “A better solution might be the use of a mega-constellation, which via multi-hop FSO communications the traverse of the data up to thousands of kilometers becomes feasible, eliminating the requirement of frequent satellite-relay zigzag data exchanges.”
Optimal 3D-Trajectory Design and Resource Allocation for Solar-Powered UAV Communication Systems (2018, background): “via out-of-band free space optical (FSO) links [33], [34].”
UAV Communications for 5G and Beyond: Recent Advances and Future Trends (2019, methodology): “The UAV can either use a sky-haul link to the satellites or connect to the ground system via a backhaul link [33].”