What are 5G Front-haul, Mid-haul and Back-haul？
The 5G network promotes the huge demand for optical transceivers. 5G network offers high reliability, high speed, high security, low latency, and long battery for users. 5G transport networks consist of front-haul, mid-haul, and back-haul, which interconnect cell sites to each other,core network and data centers. In 5G, the baseband unit (BBU) is separated into a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU).The 5G front-haul interconnects the active antenna unit (AAU) to DU. The 5G mid-haul interconnects the CU to the DU.5G back-haul refers to the CU above. New trends of 5G front-haul, mid-haul, and back-haul networks require optical transceivers with a data rate of 800Gbps.
Figure 1. 5G Network Topology
Application and characteristics of 5G front-haul
1．Applications
(1) 25GBASE-LR Ethernet
(2) CPRI and eCPRI Wireless Networks
(3) High-speed storage area networks
(4) Computer cluster cross-connect
(5) Custom high-speed data pipes
2．Features
(1) Operating data rate support 24.3Gbps to 26.5Gbps
(2) Internal CDR on both transmitter and receiver channel
(3) Hot-pluggable SFP28 footprint
(4) CWDM DFB laser transmitter , 1310nm DFB transmitter, and PIN PD Receiver
(5) Simplex/Duplex LC connector
(6) Built-in digital diagnostic functions
(7) Up to 10km on SMF
(8) Single power supply 3.3V
(9) Compliant Operating case temperature: Standard: 0~+70°C, Industrial: -40~+85°C
(10) Standards : IEEE 802.3cc , SFF-8402/ SFF-8432/ SFF-8472, 25GBASE-LR
Application and characteristics of 5G mid-haul
1. Applications
(1) 50GBASE-LR, 50GBASE-ER
(2) 50GBASE-BR10, 50GBASE-BR40
2. Features
(1) DML laser and PIN Receiver, EML laser and APD Receiver
(2) Up to 10km, 40km transmission distance
(3) QSFP28 form factor
(4) Duplex or single LC connector
(5) Single 3.3V Supply Voltage
(6) Maximum power consumption 3.5W
(7) Operating case temperature: 0-70°C
(8) Complies with EU Directive 2011/65/EU, RoHS compliant, class 1 laser
(9) Standards: IEEE802.3cd, IEEE802.3cp, IEEE802.3cn, SFF-8679/SFF-8636
Application and characteristics of 5G back-haul
1. Applications
(1) High-speed storage area networks
(2) Computer cluster cross-connect
(3) Custom high-speed data pipes
(4) Data center, cloud network
(5) 100GBASE-LR4 Ethernet ,100G 4WDM-40, 100G ER4/100G ZR4, 200G 10 km QSFP-DD, 200GBASE-ER4, 400GBASE-LR8, 400GBASE-ER8, 800G Ethernet
(6) Infiniband QDR and DDR interconnects
(7) Client-side 100G Telecom connections
2. Features
(1) 25Gb/s serial optical interface
(2) 1310nm DFB transmitter, PIN photo-detector , LWDM EML laser and APD Receiver, 4/8 channel LWDM EML laser and PIN receiver
(3) 2-wire interface for management specifications compliant with SFF 8472
(4) Cost effective SFP28 solution, enables higher port densities and greater bandwidth
(5) 4 channels full-duplex transceiver modules
(6) Transmission data rate up to 26Gbps per channel
(7) 4 x 26Gb/s DFB-based LAN-WDM Cooling transmitter
(8) 4 channels PIN ROSA
(9) Low power consumption <3.5W
(10) Maximum power consumption 4.5W , 5.5W/6.0W , 10.8W , 14W
(11) Hot Pluggable QSFP form factor
(12) Up to reach 10km for G.652 SMF
(13) Duplex LC receptacles
(14) Built-in digital diagnostic functions
(15) 3.3V power supply voltage
(16) RoHS 6 compliant
(17) QSFP28 form factor
(18) Compliant with QSFP-DD CMIS Rev 4.0, support CMIS4.0
(19) QSFP-DD type2 housing
(20) Operating case temperature : Standard: 0~+70°C, Industrial: -40~+85°C
(21) Standards: 25GBASE-LR, IEEEP802.3ba,4-Wavelength WDM MSA (4WDM-40) , SFF-8679/SFF-8636, IEEE802.3-2018 , IEEE802.3cn, QSFP-DD MSA ,IEE802.3ck, QSFP-DD 800 MSA
Related Products
Telecom operators offer a full range of 25G/50G/100G/200G/400G/800G optical transceiver products for 5G front-haul, mid-haul, and back-haul applications. The related optical transceivers products in 5G front-haul, mid-haul, and back-haul is shown below.
Figure 2. Related Products
Conclusion
This article presented optical transceivers in 5G front-haul, mid-haul, and back-haul applications.Optical transceiver for 5G front-haul, mid-haul, and back-haul applications offers one of the best options of high-speed, low latency, low power consumption ,and low cost for end-users.
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