FTTH and 5G Xhaul Synergies for the Present and Future

This invited paper proposes to discuss the optical network synergies between the two main access technologies today: mobile, with the coming 5G, and fixed broadband, which is migrating to full Fiber To the Home (FTTH). 5G aims to offer a fiber-like user experience, providing low latencies and high throughputs. Such requirements impose not only that optical fiber reaches the antenna site (in Fiber To The Antenna topologies, FTTA) but also that optical fibers are used to connect Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment at the antenna site (between Radio Units (RUs) and the cabinet hosting Digital Units (DUs)). At the same time, thanks to FTTH, optical fibers are increasingly more available in the ducts and cabinets for the massive broadband residential deployment. Current central offices are equipped with Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) shelfs which support Gigabit capable Passive Optical Network (G-PON) and Gigabit Point to Point (PtP). 10 Gigabit symmetrical PON (XGS-PON) and PtP are the coming deployable solution for an enhanced fixed broadband. We propose in this paper to investigate the synergies between optical fiber networks (both FTTA for 5G and FTTH), keeping in mind that the number of antennas is still very low compared to the number of fixed access premises.