Moving on up in frequency: D-band mmWave technology for next gen 5G xHaul
Author : Dan Rhodes, Director of mmWave Business Development & Mike Geen, Chief Scientist | Filtronic
01 June 2021
Filtronic_Moving on up in frequency_D-band mmWave technology for next gen 5G xHaul
The deployment of 5G networks has brought a demand for high-capacity, high-speed wireless links for backhaul. While E-band (71-76GHz & 81-86GHz) links remain in widespread & growing use, providing 10-20Gbps wireless connectivity for backhaul, fronthaul & midhaul (collectively known as xHaul), a recent GSMA report highlighted that evolution towards higher frequency bands will be essential to make a wider amount of spectrum available & to meet future xHaul requirements up to 100Gbp
The full version of this article was originally featured in the June 2021 issue of EPDT magazine [read the digital issue]. And sign up to receive your own copy each month.
Here, Dan Rhodes, Director of mmWave Business Development & Mike Geen, Chief Scientist for mmWave Technology at RF, microwave & mmWave communications expert, Filtronic outline the technology challenges of moving up in frequency to D-band, and describe an Innovate UK-funded collaborative project on next-generation mmWave technology up to 175GHz to enable emerging 5G wireless link requirements…
E-band radio links are already widely deployed as a cost effective, high capacity solution for mmWave backhaul applications, capable of supporting up to 20Gbps. The disaggregation of the radio access network (RAN) in 5G, introducing new splits between the RAN elements, has meant that wireless links are also being used for fronthaul and midhaul, as shown above. Ever-increasing demand for data means that still higher capacity is going to be required in future 5G xHaul networks – and the need for links at up to 100Gbps has already been identified.
Although higher order modulation techniques can increase data rates, these demand higher signal-to-noise ratios and very linear components in order to keep error rate to a minimum. Multi-channel systems like XPIC (cross-polarization interference cancelling) and line-of-sight MIMO have also been demonstrated to provide enhanced data rates, but require more expensive radio equipment. Moving up the frequency spectrum to W-band (92-114.5GHz) and D-band (130-175GHz) systems, where huge amounts of further bandwidth become available, are therefore expected to provide part of the solution...
Read the full article in EPDT's June 2021 digital issue...
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