Wireless point to multipoint fronthaul link
High capacity, long range wireless communication link was ever needed. With the technology advancement and the requirement for higher data rates and limited latency requirements the existing solutions are providing partial and very limited solution. We propose new approach that provides the need in an efficient way and with the required properties to allow easy use and tuning as well as great robustness with link redundancy.
1 . A wireless fronthaul network, comprising:
a millimeter-wave radio transceiver further comprising multiple antennas in an array, the multiple antennas configured to operate in concert to provide beamforming;
wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to provide a point-to-multipoint connection to a plurality of millimeter-wave radio transceivers,
wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to use a 5G signaling approach, and
wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configurable in software to perform beamforming alignment with the plurality of connected millimeter-wave radio transceivers, and
wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is arranged in a hierarchical topology with other transceivers to enable workload sharing of fronthaul workloads.
2 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein fronthaul processing for a cellular base station is provided using the wireless fronthaul network.
3 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to provide mesh connectivity.
4 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to perform automatic routing based on a best available link, wherein the best available link is determined by at least one of: link availability, available capacity, or latency.
5 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to support signal multi-hopping for range extension.
6 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to provide link redundancy by re-routing signals through other available paths in response to temporary link failures.
7 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver uses physically fixed radio frequency (RF) transmitting components and achieves signal directivity through analog or digital beamforming, enabling non-mechanical beam tuning for dynamic tracking of a best link between any two points.
8 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to measure latency between each pair of connected points and provide per-link latency as side information for use in compensation at higher layers of the network.
9 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to communicate with at least one non-stationary endpoint, including a moving endpoint.
10 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver comprises a modular antenna array configuration selected from the group consisting of: 2×2, 4×4, 8×8, 16×16, 16×64, 32×32, and 64×64 configurations, wherein larger configurations are able to be split such that different physical beams are directed toward other array terminals using beamforming.
11 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver uses an ORAN-based interface for input/output, enabling eCPRI communication.
12 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to perform directive nulling of signals to cancel incoming interference signals at a receiver or to null a transmitted signal toward a direction of another system to avoid interference.
13 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to send radio frequency (RF) physical layer (PHY) data, for one or more radio access networks (RANs) that are colocated with or downstream from a given wireless fronthaul network node, upstream for processing by another network node.
14 . The wireless fronthaul network of claim 1 , wherein the millimeter-wave radio transceiver is configured to calculate a latency budget for certain radio frequency (RF) physical layer (PHY) data, and configured to send the certain RF PHY data upstream for processing by another network node such that the latency budget is met.