ZTE Corp. (0763.HK/000063.SZ) used last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, to unveil its IP+Optical 5G Flexhaul offering. The approach leverages a single platform with IP and optical transport capabilities to handle both 5G fronthaul and backhaul requirements.
The company showed off the 3RU ZXCTN 6180H, which ZTE described as "pre-commercial," at the show. As an engine for IP+Optical 5G Flexhaul, the system will supply high capacity, low latency, and the ability to operate under the aegis of a software-defined networking (SDN) controller, according to ZTE. The system will support 1 Tbps access rings. Its FlexE feature will enable flexible isolation of subchannels of different services to provide optimal forwarding plane support for 5G bearer network slicing, the company adds.
For the varying latency requirements of fronthaul and backhaul networks the Flexhaul architecture will support a pair of latency modes. The fast forwarding mode supports services that are time sensitive. The time sensitive network (TSN) technology reduces switching latency between the upper and lower service nodes from 30 microseconds to "several" microseconds, ZTE says. The intermediate node uses optical bypass technology to achieve a forwarding latency of less than 1 microsecond.
At Mobile World Congress, ZTE joined several companies in introducing new visions for 5G mobile backhaul and fronthaul, including Infinera, Nokia, and Coriant (see "Nokia unveils 'Mobile Anyhaul' concept and upgraded optical transport capabilities,""Infinera offers new mobile fronthaul, backhaul optical transport," and "Coriant offers Hyperscale Carrier Architecture vision,").
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