Options for future mobile backhaul and fronthaul

• We review mobile-backhaul (MBH) and mobile-fronthaul (MFH) transmission technologies.
• Future MBH technologies to address the drastic capacity increase are described.
• Future MFH technologies to support the massive small-cell deployment are described.

This paper describes the options for constructing mobile backhaul (MBH) and mobile fronthaul (MFH) networks that can support mobile broadband services beyond LTE Advanced. It first reviews the current architecture of Radio Access Network (RAN) which comprises MBH and MFH as well as the wireless section to reach the user equipment (UE). Then, it describes technologies for future MBH/MFH networks that are capable to the drastic increase of wireless bandwidth as well as the massive deployment of small cells.