Deployment of new radio access technology offers the possibility to optimize the existing
mobile backhaul. Both the new technology (5G, LTE-A) and the legacy systems (LTE,
HSPA, 3G, 2G) utilize the transmission and transport capacities of the backhaul extensively.
The recent introduction of 5G requires again increased capacities. Consequently, more
and more cell-site locations will receive fiber-optical backbone. Depending on the
topology, the existing microwave and millimeter-wave links will “turn” towards aggregation
points having fiber access. The increased density of cell-sites reduces the hop-lengths,
meanwhile adaptive modulation also provides the possibility of capacity increase.
This paper reviews the availability and fade margin targets of the new links, that
shall be carefully kept by proper planning and monitoring.
