Volume 18, Number 1
OTN in the 5g Era: Transporting Massive Ip-Based Mobile Traffic
Authors
Joy Selasi Agbesi, Ohio University, USA
Abstract
Fifth generation (5G) mobile networks impose unprecedented transport demands—high bandwidth, deterministic latency, and precise synchronization—driven by disaggregated RAN architectures (C RAN/vRAN) and diverse service classes (eMBB, URLLC, mMTC) (Larsen et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2020; Nakamura et al., 2018; Wijethilaka & Liyanage, 2021). This paper evaluates Optical Transport Network (OTN) as a foundation for 5G fronthaul and backhaul, focusing on protocol transparency, hierarchical grooming, latency determinism, operations/maintenance tooling, and carrier grade protection (ITU T, 2016; Cvijetic et al., 2017; Li et al., 2021). Using a synthesis of standards, deployments, and modeling, we show that OTN efficiently maps heterogeneous 5G traffic (e.g., CPRI/eCPRI, Ethernet), sustains microsecond level latency and low jitter under load, and scales via ODUflex based bandwidth granularity while meeting synchronization targets required by TDD and CoMP (Pizzinat et al., 2015; Velasco et al., 2014; ITU T, 2020). Economic assessment indicates competitive lifecycle cost for high capacity routes despite higher initial capex, especially where grooming efficiency and operational simplicity offset packet only alternatives (Chen et al., 2019). We also discuss hybrid architectures pairing OTN with packet transport and SDN control to accelerate service provisioning and enable slice aware automation (Raza et al., 2017; Taleb et al., 2017). The results provide an integrated framework and practical guidance for operators planning 5G transport, confirming OTN’s suitability for metro scale fronthaul and aggregation backhaul today and its relevance as requirements evolve toward 6G (Zhang et al., 2020).
Keywords
Optical Transport Network, 5G networks, fronthaul, backhaul, network transport, bandwidth management, mobile networks, fiber optics, network architecture, telecommunications infrastructure