Radio Access Network Convergence

Today wireless communication is an indispensable necessity. Over the past three decades, we have seen the transformational impact of wireless connectivity on society. The evolution from a simple 2G network through to current 5G and beyond network deployments has no doubt transformed the world into a highly networked society. This transformation has led to a demand for massive performance gains across key wireless network specifications (connectivity, data throughput, latency, energy consumption). Even with a modest adoption of 5G-like services, it has become a massive challenge to meet these demands, which inevitably places a heavy burden on the transport network (fronthaul, backhaul, and midhaul) infrastructure. This is an on-going challenge, which is further compounded by the overcrowding of the wireless spectrum in the lower microwave region. The chapter explores the different technologies and the challenges that have driven the evolution of radio access networks from the perspective of physical layer and medium access control (MAC) layer implementation.