An overview of the CPRI specification and its application to C-RAN-based LTE scenarios Articles uri icon

publication date

  • February 2016

start page

  • 152

end page

  • 159

issue

  • 2

volume

  • 54

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0163-6804

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1558-1896

abstract

  • The CPRI specification has been introduced to enable the communication between radio equipment and radio equipment controllers, and is of particular interest for mobile operators willing to deploy their networks following the novel cloud radio access network approach. In such a case, CPRI provides an interface for the interconnection of remote radio heads with a baseband unit by means of the so-called fronthaul network. This article presents the CPRI specification, its concept, design, and interfaces, provides a use case for fronthaul dimensioning in a realistic LTE scenario, and proposes some interesting open research challenges in the next-generation 5G mobile network.

subjects

  • Telecommunications

keywords

  • ofdm; synchronization; long term evolution; mobile communication; bandwidth; next-generation 5g mobile network; cpri specification; c-ran-based lte scenarios; radio equipment; cloud radio access network; remote radio heads; baseband unit