Bandwidth Optimization and Cost Reduction in Backhaul and Core Networks

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Chapter 6 combines techniques on bandwidth management described in Chapter 3 and techniques from cost reduction in Chapter 4 and applies them to the specific case of radio access backhaul networks and cellular core networks. The backhaul is part of the network that connects equipment at cell towers to equipment to the core network. The backhaul may be designed using copper cables, optical fibers, or microwave. The cellular core network is the part of the network that consists of the wired part of the network connecting the backhaul to the IP network owned by the mobile network operator. This IP network in turn connects to and is part of the Internet. The bandwidth on backhaul and core networks is limited mostly by cost and business issues associated with upgrading the network capacity. Approaches like compression and traffic offload can be used to deal with the congestion of backhaul and core networks. Caching in the backhaul or core can be implemented but has to deal with the complexities of extracting packets bound to the Internet from the encapsulations of cellular protocols. Consolidation of functions works well in the core network and has led to a strong push for network function virtualization in the cellular core network.