Design and analysis of a resilient packet ring-based backhaul for LTE networks that reduces handover latency

Abstract

This paper introduces a wireless optical integrated network architecture involving IEEE 802.17 resilient packet ring (RPR) and long-term evolution (LTE) wireless network. The primary objective of the work is to reduce handover latency when the RPR network is used for backhauling the LTE network. The proposal implements the X2 interface of the LTE network over the optical backhaul, which allows base stations of LTE to directly communicate with each other. The work further discusses about an open access network architecture where a single RPR backhaul can be used by multiple mobile service providers without compromising information security. Extensive simulations have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposal. A non-preemptive priority-based queueing model has been developed to analyze the queueing delay experienced by the X2 and uplink packets. The model has been validated by simulation results.