Techno-Economics for Optimal Deployment of Optical Fronthauling for 5G in Large Urban Areas

In this work we employ our previously published Optimal Topology Search (OTS) algorithm to study, from a techno-economic point of view, the optimal deployment of 5G networks in large urban areas, focusing on the allocation of the remote radio heads and their correspondent low-cost optical fronthauling topologies. We compare the costs of deploying 5G networks based on traditional CPRI fronthauling with a DSP-assisted fronthauling solution. Results show that the DSP-assisted solution may provide effective connectivity from the Central Offices up to the remote radio heads at a lower cost in comparison with the CPRI-fronthauling deployment.