25G Optics Market Gains New Opportunities with 5G Deployment
5G attracted attention in 2019 and is gaining the interest of global carriers for their networks. Globally, 182 operators tested 5G networks in 2018 and the technology is projected to get global commercial spread over the next few years. The demand for higher band rate optical transceivers is due to the 5G technology evolution, which brings higher density cell sites to prominence. While 4G LTE cell networks use 10G optical modules, the 5G run on 25G/100G optical modules as the network option for the future.
Understanding 5G Network
The 4G LTE remains the foundation of 5G technology. It allows people to send texts, make calls, and browse the web. It’s a breakthrough in communication technologies with more expected with the 5G upgrade. Higher network performance delivers a higher data rate, smoother online content streaming, better-quality voice, and video calls. It means the ability to download a 2G video in a minute with a more seamless experience in video calls.
It is clear that 5G has taken a more significant step than 4G in improving users’ experience concerning data rate, peak data rate, latency, mobility, etc. IMT-2020 specification shows that 5G peak data rate is anticipated to reach as far as 20 Gbit/s. Thus, 5G can facilitate different speeds of data in diverse enhanced environments of mobile broadband. An average consumer will experience swifter and improved data accessibility and coverage. Therefore, urban and suburban users should be assured of getting 100Mbit/s data rate and 1 Gbit/s speed (for indoor use), with 5G capacity.
Furthermore, the imminent 5G network has a promising future with better efficacy and functioning, and thus, making users accessible to peak data rates of numerous Gbps, massive capacity, and ultra-low latency. So, in the near future, we can benefit from swifter download and upload rates, Internet of Things (IoT), telemedicine, automatic driving, neat VR entertainment, etc. As 5G gradually matures with commercialisation and global application, the new-gen 5G will have a part to play in every aspect of your lives. The 5G market industry will be expended substantially with more promising prospects.
What is the 5G working principle, and why is 25G Its foundation?
The design of the 5G network has gone through significant changes, particularly in splitting 4G BBU function (baseband processing unit function) to meet the needs for more bandwidths, lower latency, and swifter speed. Generally, the network architecture of 5G wireless access is more complicated than 4G’s. While 4G access has a primary composition of three parts; EPC (core network), BBU and RRU (radio-remote unit), 5G network architecture divides the initial BBU of 4G into CU (central unit) and DU (distributed unit), and thus, ultimately obtaining the merits of the cell sites deployment centralised control, and cloudification.
In the meantime, as multi-antenna technology in 5G network undergoes an immense operation, a section of the physical layer processing functions in the BBU section of 4G is being incorporated into the part of RRU. With this process, the 5G network combines the original RRU of 4G plus BBU’s residual physical layer with the antenna, producing a multifunctional AAU (Active Antenna Processing Unit).
The enhanced infrastructure of the 5G network includes middle-haul transmission to the already-existing 4G LTE with front- and back-haul transmissions. These three sections in the transmission of 5G encompass various necessities for optical modules of 5G communication.
5G front-haul network will reach a projected 100M~1G bandwidth speeds with 20G peaks. While the antenna ports might be 64 or 128, 5G front-haul network granularity is 25Gbps. As a result, constructing the 5G network will significantly rely on 25G optical transceivers. The middle-haul transmission of 5G will adopt N x 25G technology with DWDM Ring network infrastructure over distances of transmission (between 10 and 40km) that indicates that the 100G optical transceivers are projected to represent a significant share in the middle-haul transmission of 5G. N x 100G technology will be adopted if the optical transport network is operated to carry the signal in the back-haul transmission. Irrespective of the network to be deployed, the back-haul transmission of 5G will be dominated by optical modules of 100G or ever swifter, higher modules.
Forecast of 25G Optics Market Trend
BBU structure sub-dividends; 5G network CU and DU will enhance the entire necessities for optical transceivers. With an increased destiny of cell sites being installed, the need for optical transceivers in the era of 5G is anticipated to attain 1.8 times that of the age of 4G.
A market report by Lightcounting shows that, by 2017, the exceptional development of the wireless front-haul market triggered an unparalleled increase in the demand for 25G optical transceivers. And at 2019, 25G and 100G transceivers have been set for standard installations to stay even with the fast swiftness of 5G commercial applications and services.
Promptly, while the need for 25G optical modules is projected to reach 1 million, the 40G optical module demand will decline progressively. By 2021, the carriers will work to get infrastructures and systems ready to facilitate the transition to 5G, and the 25G optical module market is anticipated to reach a 2-million demand count.
In the future, wireless networks, access networks and transmission network, as well as data centers, will form a cooperative demand for 25G optical transceivers, and thus, heightening to the breaking point for newer requests. Nevertheless, the market for 10G optical transceivers is experiencing a progressively decreasing rate of demands of customers. In conclusion, 25G is offering a promising future of development with its trial functioning in 2019 and full-blown deployments in 2020.