Capillaries of Communication
SK telecom announced that they have developed a technology to expand the wavelength needed for high-speed transmission in “fronthaul,” often dubbed the “capillaries of mobile communication.”
Fronthaul is a wired network that connects the central devices and dispersed wireless devices of a 5th generation mobile communication (5G) base station.
While the transmission speed of the optical communication network that makes up the fronthaul has increased from a maximum of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) to a maximum of 25 Gbps, there were some issues.
When transmitting optical signals at speeds above 25 Gbps, the width of the optical signals spread in some wavelength bands, leading to a degradation in signal quality due to mutual interference, leading to a restriction on the maximum transmission distance.
To solve this, SK telecom teamed up with OE Solutions, a manufacturer of optical transceiver modules, and Point2 Technology, a specialist in high-speed communication solutions.
The three companies developed an optical transceiver solution with a built-in distributed compensation feature to solve the phenomenon of the width of the optical signal broadening, securing the 'technology for expanding the available wavelength for high-speed transmission in fronthaul'.
Meanwhile, SK telecom also announced their 5G fronthaul technology development status and plans for developing a low-power/high-capacity 6G fronthaul based on the Innovative Optical & Wireless Network (IOWN) cooperation foundation at the OptoElectronics and Communication Conference (OECC) held in Shanghai, China from July 2 to 6.