The Opportunities 5G Brings for Optical Communication

Generally speaking, there exit three beneficiaries with the appearance of 5G in optical interconnection industry.

For one thing, in the optical communication industry, optic fiber is the first beneficiary in the construction of 5G. The frequency band of 5G is high, and the number of base stations possibly 2-3 times that of 4G. According to the requirement of full coverage, it is estimated by Fiber Broadband Association that the amount of optic fiber used in 5G will be 16 times more than 4G. Out of consideration for the coverage density of 4G base stations which is high in China and for the distance between urban areas is only hundreds of meters, it is estimated that the amount of 5G fiber will be 2-3 times that of 4G.

For another thing, The optical module is the second beneficiary. Assuming that the amount of 5G base station is 2-3 times that of 4G, when considering the inhaul/backhaul module, it is expected to bring tens millions of 25/50GHz high-speed module consumption. The flat structure of 5G will bring huge capacity and cost pressure to the system.

Finally, the high-speed optical access network and optical component are the third beneficiary. The 5G architecture allows backhaul/inhaul/fronthaul capacity to expand dozens of times, reaching tens or hundreds of Gbps. It is necessary to introduce CWDM/WDM based on 25G/50G to raise the requirements of cost performance for tunable laser, tunable filter and CWDM/WDM device. Simultaneously, the demands on TWDMPON system, eCPRI system, and ROADM system are possibly increased. 5G’s demands for transport network and IP network will be increased. and the demands of flexible routing on OTN/WDM and IP network will also be increased. Besides, some new routing function, such as SR, will be introduced with the trend.