R-FFT: Function Split at IFFT/FFT in Unified LTE CRAN and Cable Access Network

The remote-PHY (R-PHY) modular cable network for data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) service conducts the physical layer processing for the transmissions over the broadcast cable in a remote node. In contrast, the cloud radio access network (CRAN) for long-term evolution (LTE) cellular wireless services conducts all baseband physical layer processing in a central baseband unit and the remaining physical layer processing steps toward radio frequency (RF) transmission in remote nodes. Both DOCSIS and LTE are based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing physical layer processing. We propose to unify cable and wireless cellular access networks by utilizing the hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) cable network infrastructure as fiber fronthaul network for cellular wireless services. For efficient operation of such a unified access network, we propose a novel remote-fast-Fourier transform (R-FFT) node that conducts the physical layer processing from the FFT module toward the RF transmission, whereby DOCSIS and LTE share a common FFT module. The frequency domain in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) symbols for both DOCSIS and LTE are transmitted over the fiber between remote node and cable headend, where the remaining physical layer processing is conducted. We further propose to cache repetitive quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols in the R-FFT node to reduce the fronthaul bitrate requirements and enable statistical multiplexing. We evaluate the fronthaul bitrate reductions achieved by R-FFT node caching, the fronthaul transmission bitrates arising from the unified DOCSIS and LTE service, and illustrate the delay implications of moving part of the cable R-PHY remote node physical layer processing to the headend. Overall, our evaluations indicate that the proposed R-FFT node can effectively support unified DOCSIS and LTE services over the HFC cable plant while substantially reducing the fronthaul bitrate requirements of the existing CRAN structures.