By Andrew Smith, Juniper Networks
The growth in mobile voice and data usage is placing tremendous pressure on operators to build scalable backhaul networks to support emerging LTE and LTE-A architectures. At the same time, wireless spectrum is at a premium and must be used in an efficient manner, and the competitive market for cellular customers requires a consistent user experience. For these reasons, operators are exploring architectures to enable a small cell radio to be placed in or near residential or business environments. A modernized cable last mile and metro network could be one path forward. This paper will explore a possible architecture for large scale, small cell backhaul over a Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) and a contemporary all-packet metropolitan transport network.