By Bill Beesley, Fujitsu
MSOs seeking to increase service delivery speed and reduce the high cost of cell site transport over fiber now have a new option. Low-latency DOCSIS has made the HFC network viable for midhaul and backhaul transport applications. The Telecom Infra Project’s vRAN Fronthaul Project Group has developed a means to use cable modems for some cell site transport applications. Using SDN to provide unified management and control of the fiber xHaul; DOCSIS BSOD services; and the RAN, operators can now create the consistent operational views and control needed to fully support this new application for cable modems. This paper will outline the future of wireless transport and discuss how to operationalize cable modems into the existing fiber transport architecture. Topics will include how to implement automated setup and provisioning of network demands, along with a single view of service health, in an overall consistent provider experience whether they use traditional fiber transport or cable modems for xHaul service delivery.