5G technology to promote the development of optica

 5G technology to promote the development of optical communications industry future opportunities and challenges 

5G brings new opportunities and challenges to the development of optical communication. The opportunities are that the whole industry, such as optical fiber, optical modules and optical access network systems, will benefit from the construction of 5G; the challenges are that for fiber optic communication in 5G to be truly realized and applied on a large scale, technological innovation and economic breakthroughs are yet to be achieved.

First, in the optical communication industry, fiber optics is the first beneficiary of 5G construction. 5G has a high frequency band and the number of base stations may be 2-3 times that of 4G, and if full coverage is required, it is estimated that 5G will use 16 times more fiber than 4G. Considering that China's 4G base station coverage density is already high, with urban spacing of only a few hundred meters, it is estimated that 5G fiber usage will be 2-3 times that of 4G.

Second, the optical module is the second beneficiary. Assuming that the 5G base station is 2-3 times that of 4G, in consideration of the medium/return module, it is expected to bring tens of millions of 25/50GHz high-speed module usage, and the flat architecture of 5G brings huge capacity and cost pressure to the unified transmission.

Finally, high-speed optical access networks and optical devices are the third beneficiary. 5G architecture makes the backhaul/mid/forward transmission capacity expand dozens of times to tens of hundreds of Gbps level, requiring the introduction of 25G/50G-based CWDM/WDM on adjustable lasers, tunable filters and CWDM/WDM devices put forward high cost performance requirements; and the demand for TWDMPON systems, eCPRI and even The demand for transport and IP networks, the significant expansion of capacity, and the need for flexible routing for OTN/WDM and IP networks is likely to increase with 5G, and will be further extended to mid-transmission. Some new routing features, such as SR, will also take advantage of the introduction.

New challenges -

In the 5G era, the number of base stations will grow significantly, and a large number of base stations will require fiber optic interconnection, which brings new opportunities as well as new challenges to optical communications. During the development of 5G, the optical communication industry faces challenges in technology, front-to-back transmission capacity and cost. Existing SAW/BAW/FBAR filters are difficult to apply in high-frequency devices, and optical devices are the bottleneck of front-transmission cost, especially tunable lasers.

The current peak of 4G investment has passed, 5G has become a hot spot of concern in the communications industry and the development of new breakthroughs, is an important national strategy, is an important factor in driving economic investment, leading scientific and technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and promoting economic prosperity, but the expectations of 5G should be moderate and timely, the resonance of various stakeholders such as equipment and component manufacturers operators have generated excessive and premature expectations, disregarding the market, technology and inherent logic and laws of the economy.